5 Must Do’s When Visiting Thailand

A merchant selling food from a long boat on a canal in Thailand. Photo by Harvey Enrile on Unsplash
With over 32 million tourists making their way to Thailand in 2017, the country surely has an attraction for everyone. From calm northern cities to a thriving capital and pure, clean islands everywhere, the country is eager to please all visitors. See what the hype is about with these 5 must-do’s when visiting Thailand.
Full Moon Party
Backpackers and partiers go down to the Full Moon Party in Thailand each month to see for themselves what all the hype is about. The festivity goes down on the island of Koh Phangan. The party is known for the large crowds of neon-painted and tourists with nothing but tiny bikinis who frequent them, with vibrant buckets of booze in tow to get the party started. Live DJ’s and fire shows are definitely guaranteed, and make sure to party until the early morning.
New Lumpinee Boxing Stadium
As the national sport of Thailand, visitors have to experience at least one Muay Thai fight before going back home. Arguably the best place to do this is at New Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok. The stadium is an updated version of the Lumpini Boxing Stadium, which was originally built in 1956. Fights are held three times a week, so hopefully visitors to the capital can find time to witness in a match or two.
Floating Markets
Before Bangkok was built with roadways, the many waterways acted as the main form of transportation. Many of these waterways have since been filled in to make way for the Bangkok’s urban décor, but venture outside the city center and visitors will find many of these floating markets still exist. Floating markets provide visitors to Thailand with a unique shopping experience. Colorful boats are filled with even more vibrant goods, equipped with everything from souvenirs to tasty traditional Thai food.
Elephant Sanctuary
The bucket list of every traveler to Thailand usually includes some sort of animal sanctuary. Elephant sanctuaries are found across the country, but visitors should be aware of which ones they choose to go to. Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai is a picturesque animal sanctuary nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains. The sanctuary has rescued dozen of elephants since it opened in the 1990s.
Maya Bay
We don’t know what’s more beautiful: Leonardo DiCaprio or Maya Bay, the secluded beach on the Phi Phi island that the actor made famous. In his movie, The Beach, DiCaprio escapes to Thailand hoping to find adventure. When the movie was released in 2000, tourists’ curiosities were peaked: what is this bay that looks almost too pristine to be real? Since then, visitors flock to this stretch of white sand via boat to explore as DiCaprio did.