4 Cities-10 days-Best of Thailand

Thailand..as we all know is a paradise for beach lovers. This has become a famous tourist spot. People from all over the world are coming here. So why not us.. Indians, when we have Visa on arrival for Thailand and it's not so far from India. It hardly takes about 3 and half hours from Bangalore, even our capital Delhi also takes almost the same time to reach.

Thailand is full of Buddha temples, beautiful beaches, Cabaret shows,night life and everything one can expect from a trip. So, we planned to cover the beaches, spend for Island hopping activities in Phuket and Krabi. We left temple hopping, Cabaret dance show for Pattaya and Bangkok.

How to reach: Bangkok is connected from all the major cities from India via flights. These days there are direct flights available to Phuket as well from cities like Mumbai & Bangalore. But when we booked our tickets, there was no direct flight available to Phuket. So, we had to book for Bangkok first and then the connecting flight to Phuket. We booked in Thai airways till Bangkok which costed us 42k for both the ways for two people. And the flight to Phuket was in Thai smile airways and costed around 5k one way for 2 people (with luggage allowance). We had to finish the visa and immigration formalities at Suvarnabhumi airport, Bangkok and collect baggage and proceed to connecting flight. Luckily, both are same airlines. Hence we were able to check-in for both the flights together at Bangalore airport and collected our luggage at Phuket.

Visa: Even though Thailand offers visa on arrival for Indians, but it's not free. It costs 2000 Baht(₹4000) per person. So, it is better to apply for visa in India and get it done and then visit. This way you save a lot of time waiting in long queues for Visa. Moreover, this is cheap as well, i.e. ₹2000+ the agency charges (VFS global), which will be around ₹2500 per person. As Thailand has waived off the visa on arrival fees till April 2019, we opted for VOA. However, one should be ready to stand in long queues to get a Visa as officials don't have anything organised at Suvarnabhumi airport. Luckily we got our visa and immigration done within two hours of struggle. The experience was worthwhile.

Visa documents: Visa application form, Return ticket, Hotel booking voucher, Thailand VOA card - which is given in the flight itself and a passport photo with white background and clear face.

Pro-Tip: Even though you have a connecting flight, the visa and immigration formalities will be done at the first airport where you have landed in Thailand and not at the destination airport. So, you must have enough time in your hand for the above to be done before you board the next flight. I have seen people missing flights because of Visa thing.

Itenary and Hotels:

I had pre-booked all my hotels. One can choose hotels as per the budget and locality. In Phuket, it is advisable to stay near Patong/Kata/Karon beach. You can book in Phuket town if you are interested for the old architecture. In Krabi, it is better to stay near Ao nang. Pattaya is a small city, better to stay near Pattaya beach. In Bangkok, one should choose the hotel as per the places you want to visit. I was interested in exploring old Bangkok. So,stayed near Khaosan road.

All our hotels are in good locality. Everything was available at a walkable distance.

I didn't want to make my trip too hectic and planned this way and stayed at the below hotels.

Phuket- 3 days-Ibis Styles,Phuket city- ₹10k/3N

Krabi- 2 days- Ibis Styles, Ao nang- ₹10k/2N

Pattaya- 2 days- Ibis, Pattaya-₹7k/2

Bangkok-3 days- New Siam Riverside-₹7k/2N

Activity booking:

I read online about the activity booking and found that these might be costly if we buy from the local tour operators post arrival. The good thing with local operators is that you can bargain. Hence, I did this- booked few activities online via Klook.com and Ithaka while few I got there from local tour operators. Ithaka is an app where people can help you plan your trip for free. Their service is limited few countries including Thailand but expanding as I write.

Transportation: They have local taxi, bike taxi, Grab cab, Tuk Tuk or Sangthaw(small truck converted to taxi). If you are using any of the above, don't forget to bargain as much as you can. In Bangkok, Grab cab is cheap and the public transport(bus or metro) is also good. But in other places, you have to use the other options as you can bargain with them. What I felt is, Grab cab was little costlier in rest of the part of Thailand except Bangkok. Every where you get Tuk Tuk. So, need not worry about the transportation at all.

Food: Thailand is foodies' paradise. You get plenty of options to eat. You can get local food in very cheap rates too. Pad Thai, the famous Thai cuisine could cost from 60-80 BHT. Food is very cheap here and there are plenty of options available. The food is not that smelly like Bali and Malaysia. So, I liked Thai food.

Must try dishes: Tom Yum goong soup, Thai chicken curry with coconut milk, Pad Thai, Chicken with cashew nuts, stir fried vegetables and not to forget the Coconut ice cream. They serve it with some tender coconut cream and it's just delicious.

