--- title: "Top 10 Things To Do in Thailand (City Guides) Wimup" description: "Browse Wimup's Top 10 guides across Thailand, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and more cities, mapped and filmed. When to go, how to get around, and where to start." url: https://wimup.com/country/thailand type: Country guide updated: 2026-10-06 publisher: Wimup (https://wimup.com) --- # Top 10s across Thailand **Street food** that sets the global standard, **temples** that stop you mid-sentence, and islands at the end of a short flight. Thailand is the easiest hard country to leave. ## Quick answer A first trip is **Bangkok** for a few days, then the north or the coast, rarely both well. **Chiang Mai** and **Chiang Rai** give you temples, mountains and the country's best cooking schools within an hour's flight of the capital. The **Andaman coast** around Phuket and Krabi is the classic island run, and the **Gulf islands** are the alternative when the Andaman is under monsoon. The dry, cool window is **November to February**, and it is also the busiest. ## Quick facts - **Best months:** Nov · Jan · Feb - **Ideal length:** 10–14 days - **Budget per day:** $45–100 - **Language:** Thai - **Getting around:** Domestic flights & night trains - **3** City guides - **66,188,503** People - **1** Video guide Thailand runs from a capital that never quite sleeps to northern hill towns and southern beaches. Bangkok is the hinge: almost every route through the country starts or ends there. ## 3 Thailand city guides 1. [Bangkok](https://wimup.com/city/bangkok.md): Asia · 10 picks 2. [Chiang Rai](https://wimup.com/city/chiang-rai.md): Asia · 10 picks 3. [Chiang Mai](https://wimup.com/city/chiang-mai.md): Asia · 10 picks ## Know before you go - **Population:** 66,188,503 - **Area:** 513,120 km² - **Density:** 129 / km² - **Capital:** Bangkok - **Major cities:** Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phrae, Nonthaburi, Pak Kret - **Tourism board:** Official site - **Currency:** Thai baht (THB) Cards work in malls, hotels and city restaurants. Markets, street stalls, songthaews and most of the islands still run on cash, so keep small notes on you. - **Language:** Thai Thai is tonal and written in its own script, so signs outside the tourist routes are unreadable without a translation app. English is common in Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai, thin elsewhere. - **Calling code:** +66 - **Power:** 220V · Type A/B/C - **Emergency:** 191 191 is the general police line. Dial 1669 for an ambulance and 1155 for the Tourist Police, whose operators speak English and handle most visitor problems. - **Arrival card:** TDAC, filed online Every foreign arrival files the Thailand Digital Arrival Card, free, on the Immigration Bureau site, from three days before travel. It replaced the paper TM6 form in May 2025. - **Visa:** Check before booking Thailand's visa exemption covers most Western passports, but the length of stay and the eligible list are under revision through 2026. Check both on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs site first. - **Getting around:** Flights & night trains Domestic flights cover the long legs from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Phuket and the south in about an hour. State Railway sleepers do the same routes overnight, and minivans fill the gaps between towns. - **Tipping:** Not expected There is no tipping convention. Rounding up a taxi fare or leaving the coins after a good meal is normal, and mid-range restaurants often add a service charge instead. ## When to visit - **Jan** (peak) - **Feb** (best) - **Mar** (good) - **Apr** - **May** - **Jun** - **Jul** (good) - **Aug** (good) - **Sep** - **Oct** - **Nov** (best) - **Dec** (peak) ## Fun fact Bangkok’s full ceremonial name runs to 168 letters, and is listed as the longest place name in the world. ## Stereotypes, sorted out - **Myth:** The Land of Smiles means everything is relaxed **Reality:** The smile is a social tool with a wide range, and one of its jobs is to keep a difficult moment from becoming a confrontation. Raising your voice in public loses you the argument here, whatever the argument was about. - **Myth:** Pad thai is the ancient national dish **Reality:** It was promoted nationally in the 1930s and 1940s under Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram, partly to push noodles over rice at a time of shortage. It is a modern invention with a state marketing campaign behind it. - **Myth:** All Thai food is fiery **Reality:** Heat is a regional dial, not a constant. Isan and southern cooking run hot, the central kitchen balances sweet, sour and salty as much as chilli, and a whole strand of Thai-Chinese food (noodle soups, braises, congee) is barely spiced at all. - **Myth:** Thailand is beaches **Reality:** The beaches are one corner of it. The north is mountains and hill towns, Isan in the northeast is a dry plateau with its own dialect and kitchen, and the central plain holds the ruined capitals of Ayutthaya and Sukhothai. - The wai is a greeting, not a performance. Return one when it is offered to you, and do not offer it first to shop staff or children. - The head is the highest part of a person and the feet the lowest. Do not touch anyone's head, and never point your soles at a person or a Buddha image. - Shoes come off at temples, at homes, and at plenty of small shops. If you see a rack by the door, use it. - Cover shoulders and knees at temples. Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace turn people away at the gate for this daily. - The monarchy is protected by law. Criticism of the king or the royal family is a criminal offence under Section 112, and this includes what you post online while in the country. - Monks do not take anything directly from a woman's hand. Place the offering down, or pass it through a man or a cloth. ## Famous Thai faces - **King Bhumibol Adulyadej**: Rama IX, on the throne from 1946 to 2016 and the longest-reigning Thai monarch - **King Chulalongkorn**: Rama V, who abolished slavery and kept Siam out of European colonial rule - **Apichatpong Weerasethakul**: Won the Palme d'Or in 2010 for Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives - **Tony Jaa**: The Ong-Bak star who put Muay Thai stunt work on screen without wires - **Panipak Wongpattanakit**: Taekwondo gold at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, the first Thai athlete to win two - **Lisa**: Lalisa Manobal of Blackpink, the group's Thai rapper and its solo breakout - **Ariya Jutanugarn**: First Thai major winner, at the 2016 Women's British Open, and a former world number one - **Thitid Tassanakajohn**: Chef at Le Du, named the best restaurant in Asia in 2023 - **Pen-ek Ratanaruang**: Director of Last Life in the Universe and a leader of the Thai New Wave - **Nonzee Nimibutr**: His 1997 film Dang Bireley's restarted Thai commercial cinema - **Wisit Sasanatieng**: Made Tears of the Black Tiger, the first Thai film selected for Cannes - **Mario Maurer**: Actor whose Love of Siam and A Little Thing Called Love travelled across Asia - **Thongchai McIntyre**: Known as Bird, the singer who has defined Thai pop since the 1980s - **Pumpuang Duangjan**: The voice of luk thung, country music from the rice fields, and its first national star - **Tata Young**: Thai-American singer who broke into pan-Asian pop with an English-language album - **Danupha Khanatheerakul**: Milli, the first solo Thai act at Coachella, where she ate mango sticky rice on stage - **Samart Payakaroon**: Lumpinee champion in four divisions and WBC super bantamweight world champion in 1986 - **Buakaw Banchamek**: The fighter who took Muay Thai to a global audience through K-1 - **Ratchanok Intanon**: Became badminton's youngest women's world champion in 2013, at 18 - **Chatri Sityodtong**: Founded ONE Championship and built it out of Singapore into Asia's largest fight promotion - **Sunthorn Phu**: Court poet of the early Rattanakosin era, honoured by UNESCO in 1986 - **Kukrit Pramoj**: Wrote Four Reigns, and served as prime minister in the mid-1970s - **Prince Damrong Rajanubhab**: Founded modern Thai history writing and the country's museum system - **Chart Korbjitti**: Twice won the SEA Write Award, for The Judgement and Time - **Sumet Jumsai**: National artist who designed Bangkok's Robot Building for the Bank of Asia in 1986 - **Duangrit Bunnag**: Architect behind the Jam Factory and Warehouse 30, and Bangkok's riverside revival - **Silpa Bhirasri**: Italian-born Corrado Feroci, who founded Silpakorn University and modern Thai art teaching - **Jim Thompson**: American who rebuilt the Thai silk trade after the war, then vanished in Malaysia in 1967 - **Supinya Junsuta**: Known as Jay Fai, the Bangkok street cook whose stall holds a Michelin star - **Chumpol Jangprai**: Chef at R-Haan and a broadcaster who has spent his career recording regional Thai recipes - **Duangporn Songvisava**: Chef at Bo.lan, and the cook who pushed Thai fine dining back toward traditional technique - **Chudaree Debhakam**: Chef at Baan Tepa, named Asia's best female chef in 2025 ## Must-try Thai food - **Pad thai**: Rice noodles with tamarind, egg and peanut. Judged on the sourness, not the sweetness. - **Tom yum goong**: Hot and sour prawn soup, built on lemongrass, galangal and lime leaf. - **Tom kha gai**: The coconut milk cousin to tom yum, gentler and made with chicken. - **Som tam**: Green papaya pounded with lime, chilli, fish sauce and palm sugar in a clay mortar. - **Khao man gai**: Poached chicken on rice cooked in its stock, carried by a ginger and soybean sauce. - **Massaman curry**: A Muslim-influenced curry with cardamom, cinnamon and potato, mild and slow. - **Pad krapow**: Minced pork or chicken fried hard with holy basil and chilli, under a fried egg. - **Boat noodles**: Dark, spiced beef or pork broth served in small bowls, once sold from canal boats. - **Pad see ew**: Wide rice noodles charred in dark soy with Chinese broccoli and egg. - **Rad na**: The same wide noodles under a thick gravy, ordered when pad see ew feels too dry. - **Guay teow tom yum**: Noodle soup in the hot and sour register, mixed to your own ratio at the table. - **Ba mee haeng**: Dry egg noodles with roast pork, the broth served on the side. - **Green curry**: Fresh green chilli