Why you should travel to Thailand

Soap box:

I truly think traveling is the best experiences you can ever have, especially when you are young with no responsibilities. Most people say they want to travel, but they are scared to take the first step. As students, you may not have the money, but you have TIME and almost 0 responsibilities (work, kids, mortgage, etc) Take advantage of your month long- 3 month breaks NOW, because later in life, when you have the money, I guarantee, you will wish you had the time. A U.S. passport is like a golden ticket to anywhere in the world. (A lot of other countries have to apply for visas $$$, get approved and it's a huge process)

Is Thailand the right destination for you?

-If you are in college or are on a low budget, 100% pick Thailand. The most bang for your buck and stunningly beautiful.

-If you aren’t young but you go on vacation every year to the same place but want to travel, Book a flight to another country instead.

-Why did we pick Thailand? Seems random, but it’s a popular destination for Australians, Chinese, and Japanese tourists, I find that Americans prefer to pick closer destinations like the Bahamas and Mexico more frequently.

-SEASONS: LOOK INTO THIS before booking. We went in the month of June-July which was supposed to be the start of the rainy season, however we only had 1 rainy day out of the 15 we were there, and on some days it would just be a 5 min rain shower and then clear skies.

-If you are a luxury traveler who likes to lounge a lot on the beach, go to all inclusive resorts, don't like to do a lot of planning yourself, and you're not super enthused by exploring new cultures, Thailand may not be for you.

-Expenses add up for sure when traveling, especially when it comes to food. If you go to Thailand, avoid fancy remodeled hipster places that you can get back home. These are built to attract tourists to places that look similar to home. They will charge you prices that are similar to home as well ($6-$10usd per plate). Eat food at the local places or the food carts. People worry about digestive issues with street food, but we had no problem. One of our friends gave us the advice to drink a coke everyday (the acidity will kill anything) and we did, and didn't get sick once! The local mom and pop places will range $2-$3 per plate of food(so cheap, right?) We would go out to dinner every night and have milkshakes, appetizers, and two meals and it would all total like $10!

Booking airfare: (compare for a few weeks using multiple websites)

Some of my favorites:

Google flights (picture below) click on the departure date and use the “calendar” and “flexible dates” feature. This give you a good idea of a roundabout of what days are cheaper to fly.

-Momondo.com

-Skyscanner (cheap flights, but most likely long layovers)

-Studentuniverse.com (you don’t even need to be a student to use this)

-Skiplagged.com

-Agoda.com is your best friend for anything Asia (hotels especially) We booked ALL of our hotels through agoda and always found them cheaper on here rather than booking from other websites or directly through hotel.

We watched the flight prices for about 2 weeks before purchasing and ended up getting a two way flight for around $500 each. We found it using Momondo and flew Qatar air out of Chicago. We had a quick layover in Qatar going to Bangkok (1 hour), and were able arrange a 23 hour layover in Qatar on our way back, giving us the opportunity to explore a new country.

Flying around Thailand:

-Bangkok->Chiang Mai $22 usd/ea.

-Chiang Mai-> Phuket $60 usd/ea.

-Phuket ->Bangkok $40usd/ea.

-Tuk tuks: Most of them are a scam. We rode 1, realized we were being scammed, and threw the guys 50 baht and left before he took us to a bunch of stores that are trying to sell us stuff. They will tell you that its your lucky day because the government subsidized tuk tuks and its only 30 baht to be taken to all these cool places

Taxis: DO NOT get in a taxi unless they put the meter on. The drivers know you are foreign and will give you an overpriced estimate that seems equivalent to what you would pay in your home country, however, things are CHEAPER in Thailand. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS tell them you want the meter or no business. I can't tell you how many times they tried to give us a 300 baht ($10usd) estimate and then we told them meter and it would only come out to $5usd.

Bangkok

Should I spend time in Bangkok?

-You will most likely fly into Bangkok because its their biggest international airhub. If you have the time in your trip, I would recommend staying a night or two just to experience it. If you’re short on time, I would definitely recommend Chaing Mai and Phuket over Bangkok.

-Bangkok is a BUSY BUSY BUSY city. I would NOT recommend renting a vehicle (motorcycle or rental car here) motor bikes flying all over the place, traffic, etc. etc.

Use BTS instead. (Bangkok metro)

-CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP.

-I would NOT recommend Bangkok for a family vacation especially with little kids. Kind of a crazy city filled with ping pong shows(look it up if you don’t know), prostitutes and ladyboys at night. Crazy night life, but worth taking a look.

