Things to do in Thailand: 34 experiences worth the trip

2 to 3 hoursFree

Graze your way down string-lit lanes on a first Bangkok evening, sharing small plates from stall to stall.

A full dayNo booking needed

Charter your own long-tail and land on Koh Poda's crescent beach before the speedboat groups arrive, or stay after they leave.

Two or three eveningsBook ahead

Be in Chiang Mai for the Lanna festival of lights, when krathongs float on the water and lanterns light the temples under the full moon.

2 to 3 hoursBook ahead

Reach the Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha's temple at the 8:30 opening, ahead of the heat and the tour coaches.

Half a day in town, a full day on a farmBook ahead

Pick ingredients in an organic garden, pound your own curry paste and eat lunch on a terrace over the fields outside Chiang Mai.

A full dayBook ahead

Paddle through sea caves that open only at certain tides into lagoons enclosed inside limestone islands.

About 10.5 hours overnightBook ahead

Board a sleeper out of Bangkok in the evening and wake at Surat Thani, ready for the fast ferry to the Gulf islands.

Half a day for the central zoneNo booking needed

Cycle flat paths between the temples of the first Thai kingdom's capital, starting at a lotus-bud chedi among rows of seated Buddhas.

A full dayNo booking needed

Koh Tao's reefs start close to shore, so you can look for Shark Bay's small blacktip reef sharks without a dive course.

1 to 2 hoursBook ahead

Watch the sun go down from an open-air roof 314 metres up, standing on a glass-floored tray over the edge.

1.5 to 2 hoursNo booking needed

Come in by the south gate to the 46-metre gold Reclining Buddha, then walk a complex of more than 1,000 Buddha images.

1 hour, plus sunset across the riverNo booking needed

Climb Wat Arun's porcelain-covered prang as it catches warm afternoon light, then cross back to watch it against the dusk.

3 to 4 hoursFree

Spend a weekend morning among more than 15,000 stalls, eating as you go, before the inner alleys heat up.

2 to 3 hoursFree

Arrive hungry when Chinatown's neon comes on and share small portions from cart to cart down Yaowarat Road.

Half a day from BangkokNo booking needed

Be on the canal in the market's first hours, among the paddle boats, before the coaches arrive in waves.

A full dayGo alone or with a tour

Pedal paved paths between the ruins of Siam's old capital, from a Buddha head grown into fig roots to sunset over Khmer-style towers.

Half a day or a full day, with transfersBook ahead

Watch rescued elephants forage and bathe in the Mae Taeng River at a park with no riding, no show and no bullhook.

A full day from Chiang MaiNo booking needed

Drive up to 2,565 metres, walk the Kew Mae Pan trail near the summit and stop at waterfalls on the way.

A full dayBook ahead

Walk the sand of Maya Bay, a blacktip reef shark nursery, and save your snorkelling for the rest of Phi Phi.

Half a day or a full day courseBook ahead

Learn to climb on a cliff-bound peninsula with more than 700 bolted routes, then watch climbers above the sand at Phra Nang.

Two days, one nightBook ahead

Wake on the water to mist on the lake and a long-tail wildlife safari before the day trippers arrive.

One night, plus a slow next dayBook ahead

Join the monthly party on Haad Rin Sunrise Beach under the full moon, with your ferry, room and meeting point sorted first.

Half a dayNo booking needed

Walk between two temples inside the moat: a huge brick chedi broken by an earthquake in 1545, and murals of Lanna life.

1 to 2 hoursFree

Walk narrow sandstone ridges in the last good light, then watch the sun go down over the hills from the first platform.

1 to 1.5 hoursNo booking needed

Cross the bridge over the pit of reaching hands into the all-white temple at opening, before the coaches turn it into a queue.

45 minutesFree

Step into a deep blue hall with gilded trim, where a large white seated Buddha fills the back.

2 hoursFree

Look for sai ua sausage and jackfruit curry at the stalls Thai families pick, or join the locals on Chiang Rai's Saturday Walking Street.

3 to 4 hours in the parkNo booking needed

Climb seven tiers of green pools, swimming with small fish that nibble your feet, up to the one said to look like Erawan's head.

A full day from BangkokNo booking needed

Walk across the real Death Railway bridge, then ride the line past a wooden viaduct running along the cliff above the river.

A day trip, or 3 to 4 days on a liveaboardBook ahead

Snorkel coral gardens on a speedboat day trip and climb Sail Rock above Donald Duck Bay, no liveaboard needed.

An eveningFree

Watch Khao San Road change from shuttered strip to packed street as the tables spill out and the speakers come on.

About 3 hoursBook ahead

Be in your seat for the wai khru ram muay, the ritual dance every fighter performs before the first round at a national stadium.

2 to 3 hoursNo booking needed

Ride a long-tail into Thonburi's canals to a community of wooden houses where puppet theatre plays some afternoons.

A full day from Koh SamuiBook ahead

Climb to the Koh Wua Ta Lap viewpoint over a 42-island archipelago, then look into an emerald lake hidden inside Koh Mae Ko.