paste and coconut milk, the hottest of the standard curries. - **Red curry**: Dried red chilli paste, deeper and sweeter, usually with duck or pork. - **Panang curry**: Thick, peanut-rich and barely soupy, closer to a sauce than a curry. - **Kaeng som**: Sour orange curry with no coconut milk at all, sharp with tamarind. - **Khua kling**: Southern dry curry, minced meat fried down with paste until nothing is left but heat. - **Yam nua**: Grilled beef salad with lime, chilli and mint, served warm. - **Larb**: Minced meat with toasted rice powder, lime and herbs, from the northeast. - **Yam woon sen**: Glass noodle salad with minced pork and prawn, cold and very sharp. - **Som tam pu pla ra**: Isan papaya salad with fermented fish and salted crab. Acquired taste, and the real one. - **Gai yang**: Marinated chicken grilled slowly over charcoal, eaten with sticky rice. - **Moo ping**: Sweet-marinated pork skewers sold from carts at dawn. - **Kor moo yang**: Grilled pork neck sliced thin, with a tamarind and chilli dip. - **Pla pao**: Whole fish packed in salt and grilled, cracked open at the table. - **Hoy tod**: Crisp mussel or oyster pancake, fried on a flat griddle with bean sprouts. - **Khao soi**: Chiang Mai's curry noodle soup, topped with the same noodles fried crisp. - **Sai ua**: Northern herb sausage, heavy on lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime. - **Nam prik ong**: Tomato and pork chilli relish, eaten with sticky rice and raw vegetables. - **Gaeng hang lay**: Burmese-influenced pork belly curry with ginger and tamarind, no coconut milk. - **Nam tok**: Grilled pork or beef sliced into a lime and toasted rice dressing. - **Sai krok Isan**: Fermented rice and pork sausage, sour by design, grilled and eaten with raw cabbage. - **Tom saep**: Clear, hot and sour Isan soup, usually pork ribs, sharper than tom yum. - **Khao niao**: Sticky rice, eaten by hand in the north and northeast and served in a woven basket. - **Gaeng tai pla**: Southern curry made with fermented fish innards, one of the hottest dishes in the country. - **Roti**: Flatbread from the Muslim south, folded and fried, with curry or with condensed milk. - **Pla tod kamin**: Fish fried with turmeric and garlic, a fixture of the Andaman coast. - **Kanom jeen nam ya**: Fermented rice noodles under a fish curry sauce, with a tray of raw herbs alongside. - **Mango sticky rice**: Ripe mango, coconut-soaked sticky rice, salt. In season roughly March to May. - **Kanom krok**: Coconut and rice flour cakes cooked in a dimpled pan, crisp outside and molten within. - **Tub tim krob**: Water chestnut in red syrup with coconut milk and crushed ice. - **Roti sai mai**: Ayutthaya's speciality: spun palm sugar floss rolled into a thin green crepe. - **Cha yen**: Thai iced tea, orange with condensed and evaporated milk, sweeter than you expect. - **Oliang**: Iced black coffee cut with roasted grain, the pre-espresso Thai standard. - **Nam manao**: Fresh lime soda, the thing to order when the som tam gets away from you. - **Nam matoom**: Bael fruit tea, dried and steeped, mildly sweet and served hot or cold. ## By theme - [Hidden gems](https://wimup.com/hidden-gems.md) - [Most visited](https://wimup.com/most-visited.md) ## Films - [Bangkok on Foot](https://wimup.com/watch/bangkok.md), 1:42:46 ## FAQs ### How many days do you need in Thailand? Ten days covers Bangkok plus one region properly, either the north or the islands. Two weeks lets you do both without spending half the trip in transit. ### When is the best time to visit Thailand? November to February. It is dry and cool across most of the country, which is also why it is the busiest and priciest stretch of the year. February is the sweet spot between the two. ### Is Thailand expensive to visit? No, and it scales. Budget roughly $45 to $100 per person per day mid-range, with Bangkok and Phuket at the top of that band and the north well below it. Street food and local transport keep the floor very low. ### North or islands for a first trip? The north if you want temples, markets, mountains and cooler air. The islands if you want the water. Chiang Mai is an hour from Bangkok by plane, Phuket about the same, so the honest answer on a two-week trip is both. ### Do you need to speak Thai? No. English is widely spoken in Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai, and menus in tourist areas are usually translated. A translation app matters more than vocabulary once you leave those routes, because the script is the real barrier. ## Related countries - [Japan](https://wimup.com/country/japan.md) - [India](https://wimup.com/country/india.md) - [All of Asia](https://wimup.com/asia) Part of [Asia](https://wimup.com/asia.md) ## Sources - [Tourism board](https://www.tourismthailand.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Arrival card](https://tdac.immigration.go.th/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Visa](https://www.mfa.go.th/en/page/visa?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - Rankings are Wimup editorial picks. Prices, durations and budgets are editorial estimates, not live quotes; check the official site before you go.