Thailand: From beaches of Phuket to temples of Bangkok and Ayutthaya ruins
Over the years Thailand has established the high standard for Southeast Asia vacations. It doesn’t matter if you are a budget backpacker or a luxury fan you will be able to find your ideal vacation there. Because of its rich history Thailand offers great variety of sights — historic temples, castles and buildings — all while having some of the most beautiful beaches and nature.
There are several popular destinations:
- Bangkok: Thailand’s capital known for numerous temples, palaces and busy streets. It can be a base for exploring the middle of the country, Ayutthaya, etc.;
- North: Chiang Mai, historic sites, temples, etc.;
- Southwest and islands: Phuket, Krabi, Phi Phi, among the most established tourist areas;
- Southeast and islands: Koh Samui, the next big place to go;
- Eastern Gulf coast: Pattaya, very built up, close to Bangkok.
I’ve had about a week to spend in Thailand and wanted to both check out Bangkok and enjoy the beach. So I’ve decided to fly to Phuket, hang around Phi Phi Islands and finish the trip in Bangkok.
Phuket
Phuket is Thailand’s largest island on the south west coast. It has one of the most popular beaches. In order to get there you fly to Phuket International Airport. Based on the time of the year there are a lot of direct international flights to Phuket, and they are usually very reasonably priced. Alternatively, you can fly to Bangkok airport and catch a short flight to Phuket.
Patong is the largest city on the island and the most urban part of it. It is about an hour ride from the airport. Here you will find the majority of island’s nightlife: bars, clubs, etc. It comes with the price: noise, bustle, and grime.
Overall, you want to decide how important nightlife action is to you. The further you go from Patong, the quieter and less busy it gets. You can always take a quick taxi ride to the city or rent a scooter or a bike.
Thailand is a birthplace of muay thai (thai boxing). It’s a martial art similar to kickboxing but has several distinct elements. It is one of the most popular sports in the country, and each area tends to host regular local competitions at boxing stadiums. I would highly suggest attending it. If you’re in touristy areas (like Phuket), it might not be very authentic and feature international fighters, but one way or another it can be great start for your weekend night.
One of the reasons I wanted to go to Phuket is its proximity to Phi Phi Islands. Phi Phi Islands got famous after the movie The Beach with DiCaprio. It’s been on my list for a while. You can take a tour to one of the biggest islands by a speedboat there from Phuket or Krabi or even stay on one the islands. Once you’ll get it there it feels and looks just like the movie…. Well, except hundreds of tourists everywhere.
Another popular tours from Phuket are Phang Nga Bay, James Bond Island and Coral Island.
Bangkok
From Phuket I took a short flight to Bangkok. The city which never stops: day and night, millions of people in the eclectic mix of old and new, all swamped by the traffic everywhere. It was always a magnet for me with all the stories, adventures and expat lives.
Bangkok has one of the worst traffic situations in the world. The city is investing extensively in the subway and public transit system, but ultimately, the majority of tourist destinations are not covered by it. Uber is very cheap, but you can get stuck anytime anywhere. Tuk tuk (Thai tricycle) is a popular way of transportation since it’s more maneuverable in traffic and narrow streets. Be careful taking it, and make sure to know where you go because there are a lot of stories of tuk tuk drivers taking tourists to remote or wrong places. I’ve ended up taking Uber for long trips, and tuk tuk to cover the short distances during the rush hour.
I’ve stayed at Aloft in Sukhumvit. It’s an area with a lot of big chain hotels, upscale residential buildings, popular restaurants, bars and clubs.
Since some of the taxi and tuk tuk drivers don’t speak English, but like to take advantage of foreigners, the hotel provided all visitors with such flyers. It was a nice gesture.
I’ve called Uber right from the airport to get there. Based on Google Maps, my hotel should be a short 20 minute highway ride. It took some time for driver to arrive to the terminal, and he looked very nervous. Shortly I realized why: he didn’t know the city, and his app’s gps didn’t work for some reason. After missing a couple of ramps onto highway, we went completely wrong way. My phone had only slow connection, but I ended up giving it to him to use for directions. He sweat, he was nervous, kept losing the exits and missing app’s directions. Eventually I had to switch to just command him. His little knowledge of English did not help, and unfortunately I do not speak Thai. We ended up doing huge laps around the city, stuck in traffic a couple of times, but eventually we made it to the hotel. It only took 2 hours. On the positive side, I’ve learned Bangkok’s major highways.
Bangkok is known for its historic landmarks. One of the most famous one is Grand Palace and numerous Buddhist temples and shrines. Try to arrive at Grand Palace as early as possible to beat the midday heat and hundreds of tourist buses, which will swarm the place after 10am. It’s worth noting that in Thai culture men (and not only women) have to cover their legs while attending official places like Grand Palace (even when it’s 100F+ outside with almost 100% humidity). So no shorts or they will turn you around at the gate. Your choice is either to wear pants or buy super cheap light pants (about $5) near the entrance and keep them as a souvenir later.
While every tour guide will point you towards the most famous Buddhist temples in Bangkok (Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Pho, Wat Arun, etc), don’t ignore the smaller ones. Yes, they might not be as rich and colorful, and Buddha statue will be smaller, but you won’t be surrounded by the crowd of tourists. Sometimes it totally pays to walk off the beaten path and get lost in small streets. By virtue of luck I’ve wandered into the small temples, which ended up being connected to fully functioning monasteries, where I observed the new generation of monks studying in the classroom. There was something completely obscure about sitting in the shade of the temple during the day and observing exactly the same thing people were doing there centuries ago.
Ayutthaya
Back in the day, most of the territory of modern Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Burma was a part of Ayutthaya Kingdom. Its capital was Ayutthaya. Their people prospered in trade and agriculture. Over time, Ayutthaya Kingdom got reshaped and changed into Thailand. In 18th century after another war with Burmese kingdom, Ayutthaya got mostly destroyed. Thai king moved the capital to Bangkok, but the ruins of the old city are still there.
When Burmese army attacked Ayutthaya, they’ve cut out most of the Buddha heads. One of them grew into the tree and became the famous picture spot.
Ayutthaya’s architecture is very similar to the Angkor Wat in Cambodia, which I absolutely want to visit now.
In a nutshell
- Thailand is amazing and very reasonably priced.
- The tourist industry there is very mature, and they treat you very professionally.
- At no point I felt unsafe as everybody’s extremely nice and kind.
- When I go next time I want to visit Chiang Mai and Koh Samui, which are the next big beach vacation destinations.