-Motorcycle taxi: Must try if you are adventurous. 50-100baht. They're the motorcycle drivers with the orange vest on. Wave one down and ask how much. Most of them speak fairly good English, but make sure you reason a price out before getting on. One of them actually put the both of us on the back of one. One hell of a life experience!

What we wished we had done: floating market (Will take most of your day to get there, experience, and come back) We’ve heard great things and a typical Thailand adventure.

Old Bike Inn ($35/night) : Stunning breakfast included (picture). The best breakfast we had in Thailand. Introduced us to new Thai foods that we are able to enjoy without fear for the rest of the trip. Hotel gives free access to use their old fashion bikes to tour the city and gives complimentary bike tours on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays.

http://www.oldcapitalbkk.com/

Royal Pavillion Mahajetsadabadin:

This wasn't that great of an attraction, but it was about 1 min walking distance from our hotel. Be careful of the guy trying to get you a good deal on a tuk tuk.... Trust me. Its not a good deal. They are trying to scam you.

Wat Suthat Thepwararam

There are SO MANY temples around Thailand. This was one of our first and was a great place for photo ops, but toward the end of our time, seeing ANOTHER temple wasn't something we were excited about

Giant swing:

We did a lot of walking in Bankok because we didn't have a scooter and we didn't want to get ripped off by Tuk tuks so we passed a lot of cool things on the way to some destinations. For example this swing. I don't anything about it, but I thought it was a cool photo op. Apparently there used to be a swing that hung from the top.

-Temple of Emerald Buddha

Giant reclining buddha

Pretty self explanatory

Khao San Road: Party party party central!

HUGE party scene with people from all over the world. A lot of night clubs, bars, street food, thai massages, and more. We only went one night for a short amount of time, and we had wished we had enough time to go back again.

Wat Arun: Beautiful temple (being worked on currently and may need a taxi to get there. Stunning temple, quite small, cool photo op to dress in traditional thai outfit (seen below) for 100 baht.= $4usd. There was a Mens option as well, but it didn't inrigue my husband very much lol.

Nana Plaza- worlds largest adult playground

Famous for its "under the table prostitution" and ladyboys. Personally, we did not really enjoy it. Its a bunch of strip clubs with some really young girls, and you would sometimes see old men going in and "picking a girl out" for the night. We weren't excited about the experince, but we did want to see it with our own eyes to believe it.

Skybar

Extreme rip off. Yes, the views are gorgeous, especially during the sunset, but drinks are about $30 usd each and in my opinion, no view is good enough for that kind of money. We went up there, saw the prices, made sure to get a picture, and left without buying anything. We felt kind of bad, but I'm sure its quite common? Just a heads up though, there is a proper dress code to enter.

Chiang Mai:

Rent a scooter! Cheap (150 baht/vehicle/day= $5usd) –take before pictures of the scooter to avoid getting ripped off when you return it! Scooters are the real way to get around. They are the main way of transportation in Thailand, and it is MUCH easier to get around with them compared to a car, not to mention they are also really fun. No motorcycle licence required HOWEVER the thai police do pull scooters over quite frequently to get money from tourists who don't obtain an international drivers licence before coming over. Therefore, I 100% recommend purchasing one before coming if you plan to ride a scooter or rent a vehicle. It's only about $25 usd and requires little effort. I even had a picture of mine, but didn't physically bring it with me, and they wouldn't even look at it. They fined us 500 baht each ($30usd total ) for not having it, but don't be afraid to even bargain with police there too. We told them we only had 800 baht on us and they took it anyway. If you do get a ticket be sure to save it. We were pulled over 3 other times by police looking to get more money from us and showed that we had already been ticketed and they let us go.

Wat chedi luang: One of the most common attractions on Chiang Mai. So stunning. Definitely recommend!

Patara Elephant Farm

One of the more expensive elephant adventures. But I would say definitely worth it. ($170 USD/ea.) If you are looking at Elephant sanctuaries, do some research on the ethical nature of the farm. There are lot of businesses that are unethically use the elephants as tourist attractions to make money. Riding the elephants can be pretty controversial (especially with the chairs on the back). Patara had great reviews and they do let you ride on the elephants but you do it bareback. This is supposedly more ethical. We weren’t sure what to believe, but were very impressed with the whole experience. $170 gets you picked up from your hotel, a ride to the sanctuary, lunch an elaborate on of typical thai finger foods), you're assigned to an elephant that you bond with, clean off, wash off in the water, ride bareback, go for a swim with, and beautifully taken high quality photos of your whole adventure (free downloads). We didn't post photos of us riding on the elephants on facebook just to avoid being criticized for it.

http://www.pataraelephantfarm.com/

Asia Scenic cooking class: approx. 1,000 baht ($30 usd) Half day tour.

