Chiang Mai
This is perhaps the most popular city in Thailand lately. Bangkok is a very different place than Phuket or Pattaya. More local, more cultural. Especially if you want to see the temple and old Thailand, maybe the real Thailand, this is the place you are looking for.. But the worst thing is that the city has become more and more a touristic place day by day.. The earlier you arrive, the better.

As it is a popular destination, you can find a flight ticket from Bangkok for 30-40 USD.. The road takes 1 hour.

If you stay in the central area, you can see tourists everywhere.. But you still stay in the center. I stayed in a nice room in a newly built boutique hotel for 9 USD per night.. There are many alternatives for accommodation.. No need for advance reservation. You can come knocking on the door and find better and cheaper alternatives.

The place I call the center of the city is a huge square.. You’ll see what I mean when you look at the map.. If you make your stay in that square, you can walk to every place to see.

You can find temples and main streets in the center roughly from this map I shared.. All can be visited on foot in one full day. I will not tell about temples one by one. I visited them all. They were not much different from other temples I’ve seen.

There are night markets here, as in almost every region of Thailand.. One is set up only on weekends and right in the center. The other is located within a 15-minute walk from the central square.. Both are pretty big. I liked the place which is a little bit out of the center and says “night bazaar” on the map.. Everything is neater. Of course, the main reason I liked this place was that there were very good pencil drawings here.. I share a little in the video below, watch it, you will understand what I mean. And the prices are very cheap compared to that workmanship in my opinion.. You can buy an 80-90 cm portrait work for 70 usd.

There is a nightlife here that will appeal to everyone.. If you want, you can go to a regular bar or nightclub and have fun, or you can find places where you can buy entertainment.. The choice is up to you.

In general, prices here are a little lower than in Bangkok. Don’t worry about eating and drinking.. You can find all kinds of restaurants or street foods.

Because the city is very popular now, you can see a small tourist agency everywhere. What kind of activities are there around, what you can do, go here, get a brochure from each of them and find out.. There is everything from rafting to bungee jumping.. The reason I went to these agencies was that I went to Chiang Raiy and took a tour to see the famous White Temple.. There are several different tour packages. You can go to the area called Long Neck in Chiang Mai. There are women with long necks here. But I chose there as Chiang Rai was better.. The package I bought includes a boat tour going to Chiang Rai, hot spring, White Temple, Black House(tree house), Long Neck Karen and Laos side. My fee for all of them is 1.000 baht which is about 35 USD.. It leaves at 7 am and comes back at 10 pm.. Lunch is included in the price.

I advise you for this tour, do not take the boat pass to Laos, it is a very unnecessary place. There is only a small market place, but the products in the market are of very poor quality.

They were saying for the White Temple, don’t say you saw a temple without seeing it, it really is a beautiful temple.. It does not have a historical feature like other temples because it was newly built.. You can tour the inside and outside completely in about 1 hour.. Beautiful shots can be captured for photography enthusiasts.

Blakc House is a huge house made entirely of wood.. It contains hides and dried versions of all kinds of animals.. Outside, there are many live animals, from a huge snake to an owl.. My favorite was the owl.

Let’s come to the Long Neck Karen area, where women with long necks are. The women here are Burmese, not Thai.. But as far as I can see, the business has now become just a tourist attraction.. In a place like a small village, they all have a stall and that’s their only source of income.. Very kind, kind people. But do not think that they are following an old tradition and wearing those heavy pieces of iron around their necks.. Except for a few elderly women, the others are removing the rings from their necks after the tourists have left.. The reason they wore it before was for protection against tigers and wild animals.. Some say they wear it to look beautiful.. Anyway, it’s sad to see them like that.. ‘Cause it’s not something that seems comfortable at all, it’s like torture. Although it is a place far from culture and reality, I still say come here.. It is certain that there will be many colorful frames, especially for photographers.

The return journey takes about 4 hours.. .

Chiang Mai didn’t turn out as well as I expected. When I thought I’d find a pristine culture, I fell into the tourist you know. If you go out of the city, there was not much attraction to do, if you stay inside, 90% everyone is foreign.. So don’t come here with thoughts like mine.

A well-planned 3 days is enough for this place.

Krabi
Let’s come to the city of Krabi, one of the most famous places in Thailand, including the island of Phuket.

