This isn’t a conventional travel guide. You won’t find a definitive list of the “hundred best places to eat,” or instructions telling you where to go and what to do when you get there. Instead, I want to hand you colors and a brush, and let you paint your own ideal journey through Thailand.
My own acquaintance with Thailand began on the island of Koh Phangan — one of the finest places the country has to offer. It’s a bit like tasting pizza in Naples for the first time: everything you eat afterward, anywhere else, falls a little flat by comparison. I didn’t know it yet, but a life full of restless travel was waiting for me. At the time, I’d simply come for a two- or three-week holiday. Those were still the days when I was buying a round-trip ticket.
One evening, I sat on the beach watching the tide creep slowly over the sand, losing myself in the stars, and thought: if life ever falls apart, I’ll come back to Phangan, build myself a hut, and live on bananas and mangoes. That’s how Thailand entered my bloodstream and began filling me with its particular spirit. Which is why, if this is your first time in the country, I’d suggest starting somewhere gentler — otherwise you risk changing, and your whole life along with you. Do you really want that?
The simplest choice is Phuket or Pattaya. They’re so easy, in fact, that they suit anyone who has never set foot in the tropics before. Because, to be objective about it, both places could reasonably be called the least remarkable in all of Thailand — not because they’re bad, but because so much better exists beyond them. If you’ve already spent time in the tropics and feel ready to travel independently, without a tour operator holding your hand, try Koh Samui instead. It’s the country’s second-largest island, still civilized enough to offer shopping malls and familiar entertainment, but it carries its own mood and beauty — the perfect introduction to island life.
And if you’re already a seasoned, well-traveled soul — someone who has felt firsthand how a place can change you, and is ready for that risk — choose Koh Phangan, Koh Chang, Krabi, Chiang Mai (or the entire north at once), and places like them. They have a way of handing you sensations and experiences you haven’t had before. Just remember to set a reminder for yourself, in case you hadn’t planned on disappearing there for a few years.
When to visit depends entirely on where you’re going and what you’re after. The official season runs from December through February, and it genuinely is a good stretch for a holiday built around beaches, the sea, and the two New Year celebrations — the European one and the Chinese one. But if your goal isn’t sunbathing, swimming, and organized excursions, I’d recommend choosing a different window — with the exception of Phuket and the Similan Islands. Phuket floods mercilessly the rest of the year, and unless your ambition is to float down its streets on an inflatable mattress, stick to the dry season. The Similans, meanwhile, are a protected reserve, open only during high season; for the rest of the year, the islands rest and recover from the tourist onslaught. Personally, I have a real fondness for Thailand in summer — June through August — when the tourists disappear and the evenings, along with the overcast days, turn pleasantly cool. And then there’s a passion entirely my own: the tropical downpours. They arrive without warning and fall as though the sky itself were collapsing — an extraordinary thing to witness. Though during the rainy season, you’ll want to choose your destination with real care; Samui, for instance, can flood so thoroughly that the water sits high for a week or two at a time.
The shape of the journey itself matters just as much. You can come for a couple of weeks and explore a single place in depth — settle into it, let it soak into you, whether that place is Pattaya, Phuket, or some tiny, feral island. Or you can rent a motorbike or a car and set off on a journey around the entire country, discovering just how different its parts are, assembling it piece by piece like a vast puzzle, and coming away with something no guidebook could ever hand you. I’ve circled the whole of Thailand twice myself, traveling from south to north, and explored plenty of individual places along the way. Sometimes I think I know everything there is to know about this country — and then something unexpected happens, and I realize I haven’t scratched even a tenth of it. It’s a large country, with a complicated history, a fascinating culture, remarkable people, and nature both beautiful and endlessly varied. Thailand is worth giving a piece of your life to. And it will not leave you in its debt.