I read in recommendations that a cooking class was A MUST to do when in Thailand. My husband thought that it would be a waste since we could take one at home and we had done a Thai cooking class in the past, but I booked it anyway and he even said he was really glad that we did it. There are SO MANY cooking classes in all the cities. Do your research on them and look at the reviews. This one included a market tour, cook appetizer, soup, a main dish, and dessert. (5pm-9pm) (And they let you BYOB.)

http://www.asiascenic.com/

Silver temple

Absolutely stunning! Made out of actual Silver. Worth seeing, but just a heads up, only men can go inside the temple.

Monkchat:

Learn how to meditate from a Buddhist monk: 200 baht (approx $10) Silver temple. If I'm being honest, I thought it was going to be a little bit more fun. It's 4 hours long, and first 2 hours is a Q&A session with a buddhist monk to answer any questions about what its like to be a monk and the buddhist religion. I personally really wanted to learn about both and I had a lot of questions, but the monks English was a little hard to understand and he would ramble at some times and lose my interest. However the last 2 hours are used to teach students how to do walking and sitting guided meditation. I walked out feeling an awesome sense of ease, and who else can say they learned how to meditate from a buddhist monk in Thailand?

Catmosphere cat café: Buy a drink or pay 100 baht:

Super unique experience. Worth going if you like cats, and/or are looking for a unique experience that is rare to find in the states.

Wish we went to: The Faces restaurant (we only got to stroll through, but is like eating in the middle of a ancient ruin. (Picture to the left)

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g293917-d10786968-Reviews-The_FACES_Gallery_Gastro_Bar-Chiang_Mai.html

Dental Work: Elite smile

I know it sounds crazy risky to get dental work done in a country like Thailand, (everyone thought we were crazy) However, my husband was told he had 17 cavities when he had his teeth checked in the US, and there was no way we could afford to get them all filled in the US. Therefore we did our research and found this clinic with good reviews. They were extremely professional, the dentist spoke very good English and it was the nicest dental office I have ever been in. They did a great job on his teeth and filled 15 cavities for $500usd.

Blues Bar :

Popular place among younger-ish crowd. Worth stopping by, but almost american-like experience and almost always packed every night so be prepared to possibly stand.

Wiang Kum Kam (We did not go but I think it would be worth looking into.

FashionKing Tailors: Custom suit +6 shirts $300usd

You will be approached by SO MANY salesman trying to get you into their store to get a custom fit suit. Since we wanted to make sure the quality would last and we wanted to go to someone who was recommended, we chose Fashion King Tailors because of their great reviews on TripAdvisor. (5 stars, 54 reviews) Frank, the owner, truly made my husband feel like a king, was extremely friendly and professional. Dont expect to get the same deal we did because we actually got him to come down quite a bit because we had visited the store 3 times during their open store hours and no one was there. Frank was a man that really cares about his customers and his customer reviews. I would highly recommend it. They also keep all of your custom measurements on file so that if you ever need another suit or custom fitted shirt in the future, he will make it and ship it to anywhere in the world.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g293917-d6366995-Reviews-Fashion_King_Chiang_Mai-Chiang_Mai.html

Moncham:

Highly recommended!!!! This was recommended to us from another couple we met on our Patara elephant adventure and we are so happy they did. This is another reason why renting scooters is a great idea in Chiang Mai. I DO NOT recommend sharing a scooter with low cc's for this though. It is a trip to the top of a mountain and if your bike doesn't have good power, it will take you forever to get there and your bike will struggle. We took our own bikes and made it up in great time. It takes about 45min-1hour to get to the top, but make time to make stops because the scenery going up is stunning and there are a lot of tree cafes and such that are worth stopping and getting a smoothie at.Once you get to the top, there is a restaurant where you can sit and eat in little huts overlooking the gorgeous views. We went on a cloudy day and the views were still 100% worth it.

Night markets The markets in Thailand are out of this world and nothing like anything you've ever seen before.

Night Bazaar Place Chiang Mai- every night, hundreds of vendors turn the streets into a giant market. Anything and everything sold here including, knock off makeup, bags, and shoes to thai clothing etc. Everything you can possibly imagine. Worth going, even more than one time (we did).

Sunday night market: If you can plan your schedule around spending a sunday night in Chiang Mai, I would HIGHLY reccomend it. This market is like nothing you've ever seen before and goes on for MILES AND MILES. Perfect spot for buying souveniers for family and freinds, getting food, or even getting a quick half hour leg and foot massage for $6!

