Travel Guides for Thailand

Practical, no-nonsense guides — how to get around, when to go, what it costs, and the small things that make the trip.

Not sure where to start? If you have not picked a destination yet, start there rather than with a guide. Use the province matcher — four questions, matched against all 77, with honest crowd ratings.

Thailand rewards the prepared traveller, and it punishes the assumption that a country of 77 provinces and two monsoon systems can be improvised in a fortnight. These guides are the practical layer: when to go and which coast to go to, how to move between bases without losing days, what the paperwork actually requires, what things cost in baht, and the small cultural things that change how you are treated once you are here. Everything below is written from Bangkok by people who live here and pay their own way.

Start here

• First-time visitorThe whole trip in one place: arrival, money, transport, etiquette and the mistakes to skip.→
• ItinerariesRoutes that work at one, two and three weeks — built around bases, not bucket lists.→
• Transport & getting aroundPlanes, sleeper trains, buses, ferries and the Bangkok network, honestly compared.→
• Money & budgetingReal daily costs, ATM fees, cards versus cash, and where the price traps are.→
• Culture & etiquetteTemples, the wai, face, and the handful of rules that genuinely matter.→
• Seasonal guidesMonsoon by coast, the burning season, and how to time a trip around a festival.→

The four decisions that shape the whole trip

1. Which coast. Thailand’s two seas run opposite monsoons, and this is the single most useful fact in trip planning. The Andaman side — Phuket, Krabi, Ko Lanta, the Similans — is dry and calm from November to April. The Gulf islands — Ko Samui, Ko Pha Ngan, Ko Tao — are at their worst from October to December and are often excellent in June, July and August, when the Andaman is closed in. A July trip is not a bad trip, it is a Gulf trip. Our month-by-month, coast-by-coast guide is the long answer, and the seasonal guide covers the burning season and the festival calendar.

2. How long. Count bases, not destinations: each move costs most of a day. One week is two bases, two weeks is three, and three weeks lets you add a second island group. Two weeks in Thailand is the itinerary we would hand our own family; seven days on the Andaman coast is the one-week beach version.

3. What kind of Thailand. The famous seven provinces are genuinely good and heavily monetised. The other seventy are where the trip gets interesting, and we have written a guide to every one of the 77 so you can tell the difference before you commit.

4. What it costs. Backpacking runs roughly 1,200–1,800 baht a day, mid-range 2,500–4,500, and comfortable travel 6,000 and up, excluding international flights. The surprises are rarely the daily costs: they are island transfers, foreigner-priced national park entry, diving courses, and the gap between low and high season on the same room. The money guide breaks it down.

Getting there and getting around

Thailand has two international airports in Bangkok — Suvarnabhumi (BKK) and Don Mueang (DMK), 50km apart — plus international arrivals at Chiang Mai (CNX), Phuket (HKT) and Ko Samui (USM). Check which Bangkok airport you are landing at before you book anything that connects, because the transfer between them is an hour on a good day — BKK vs DMK has which carriers use which and the cheapest way into town.

Domestically, AirAsia, Nok Air, Thai Lion and Thai VietJet cover the long hops for often under 1,500 baht booked a few weeks ahead; Bangkok Airways holds the Samui route, which is why that flight costs what it does. Overland is better than its reputation: the State Railway’s overnight sleeper to Chiang Mai saves a night’s accommodation and lands you in the middle of town, and we ranked all four ways to make that journey. For the south, compare the options in Bangkok to Phuket and Bangkok to Koh Samui. Within Bangkok, the BTS and MRT beat any taxi in rush hour and the Chao Phraya boats are the cheapest good view in the city. Full detail in the transport guide.

Visas, entry paperwork and money

Most visitors from Europe, North America, Australia and much of Asia currently enter visa-free as tourists for up to 60 days. A reduction of that allowance to 30 days for a large group of nationalities has been announced but is not in force until it is published in the Royal Gazette, so check your own passport against current rules rather than trusting an older article — our visa tool covers 195 passports individually, and the exemption guide explains the conditions attached to it.

Everyone arriving by air must complete the Thailand Digital Arrival Card, a free online form to be submitted before you travel. If you want longer than the exemption allows, the routes are a tourist visa, the Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) for remote workers and soft-power activities, the O-A retirement visa, or an extension at an immigration office once you are here. Long-stayers also have the 90-day report and TM30 paperwork to keep on top of.

On money: Thailand is still a cash country at street level and a QR-payment country almost everywhere else. Foreign cards are charged a fixed ATM fee of 220 baht per withdrawal on top of your own bank’s charges, so take out larger amounts less often and always decline the machine’s offer to convert to your home currency — the money guide has the mechanics and the over-the-counter workaround, and cost per day builds three honest daily budgets from real prices (the trip cost calculator rebuilds them for your own choices). Licensed exchange counters in Bangkok comfortably beat airport and hotel desks, and Kasikorn, Bangkok Bank and SCB machines are the ones to look for. See money and budgeting for the detail.