Must try fruits: Rambutan, Longan, Passion fruit, the famous Durian, Mangosteen.

Day 1:

We started at night from Bangalore and reached Bangkok in the morning by 6. Then we had the next flight at 9 to Phuket. Our flight was delayed by an hour and half and we reached by 11. We took a bus from the airport to our hotel which was in Phuket city which costed around 50 BHT per person. It took around an hour and half. We walked from the bus stop to our hotel as it was nearby. We could not do anything this day as we were sleep deprived. So, just took rest.

For this day we got the Phang-nga bay tour. This trip costed us around 2100 Baht per person including lunch from a local tour operator near our hotel. This trip included a visit to the floating village i.e. called Koh-panyee, James bond Island, canoe through Hong and Panak island in the lime stone formations. The James bond island was beautiful and the water was torquoish blue in colour. The canoeing tour was really amazing. After finishing this we headed to the Patong beach, explored the nearby area, like the Bangla road, Jungceylon mall and came back to the hotel. We got some exotic fruits like Rambutan, Longan and Passion fruit from the Patong area and striked off these from our list of fruits to be tasted . These fruits are plentily available in South-East Asia. Passion fruit has a tangy taste. But the remaining two are just delicious. We ate so much of these fruits during our entire trip.

This day was the Phi Phi island tour with Khai island, Bamboo Island, Monkey Island, Viking cave, Maya bay(permanently closed for preservation). This one we took from Ithaka which costed around ₹4k per person in speed boat with lunch. This is the right place to snorkel in the clear waters. In the evening, we explored the Phuket town on our own and had the Pad Thai noodles for the first time. It was yummy.

This morning we started for Krabi. We went by mini-van on shared basis. This one we arranged in Phuket itself from a local tour operator. It costed us 500 BHT per person. We got pick and drop for hotel. We reached by 2 o clk. Then, we headed straight for the beach after checking in. The hotel had free tuk tuk service to Ao nang beach every hour. There is this beach called Railey beach located at a 10 mins boat ride from the Ao nang beach. This is a separated Peninsula from the main land and can only be accessible by boat. They have a ticket counter right at the beach from where we got our tickets. Ticket cost is 100 Baht one way per person. We had to wait for sometime as there should be min 8 people for the boat to run. It was a long-tailed boat, famous in Thailand and then we were at the famous Railey beach. This was beautiful and picture perfect. The hills in the background and the white sand, the clear waters and everything was just amazing there. We sat n relaxed at the beach for sometime and came back to the Ao nang beach. They have these long tailed boats operating continuously to and from Railey. So one can go and come back anytime till evening. In peak seasons, they have boats operating till 8 or 9. Then we walked near the Ao nang beach market and came back to the hotel at night.

This was the day for the famous 4 island tour in Krabi which includes Phra nang cave beach, Chicken, Tup and Poda Island. This I booked through Klook.com and costed ₹1000/person including lunch. I chose the long tailed boat as all the islands are nearby and it's kinda cheaper that speedboat. And moreover speedboat is not required for this trip and when you are in Thailand, you must enjoy the ride of a long tailed boat. So, our first stop was Phra nang cave beach, where party dancing the song "Sau Aasman,Kaho na pyar hai and Sab tera" were filmed. This beach was beautiful with amazing surroundings. Then the next stop was Chicken and Tup island. When we visited, it was luckily the time of low tide and hence they stopped the boat in the middle of there islands and there was a connecting bridge which could be crossed with water till knee level. It was an amazing experience crossing the connecting bridge. Only thing was the sea bed was kinda rocky and was lil tough to walk on. But the view, the water, the sun.. everything was just amazing. Good place for swimming and snorkeling. They gave us snorkeling gears. The next stop was Poda island. Here we had lunch and had some time to spend at the beach. They was a long coastline. We walked almost till both the ends, but it was sunny and hence we got tanned nicely. After spending sometime at the beach, we headed back to the main land. We were dropped at the hotel by 3. We had no further plans for that day. Hence we headed towards the Ao nang beach and then the Noppharat thara beach, which was walkable distance from Ao nang beach, and spent the entire evening exploring Ao nang night market and eating the delicious and cheap street food.