Phuket:

Big Buddha: Take your rental scooter up to see. Beautiful views and scenery. (under construction when we went)

Patong Beach(left picture)- Not for relaxing. Everyone is trying to sell you something every 2 seconds. Tourist trap. It conveniently located at the end of Bangla rd., so if you go for a morning walking on the beach, you will see people sleeping on the beach in last nights clothes, and people who never went to sleep and are still drinking.

Its to see but if you're trying to relax I suggest taking your scooter to Kamala Beach (right picture). Secluded beach with no one to bother you.

Mai Thai boxing: $40USD each:

A little on the expensive side compared to all other things in Thailand, but my husband really wanted to go so we splurged.They have about 5-6 fights for you to watch that start off with young teenage kids and end with the main event. It was a fun experience, but a little over rated for my liking, but I'm also not a super fan of boxing or any type of fighting.

Bangla rd (Half naked women, ping pong shows, and partying)

We didn't really want to do a lot of partying in Thailand because we wanted to get the most of our time in Thailand and waking up with a hangover didn't sound like a fun vacation for us.

Backpackers hostel:

Because we did splurge on a few things here and there, we decided we we wouldn't mind staying in a hostel to keep expenses low so we could splurge on certain things. We are young and our standards aren't very high, therefore we didn't absolutely hate it. However, the beds were clean and it was a place to sleep, but it was a little "dumpy". What more can you expect for $7 a night though?

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g297930-d2517101-Reviews-Patong_Backpacker_Hostel-Patong_Kathu_Phuket.html

Rented a scooter 250 baht a day went for a scenic drive to Krabi (2.5hr drive) boats that do the same job

Krabi:

4 Islands tour- quick day summary of the islands, but such a tourist trap and there are about 20+ other boats doing the same thing as you. There is no proper "tour" of any sort. We had to wait about 25 minutes in order for them to pull up the boat and load (a bit frustrating that it wasn't ready when you arrive) and from there its just drive to an island and explore on your own for 30 min. If we were to go back, we would just do the John Grey Sea canoe adventure instead.

Railay Beach** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

You can only get to Railay beach via boat. At the end of the Ao Nang beach, you can buy a ticket for about $5usd for a two way trip to Railey beach and back. Be sure to ask when the last boat leaves or else you will have to stay there for the night (there are hotels there so not a big deal) Give yourself at least half a day here so you have time to go around and explore. There are restaurants, bars, hotels, and pathways to other beaches.

AliSea hotel* STUNNING!!! ($30/night)

We found a deal on agoda.com for $30/night and would say that it was our favorite hotel during out entire trip. VERY clean, 2 story hotel room with a 2nd floor outdoor bath tub. I wish we had stayed here longer, but we did want to experience other hotels during our time in Krabi.

-The Cliff Aonang Resort ($30.night found on Agoda.com) 3.5 stars on agoda

This hotel did have a gorgeous view from the pool, BUT we weren't super impressed with the customer service at the front desk, and the cleanliness of the rooms. The rooms are hut style with an outdoor shower and bathroom. Seems romantic, but it we found a cockroach and a centipede climbing all over the bathroom part and didn't enjoy using the bathroom because of it. They were also in the middle of new construction while we were there, so that may bother some people as well.

-Centra by Centara ($35/night agoda.com)

**BEAUTIFUL VIEWS and clean/upscale hotel**

Gorgeous hotel. Good hotel if you want to spend the day in the hotel. However, may be a waste if you go out during the day on adventures and just need somewhere to sleep. If we could do it all over again, we would skip the

-John Grey Sea canoe Adventure, Hong by starlight (An american who started a tour business in Thailand when he moved their)

Don't quote me, but I believe this was about $100 each. Yes, very expensive when you consider other tours. However, we splurged for this one because the reviews were excellent and it was our last day in Thailand, and with some other tours, there is a lack of organization and good customer experiences when it comes to a true "tour" (like one you would pay good money for in America) Both my husband and I REALLY enjoyed it, thought it was well worth the money. The tour includes a pick up from your hotel, your own personal tour guide (who is very friendly and speaks great English) Kayaking into secluded lagoons, food, and an extra special lotus flower ceremony. Your tour guide helps you make your own lotus flower float with candles on it and you light it and release it into the water and make a wish as your do it (they pick them up afterward to avoid polluting the land. It was actually really special and beautiful and then they shut all the lights off and you can run your hand in the water and you're able to see

http://www.johngray-seacanoe.com/gallery/hong-by-starlight.html

*For those of you who are looking into an itinerary that includes a trip to James Bond Island, keep in mind that Thailand has these type of rock formations all over. Therefore, if you are a die hard James Bond fan, and you want to see THE James Bond Island than pay the extra money for the trip. However, if you are just looking to see a beautiful giant solitary rock formation that breathtaking, this will be just as good.