It’s been just over 3 years since the beginning of an amazing couple of years of travel in my life. From doing a football stadium tour of Europe, up until spending 2 weeks at the theme parks in Orlando, days before the world went into lockdown. At the beginning of all this was the 2 weeks I spent exploring Thailand with my partner back in February 2018.
Thailand’s popularity has grown massively in recent years and what was once solely a haven for backpackers and nomads alike, is now often thought of as holiday destination for families. Whether you are looking to visit Thailand with nothing but a map and the money in your pocket or are looking for a well-planned, luxury holiday, Thailand offers plenty to make it an unforgettable adventure. On our Thailand adventure, we wanted to combine a good mix of culture, nature and relaxation (this was a holiday after all!).
I’m going to split the recap of our trip into 3 individual posts, focusing on each area of Thailand we stayed in as each were so different from one another, but for now, below is just an overview of where we visited and what we did there. Hopefully this can serve as useful inspiration for anyone planning their trip to Thailand (when the world is back to normal of course!).
We spent 4 nights in Bangkok and made it our initial stop on our adventure. Bangkok is really easy to fly in and out of with regular flights from across the globe, we flew from Manchester, with a short stopover in Dubai along the way. We were really eager to visit Bangkok as it is one of the most renowned cities in the world and has much to see and do.
Bangkok is easily the craziest city I’ve ever visited! From the bustling markets packed with people and animals, the chaos on the streets with thousands of Tuk-Tuks at rush hour to the tranquillity and serenity of the temples scattered around the city, it’s hard not to be awed by the contrasting environments. Seeing something as simple as seeing a group of monks walking down the street makes Bangkok is a fantastic destination to grasp the culture of Thailand first-hand.
After a hectic 4 nights in Bangkok, we travelled south west to Khao Lak. Khao Lak is a series a villages in the Takua Pa District and is around an hour and half’s drive from Phuket. Khao Lak is the coastal area which was hit hardest by the Indian Ocean tsunami back in 2004. Whilst it’s infrastructure and economy have recovered, there are still stark reminders in the Khao Lak of the devastation and destruction the tsunami caused in the region.
During our time at Khao Lak, we visited the local national park, went on a snorkelling excursion to the Similan Islands and even visited a sea turtle sanctuary. The resting and relaxation we had in Khao Lak was a welcome break from the chaos we’d just come from in Bangkok!
Ko Lanta
We rounded our Thailand adventure off with a further 5 nights in Ko Lanta, an island off the west coast of Thailand. Ko Lanta is a tiny little island, only 25km long by 6km wide and was the most stripped back of all places we visited in Thailand, with very few paved roads and limited commercial development.
Due to its small size and lack of development, the island is only accessible via ferries at the northern tip of the island. Despite its size, we found so much to do on Ko Lanta! From exploring a mangrove forest via long-tail boat to getting attacked by a monkey over a pack of Pringles (funny story which I will try to explain in more detail!), Ko Lanta was again a nice change of pace from the two other places we visited.
Like I mentioned above, I will be going into more depth on each individual location with specific posts for each, providing tips and things to do to make your next trip to Thailand as unforgettable as ours!
Have you visited Thailand before, or are you thinking about visiting once the pandemic is over? Let me know in the comments!
chazzabrown 
Such beautiful photos and great memories 🙂 have a great weekend and cheers from Portugal, PedroL
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Thank you! Hope you have a great weekend too 😀
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Thanks 🙂 PedroL
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I’m planning my first visit to Thailand (and SE Asia) for January if everything goes well. It’s been delayed several times for obvious reasons, but this just makes me want to get there even more!
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Thank you for your kind words. We were only in Thailand for just over 2 weeks but we couldn’t get enough of it! We’re hoping to head back out to SE Asia at some point later next year, barring no more restrictions! Fingers crossed all goes well for your trip in January!
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