Thailans is a country that will feel completely different depending on what type of traveller you are and which parts of it you visit, so I suppose it requires a bit more of an introduction than other countries I've covered.
You definitely won't find yourself being the only foreigner in Thailand. This is a worldwide top 10 tourist destination increasingly set up for industrial-strength mass tourism. Some parts have essentially turned into the sleazy Las Vegas of Southeast Asia, overly commercialized and rife with sex tourists and trashy drunken idiots.
On the other hand, Thailand also has its share of excellent beaches, lush jungles, amazing nightlife, and some of the best food in the world. It's exotic, yet safe and possibly the easiest country in the world to go backpacking. Above all, Thailand is simply a very safe bet: while victim to overzealous development in places, it's also guaranteed to have things that you will like. It's really the kind of country that can be whatever you want it to be.
Bangkok, the coastlines in Krabi and Phuket and the island groups on each side of Thailand's southernmost landmass are the country's biggest tourism magnets. Prices here will be higher, and crowds will be denser. There are a lot more package tourists here, and places like Phuket cater largely to an unsophisticated holiday crowd—think The Inbetweeners (or spring break in Cancun if you're from the States).
Other parts of Thailand are still hugely of interest to the curious traveller. The north around Chiang Mai is a lot more 'backpackery' and relaxed, and prices here are lower. Some parts of the country even remain largely unexplored and provide some welcome relief from the crowds elsewhere.
Backpacking in Thailand is easily romanticized, thanks to decades of travellers flowing through backpacker hubs like Khaosan Road in Bangkok, and movies like The Beach. For many it's their first overseas backpacking experience, and one that will stay with them forever (which is true also of myself). That said, veteran travellers may be after something more authentic, adventurous or "unspoilt". Make sure you research your trip to Thailand well so that you know what to expect. Again, different parts of the country can feel completely different.
With those caveats out of the way, read on to see my recommendations for backpacking in Thailand...
A buddhist monk receiving a donation in Bangkok
Why you should go
- The best place to start backpacking
Thailand is where many people get their first overseas backpacking experience. It's safe, cheap and easy to travel around, making it one of the best introductions to low-budget travel. - Bewildering city and street life
Wandering around Bangkok or exploring the night markets of Chiang Mai can be a riveting experience, particularly if it is your first time in Southeast Asia. You are guaranteed to feel like you are in a completely different world. - A haven for relaxation
Hit up some of the less-crowded islands, or go to a place like Pai in the north where you can find an escape from the big city bustle among rice fields and bamboo huts. - Superb beaches
Thailand has some excellent beaches and islands, many of them defined by dramatic karst cliffs and lagoons. Great for beach bumming, snorkelling, and swimming. - The most delicious food in the world
Thought you knew Thai food from your local Thai restaurant? Think again, because nothing compares to the real deal in Thailand. The ingredients are so fresh that you will soon start salivating when you just get a whiff of lemongrass or sweet basil...
Downtown Chiang Mai
One of the many nice waterfalls around Pai
Orientation
The above map shows just some of the major tourist destinations, and is intended as a rough guide to get your bearings.
The north around Chiang Mai is great for visiting Buddhist temples, mountain/jungle trekking, and visiting the indigenous hill tribes. Near Chiang Rai is the 'golden triangle' with a view of three borders (with Laos and Myanmar). The Mae Hong Son loop is a road leaving from Chiang Mai and eventually circling back to it via some of Thailand's more remote areas, and is recommended if you want to see the northern countryside. The town of Soppong on this route is great for caving adventures, while the town of Pai is a popular backpacker hangout and a place for lazying and partying.
The middle of the country is mainly home to the archeological sites of Ayutthaya and Sukhothai. In Kanchanaburi you can find the famous Bridge over the River Kwai, and while it's a place I've not been I've heard it has a growing backpacker scene.
The south is all about beaches and islands. You've got the island group in the Gulf of Thailand (the east side) with holiday resorts on Koh Samui, the Full Moon Party on Koh Phangang (see note on this at the end of this page), and Koh Tao which is one of the cheapest and best places in the world to take a scuba diving course. On the Andaman Sea (west) you've got Krabi province noted for its karst limestone cliffs, which has become a rock climbing mecca (you can climb cliffs with the torquoise ocean waves right below you). Nearby Koh Phi Phi is a boozy party island made famous by the movie The Beach, while other islands in the area provide somewhat more laidback alternatives.
