Thailand runs on early starts. Here is what to book first.
Which Phi Phi boat leaves before the fleet. What a Chiang Mai cooking class really costs. Reviews of every tour you can book in Thailand.
The four bookings a first Thai trip hangs off.
A market before dawn, a wok in Chiang Mai, the Grand Palace and a longtail out of Krabi. What each one costs, and what the people who took it say.
01The five o’clock oneDamnoen Saduak Market and Maeklong Railway MarketDamnoen Saduak trades from paddle boats at first light, and the Maeklong stalls fold away as the train comes through. Both are finished by lunch.
02The cool hoursGrand Palace, Wat Pho, and Wat Arun Guided TourGrand Palace, Wat Pho and Wat Arun on one walk. Shoulders and knees covered, and go before the marble gets hot.
03The day up northElephant Sanctuary, Waterfall & Bamboo RaftingFeeding, mud and a river bath at a sanctuary outside Chiang Mai, with a waterfall and a bamboo raft attached.
04The Andaman boatPremium 4-Island Day Trip by Longtail Boat with LunchFour islands out of Krabi by longtail, lunch on the sand. The day the rest of the trip gets planned around.
Longtail, speedboat or big boat. In Thailand the hull decides the day.
On either coast the good day starts at a jetty. Four kinds of boat day, what it costs to get on board, and which base each one runs from.
Bangkok: temples before ten, markets before that, food after dark.
Everything in Bangkok →
The city rewards a plan built around the heat. River temples in the cool hours, the market run before sunrise, and Yaowarat once the woks are lit. These three carry more travellers than anything else in Bangkok.
Grand Palace, Wat Pho, Wat Arun
Three sites on one walk, the reclining Buddha in the middle and the ferry across to Wat Arun at the end. Cover shoulders and knees or you will be renting a shirt at the gate.
Damnoen Saduak and the railway market
Fruit, charcoal burners and noodle pots sold over the side of a paddle boat, then the Maeklong awnings coming down as the 08:30 train pushes through the stalls.
Chinatown by tuk-tuk, plate by plate
Yaowarat once the grills are out, hopping between stalls by tuk-tuk. Fifteen or so tastings, and somebody who knows which queue is worth standing in.
The days out more travellers take than anything else in Thailand.
Every Thai tour we have reviewed →The country’s most-taken days, priced, with the one thing worth knowing about each.
1
Damnoen Saduak Market and Maeklong Railway Market
Travel from Bangkok to Maeklong Railway Market, where stalls clear the tracks for passing trains, then reach Damnoen Saduak by paddleboat. Guides such as Patty, Pooh, Phu, and Aekaphol explain the markets, manage meeting times, and leave you time to shop and eat.
From · $25
Read our review →
2
Half-Day Thai Cooking Class at Organic Farm in Chiang Mai
from $29
3
The Old Siam: Damnoen Saduak and Maeklong Railway Market
from $32
4
Ayutthaya Temples Guided Tour with Lunch
from $28
5
Train Market & Floating Market with Boat Ride
from $25
6
Elephant Sanctuary, Waterfall & Bamboo Rafting
from $60
7
Ayutthaya & Ayothaya Floating Market Day Trip
from $48
8
Bangkok Canal Tour: 2-Hour Longtail Boat Ride
from $37
Bangkok first, then choose a coast or the north.
A capital that eats at midnight, a moated city under Doi Suthep, two Andaman bases within a boat ride of the same limestone, and the Gulf islands on the far side of the isthmus. Six places to sleep, and the best day out from each.
South of the isthmus, your month decides which sea you swim in.
The Andaman side gives you limestone stacks, emerald water and the Phi Phi run, and it takes the rain from May. The Gulf gives you Ang Thong, calmer crossings and a wet season that arrives in October instead. Pick the coast that fits your dates, then pick the boat.
Chiang Mai is where Thailand slows down and starts cooking.