We had early morning flight to Bangkok this day at 7.30. We had already arranged for the the airport drop via Ithaka and costed us ₹1500. One could check for airport drop with the local tour operators there too. The airport was not too far. We reached in half an hour. It was a small airport. Anyway our flight was on time and we reached Bangkok on time. For this day we had planned to go-to Pattaya and hence we had booked private cab already again through Ithaka and that costed us around ₹3k. We reached hotel by 12 in the noon. The hotel guys did not give us a room till 2 as per their policy. So, in the meanwhile we went outside to discover the place. Our hotel location was good. There were shops and malls nearby. We had lunch and came back and checked in and then took some rest. In the evening we went to the Pattaya beach and walked till Walking Street. Then it was time for Alcazar show. We had booked this through Ithaka and got in ₹750/800 per person. You get these tickets chaeper online. Anyway, the show was entertaining. They performed on songs of different languages including Hindi,but I was not aware of the song which they chose. God knows from where did they pick that up. Then we took some pics of the cabaret dancers and spent the rest of the evening walking and discovering the city.

This morning we went to the Sanctuary of truth first,the most iconic structure in Pattaya. Try There was a humble driver, who got us the tickets for 450 Baht per person, else the actual price is 500 Baht. The temple architecture was beautiful. It is a wooden Hindu temple and is situated on the sea shore. The construction work started in 1981 and is still going on, because of the climatic conditions. The sea breeze is very harmful for wooden structure and hence the construction work is a never ending process here. Well our next destination was Big Buddha hill. We took bike taxi from sanctuary of truth till here and on the way we crossed the Pattaya city sign. Buddha hill was good and peaceful. We spend some time there and then went the view point nearby. Our next stop was Mini Siam. The entry fee is 300 Baht per person. This is miniature museum where one can find the miniature version of all the world famous monuments like the Eiffel tower, Leaning tower of Pisa, Statue of Liberty, Sydney Opera House etc. This was a huge park with lots of structures. It was sunny, so we were kinda tired. But the park is good to visit in the evening. We used bike taxis to roam around Pattaya, as you can bargain with them. We came back to hotel then and took rest. In the evening again we headed towards the Walking Street by walk. There were tuk tuks available too, but we didn't take those.

This morning we got ready and headed for Bangkok. We went to the Pattaya bus station and took a bus to Bangkok. There are many buses running from Pattaya to Bangkok. They would give you tickets for the next available bus. We got down at Ekamai bus station and then took Grab cab to our hotel, which was near Khao San Road. We checked in and got fresh n up and then went outside for lunch. Our hotel was by the riverside and had a nice view. In the evening we headed straight towards Khao San Road, most happening place in Bangkok. The most awful thing I saw here was the "Crocodile grill". They were grilling an actual full size crocodile..ewww! We spent the entire evening there before going back to the hotel.

We started the day with a visit to the Grand Palace. This was at a walkable distance from our hotel. This place was beautiful. The entry ticket was 500 Baht per person. This is a must visit place in Bangkok. The ticket included visit to the Emerald Budhha temple which is inside the campus and for a masked dance show where they depicted the Thai version of Ramayana. It was only for half an hour, but was good. The palace was huge and it took around 2 hours to finish. This had beautiful architecture, Pagodas, museum, and many more things inside the campus to see. Then we went to Wat Pho- Temple of reclining Budhha. The entry fee 200 Baht. This campus was also huge with the main temple, pagodas, Budhha statues, many more small temples. Then we went to Wat Arun-Temple of Dawn, which was just across the river. They have ferry service which would make you cross the river and would cost 4 Baht. This temple is the poster picture of Bangkok. The entry fee is 50 Baht. Beautiful architecture, unique design, the city view from temple, everything was just amazing. The entry fee here was 80 Baht. That's all I had planned for the day and then we went to visit the Siam Paragon mall for shopping by city bus. The bus services are good there. While coming back, we saw the Democracy monument as well. We spent the rest of the evening in Khao San road.

This day we had booked the Damneon Saduak floating market tour through Ithaka, which costed ₹1000. We started by 7.30 as it was little far from the city. We were taken to a pier where we boarded the boat. The water was dirty, but we saw many houses on both the sides of the canal/river. I was wondering what would they be doing in case of the water level rise. They said that is how they live and local people go there for trading, but I could not find any local people there apart from the shop keepers. This place has been commercialized completely and nothing special here. All the shops were selling souvenirs and some clothes which one would have found in all other places in Thailand. I did not find anything special about the place. I would not recommend anyone to come here. If you want to see the floating market, then probably you should check one in Bangkok itself. The lady who was our guide seemed very greedy and was asking for money for everything. Well, then we were dropped at the hotel by 2 o clock. And then the time came to say goodbye to this amazing place. We took an airport bus from the stop next to our hotel. I loved Thailand. It is a beautiful place with beautiful coast line and amazing culture.

I hope the above info helps in planning a trip to Thailand.