How to make an itinerary in Thailand? This is one of the most challenging chores for anyone planning a vacation there. There are so many lovely towns, beaches, and temples in the nation that choosing which ones to visit is difficult. But don’t worry! In this article, I’ll discuss how long to stay in Thailand and where to travel. In addition, I’ll describe my schedule in Thailand in case you wish to replicate it or become inspired.
How many days to spend in Thailand?
If you want a quick answer to how long to spend in Thailand, I recommend between 15 and 20 days since this is the best time to see some of the country’s key attractions.
Thailand has a lot to offer. With 15 days in the country, you may explore Bangkok’s temples, palaces, big buildings, and numerous stores, as well as stunning beach regions such as Phi Phi Islands and other attractions in the Krabi region such as Railay Beach.
If you have 20 days, you may also visit the North area, which contains many temples, including the Branco, Azul, and Prata temples, as well as gorgeous mountains. You may also view the lantern festival depending on the time of year! In this regard, I recommend Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.
I explained better about the attractions of these cities in the post “What to do in Thailand“.
Yes, but how long should you remain in each city? And where should you stay in Thailand? Stay:
- 3 to 4 days in Bangkok;
- Between 3 and 4 days in Chiang Mai / Chiang rai
- From 2 to 3 days in Phi Phi Islands
- Between 3 and 5 days in Railay / Krabi
But don’t worry, I’ll explain why these days are so short at the conclusion of this piece.
Be careful when deciding where to stay in Thailand
Before closing your Thailand itinerary, I suggest you check the weather in the cities and regions you want to go to. By the way, it is good to do this even before buying your ticket. It’s just that there are months that are terrible to travel to the country because it rains too much.
How to travel to Thailand?
Thanks to its beautiful beaches, rich cultural heritage, and delicious food, Thailand is a popular destination for travelers from all over the world. If you’re a United States citizen and want to travel to Thailand, here are the general steps you can take:
First, check your passport to make sure it’s valid and will remain valid for at least six months after your planned departure date. If you need to renew your passport, do so before applying for a visa.
Next, determine if you need a visa. US citizens can enter Thailand without a visa for up to 30 days if they arrive by air and up to 15 days if they arrive by land. If you plan to stay longer than that, you’ll need to apply for a visa. You can apply for a tourist visa or a non-immigrant visa at the Royal Thai Embassy or Consulate in the United States.
Stopover is a good one
It might be interesting to use your vacation to Thailand to learn about other countries where your aircraft will stop. This is frequently achievable at no additional expense on the ticket. For example, if your journey to Thailand includes a layover in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, you can get off the plane and spend a few days there before continuing on to Thailand.
There are several airlines that offer flights from the United States to Thailand, with various stopovers. Here are a few options:
- Thai Airways: This is the national airline of Thailand and offers direct flights from several US cities, including Los Angeles and New York City. Flights usually stop over in Bangkok.
- United Airlines: This US-based airline offers direct flights from San Francisco to Bangkok. Other flights from the US typically involve a stopover in Hong Kong or Tokyo.
- Emirates: This Dubai-based airline offers flights from several US cities, including New York City, Boston, and Chicago. Flights typically stop over in Dubai before continuing on to Bangkok.
- Qatar Airways: This airline offers flights from several US cities, including New York City, Los Angeles, and Miami. Flights typically stop over in Doha before continuing on to Bangkok.
- Korean Air: This airline offers flights from several US cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City. Flights typically stop over in Seoul before continuing on to Bangkok.
How to make traveling around Thailand easier?
One of the most difficult aspects of planning a Thailand itinerary is determining the best route to move from one city or island to another. In the nation, there are several bus, transfer, rail, and boat companies. Furthermore, many of them only have a Thai-language website. And even those that have an English website are frequently incredibly perplexing.
Another “complicator” is needing to visit numerous rival firms’ websites to compare rates, timetables, and routes. Furthermore, certain excursions will necessitate transfers. In summary: arranging all this is really complex.
As a result, I need to offer you a heads-up about a website that was essential for preparing our schedule in Thailand: 12Go Asia. It brings together numerous transportation businesses from Thailand as well as other Southeast Asian nations. 12Go Asia allows you to see and compare costs, timetables, routes, and businesses.
Furthermore, you may read the reviews of people who have already engaged the organizations listed on the site and purchase anything on 12Go Asia. Although 12Go Asia charges a modest convenience fee, I believe it is worthwhile to pay for the time saved.
My itinerary for Thailand (20 DAYS)
My itinerary of about 20 days in Thailand included not only the country, but also 3 and a half days in Laos, a neighbouring country. That is, I was in Thailand for 15 and a half days. You should also keep in mind that it took us two days to go to Southeast Asia.