Cool things to do in Thailand
- Explore Bangkok's markets and Chinatown
For a great taste of the vibrant hustle-and-bustle of Bangkok, visit Chatuchak Market (open on Sundays) or go to the Chinatown district and get lost in its infinite maze of narrow alleys. You'll see fishmongers chopping up fish, welders fixing up parts and equipment, and all sorts of strange and unfamiliar foodstuffs for sale—all amid a sea of Thai and Chinese neon signage. Explore on your own or take a cycling tour.
A man in Bangkok's Chinatown selling keys
- Go on caving and hiking adventures in Soppong
The Cave Lodge in Soppong (part of the Mae Hong Son loop in northern Thailand) is a superb base for the adventure traveller, with a plethora of kayaking, caving and trekking opportunities around. After check-in you'll get a photocopied hand-drawn map of the surrounding rivers, hills, caves and jungle trails. It made me feel like I was in The Goonies off to look for hidden treasure. Don't miss Tham Lod cave where you can see tens of thousands of swifts fly into its entrance at dusk.
- Learn to cook Thai food
Thai cooking classes can be found in many places, though a popular city to do it is Chiang Mai where the ingredients often come fresh from a local farm. Knowing how to make a good Thai curry is excellent knowledge to take home.
Thai food is incredibly delicious!
- See a Muai Thai (Thai kickboxing) fight
This is no WWE or Luche Libre wrestling: you will see real kicks and punches being dealt at rapid speed. Half the fun is seeing the matches, but the other half is seeing the crowds: the Thai people get really into it.
- Get your Scuba diving certification (at ocean-bottom prices)
The island of Ko Tao is the world's headquarters for Scuba diving training. Open Water certifications are super cheap thanks to fierce competition amongst dozens of internationally accredited dive schools. On the reefs you are sometimes more likely to see other divers than marine life, but it's one of the best places in the world to learn.
Read This: 6 Tips For Learning To Scuba Dive On Koh Tao
Ko Tao: an amazing place to learn Scuba diving, or just to hang out and relax. (photo credit: victoriapeckham cc)
- Rent a moped and drive around Pai
Pai is a wonderfully chilled out little hippie town in the north of Thailand. Scooters are the default mode of transport here and you can easily rent one... even without a license. Jump on a scooter and ride through the beautiful countryside to one of the many waterfalls in the area.
Beautiful green landscapes around Pai
- Visit ancient Buddhist temples
The Grand Palace and Wat Prakeaw in Bangkok with their golden gleaming statues are on many people's itinerary, but you should know that these places areincredibly rammed with tourists throughout the day. A nicer alternative is Doi Suthep on one of the hills near Chiang Mai, or go to the old temple ruins of Ayutthaya slightly north of Bangkok. This very unusual temple in Chiang Rai is also an interesting curiosity.
Close-up: Grand Palace in Bangkok
- Experience Thailand's unique festivals
Songkran (13-15 April) is the water festival during which everyone fights everyone with water pistols and water balloons. Foreigners are a favorite target so be sure to come well-armed! On Yi Peng festival (on different dates each year in November) thousands of lanterns are released into the night sky in Chiang Mai.
Practical information
Getting Around
Bus travel is cheap and convenient, and can be easily booked from hostels or agencies. Air travel is very cheap as well and AirAsia is the main budget airline here. AirAsia also offers convenient island transfer packages that include a flight from Bangkok and connecting ferries to some of the popular island destinations. Trains can be a good option sometimes as well: for instance it's easy to get from Bangkok to Chiang Mai by overnight train, which have fairly comfortable sleeping bunks. For local transport, use taxis or tuk-tuks.
Money
Getting money out is almost never a problem in Thailand. ATMs are widespread and work with pretty much any international debit or credit card.
Safety
Thailand is generally very safe - don't let any government-issued travel advisories spook you. Take basic precautions, like keeping your belongings safe, but paranoia is not warranted. (If you are still at all concerned about safety in Thailand, check out my post How Not To Freak Out About Travel Safety.
Typically the only thing to worry about in Thailand are scams. Be firm with taxi drivers or they may rip you off. Also make sure you take photos of any bicycle, bike, water scooter or anything else you rent, as a popular scam is to claim you have caused damage and need to pay compensation.
