Thailand
The Best Places to Visit in Thailand
This is not everything in Thailand. It is the 70 places we would put our name beside, region by region, with an honest note on the season and the crowds for each — including the months we would tell you to go somewhere else.
Thailand becomes far easier to plan once you stop treating it as one destination and start treating it as six. Bangkok is a country of its own. The central plain holds the ruined capitals and the war history. The north is Lanna — cooler, mountainous, and still making things by hand. Isan is Khmer stone and the Mekong. And then there are two coasts, facing two different seas.
That last point is the single most useful planning fact about the country. The Andaman and the Gulf run on opposite monsoon cycles, so when one coast is wet the other is usually settled. There is a good coast in Thailand almost every month of the year, which means the question is rarely whether to come, but which side of the peninsula to be on when you do.
What follows is the register we work from — 70 places across the six regions, in the order we would read them.
Where to Start
How to Choose
- A first visit
- Bangkok for three or four nights, then one coast. Do not try to hold both seas in one fortnight. Bangkok
- Culture and ruins
- The central plain for Ayutthaya and Sukhothai; Isan for the Khmer sanctuaries almost nobody else reaches. Central ThailandIsan
- Mountains and craft
- The north, based on Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai, with the mountain roads driven rather than rushed. Northern Thailand
- Diving
- The Gulf around Koh Tao for warm, forgiving water most of the year; the Similans for the clearest visibility, in season. The Gulf Islands
- Quiet luxury
- Koh Yao Noi, in the middle of Phang Nga Bay and receiving almost none of its traffic. It works best at the end of a journey rather than the start. The Andaman Coast
Bangkok
The capital, and the only city in Thailand where a royal temple, a canal village and a street kitchen worth crossing town for sit within one river crossing of each other.
12 places
Also worth the time
- Jim Thompson House Bangkok The interior is seen on a guided round rather than alone. We book the earliest one.
- Wat Saket The Golden Mount Bangkok
- Wat Ratchanatdaram Loha Prasat Bangkok
- Chatuchak Weekend Market Bangkok Weekends only, and hot by the middle of the day. We are out before noon.
- Bang Krachao The Green Lung Phra Pradaeng, Samut Prakan
- Wat Benchamabophit The Marble Temple Bangkok
Central Thailand
The ruined capitals, the river and the war history — the deepest concentration of Thai heritage in the country, and all of it within a morning of Bangkok.
12 places
Also worth the time
- Si Satchanalai Sukhothai UNESCO World Heritage, inscribed 1991
- Hellfire Pass Kanchanaburi The trail is steep in places and returns uphill in heat. We walk it early, with water, and turn back wherever is right.
- Khao Yai Wine Country Pak Chong, Nakhon Ratchasima
- Kaeng Krachan National Park Phetchaburi UNESCO World Heritage, inscribed 2021 Sections of the upper mountain road close for part of the green season. We confirm the dates before a morning up there goes into a plan.
- Amphawa Floating Market Samut Songkhram
- Lopburi Lopburi Do not feed the macaques, and carry nothing loose — sunglasses, phones and bags go away before you step out of the car.
Northern Thailand
Lanna: cool mountain air, walled cities, and craft traditions that are still practised rather than performed.
13 places
Also worth the time
- Wat Chedi Luang Chiang Mai
- Baan Dam The Black House Nang Lae, Chiang Rai The collection is unsettling by design. It is not a visit for every traveller, and we will say so before it goes into a journey.
- Pai Mae Hong Son
- Nan Nan
- Lampang Lampang
- Bua Thong Sticky Waterfalls Mae Taeng, Chiang Mai
Isan & the Northeast
Khmer sandstone older than Angkor Wat, the Mekong along the whole eastern edge, and the emptiest great sites in the Kingdom.
9 places
Also worth the time
- Pha Taem National Park Ubon Ratchathani
- Sala Keoku Nong Khai
- Khong Chiam Ubon Ratchathani
- Ubon Ratchathani Candle Festival Ubon Ratchathani The city fills and rooms go months ahead — the one thing here we cannot improvise.
The Andaman Coast
The western sea — limestone karsts, the clearest diving water in Thailand, and the islands most people are picturing before they arrive.