Connectivity: SIMs and eSIMs

Mobile coverage here is better than in most of Europe. Three networks matter: AIS, True (which absorbed DTAC in the 2023 merger) and the state-owned NT, formed from the old TOT and CAT. Tourist SIMs with generous or unlimited data start around 300 baht for 15–30 days and are sold at every airport arrivals hall and in thousands of 7-Elevens; an eSIM does the same job, activates before you land and skips the queue entirely. AIS still edges coverage in remote areas such as the Mae Hong Son loop and the far north; True is usually fastest on urban 5G. Our SIM and eSIM guide compares them on coverage rather than marketing.

Culture and temple etiquette

Temples are working places of worship, not photo studios. Cover shoulders and knees, take your shoes off before entering any building in the complex, and do not point your feet at a Buddha image or a monk; sarongs are usually available at the major sites if you turn up unprepared. Beyond the temple gate, three ideas explain most of what you will see: kreng jai, the reluctance to impose; jai yen, the cool heart that makes public anger a loss of face rather than a winning move; and the head-high, feet-low hierarchy of the body. One hard limit: criticism of the monarchy is a criminal matter under lese-majeste law and it applies to foreigners.

Start with eight things to know before entering a Thai temple, then the culture and etiquette guide. If you would rather understand the country than memorise rules, who lives where in Thailand and the Siam-to-Thailand name change are the two pieces we would read first, and the festival and public-holiday calendar tells you what is happening while you are here.

Health, safety and insurance

Thailand is a low-violence destination where the genuine risks are mundane: the road, the sea, and the gap between a public and a private hospital bill. Motorbikes injure more visitors than everything else combined, and most travel insurance policies exclude riders without a licence that covers a motorbike at home — which converts a broken leg into a very large baht invoice, because private hospitals here are excellent and priced accordingly. Insurance that includes medical evacuation is not optional if you plan to dive, ride or go anywhere remote.

Otherwise: drink bottled or filtered water (ice from commercial machines is fine), treat busy street stalls as safer than quiet restaurants because the food moves, and use pharmacies — marked with a green cross, well stocked, and usually staffed by someone who speaks enough English to help. Is Thailand safe in 2026 is our straight answer, and the 12 scams still running lists what each one costs and the sentence that ends it.

Guides by place

Once the practicalities are settled, the guides that matter are the local ones. We cover all 77 provinces, and the deep cuts are the point: Nan for murals and mountain roads, Phrae for teak mansions and indigo, Mae Sot for a border town with a Burmese soul, Betong for the sea of fog at the very end of the country, Nakhon Phanom for the prettiest stretch of the Mekong. For the places most people actually book, the honest versions are things to do in Bangkok (worth it vs skip it), three days in Bangkok, things to do in Chiang Mai, Bangkok area by area, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Ko Samui and Ko Pha Ngan. And when you want to eat rather than move, start at eat & drink.

Thailand travel guides FAQ

When is the best time to visit Thailand?

It depends on the coast. November to April is the dependable window for the Andaman side and for cool, dry weather in the north. The Gulf islands run a different monsoon: October to December is their wet season, and June to August is often excellent there. April is the hottest month nationwide and March brings agricultural haze to the north. There is no bad month in Thailand, only a wrong coast for the month you have.

How long do I need in Thailand?

Ten days is a realistic minimum for a first trip covering Bangkok and one other region; two weeks is where it stops feeling rushed. Plan in bases rather than destinations, because each relocation consumes most of a day. One week gives you two bases, two weeks three, and three weeks lets you add a second island group.

Do I need a visa to visit Thailand?

Many nationalities currently enter visa-free for up to 60 days as tourists. A cut to 30 days for a large group of countries has been announced but does not apply until it is gazetted, so confirm close to your travel date. Everyone flying in must also complete the free Thailand Digital Arrival Card before arrival. Longer stays need a specific route, such as a tourist visa, the DTV, or an extension at immigration.

How much money do I need per day in Thailand?

Roughly 1,200–1,800 baht a day for backpacking, 2,500–4,500 for mid-range travel, and 6,000 upwards for comfortable travel, per person sharing a room and excluding international flights. Street food is 50–70 baht a plate outside Bangkok, a good provincial guesthouse is 500–900 baht, and the same island room can double between low and high season. Three itemised daily budgets show where each baht goes.

Should I get a SIM card at the airport or an eSIM before I fly?

An eSIM if your phone supports one and you mainly need data, because it is working the moment you land and there is no queue or paperwork. A physical tourist SIM from an airport counter or a 7-Eleven is the better choice if you want a Thai number for bookings and deliveries, or if you are staying long enough to top up. Either way, expect to pay from about 300 baht for a fortnight of generous data.

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