That is, if you have 20 days off, you can just do the Thailand portion of our plan and be done with it!
I had intended to stay in Thailand for 30 days. However, with the advent of the pandemic, I ended up having to return prematurely and stayed in Asia for only around 20 days.
So I’m going to write about my two Thailand itineraries here. The first one, the 20-day one (along with Laos), is what I really did. And the other, 30 days, was what I intended to do.
First, I’ll talk about the short scripts, all right? Soon after, I go into further detail about them.
My itinerary in Thailand and Laos (20 Days) – In Short:
- Day 1 – Bangkok – Arrival
- Day 2 – Bangkok
- Day 3 – Bangkok – A return trip to Ayutthaya
- Day 4 – Bangkok
- Day 5 – Laos – Morning: flight from Bangkok to Luang Prabang. Afternoon: Luang Prabang
- Day 6 – Luang Prabang (Laos)
- Day 7 – Luang Prabang (Laos)
- 8th day – Luang Prabang (Laos) in the morning. In the afternoon, the flight to Chiang Mai (Thailand). We spent the afternoon in Chiang Mai.
- Day 9 – Chiang Mai
- Day 10 – Chiang Mai
- Day 11 – Chiang Mai – Return trip to Chiang Rai by bus.
- Day 12 – Departure from Chiang Rai to Ko Phi Phi in the morning by plane + van + ferry. Afternoon: Phi Phi.
- Day 13 – Phi Phi
- Day 14 – PhiPhi
- Day 15 – Phi Phi
- Day 16 – Travel from Phi Phi to Ao Nang ( Krabi ) in the morning by ferry. Afternoon: Railay Beach.
- Day 15 – Krabi
- Day 16 – Krabi. In the evening, we begin our return to the United States.
My itinerary in Thailand and Laos (20 Days): Explained
When I count the days on my plan in Thailand, I just include the touristy times, not the time spent commuting from one place to another, okay?
Itinerary in Bangkok: 3 and a half days
You’ll most likely arrive in Thailand via Bangkok, and you’ll be exhausted after two days of flying and crossing many time zones. I strongly advise you not to plan anything on your first day of travel. Believe me, all you’ll want to do in bed is extend your spine.
I arrived in the morning and spent the afternoon at the hotel. Then, at night, I went to Asiatique The Riverfront, a gorgeous outdoor venue on the side of a river with restaurants, stores, and an amusement park.
On the second day, I visited 1 palace and 3 temples:
- Grand Palace and Temple of the Reclining Buddha;
- Lunch and walk on Khaosan Road, the “craziest” street in Bangkok at night;
- Wat Arun Temple (Temple of Dawn);
- Wat Traimit Temple (largest solid gold Buddha statue in the world).
On the third day, we went on a full-day temple tour of Ayutthaya’s old city.
Finally, on day four, I did the following:
- Wat Ben Temple (Marble Temple);
- Wat Saket Temple (Golden Mount);
- Chatuchak clothing and accessories market;
- Electronic shopping at MBK, one of the biggest malls in Bangkok;
- Sunset at the tallest building in the city, the Mahanakhon Skywalk, which has a glass floor and drinks.
Itinerary in Laos
I spent two and a half days in the Laotian city of Luang Prabang, not including travel time. I won’t publish it here because this is a Thailand post.
Itinerary in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai: 3 and a half days
When researching places to visit in Thailand, I decided to add Chiang Mai since I had a strong desire to visit a nearby city, Chiang Rai, because of the White Temple. If you just have a limited amount of time, touring the temples in Bangkok may enough.
My itinerary in this region was as follows:
- First day: Arrive in the afternoon and see the Silver Temple, which is unlike any other temple in Thailand.
- Second day: I visited to 5 temples: Doi Suthep (the most well-known, located on a mountain), Wat Lok Moli, Wat Chiang Man, Wat Ched Luang, and Wat Phra Singh (Golden Temple).
- Third day: Return to Doi Inthanon National Park, which offers lovely gardens and mountain temples. With the right to a route and stops at a waterfall and Thailand’s highest peak.
- Fourth day: Return journey to Chiang Rai, where we visited the spectacular and unique White Temple, as well as the Blue Temple and Singha Park, with its vast gardens, plantations, and small farm.
If you go to Chiang Mai during the Lantern Festival, you will need more time in the region.
