Thailand Travelers Recommend

If you take the Ayutthaya Temple tour and boat cruise, then you get to see the old site of a once thriving Siamese kingdom, 53 mi (85 km) out of Bangkok. The Ayutthaya Temples are a UNESCO World Heritage site and is renowned for its temples, many of which are still intact, including Wat Phra Sanphet, Wat Mongkhon Bophit, Wat Panangcherng and Wat Chai Mongkol, which is known for its large bronze statue of the Reclining Buddha. The tour also includes a trip to the summer palace of King Rama IV, which has been preserved as a museum to take you back in time to Siam. Finally, the tour ends with a boat trip that will enable you to see many other temples along the river. If you have less time to spend looking at the temples, then local tour guides also offer half day tours. Expect to see the Temple of the Golden Buddha, which has a 3 meter (9 feet) tall gold statue of Buddha, weighing five tons. Once again, the tour takes in the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.

As the ancient capital of northern Thailand, Chiang Mai is resplendent with temples and historic sites. Spend your first day in Chiang Mai exploring the historic heart of the city. Within the crumbling old city walls are more than 30 Buddhist temples plus parks, museums, and monuments. Visit the gold-encrusted Wat Phra Singh to see the city’s most revered Buddha statue then Wat Chedi Luang to see the ruins of a 15th stupa carved with stone elephants. If you’re curious about the saffron-robed monks you see on the temple grounds drop by the “Monk Chat” at Wat Suan Dok. If you love Thai cuisine, why not enroll in a Thai cooking class? There are more than a dozen cooking schools in Chiang Mai where you can learn to make favorites like phat Thai and green curry plus northern Thai specialties like papaya salad and khao soi (noodles in curry soup). After two days in the city it’s time to explore Chiang Mai’s countryside.

Party-town Pattaya likes to stay up late and sleep it off on the beach the next day. Pattaya’s nightlife is second only to Bangkok and has to be seen to be believed! When the sun goes down the lights come on and you’d be forgiven for thinking that the whole town is just one big party. The main action, however, is in South Pattaya, where you’ll find the densest concentration of bars, go-go bars, massage parlors, and discos along the famous neon-drenched strip known as Walking Street. Coral Island is a popular excursion from Pattaya that can be visited in a day. With its pure white sand and translucent water, the island offers a chance to relax on its beaches or go water skiing, parasailing and windsurfing. There are opportunities to meet and even ride elephants in the jungle just outside of Pattaya, where you can also take a trek through the jungle and float down the river on a raft. Tigers can also be observed at the Sri Racha Tiger Zoo.

Pick an island, any island! After all, Krabi has over 150 close by. Take a day to become an explorer. You might like to try the popular Koh Lanta or the Phi Phi islands, where the movie The Beach was filmed – or take a trip out to see the ‘James Bond Island’, used in the filming ofThe Man with the Golden Gun. Now here’s a town that could use a little TLC. Wouldn’t you be hurting if you were constantly being dissed by travelers – even if it was in favor of some of the world’s most beautiful beaches? Spend a day with this underrated place – eating its luscious food, climbing its hill to the Tiger Temple with its stunning views – and you might just fall for it. Those limestone rocks are full of caves, and it makes a nice change from the beach to explore some (maybe even by canoe!) Not far from Krabi, on the nearby Phra Nang Beach, you can visit the Princess Cave, where folks come to make offerings in order to be blessed with fertility.