General

• GRAB - Basically Uber
• Local SIM - AIS tourist SIM from the airport

Bangkok

Food

• The Bangkok Heritage - Good food but recommend sharing with a friend as the portions are not exactly small

Things to do

• Chatuchak Weekend Market - Lots of street food and shopping (all have similar prices)
• Pai Spa - Thai massage with herbal compress was nice
• Siam Discovery
  • Food court on 2F requires a card to order (and then returned)
  • Siam Square - All the shopping you need
• Wat pho
  • ⚠️ Be careful of anyone who tells you the temple is closed for a few hours and proceed to offer you some boat ride!
  • ⚠️ Remember to dress appropriately
  • Huge reclining Buddha but crowded. Purchase a stack of coins at the entrance to drop in the 108 bronze bowls along the wall.

Excursions

• Amphawa Floating Market (wiki)
  • Only on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
  • Famous for seafood; Try the Giant Prawns! I also had great Scallops
  • My tour included a night time firefly boat tour which was really nice but mosquito repellent is a must!
• Maeklong Railway Market (wiki)
  • It's crazy to me that the train runs through the market. However, it's a very unique experience to see everyone move out of the way for it to pass through!
  • There's were so many Chinese tourist that the vendors speak better Chinese than English

Koh Samui

• GRAB charges an extra fee here but it's better than the taxi monopoly since they charge quite a bit even to go a small distance

Food

• Art Cafe by June
• Coco Tam’s
  • Fire show at night in front of the beach (was Monday for me)
  • The tables right of the DJ booth had the best view (at the time)
• Lek thai seafood

Things to do

• Fisherman’s Village Bophut

Scuba diving

• Silent Divers
  • Offers Nitrox
  • Sail Rock - Hope to see a whale shark!
  • Koh Tao - HTMS Sattakut Dive Site (shipwreck)
  • Chomphun Pinnacle

Chiang Mai

One of my favorite cities

Food

• Huen Muan Jai - Try the Northern Curry with a side of sticky rice
• Huen Phen - Best Khao Soi I had
• Mr. Kai Restaurant - I had the Squid Khao Soi with a fried egg

Things to do

• Cabaret Show - Inside Anusarn Market
• Elephant Nature Park
  • No riding park for rescued elephants. Highly highly recommend!
  • Northern Thai Cooking Course - Green Mango Salad, Khao Soi, Larb Muang Moo, and Khao Tom Madd
• Fah Lanna Spa - Hands down, best spa!
• Small House Thai Cooking (Class)
  • Arm is a great guy! Around the corner from him, it's possible to buy a 1L cup of thai ice tea (I asked)
  • My experience was with a very small 10 person group and 3 elephants. We fed, bathe, and walked them around.
• Tha Phae Walking Street - Sunday only with lots of street food. Night market starts at 5pm?
• Tops Supermarket

Chiang Rai

• Would like to come back cause spent a half day here
• Green Bus - VIP seats, coach bus with a toilet

Food

• Melt in your mouth

Things to do

• Wat Rong Khun (White Temple)
  • Get off at "Old Terminal" the stop before Chiang Rai (if taking Green Bus)
  • Really unique temple. Recommend sunglasses due to glare. Everything closes at noon for a lunch break.
  • You can purchase a "leaf" to hang on a tree (to make a wish) if desired
• Wat Rong Suea Ten (Blue Temple) - Smaller than the White Temple and was built in the 90s ZZZ