Top Tourist Destinations in Thailand

When you finally get that long overdue paid vacation, you might find yourself gushing over the many countries you can visit to spend some time off. So many good options, each with its own pros and cons, make the decision making hard. If you were to settle on visiting Thailand – a very popular tourist hotspot – you would find yourself facing various excellent places worth visiting on your visit there.

Not everyone can have the luxury of a vacation as long as they want. And spending every day rushing to some place new is going to end up leaving you more tired than when you first arrived. This is why it’s important that you have a concrete touring plan set up before you even board the flight. Peruse the list of the best places to visit in Thailand below, and come up with a schedule that you stick to like super glue once you’re off

Visiting Multiple Cities and Towns isn’t a Bad Thing; If Done Right

If you plan your visit to Thailand properly, you should have plenty of time to visit more than just one city. On paper, the short flights between the different cities may make it seem like you’d have plenty of time to visit and do everything. But when you factor in security checks, wait times at the airports, and the hassle of finding and booking hotels, you’ll find that you end up trying to do too much and end up doing nothing.

Decide beforehand which cities are worth visiting, and don’t be afraid to limit yourself to a small number of places. You can always plan another vacation to see and do things you missed out the first time, but you can never undo a bad vacation where you overstressed yourself and weren’t able to enjoy anything fully.

The City of Bangkok

The City of Bangkok

Listing a whole city instead of a location inside said city might seem weird, but Bangkok is famous for so many things and such a highly rated tourist spot that it deserves a dedicated trip just for itself. Not only is the food spectacularly good and the shopping top notch all over the city, the whole place is chock full of interesting places to visit. The Grand Palace is easily the highest recommended tourist spot in all of Bangkok if not the entirety of Thailand itself. The palace is a stunning display of human craftsmanship and stunning architectural beauty, and offers a lot to see; from its extravagant grounds to the temples and hallways housed inside.

Chatuchak Market, the Siam Paragon, and Nana Plaza are just some of the gorgeous places you can spend hours upon hours shopping. For a more relaxed evening you can take a boat trip across the Chao Phraya River, get yourself a Thai massage, or watch the sunset over at the Temple of the Dawn. Some people also find just riding the Sky Train across the city a fun and calming use of their time.

Sukhothai Old City

Sukhothai Old City

For those of you interested in history and ancient civilizations, Sukhothai’s Old City – a UNESCO World Heritage site – is a dream come true. The place is absolutely dripping in historical richness, and provides for some fascinating study of ancient relics and ruins. And the Wat Mahathat, made around the 13th Century, is a stunningly pretty place to visit with all the massive Buddha sculptures and other relics around and inside it.

The Town of Pai

The Town of Pai

For more nature-obsessed travelers, the town of Pai would be an excellent destination. The small town is surrounded by dozens of places to trek or hike to and spend the day among mother nature. The whole place gives off strong relaxed vibes and you’ll find the hours slipping away as you slip into an almost dreamlike state where every thing is perfect and you are content with the whole world.

Erawan National Park

Erawan National Park

For a more engaging experience with nature, Erawan National Park has tourists covered. Though known for its magnificent waterfalls, it’s no slouch when it comes to flora and fauna. The trails through the forest are serene and breathtaking, while you also have the chance of running into all manner of animals; including even elephants. The waterfalls of Erawan National Park have seven tiers tourists can climb, with every succeeding tier becoming harder to climb than the previous one. Your efforts are rewarded however; as you will encounter beautiful ponds and pools of water along with caves and swimming pools where fish swim amongst you.

The Khao Sok National Park

 

The Khao Sok National Park

The Khao Sok National Park is so beautiful you could spend a whole month just there and not get tired of it. The drop-dead gorgeous views you would wake up to every morning, and the wildlife you would have the chance to encounter each day, would make the park a place to relax every single muscle in your body. And we haven’t even started on the ziplining, kayaking, trekking, swimming, and other exciting activities you can partake in in this national park.

Ko Phi Phi

Isla Phi Phi Lay

If you thought Thailand was done throwing beautiful places at you, you were very much mistaken. The collection of islands in the Krabi province is like a slice of heaven on Earth. With high cliffs surrounding the luxury hotels and boats, and the sun gently lighting up the many colors of the water at the beach, Ko Phi Phi is as pleasing a place as any. If you want a cushy, dreamy vacation that feels too good to be true, Ko Phi Phi is where you need to be.

Koh Phangan

Koh Phangan

To top off the list, we finally come to the fifth largest island of Thailand: Koh Phangan. If you aren’t getting away from your home country for nature or history, and couldn’t care less about palaces and statues all that “boring” stuff, this island beckons you with open arms and open doors. Simply put, Koh Phangan is Thailand’s ‘party island’. Though Bangkok is also popular for allowing one to indulge themselves in a bit of intimacy, Koh Phangan is where loud drunken parties happen all night long with no guarantees of what might happen.

Of course, that’s not to say the island doesn’t have anything else to offer. If you want to party like crazy but also follow it up with a spot of relaxation, the island has no shortage of beaches, forests, waterfalls, restaurants, and yoga centers to bring yourself the much-coveted inner peace.

Conclusion

And that wraps up the top tourist destinations one can visit on a trip to Thailand. Of course, this list doesn’t even scratch the surface when it comes to all the places you can visit in Thailand. However, if you stick to the plan of ‘fewer equals better’, you’ll come home much more relaxed and satisfied with your trip than you ever thought you would be.