A moated old town of teak temples, an elephant valley an hour out, hill roads up to Doi Inthanon, and more cooking schools than any city this size has business having. Mornings are for the market and the wok, afternoons for the mountain.
Every Chiang Mai day out →
Half of Thailand happens at a wok, a charcoal grill or a boat full of fruit.
Take the market walk in the cool hour, the class that finishes as lunch, and one night in Chinatown with somebody who knows the stalls.
What a day out in Thailand actually costs.
Every tour on the site, grouped by what you pay. A great many of the best Thai days come in under the fare from the airport.
Temple walks, market runs, cooking classes and the standard longtail day trips.
Full days on the water, sanctuaries with transfers, Phang Nga Bay by speedboat.
Private guides, chartered boats and the once-a-trip splurges that earn it.
Three things that only happen in Thailand.
Beaches and night markets run the length of Southeast Asia. A retired logging elephant washing in a river, five rounds at Rajadamnern, and a market that trades from paddle boats do not.
The Elephant Sanctuaries
Most of the animals in these valleys worked in logging or trekking camps before the law and the market moved on. A sanctuary day is feeding, mud and a bath in the river, with the riding gone. The ones worth paying for cap the group size and let the elephants walk away from you when they feel like it.
- 1Elephant Sanctuary, Waterfall & Bamboo Rafting★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 9,160 reviews
- 2Elephant Sanctuary & Waterfall Group Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 5,780 reviews
- 3Elephant Sanctuary Feeding Program Half-Day Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 4,527 reviews
Muay Thai at Rajadamnern
Bangkok has two stadiums that matter and Rajadamnern is the older one, fighting since 1945. The undercard starts slow, the crowd starts working the odds around the third round, and the pipe-and-drum band speeds up with the fighters. Ringside puts you close enough to hear the shins land.
- 1Muay Thai Boxing Tickets at Rajadamnern Stadium★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 4,740 reviews
- 2Patong Boxing Stadium Muay Thai Match Ticket★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 2,203 reviews
- 3Phetch Buncha Boxing Stadium Muay Thai Ticket★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 789 reviews
The Floating Markets
Damnoen Saduak sits ninety minutes west of Bangkok and trades from paddle boats at first light: mango, pomelo, charcoal burners, noodles cooked over the gunwale. Arrive before the coaches and the canal still belongs to the people selling from it.
- 1Damnoen Saduak Market and Maeklong Railway Market★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 26,723 reviews
- 2The Old Siam: Damnoen Saduak and Maeklong Railway Market★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 10,992 reviews
- 3Train Market & Floating Market with Boat Ride★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 9,547 reviews
Four Thai bookings that will not wait.
Most of this country can be arranged at a guesthouse desk the night before. These four run on dress codes, closed seasons, dawn tides and fight nights that take no interest in when your flight lands.
- 01Grand Palace, Wat Pho, and Wat Arun Guided TourThe last entry is mid-afternoon and the dress code is enforced at the gate. Royal ceremonies close the grounds at short notice.
- 02Phi Phi Islands and Maya Bay Day Trip with LunchMaya Bay shuts to visitors through the low season and boats moor at the back to walk you in. Daily numbers are capped.
- 03Damnoen Saduak Market and Maeklong Railway MarketThe canal trades at dawn. Leave Bangkok at five or you arrive to souvenir stalls.
- 04Muay Thai Boxing Tickets at Rajadamnern StadiumFights run on set nights only, and the ringside rows go long before the walk-up queue forms.
The monsoon does not cancel Thailand. It moves the afternoon indoors.
From May the Andaman coast takes afternoon squalls and red flags on the beaches; the Gulf has its turn from October. Neither runs all day. Put the boat in the morning and keep the afternoon for a kitchen, a market hall, a massage table or a temple with a roof on it.
By place, capital to islands
By kind of day, boat, temple, kitchen or ring
Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Krabi, Phi Phi: the run almost everybody does first.
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