Itinerary in Phi Phi Islands: 3 and a half days
My script was like this:
- First day: Arrival in the afternoon, followed by a visit to Nice Beach (Tom Sai). Late afternoon stroll on the beach of Loh Dalum;
- Second day: Boat tour with a Portuguese guide via Maya Bay (which we only went through), Loh Sama Bay, Pileh Lagoon, Viking Cave (which we only passed through), Monkey Beach, Nui Bay (which we only passed through), and Bambu Island. Loh Dalum at dusk;
- Third and fourth days: Rest on the beach in Long Beach.
If you have less time on your Thailand itinerary, you can dedicate one day less to Phi Phi than I did.
Itinerary in Krabi: 2 and a half days
We arrived in the early afternoon on the first day and headed to Railay. In 1 afternoon, we visited Railay West, Railay East, and Phra Nang beaches.
The following day, we did the 4 islands boat tour, where we saw the magnificent Chicken, Tup, and Poda islands.
Finally, on the third day in Krabi (our final day in Thailand), we took a boat ride to Hong Island, where we saw Pakbia, Rai, Lading, and Hong islands, as well as the Hong Lagoon.
If I had another day, I would have taken another full-day boat journey from Krabi to James Bond Island, where one of the films in the series was filmed.
That is, 4 full days in Krabi would be ideal.
Why didn’t i stay in Phuket?
I decided not to stay in Phuket since, based on my study, the beaches on the mainland of Phuket appeared to be less lovely than others in Thailand. Furthermore, Phuket is well-known for drawing both sex tourists and those looking to make a scene (drinking excessively and disrupting other people’s sleep).
30-Day Thailand Itinerary
I had planned to spend about 30 days in Thailand, but, as I said, I had to go back earlier due to the pandemic. I leave here below what I had planned to do in the final 10 days. In short, what was missing was:
- 3 days on the island of Koh Lipe;
- 1 day in Koh Samui;
- 2 and a half days on Koh Lipe;
- And a few more days of displacement between these places.
Note that below I repeated the initial 20 days:
- Day 1 – Bangkok – Arrival
- Day 2 – Bangkok
- Day 3 – Bangkok – Return trip to Ayutthaya
- Day 4 – Bangkok
- Day 5 – Laos – Morning: flight from Bangkok to Luang Prabang. Afternoon: Luang Prabang
- Day 6 – Luang Prabang (Laos)
- Day 7 – Luang Prabang (Laos)
- Day 8 – Luang Prabang (Laos) in the morning. In the afternoon, the flight to Chiang Mai (Thailand). We spent the afternoon in Chiang Mai.
- Day 9 – Chiang Mai
- Day 10 – Chiang Mai
- Day 11 – Chiang Mai – Day Trip to Chiang Rai
- Day 12 – Departure from Chiang Rai to Ko Phi Phi in the morning. Afternoon: Phi Phi
- Day 13 – Phi Phi
- Day 14 – PhiPhi
- Day 15 – Phi Phi
- Day 16 – Travel from Phi Phi to Krabi in the morning. Afternoon: Railay Beach
- Day 17 – Krabi
- Day 18 – Krabi
- Day 19 – Departure from Krabi to Koh Lipe
- Day 20 – Koh Lipe
- Day 21 – Koh Lipe
- Day 22 – Koh Lipe
- Day 23 – Departure from Koh Lipe to Surat Thani, en route to Koh Samui
- Day 24 – Departure from Surat Thani to Koh Samui
- Day 25 – Koh Samui
- Day 26 – Departure from Koh Samui to Koh Tao. Afternoon on Koh Tao
- 27th day – Koh Tao
- 28th day – Koh Tao
- 29th day – Departure from Koh Tao to Bangkok to start the return.
7 Day Thailand Itinerary
I recommend focused on Bangkok and Phi Phi for anyone wondering what to do in Thailand in 7 days. Also, I recommend that you arrange your flights during the night so that you don’t waste time travelling during the day.
Spend four days in Bangkok and take a day excursion to Ayutthaya on one of those days. Then spend the remaining three days at Phi Phi.
8 Day Thailand Itinerary
Many Hotel Urbano (HURB) vacation packages are for 8 days in Thailand. Packages typically include four days in Bangkok and four days in Phuket. I recommend that you spend three full days in the capital and one day in Ayutthaya.
Then, during your four days in Phuket, set aside one day for a day excursion to Phi Phi (1h45 distant) and another for Railay Beach (about 2h from Phuket). The last two days may be spent relaxing on Phuket’s beaches.
See a package to Thailand for 8 days for BRL 3,999 in 2023, including flights and lodging. And another for 2022 for BRL 8,999 for 8 days.
However, if you have not bought a package that includes lodging in Bangkok and Phuket, my advice will be slightly different. Spend three days in Bangkok, three days in Phi Phi, and two days in Railay. However, make your excursions throughout the night. You won’t squander time this way.
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