Southeast Asia, from the Gulf of Thailand to the mountains along the Myanmar border
Thailand
More a continent than a country.
This is Thailand
Bangkok is just one room in a large house.
From busy Bangkok streets to quiet mountain villages in the north, this country has as many faces as provinces.
Thailand tends to bring two images to mind: the neon-lit chaos of Bangkok, or a white beach with a single palm tree. Both exist, but neither is really Thailand. The country counts 76 provinces, four fundamentally different landscapes, and a cuisine that barely resembles itself from north to south.
In the north, morning mist settles over the rice terraces near Mae Hong Son, while in Isaan, the northeast that most travellers skip, life still follows the rhythm of the harvest. Along the Andaman Sea, limestone cliffs rise out of the water like stage sets, while fishing villages on the Gulf of Thailand rarely see a tourist. No single trip can show all of that. But the right choices take you well beyond the image everyone already knows.
The many faces
Six different versions of Thailand.
The country doesn't split neatly into two halves: north and south, city and beach. Each region has its own rhythm, its own dishes and its own reason to be there.
Metropolis
Bangkok
A city that never quite stops: klongs serving as shortcuts, temples wedged between skyscrapers, and night markets where real life only gets going after nine.
Mountains
The north
Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son: mountain villages of the Karen and Lahu, small-scale coffee plantations and temples built of wood rather than gold.
The unknown interior
Isaan
The northeast, bordering Laos and Cambodia: the least visited part of the country, with its own language, a cuisine built around som tam and larb, and a pace set by the rice harvest.
West coast
The Andaman Sea
Limestone formations, mangrove forests and islands that lie beyond the well-known names, with water clear enough to see what's underneath without a mask.
East coast
The Gulf of Thailand
Quieter than the west coast: fishing villages, oyster farms and islands where the boat still comes back with the day's catch.
History
The central plains
Around Ayutthaya, the old capital that stood at the heart of the kingdom for three centuries: temple ruins among rice fields, and rivers that still shape how people get around.
Faith and rhythm
A temple isn't a photo stop, it's a daily habit.
At six in the morning, monks walk barefoot through the streets of every Thai town, bowls out for alms. Neighbours are already waiting with rice and fruit. It isn't a tourist tradition, just the way the day begins. In a country with more than 40,000 temples, Buddhism isn't scenery, it's a rhythm that still shapes daily life.
You see it outside the temple walls too: a taxi driver with a garland hanging from the rear-view mirror, a market stall with a small spirit house beside it, a birthday that begins with a visit to the local wat. Notice these and you see a different Thailand than the one you get by ticking off Bangkok's big temples.
Nature and water
More than the sand alone.
Khao Sok
One of the oldest rainforests in the world, older than the Amazon, with a reservoir where limestone cliffs rise straight out of the water.
Elephants, on their own terms
At ethical sanctuaries, elephants live without saddles and without riders. You watch, help bathe them or walk alongside them, never on top.
Underwater
Reefs around the Similan and Surin islands, and with a bit of luck a whale shark off Koh Tao, outside peak season, when the water is calmer.
Rice terraces near Mae Hong Son, an hour before the mist lifts.
Two mornings, one country: a market stall already busy at five, and a temple that only becomes visible once the mist lifts.
What's possible here
No fixed itinerary. Just a country full of starting points.
We don't build a fixed route. We build a feel for what's possible here, so we can work out together what suits you.
Cooking with a local family
Half a day at the market and in the kitchen with a family in Chiang Mai or Isaan. Not a cookery class with twenty other travellers, but one kitchen, one family.
A morning with the monks
An early start for the alms round, and in some places a conversation with an English-speaking monk about what life in a temple actually involves.
Floating markets without the crowds
Beyond Damnoen Saduak, where the coaches stop, smaller floating markets still trade for neighbours rather than cameras.
Trekking through mountain villages
Multi-day treks between Karen and Lahu villages in the mountains around Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son, staying with host families rather than in a lodge.
The night train north
Bangkok to Chiang Mai by sleeper train: a slow shift from city to mountains, with the country sliding past the window in the morning.
What you actually do, we work out together. These are directions, not a set menu.
Verder kijken dan de highlights
How we look at Thailand
Beyond the full moon party Koh Phangan is more than a monthly party. The island has quiet northern coastlines that rarely make it into a travel story. We don't plan around it, we plan alongside it.
No elephant to ride We only work with sanctuaries that don't let elephants be ridden or perform. That's not a compromise. It's the only way both the animal and the encounter stay intact.
Isaan exists too Most trips to Thailand skip the northeast. We take it seriously: it's where many Thais themselves come from, and where the food is at its sharpest.
One country, not two weeks Bangkok, the north, a coast: cramming it all into one trip mostly produces exhaustion. We'd rather cover two or three regions well than six half-heartedly.
Wanneer reis je?
When you go depends on where you're going.
Thailand doesn't have a single season. It has at least two, running against each other. November to February is the most comfortable window for the whole country: dry, less oppressively warm, clear skies in the north. March to May turns hot, especially in Bangkok and the central plains, where the mercury easily climbs past 35 degrees.
The rainy season is the trickiest part: the west coast on the Andaman Sea gets most of its rain between May and October, while the east coast on the Gulf of Thailand, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, is wettest between October and December. Anyone heading for the coast in those months is better off choosing the other side.
Jan
Feb
Mrt
Apr
Mei
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Okt
Nov
Dec
Top: dry, comfortable, clear views in the mountains.
Good: warmer or more humid, but still very travelable.
Fair: rainy season on at least one coast. Which coast depends on the time of year.
Goed om te weten
Praktisch, zonder ruis.
A few things that make planning easier.
- Getting there
- Direct flights from Brussels to Bangkok; domestic flights and night trains connect the regions easily.
- Documents
- A passport valid for at least six months after arrival; a visa usually isn't required in advance for short stays.
- Health
- No mandatory vaccinations for most travellers; we discuss tailored travel advice beforehand.
- Pace
- Large distances between regions: combining Bangkok, the north and a coast calls for domestic flights, not just the road.
- Traffic
- Bangkok has heavy traffic; anyone wanting to save time plans around the skytrain (BTS) and metro (MRT) rather than the road.
Thailand isn't a country to tick off.
It's a country with six different rhythms. And we work out which rhythm suits you.
Frequently asked questions
Is Thailand a good year-round destination?
The country is, but not every coast at the same time. The rainy season alternates between the west coast and the east coast. We match the timing to the regions you want to see.
Do I need to cram the whole country into one trip?
No, and we'd advise against it. Exploring two or three regions properly works better than seeing six of them half well in the same travel time.
Can I see elephants without the animal suffering for it?
Yes. We work exclusively with sanctuaries where the animals aren't ridden and no performances take place.
Is Isaan worth visiting if I've never heard of the region?
That's exactly the point: the northeast gets the fewest visitors of anywhere in Thailand, and has its own cuisine and culture you won't find elsewhere in the country.
Or perhaps this
Other destinations
Still weighing it up? That is no problem at all. The right country often only becomes clear once the conversation starts.
Zuidoost-Azië
Vietnam
A country best discovered at the table, one that feels like an almost different place from north to south.
Zuidoost-Azië
Cambodia
Overgrown temples and a quiet resilience that say more about the past than any history book.
Zuidoost-Azië
Laos
Time still flows with the river here, at a pace its neighbours traded for haste long ago.
The next step
Which side of Thailand speaks to you?
Tell us whether you're drawn to the mountains of the north, want to discover the quiet of Isaan, or are after the energy of Bangkok. We build the trip around your answer, not the other way round.