This article originally appeared on my old blog, Downunderpirates, in June 2014.
Today I’m finally taking you to amazing Thailand, a place that everyone has to see at least once in its life. Thailand it’s an extremely easy country to travel in. It is South East Asia’s tourist hub and the final gateway to wilder destinations. A cosy country that welcomes you with a sticky hug and lulls you with its wonderful beaches, luxury accommodation, tasty food, bright colours and infinite smiles. Thailand is the perfect destination to have a glimpse of South East Asian lifestyle without behind swallowed by the hard-core frenzy of Vietnam, Cambodia and so on. Here are my tips for a nice backpacker trip to Thailand.
Thailand is the best Country
to start exploring South East Asia
if you’re new to the region
Coming from the challenging journey through Burma, Thailand was like a breath of fresh air for us: Reliable transport system, English speaking people, edible food (even western food sometimes!) lovely accommodations and no open sewage anywhere to be seen!
I know I might sound like a spoiled western tourist that travels around in stilettos and fancy dresses, but trust me, I’m not. After backpacking our way overland through Cambodia and Burma for two months, while also experiencing serious food poisoning along the way, we were a mess and we deserved a break.
We stepped in the northern part of the country as March and the hot season were approaching. Northern Thailand is a lush highland territory, known for its temples-filled cities: Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai; and its backpacker trail of small mountain communities and former hill tribe villages that still populate the border areas.
We embarked in an off road
scooter adventure
with nothing more than
a crayon-written map
of the area as GPS
Pai is a lush playground
for people
in their twenties
The next stop in our northern circuit was backpacker’s paradise and hippy headquarters Pai village. Pai is a (not so) hidden gem of the northern mountains, reachable only with a 4h minibus journey from Chiang Mai. The road is wonderful. Dotted with traditional wooden huts shadowed by lush vegetation. It’s extremely winding as well, and you have good chances of smelling puke on your way into town. If you’re lucky it won’t be yours. We spent four lovely days there, enjoying fellow travellers company again, strolling through night markets (where we ate THE BEST PIZZA in more than one year) and chilled by the pool. Basically it was like a playground for people in their twenties.
From there we moved north again, close to Burma, to have a last glimpse of the hill tribes before heading south for the islands. We explored the surroundings of Tham Lot cave, staying in the charming Cave Lodge, one of the best guesthouses I ever stayed in my life (you can see some pictures here). Despite our best efforts, we didn’t find any other “traditional” tribe. At least not as traditional as the ones that we met in Burma. I fear that in today’s Thailand hill tribes have been exploited for tourism purposes for so long that nowadays they (almost) blurred into modern Thailand.
Thus said, Thai constitution does not consider them as citizens, basically leaving them to themselves without even basic services such as schooling, healthcare, age care and so on. Don’t get me wrong, even if they don’t dress traditionally anymore, they are very interesting people to meet and have a chat with – we spoke with an Akha catholic catechist, that loved Pope Francis almost as Thai whiskey. But please, stay away from all those tourist-trap agencies in Chiang Mai and Chaing Rai that promise to bring you on “hill tribe tours”, often showing you the Padaung -long neck- women in in a very sad, sort of human safari situation. Spoiler: Padaung women are not Thai, they come from Burma EXCLUSIVELY to be exploited in the tourism industry. Please stay away.
In Krabi we assisted to our first
family friendly transgender beauty contest
From Pai, we engaged in a 48h trip that involved a minibus and two overnight buses to Krabi. Located on the Adaman sea, Krabi is the heart of a stunning coastline dotted with limestone formations and colourful ocean environment. The final scene of the famous 007 movie “The Man with a Golden Gun” was actually shoot here. In Krabi, we rested on stunning beaches that you can see here and went island hopping, experiencing the stark difference between westerner and Thai habits when on a boat trip. Thai do swim (with “swimming” I mean floating around in life vests and snorkelling gear) FULLY clothed. Which involves sitting on the boat all dripping wet. For them, a darker tone of skin is not desirable, so they make sure that even their hands and face (the only exposed body parts) are abundantly covered in SPF 90 or something. At the same time the few westerners that were with us lied bare skin on the prow of the long tail boat, sunbathing carelessly.
Diving in Ko Lanta was
one of the highlights of my life
From Krabi, where we happily assisted to our first family friendly transgender beauty contest, Miss Krabi, we moved south to Ko Lanta, which didn’t really stand out for us. Anyway, we got the change to dive here. It was my first dive! There’s no words to explain how great it was. I’m pretty claustrophobic by nature and the idea of going 12 meters underwater didn’t really excite me, but guys, it was seriously one of the highlights of my life. Never mind if the day after I was so sick that I thought I caught Dengue fever. The corals and the fish that we saw were as flashy as the ones that you can see on a National Geographic issue. Underwater it’s full of life, and crazy creatures and Co2 bubbles that float around. It was just perfect. Ten thousand times better than the poor Great Barrier Reef in Australia, that is now sadly greyish and dying. Not to mention that Australian Pacific waters are freaking cold even with a thick full sleeves wet suit. In Thailand you can dive comfortably with a short sleeved suit. Or even in your bikini if you’re called Sarah and you are a dive instructor coming from the UK, and therefore laughing in the face of anything warmer of the North Sea.
Ko Phangan is more than
anyone in their twenties
may ask for a holiday
From there, we finally got to our last beach destination, the ultimate backpackers paradise, the hippiest party island on planet earth, home of the infamous Full Moon Party that every month brings something like 200.000 people to the biggest beach party of the world: Ko Phangan. That place is legit. Way, way, way cheaper that Ibizia, Mykonos or whatever in Europe we consider a party island, Ko Phangan kicks ass. The good thing about it, is that it actually gets rid of the 200.000 clubbers as soon as the morning comes. Leaving the island to the quiet paradise that it is for the rest 29 days of the month. We decided to avoid the Full Moon Party, mostly because accommodation prices in those days raise even three times more than usual, and because going as a couple to a massive rave party didn’t seem to fit. But I’m definitely ready to get back as soon as some of my friends will want to. Ko Phangan is fun.
The mix between some of the most beautiful beaches I ever
From there on, our beach time was over, and our
Want more?
Browse my Thailand Photogalleries:
NORTHERN THAILAND
THAILAND BEACHES
BUSTLING BANGKOK
Hello people!
My name is Sabrina, and I'm a pirate.
As such, I usually travel a lot and don't have a fixed adress. Not for long at least. So here you are, welcome to my home, the one that follows me around the globe.