written by Fabio Brunello
Thailand trip
Hey, how are you doing? Did you know that I moved to Phuket in August?”
“Truly?!? So, let us come and see you!”
Our trip to Thailand was born out of the excuse of meeting up with an old friend. This excuse led us to discover a fascinating country, unique in its synthesis of different cultures.
As we did not know much about Thailand at the time, our first stops were the library, the bookstore, and YouTube to learn more and decide on an itinerary.
We will have only ten days for the whole trip, including intercontinental travel, taking advantage of the children’s holidays (10 and 12 years old). After checking everyone’s preferences, we divided the trip into culture, nature, and beach.
We spent a day and a half in Bangkok, concentrating on visiting the historical part; we would have needed another day to experience modern Bangkok as well.
2 days in Bangkok
We arrive in the afternoon, and after taking the train from the airport and checking in at the hotel, we are immediately out for a walk to take advantage of the time available and get used to the local time zone.
The first stop is Khaosan Road, a maze of very touristy narrow streets full of Westerners, but which allows a passage between European and Thai life. On this street there are dozens of shops, mainly restaurants, massage parlours, boozy night clubs, marijuana shops, and souvenir shops, to which are added dozens of itinerant stalls primarily selling local foods and fruits, but also oddities such as scorpions and crocodile skewers, which are more successful as souvenir photos than as food (fortunately!).
We tasted our first pad Thai (rice noodles with vegetables and meat or fish), which will be my favourite dish. We had the first Thai massage for my wife Elisabetta and a foot massage for me: the massages cost negligible (5/6 euros for 30 minutes). Therefore, they will become a desired daily routine during this stay!
The following day is dedicated to the monuments: We start from the National Museum, where an excellent guided tour (free, in French or in English) provides a complete overview of the Siamese civilization of the last millennia.
Bangkok temples
Then, we see the complex of Buddhist Temples of Wat Arun – lying on the river and very scenic – and Wat Pho, where there is the enormous statue of the reclining Buddha, over forty meters long, contained in a temple too small for the tonnage of this statue! It seems that the monks of Wat Pho have invented the traditional Thai massage, so we do not miss the opportunity to have one directly in the school within the sacred perimeter.
There are many other temples in Bangkok. We would have liked to visit the royal palace with the Emerald Buddha, but we are a bit tired from the heat, and the call to the hotel swimming pool is like the song of the siren…
In the evening, we went to Chinatown, but it did not impress us much compared to other Chinese neighbourhoods in big cities.
Useful links:
Some of the places described above can be visited with guided tours.
- Bangkok Day Tour: Wat Pho, Wat Arun, Grand Palace and Emerald Buddha*
- Classic Bangkok One-Day Tour, Maeklong Railway and Damnoen Saduak Floating Market*
- Grand Palace and Emerald Buddha Walking Half-Day Tour*
Khao Sok National Park
The “nature” stage is at the Khao Sok National Park, in the middle of the country’s Southern landmass. We arrived after a short internal flight to Surat Thani and a few hours of car travel.
On the website of Khao Sok National Park, we find the following statement: “Khao Sok National Park in Southern Thailand is an amazing place. It is covered by the oldest evergreen rainforest in the world, huge limestone mountains shooting straight up in the air, deep valleys, breathtaking lakes, exciting caves, wild animals and much more”.
A brief history of this park: at the beginning of the twentieth century, it was an area with strong demographic growth, like many others. However, an epidemic decimated a significant part of the population, and the remainder moved elsewhere. Thus, nature regained the upper hand, and in the 1930s, the national park was established. The second major event was the construction of a big dam, with the consequent flooding of the park’s large area. These events have created a lush jungle and stunning lake landscape with plenty of native plants and animals.
We stayed in a tree house, and in the morning, we had breakfast while watching the monkeys play a few steps away, jumping from one branch to another: beautiful!
With a visit to the jungle and a boat trip
Mr Tee, the owner of our Khao Sok Nature Resort, organizes excursions for us at fixed prices throughout the park.
We venture into the jungle on foot: the route is simple, but never let a tiger sneak out! The guide makes us appreciate many small animals that we would not have spotted alone, from lizards with wings to spiders.
Dinner is a great moment because it is based on a bamboo theme. 
The guide cuts a couple of these trees and with a few skilful moves transforms them into our plates and glasses; the dinner, based on chicken and vegetables, is cooked inside bamboo trunks, on a bonfire made from … bamboo wood, of course! It was among the most delicious meals of the entire holiday.
Even the return from the walk is a small adventure because it takes place in the dark, illuminated only by the headlamps. The emotion of the silence of the jungle, combined with the loud and frightened heartbeats of my better half, make the atmosphere unique.
On the other hand, our second day is entirely on the Cheow Lan Lake, where the typical “long-tailed” boat takes us for a stroll between a visit to a cave, a walk in the jungle, and a short kayak trip.
On the other hand, our second day is entirely on the Cheow Lan Lake, where the typical “long-tailed” boat takes us for a stroll between a visit to a cave, a walk in the jungle, and a short kayak trip.
The true beauty, however, is in the landscape: rocky spurs and inlets sink vertically into the lake’s green water, creating breathtaking landscapes.
Useful links:
Phuket Island
The final leg of our journey was at Phuket, the largest island in Thailand, which sits on the Andaman Sea. It was one of the first places discovered by mass tourism, which brought significant urbanization and related problems. However, there are still some fantastic beaches and the possibility of enjoying a relaxing stay. Surin Beach deserves a mention among the beaches visited. It is pretty, where we alternated swimming, sumptuous lunches from the stalls by the sea, and massages cheered by a pleasant breeze: a true paradise.
With my friend (do you remember the initial phone call?!) and their respective families, we organised an outing to the Phi Phi Islands, about an hour away by speed boat. Although they are very touristy places, some beaches are gorgeous (Maya Bay, above all), and the bottom of the sea can be admired even with a simple snorkel mask.
Useful links
- Surin Islands Speed Boat Tour by Love Andaman*
- Phi Phi, Maya Area, Khai & Bamboo Island Day Trip from Phuket*
- Phi Phi, Monkey Beach and Bamboo Island Snorkeling Day Trip from Krabi*
Thai cuisine
I cannot finish without talking about Thai cuisine: it was a real delight. For ten days, we ate only local dishes, and everyone—including the children—fell in love with it.
*Small tip: the various street vendors sell, on average, products of excellent taste at ridiculously low prices, so there is no need to go to big restaurants.
Thailand is truly a pleasant discovery!
Fabio
Other stories by Fabio Brunello
I also encourage you to read other stories written by Fabio, published on the PlanMyTravel Blog:
- Kazakhstan – the country of the wind
- Krakow and Lesser Poland
- Transylvania and Bucharest: visiting Count Dracula
*Links to the offer from Klook are affiliates