Cost of travel
Thailand is cheapest outside of Bangkok and the popular beach destinations. Look around in Chiang Mai or Pai and you can easily find dorm beds starting at $3 and basic private rooms starting at about $6 here. Go to the 'party hotspots' in the south or to Bangkok and accomodation prices could can be double or triple that. Food is inexpensive throughout the country: you can buy a tasty Pad Thai from a street vendor for 30 baht (about a dollar) for instance, or a sit-down meal in a restaurant for a couple of dollars. A bottle of local beer will set you back about $1.
What about the rainy season?
People ask about Thailand's rainy season a lot. But whether you should try to avoid the rainy season depends.
The high season is between November and February as it's the least hot and has the less rain. The main rainy season runs from July to October.
If you are on a short holiday in Thailand (e.g. 2 weeks or under) then some sustained rain could seriously affect your stay, so in this case you may want to target the high season.
If you are on a longer stay or travelling long-term you should worry about the rainy season less. Tropical monsoon rains tend to be very intense but they are also over quickly and things dry up quickly. If you have a decent amount of time to travel then you can be flexible and plan around any bad weather. A huge advantage of not travelling in the high season is that room prices will be lower and crowds will be less.
Visiting an indigenous village on a hill tribe trek near Chiang Rai
Lanterns in Chiang Mai
Lowlights
Places to avoid (if you ask me)...
- Patong (and most of Phuket). Overdeveloped, teeming with package tourists and—excuse me for being blunt here—also full of idiots. To illustrate, it was in Patong that I saw a shirtless Australian walk into a McDonald's yelling "GIVE ME A FUCKING BURGER!". Not my kind of crowd.
- Koh Samui - very dull, most people fly in here directly and never leave their all-in resorts, making the island very upmarket and thoroughly uninteresting. Go to nearby Koh Tao for a vibrant/developed but still pleasant island. I wasn't that into neighboring Koh Phangan but a lot of people also love this island over Koh Samui, and it certainly has a lot more going on.
- Pattaya - yarrrr, here be sex tourists
Related Posts
- South-East Asia Itinerary Suggestions For 2 Weeks To 2 Months
Going on a larger trip? Or want to know what's next after Thailand? Then read this post. - Travel Zen: Avoiding FOMO & Being Happier On The Road
Finding it impossible to decide where to go? Can't fit everything into your tight schedule? Fear Of Missing Out can really get to you, but usually the solution is to be happier with visiting less places not more... - Photo Impressions of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia
A little photo essay of some of the things I did in these countries - 6 Tips For Learning To Scuba Dive On Koh Tao
Other blogs
- Koh Kradan: Thailand's Secret Paradise
Great report on a less-visited island on the western coast. If famous Koh Phi Phi is too crowded for you, Koh Kradan or one of the nearby islands may be more your kind of thing...
More info on Thailand
On my destination pages I try to mix general information with a bit of personal flavor. Hope you find it useful!
There are a couple of resources I use myself when researching a destination. The first I want to mention is WikiVoyage, a free collaborative wikipedia-style travel guide. Since it's collaboratively written it lacks the personal touch (and the information on specific accommodation can often be outdated compared to other sources), but the site is absolutely perfect for high-level research. You can find the WikiVoyage page for Thailand here.
Another little-known website that has a lot of useful information isTravelIndependent.info. It is specifically geared towards budget/backpacker style travel and has some great destination info.
Finally, for general travel advice that you can use in Thailand or anywhere, check out my book Travel the World Without Worries. It deals with such topics as how to plan a trip, how to "wing it with a plan", how to budget your trip and reduce your expenses, dealing with language, safety or health related issues, how to pack the smart way, how to make your experience more unique and adventurous, and much much more. I've poured two years of continuous travel experience into trying to write a comprehensive guide, so be sure to have a look as it may save you lots of time, money and effort! I do also use *gasp* guidebooks! I have used Rough Guides occasionally (and I like them) but my favorite guidebook publisher is still Lonely Planet. People will sometimes refer to the Lonely Planet as "The Book" or "The Bible", and it's easy to joke about newbie travellers who clutch their Lonely Planet a bit too tightly. Nevertheless I find these guides to be indispensible sources of information; their maps and itineraries in particular are some of the best around. As long as you use them as aguide and not as a rule they can help you save a lot of time in figuring out a rough main thread for your journey from which you can improvise the rest. You can check out theThailand Lonely Planet here. These days they're made available digitally as well (whole or by specific chapter).
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