Phuket Island
I first came to Thailand in 2010. Then I came every year. When I compare 4 years before and after, I can say that the prices have increased by 50%, and the country is becoming a more touristic place day by day.. Especially my friends who went in 2000 say that you would come to Thailand at that time, everything was almost free and the country was not that touristic.. What to do, we couldn’t go back then, but 2010 was not bad either 🙂

I will say that if you have a plan to come here, do not delay, come as soon as possible.. Because in 5-10 years, prices will probably increase even more, the country will become even more touristic and will not taste as good as before.

The area called Patong is the center of phuket.. It will be a good choice if you stay here.. Night markets and almost every night attraction take place in this region.. For accommodation, choose 1-2 suitable places from the hotel search sites and get the address.. Then, on the way to the hotel, evaluate the other boutique hotels you see on the road.. Sometimes on these sites, you can get a hotel that costs 30 TL for a cheaper price, or you can find a room for 20 TL in a nicer hotel next to it.. Rooms are double. Whether single or double bold, the price does not change.

Don’t ask if you can stay in such a cheap hotel.. You’re going to go to bed anyway, why pay more?

Although there are day and night markets here, it pales in comparison to Bangkok.. If you are looking for oil paintings and similar things, you can find good examples.. Of course, there is the case of getting a tattoo.. If you want to get a tattoo, maybe you can find many tattooists all over Thailand.. But I don’t know how their workmanship is, whether it is sterile.. I can’t comment because it’s not a subject that interests me very much.

Let’s think of Phuket as the center of this region and continue. Nightlife is experienced on the street that vehicles cannot enter, called the walking street.. There are lots of bars and nightclubs to and fro.. Even if you don’t drink alcohol, that bar is yours, this bar is mine.. You can hang out in one you like and have a good time. Previously, the entrance to the clubs was free, but in recent years they have started to impose an entrance fee of 3-4 usd.. You look at the situation and decide.

As I wrote in the Bangkok article, if you are looking for go go bars, strip clubs and paid sex, this place will satisfy you.. Let’s continue without going into more details.

There is a beach in the central Patong area, but it is not very suitable for swimming. There are still people who enter, but if you come to Thailand, you need to go to those famous white sandy, tropical beaches.. You will see many tourism agencies in this central area. Go to 4-5 of them and get brochures from all of them. You can go to the nearby beaches for a day.. Or you can also do attractions such as the zoo and hiking, whichever interests you.. Here is my advice to you: You can find packages to see 4-5 islands on daily tours.. It starts at 7 am and returns in the evening.. Don’t buy from tours, you should stop by so many places. Because we’re going to all of them, you stop for 30 minutes on the islands and you don’t understand anything.. Decide in that direction by reducing the preferences to 1-2 islands or the beach.. Of course, don’t forget to bargain as always.

If you don’t have much time and you want to go where to go, I say see Maya Beach, even though it is far from Phuket.. Where the movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed. Even though there are hundreds of tourists, it is worth seeing.

I think if you ask the best alternative , skip to the island of Koh Phi Phi. stay there for 3 nights. You can rent the bungalows for 10-15 USD per night.. It would be much more logical to go to Maya beach and other small islands to go from here by boat.. In fact, if you have time, go to an island every day and spend time comfortably.. I would especially say spare a day for maya beach only.. You can both swim and have a great time walking in its small tropical forest.

Koh Phi Phi island is also beautiful at night. But there aren’t many paid sex and go go bars around here.. If you’re looking for that, you might be disappointed.

At night, the restaurants in front of the beaches turn into bars and beautiful music-playing venues. In front of many, you can see people performing with fiery hoops in their hands.. Sit in a cushioned place, watch them. In the following hours, the parties continue until the morning.. Although the general population is mostly foreign, it is nice to find people from all nationalities.. Meet with anyone you can, chat, have fun.

I will not write down the places to go on this island and its surroundings.. As I said, you can decide where to go with the brochures you collect from a few tourism agencies.. Don’t worry, if you stay here for 3 weeks, there will be places to go, you will have so many alternatives.

Koh Samet Island
Take me here to Thailand My friends from. Anyway, I came here without doing any research about the island because they know this place.. But I realized that in Thailand, many hotels, nightlife, beaches and markets are very similar to each other.. This place is just like Koh Phi Phi, but it seems a bit less touristy and locals also like to come here for vacation.

Another issue is transportation in this and similar islands. It is done by pick-up style taxis.. But taking a taxi all the time can be expensive and sometimes boring.. If you know how to drive, you can rent a scooter for 5 usd per day.. Don’t think it will be difficult, I had my first scooter experience in Thailand’s islands 🙂

Go go bars for nightlife and paid sex are not here. I say don’t come with that thought.