14 places
Also worth the time
- The Surin Islands Phang Nga The park closes 15 May to 15 October, as the Similans do. We plan around it.
- Big Buddha Phuket Phuket Shoulders and knees covered. Wraps are lent at the top, but arriving dressed is better.
- Tiger Cave Temple Wat Tham Suea Krabi Twelve hundred uneven steps, no shade and no way to shorten it. We start at first light or we do not start.
- Emerald Pool & Hot Springs Khlong Thom, Krabi
- Koh Lanta Krabi Much of the island closes from May to October and the crossings become weather-dependent. We are frank about which months are worth it.
- The Trang Islands Trang The cave swim is done in darkness on a line and is not for everyone. There is no shame in staying on the boat, and we plan for both.
- Koh Lipe & Tarutao Satun The Tarutao park islands close mid-May to mid-October. Lipe stays open, but the crossing depends on the weather.
The Gulf Islands & the East
The eastern sea, on the opposite monsoon — marine parks, the country’s gentlest diving, and the coast Bangkok tends to keep for itself.
10 places
Also worth the time
- Wat Phra Yai Big Buddha, Samui Koh Samui Shoulders and knees covered; a wrap is enough.
- Na Muang Waterfalls Koh Samui Elephant camps on this road offer rides. We route around them.
- Koh Chang Trat
- Chumphon Chumphon
Season
When to Go
The two coasts are on opposite monsoons, and that is what makes Thailand a year-round country rather than a seasonal one. The Andaman — Phuket, Krabi, Phang Nga, the Similans — is at its most settled from roughly November to April. The Gulf runs the other way: its wettest stretch is October into December, and it holds its best water through the middle of the year, when the Andaman does not. If your dates are fixed, the coast is usually the thing that should move.
Inland, the north has one honest caveat. February to April is burning season, when agricultural smoke settles into the valleys and the long views from the mountain temples can disappear for days at a time. We will tell you that before you book rather than at the viewpoint.
Closures we plan around
- Maya Bay closes every year from 1 August to 30 September so the reef can recover. The wider Phi Phi islands stay open.
- The Similan and Surin national parks close from 15 May to 15 October. Diving days there are planned outside that window.
- Five of Thailand’s eight UNESCO World Heritage sites sit on this page: Ayutthaya and Sukhothai (both 1991), Ban Chiang (1992), Khao Yai within the Dong Phayayen forest complex (2005), and Kaeng Krachan (2021).
Questions
What Travellers Ask
What are the best places to visit in Thailand?
Bangkok, Ayutthaya, Chiang Mai and its mountain temples, Phang Nga Bay and Sukhothai are the places most first journeys are built around. Beyond them we would put Khao Sok, the Khmer sanctuaries at Phanom Rung and Phimai, and Koh Yao Noi for the quiet. The register on this page holds sixty-nine places across six regions, and every one of them is somewhere we have taken travellers ourselves.
How many days do you need in Thailand?
Ten to fourteen days is the length that works for a first journey. That is long enough for Bangkok, one inland region and one coast without packing a bag every second morning. A week can still be done well if you hold it to two places. Three weeks opens up Isan, the Mae Hong Son loop or a second coast, and is the point at which the country stops reading as a list of highlights.
When is the best time to visit Thailand?
November to February is the most reliable window nationwide — drier, cooler and clear on both coasts. Because the Andaman and the Gulf sit on opposite monsoon cycles, though, there is a good coast almost year-round: the Andaman is at its calmest from roughly November to April, while the Gulf is at its wettest from October into December. In the north, February to April is burning season, and we would rather say so than sell you the view.
Which is better, the Andaman coast or the Gulf islands?
Neither is better; they are seasonal opposites, and your dates usually decide it. The Andaman has the more dramatic landscape — the karsts of Phang Nga Bay, Railay, the Similans — and is at its best from November to April. The Gulf is gentler and easier to swim from, with the most forgiving diving in the country around Koh Tao, and it holds up through the middle of the year when the Andaman does not.
Begin Your Journey
Which of These Is Yours?
Tell us your dates and roughly what moves you, and we will tell you honestly which of these places belong in the journey and which are better left for another year.