Why you should visit Thailand Part 1!
In this post as you might suggest I’ll be telling you all the reasons why you have to visit The Land of Smiles aka Thailand.
From the green hills of the Northern provinces, the tropical beaches in the South or the busy streets of Bangkok there is something for everyone!
Whether it is your first time visiting the country or your 10th time, Thailand always feels like coming home.
So scroll down further for the first 4 reasons of this 2 part article and learn why Thailand should be your next travel destination!
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1: Nature
Almost everyone has seen the iconic and somewhat generic wallpapers of Thailand’s beaches right?
Huge cliffs rising above the water and stunning beaches you could spend hours at.
Take the most famous one for example: Koh Phi Phi.
A group of islands with huge cliffs, the iconic colourful wooden boats and tropical beaches that makes you drool like crazy, all made popular by the movie: The Beach with Leonardo di Caprio.
Or how about James Bond island, indeed an island that featured in 1 of the James Bond movies and thus became also super popular.
Funny thing is, even though all these islands are insanely popular and hyped up they really deliver!
Which can be said for nearly all natural places in Thailand!
The list is endless.. you can go hiking through the hills and mountains of Chiang Mai, go swimming in the waterfalls around Kanchanaburi or lay yourself down on one of the breathtaking beaches in the South.
And when it comes to beaches the options are once again endless, I’d say it all depends on your preferences and how far you want to travel.
The islands to the east offer the most stunning sights like Koh Tao and Koh Nang yuan but they are also a bit harder to reach.
They are also the ones with the wildest parties and huge amount of backpackers so you’d have to be up for that.
Are you located in Bangkok and you don’t want to travel that far then Hua Hin is a perfect solution!
Rather have a big open island to explore then of course Phuket is your place to be!
Phuket offers you some of the most stunning beaches, temples, outdoor activities and chill villages to reside in!
Best natural attraction has to be Khao Sok though!
A national park located 3 hours away from Phuket.
Jungles, impressive wildlife, a stunning lake with huge limestone cliffs, Khao Sok has it all!
And last but not least some very charming accommodations built on top of the water providing you with stunning sights in the morning hours!
In other words, a MUST visit!
2: Culture
Thailand’s culture is just insane and something that’s gonna stay with you for the rest of your life!
Just take the 2 most famous festivals there are in Thailand:
1: Loy Krahthong festival
A festival that’s being held on the full moon of the 12th month in the Thai lunar calendar
For the Thai people a day to worship the Gods, in particular the Goddess of water Ganga and to worship Buddha as well.
A festival celebrated all throughout Thailand but best enjoyed in Chiang Mai!
Celebrating Loy Krahthong will be a memory of a lifetime, literally thousands and thousands of lanterns are being lit up into the night sky!
It doesn’t matter whether you participate or just stand around and take everything in.. everywhere you look you’ll see thousands of lights cruising across the sky!
A magical experience and one that I will never ever forget!
Another thing going is the release of beatiful lotus-shaped rafts, decorated with flowers and candles onto the water.
The best spot to watch both activities at once is on the: Iron Bridge and the Nawarat Bridge both in Chiang Mai.
2: Songkran festival
Now Loy Krahthong sounds so calming, peaceful and romantic doesn’t it?
Going home with loads of new experiences, experiences to carry for the rest of your life!
Songkran is the exact opposite in some ways(it will definitely stay with you the rest of your life haha)
This ladies and gentleman is the Thai New Year’s National holidays, celebrated from 13 April to the 15th.
A festival that basically turns the streets into a big chaos, loads of parties and people from every country celebrating and having fun!
Now how do they do that you might ask? Well what do you think of huge water fights in the streets?!
People shooting each other with water guns, throwing buckets of water at each other or they just party all day all night.
Now this is the touristic side most of us know but of course there are other celebrations going on amongst the Thai people.
Visiting temples, praying, spending time with family and friends or traveling around the country.
But the most well known and popular among the tourists are of course the insane chaos and water fights in the streets!
3: Temples
Now this section should be in 2:Culture but there is just so much to say about these places of worship. Temples are what makes Thailand unique and they will take your breath away!
Thailand is for 93.5 percent Buddhist so expect lots and lots of them.
Huge temple complexes filled with incredible statues, gold filled ornaments, paintings and lots of monks in orange robes doing their daily routines.
But they also turned into big touristic attractions and for good reason haha.
The temples in Thailand range from very small ones that only the locals know off to huge temple complexes that attract hundreds of tourists every day!
Or what to think of the temples of the past? There are a huge amount of temple ruins to be found especially around the historical parks of Ayutthaya and Sukhothai.
Now to name a few of the most famous ones:
Chiang Rai in the Northern province has the very famous White and Blue Temple.
Whilst the nearby city of Chiang Mai provides perhaps the best temple the country has to offer namely: Doi Suthep.
Another big temple city is Bangkok!
Wat Pho is one of the largest temple in the country and is most famous for the giant Buddha statue. A 46meter wide and 15meter high golden statue that’s gonna take your breath away.
Or what to think of the Wat Saket, a temple complex sitting on a 80 meter tall hill, overlooking Bangkok Old Town.
But the most stunning of all and my personal favorite: the Wat Arun also temple!
Wat Arun sit on the banks of the Chao Phraya river and is one of Bangkok’s most famous landmarks. With it’s 70 meter height a huge eye catcher when you are walking around the river area.
Do you wish to see the temple while cruising the river nearby and have yourself a wonderful Thai meal on board, then those options are available! Book a tour that passes the Chao Phraya river, depart once the sun has set down and see the huge temple complex all lit up at night!
A true sight to behold and such a romantic scenery it can nearly beat the Eiffel Tower.
Other amazing temples that I can no longer include here but that I am gonna adress in my: The best Thailand Temple posts are:
*Sanctuary of Truth, Pattaya
*Tiger Cave Temple, Krabi
*Wat Chaiwatthanaram, Ayutthaya
4: Culinary experiences:
When one thinks off Thailand then one can just simply not ignore the Thai food can we now?
A strong contender to be one of the most famous cuisines around the world besides Mexican, Italian, Japanese and others.
Thai food has that unique and strong flavour, that spark that makes you want to beg for more and more😅
Now while the food is amazing it can take some time getting used to, especially for those who are not used to spicy flavours.
But once you open up to it and get used to it then Thai food is not just going into your mouth but also makes it way straight into your heart haha!
Some amazing Thai dishes are: Pad Thai, Kuay Teow Moo, Tom Yum Goong, Thom Kha Gai and perhaps my favorite Pad Krapow!!
And strangely the amazing culinary experience doesn’t stop with Thai food only because even Thai drinks have left me in awe of how delicious they are!
Take for example the best drink: Nom Yen also known as Pink milk, usually sold at small drink stands.
Made from sala syrup and hot milk, coming in 2 forms either iced or frappe ones. FUCK these things are good and I am craving for one whilst typing this…
Another amazing one is the Coco Yen or iced cocoa. Simple but affective and much much better than the chocolate drinks you might find back home!
Another important thing to note!: Thai KFC is heavenly, impressive, delicious, good, great and by far the best KFC I have ever fucking been to!
KFC can be great in general but the Thai KFC’s take it to a whole new level!
Visiting Thailand without trying these is basically a sin
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!!!REMINDER!!!
None of this is sponsored by KFC, this is all coming straight from the bottom of my heart and because of my appreciation for the Thai KFC brand. You know how to steal a Dutch guy’s heart Thai KFC… I miss you Thai KFC!!
