When describing Thailand, I often say that 10 different people could visit and have 10 completely different experiences – that’s how much variety and range there is on offer around the country. From the bustling cities to the peaceful lands in the north, to the myriad of islands and beachside locations, you’re guaranteed to become immersed in the vibrant culture and have a memorable adventure.
I spent two weeks in January 2022 exploring Thailand with my partner, with the catalyst for our trip being the wedding of some of our friends in Bangkok. This was my first time visiting Thailand so I don’t feel I know it well enough to provide recommendations, but I can certainly describe our trip and what we enjoyed, in the hope it may provide some inspiration and starting points if you’re organising your own visit!
We flew from London Heathrow to Bangkok with Emirates, with a connection in Dubai. At our time of travel, covid testing was still in effect and we had to complete multiple tests throughout our trip (before departure, after arrival, midway through, then before and after our flight home). However as local restrictions had only just eased, it meant that there were fewer international tourists than usual and a lot of places we visited were quieter than normal.
After arriving in Bangkok we explored the Grand Palace with our friends, soaking up the beautiful architecture with its intricate tiling and gold details. I had a delicious red curry for lunch at the View Arun Restaurant overlooking Wat Arun, then we chilled by the hotel pool and had a great dinner at Nara Thai Cusine Central Embassy – our Thai friend ordered heaps of wonderful food for us to all try!
Grand Palace, Bangkok
Over the next two days we attended two weddings – one Thai and one Western. The Thai wedding began with the groom’s procession where the groom had to complete several small challenges such as eating a chilli before being allowed in! The ceremony consisted of lots of smaller ceremonies and it was very relaxed, you could wander in and out and enjoy snacks and drinks from the foyer at any time. The bridal and bridesmaids outfits were so beautiful, and it all took place in the morning with an early start so that one of the ceremonies could be at an auspicious time. In the afternoon we chilled by the hotel pool and then had some relaxing Thai massages. The Western wedding the next day was also lovely, taking place in a beautiful glasshouse, with a swift ceremony, delicious food and live music.
After the wedding ceremonies we said goodbye to our friends and flew to Chiang Mai. There are trains and buses available too, however as we had a relatively compact timeframe we wanted to travel between places as quickly as possible. We also planned our whole trip before flying out to save time too. Lovely green scenery and mountains greeted us as we approached the runway, and the calm surroundings of Chiang Mai were a stark contrast to Bangkok! We stayed in a delightful AirBnB in a peaceful neighbourhood for the next four nights, which was well-designed with stylish furniture and a small balcony. In the evening we explored the Sunday Night Walking Market which had lots of lovely handmade items on display. We sampled some delicious street food (making sure we could watch it being cooked fresh and that it was piping hot) and admired the temples nearby too.
Sunday Night Walking Market, Chiang Mai
The following day we continued exploring Chiang Mai, walking the Monk’s Trail (not very well signposted) to reach Wat Lat, a temple in the jungle that looked like something out of a film. We saw some waterfalls too and had a delicious dinner at Huen Phen. The next day we embarked on a private day trip around Doi Inthanon National Park, heading into the forest to see waterfalls and the highest mountain peak in Thailand. The Royal Twin Pagodas and surrounding gardens were beautiful with stunning views (although sadly by this point we’d had so many so many other stops throughout the day that I felt quite exhausted!).
Wat Lat
Doi Inthanon National Park
Doi Inthanon National Park
We enjoyed a peaceful breakfast at Blue Diamond, set within a garden with a koi fish pond. After a stop at a hospital for our midway covid test, we headed to Wat Chedi which featured ancient temple ruins. We stumbled across a lovely boutique hotel called Tamarind Village and ate a delicious lunch there by the pool. In the afternoon we were able to meet up with some friends and we all took a rot daeng (a pick-up truck taxi with two bench seats in the back) up to Doi Suthep to see the temple and viewpoint.
Tamarind Village
Doi Suthep
Then it was time to catch a flight down to the islands. We stayed two nights in Phuket so that we could do a day boat trip around Ao Phang Nga National Park. The scenery was stunning with its dramatic limestone cliffs, and we canoed around caves and lagoons spotting bats and monkeys. It was lovely to be by the water all day. In the evening we had a delicious crab yellow curry at Bang Pae seafood restaurant.
Ao Phang Nga National Park
Ao Phang Nga National Park
After Phuket it was onto our final stop of the trip – the Phi Phi islands. We reached them by a speedboat ferry, stopping off at some stunning places along the way. Railay had some particularly striking cliffs. Our resort for the next few nights was located at one end of the island which made it lovely and quiet, and you could easily hop on a longtail boat to go between the town and the resort. We enjoyed sunbathing and swimming on the beautiful beaches, and had some great food at Paradise Pearl including some tasty banana fritters! We also enjoyed a private longtail boat day charter, exploring the beautiful lagoons of Phi Phi Leh and the breathtaking Maya beach, which had only recently re-opened to tourists. It had been closed for quite a while due to previous over-tourism after it featured in the film ‘The Beach’. It was lovely to see some baby sharks in the shallow water as this is a sign of a healthy ecosystem, as it means there’s plenty of fish for them to eat. The sand was some of the softest I’ve ever experienced! We made a few more stops and enjoyed some snorkelling in the clear turquoise waters too.
Phi Phi island
Maya beach
From the Phi Phi islands we made our way back to Bangkok for our flight home to the UK, with a boat to Phuket and an internal flight to Bangkok with the lovely Thai Smile Airways. I was so glad that every part of our trip had worked out – with all the covid testing there was no guarantee that everything would go to plan!
Bangkok is 7 hours ahead of London and the time difference did take some getting used to, along with the exchange rate (at the time of publishing 100 Thai baht is about £2.24). It’s worth noting that it’s now been a few years since I visited Thailand, so some of the information I’ve mentioned throughout this post may no longer be accurate. I like to keep travel diaries for every trip I go on, which is how I’ve been able to remember everything we did for this blog post!
Alexa
P.S. If you enjoyed reading this post, why not take a look at A Fortnight in the Philippines, Vanlife Around the Isle of Skye and Solo Travel in Italy.
Header photo: Phi Phi island