Restaurants on the beach cheer with fire shows in the evening. It’s fun to watch. In the following hours, beach parties continue until the morning.. In general, these types of beach parties are called full moon parties.. And if the moonlight is overhead, these are places you really don’t want to go back to.

In the daytime, with my friends We took a pick-up together and went to such parts of the island that I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I said hidden corners of paradise that you can’t find.. It has always been nice to travel and hang out with local people.. Here, too, I took advantage of this opportunity.. We ate and drank for hours in the quiet coves we visited, with the chirping of birds and the famous palm landscapes.. By paying a very funny account. Come and want to come back from here now 🙂

We left here after 3 days of super time. If you plan to come, especially if you came to Pattaya, this place is very close to there, I say evaluate

Koh Chang Island
This is one of the most peaceful islands I visited before I went to Cambodia and I think I went to Thailand.. Of course, this may be because I came in the off season 🙂 The ferry used to arrive to the island does not operate very often and makes its last voyage around 5-6 pm.. Before you set off, I would definitely say find out the ferry times.

You don’t need to book your accommodation in advance.. You can choose both beautiful and affordable ones by visiting the roof-door bungalows.. Accommodation is available for 7-8 USD per night.. As I said, the island is a bit of a problem in terms of transportation because it is a bit quiet.. The best way is to rent a scooter. I’m not exaggerating, I rented a scooter for 3 usd per day here.. Then I went all over the island. The roads alone are very winding and bumpy.. Be careful when driving.

A place of hidden beauty and nature. There is even a lot of nature, you can even see monkeys in their natural environment while walking on the road, that’s it.

Since the island is not as popular as Phuket and Pattaya, the nightlife is not very fast either.. But anyone who wants to have fun has fun. There are nice cafes and bars on the beach side.. In the interior, there are bars where mostly solo travelers hang out.

There is a waterfall among the places to see here, but I say don’t go for nothing.. Ordinary place, not much of a joke. But if you say I want to swim in those ice cold waters, then you might like it.

The people I met said that they usually came here to dive. I didn’t scuba dive but even snorkeling was enjoyable. Although snorkeling is enjoyable in every island of Thailand that I have seen.. There is no need to go deep with the tube, even at 3-4 meters you can see the underwater life you watch live in those documentaries.

The name of this place is actually elephant island.. They gave this name because the skewer looks like an elephant.. The most beautiful beach of the island, as the name suggests, is the white sand beach.

Prices on the island are more affordable than Phuket and Pattaya.. It was only backpackers who started to come first, then it became a touristic place.. Well you guessed it where backpackers are plentiful is cheap 🙂

After staying here for 3 nights Then I continued on to Cambodia.. For some reason, I don’t remember much about this island except for my first motorcycle ride.

My Thoughts on Thailand

I’ve been to Thailand 7-8 times at different times. I didn’t have the slightest problem.. So I can say that it is a country without security problems.. Unless you are involved in drugs and illegal activities, it is almost impossible for anything to happen to you.. Since the name of the country is spread by sex tourism, it is generally approached with prejudice.. Hakbu ki Thailand is a super route to travel. Even if it’s your first abroad experience, even if you don’t know English, don’t think about it.. ‘Cause it’s a very easy place. life is cheap. man loves stranger. If you have a police incident, 99% tourists are always right.. Sea, sand, nature, fruits and tropical drinks are legendary. You can even get used to Thai food.. They have very good spicy and spicy dishes.. Do not think that they eat insects, snakes. Even if you look for that type of thing, it’s hard to find.. They are only sold on touristic streets and as far as I can see most Thais have nothing to do with them.. I’ve taken 7-8 of my friends to Thailand so far.. We went again with some of them and some still say, what happens, let’s go to Thailand again.

Don’t pay attention to the ridiculous comments you see on the internet, the usual saying that there is only sex there. Especially go once and you’ll definitely want to go again.

Added in 2017: If I’m not mistaken, I first went to Thailand in 2010.. In my next trips to the Far East, I had stopped by Thailand and visited again.. I was very surprised when I came back to this country in 2017. Everything was 2-3 times more expensive than before.. Of course, the exchange rate had an effect on this, but the hotel and transportation increased at least twice.. So I can’t say “very cheap” for Thailand like before.. It is still affordable when compared to Europe, but unfortunately the old cheapness is no longer available.

Thailand Travel Notes -1-

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