Today I left Thailand after 71 days altogether I’ve spent here. Thailand seems to be one of the easiest countries for tourists: it is safe, quite cheap and the (touristic) infrastructure is excellent. The mountainous landscape in the north offers lots of adventures, the heavenly islands and the beaches in the south make you feel like you are in paradise, as well as the marine life in the turquoise water. Thai food is super delicious and Thai people are mostly very friendly and funny.
Unfortunately all these benefits hold one big disadvantage: the millions of tourists and expats coming to Thailand every year (2015: 29 million tourists). Especially right now when it’s cold weather in the northern hemisphere and the people are hungry for the sun naturally. Lots of Chinese people celebrating their New Year at the nearby Thailand. Nowhere else I have seen how much tourism can destroy. The beautiful landscape has to make place for hotels, restaurants, wide streets and airports. The amount of waste is enormous (especially because everything is packed in plastic). And beautiful places could be so crowded that you can’t see how beautiful they are. Therefore I haven’t visit some places I really wanted to see, e.g. Phi Phi Islands and Phang Nga Bay (for the same reason I have decided not to visit Angkor Wat, also because I think nothing in the world can top Bagan since I’ve seen it with my own eyes). And finally a few individual tourists behave totally disgusting. To be honest, sometimes I spoke in English with my compatriots, just not to fraternize with them.
What I really enjoyed in Thailand was the simple life in a bungalow away from the mass tourism. Something like this is mostly occupied by relaxed people. Bungalows are usually a family business and sometimes they are not listed on any booking portal, so I often found a pretty bungalow to stay just by walking around. Yes, there could be some uninvited guests, but that makes the real nature experience. And an inviting hammock in front of your temporary home compensate almost everything! Here are my personal recommendations:
- Mark House Bungalow at Ao Klong Chao, Ko Kood
- Blue Sky Beach Bungalow at Hat Phra Ae, Ko Lanta
- Mai Pen Rai Bungalow at Than Sadet, Ko Pha Ngan