I went to Thailand with five of my best friends from childhood for our first international trip together. It was the first trip we were able to take together since Lake Placid during COVID, and represented the first time one of our friends even left the country. During this trip, we were able to see both Bangkok and Phuket and a little bit of the outskirts of Bangkok-metro area. Although people may say that Asia is not worth visiting for only one week, I would rank this trip as one of the best places I have ever traveled to due to its amazing food scene, affordability, varied offerings for different interests, and the company that I went with.

Day 1 + 2: Flight to Bangkok + Getting to Airbnb

• Take Korean Air flight from JFK to ICN for a 2 hour layover in South Korea and then a flight from ICN to BKK (total travel time is over 24 hours if you count door-to-door and that doesn't include the 12 hour time difference)

  • Korean Air is the best airline I have ever flown on --> the food and service is excellent

• Take a Grab from BKK to the Airbnb and unpack, fight the jetlag, and sleep relatively early because of the long journey

Day 3: Participate in Songkran and First Glimpse of Bangkok

• Begin the day with breakfast at Goose Cafe, walkable from the Airbnb

• Head to Si Lom Road to begin participating in Songkran and pick up water guns while walking by

  • Songkran is Thailand's New Year Festival and it is centered around a water fight (guns, balloons, buckets, etc.)

  • All of the locals will try to get you wet and the little kids will be running around with guns ready to ambush you

  • There are a lot of pop-up stands and stalls that are helpful in refilling water and staying strapped ready to spray

• Walk through Lumphini Park after getting soaked to dry off and see the largest park in Bangkok on the way to lunch

  • We were starving and stopped by Salvia, an Italian restaurant inside a Grand Hyatt 

• Continue to walk through the streets of Bangkok, stopping at the malls and markets as desired to rest up or check out stores

• Head to Jim Thompson House Museum --> very cool experience, relatively cheap, and great photo opportunities

• Go back to the Airbnb to take some quick showers and get refreshed before heading back out for dinner

  • We went to Indus for dinner, which was an Indian Michelin-star restaurant --> one of the best meals I have had in my life

• Return to Airbnb to pack a backpack with things to take to Phuket for next 2 days

Day 4: Flight to Phuket + Exploring Phuket

• Take a flight from DMK, Bangkok's other airport, to HKT Phuket via Thai Lion Air

  • This airline is roughly equivalent to a Spirit, so don't expect much, but definitely pay for the front row seats

• Hire a van driver at DMK for a few hours to take you to see two of the famous temples in the area, Wat Phra Thong and Wat Phra Nang Sang, and then to the Airbnb after to unpack

• Head to Phuket Old Town to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening walking along the colorful streets, drinking at the bars, buying souvenirs, etc. There is also another famous temple right next to the Old Town called Wat Kajorn Rangsan

• Eat at One Chun Cafe and Restaurant for dinner before heading back to the Airbnb to have an earlier night in --> play board games, cards, drink and sleep early because of the early start the next morning

Day 5: Phi Phi Islands Tour + Bangla Road

• The Phi Phi Islands are what people picture when they hear Phuket -- white sand beaches, glimmering water, shining sun -- basically a paradise on Earth. This tour is 100% worth the money, but be advised that it is 8 hours long so if long activities with no flexibility are not your thing, look for a shorter version

  • You will need to get to the pickup location bright and early, but after that, they take care of everything

  • If you get nauseous in boat rides, definitely bring some medicine because the first speedboat ride is pretty bumpy

  • Maya Beach is the first stop on the tour and is the classic Thailand picture of white sand between two rocks

  • The next hour is spent with the boat stopping by various points to show the Pileh Lagoon, Monkey Beach, and Viking Cave

  • The snorkeling part of this tour is amazing -- I snorkeled in Maui as well, but those waters were fast moving and it was pretty much in open ocean and lowkey scary. This was in a bay, felt very safe, the water was calm, and the visuals were phenomenal

  • After snorkeling, there is a stop at a resort area to eat a buffet and walk around -- the food here is average but you can walk along the beach and get drinks, snacks, ice cream, etc. Also, the boat operators bring around plates of freshly cut fruit and drinks frequently, so hunger isn't an issue

  • The final stop is an hour of free time on Bamboo Island -- by this point, we were pretty tired and did not really explore much, but we stopped at a cafe and got some fresh fruit smoothies and talked

• Head back to the Airbnb to shower and relax for a bit before heading back out to eat and explore Phuket nightlife

• Meg Khram is a great restaurant that overlooks the coastline of Phuket and the food and drinks are very good

• After dinner, walk along Bangla Road and Patong Beach to see Phuket roadside food, stalls, and the nightlife that everyone in the world knows about

Day 6: The Big Buddha + Return to Bangkok + Dinner Cruise + Bangkok Nightlife #1

• Head to the Big Buddha Statue in the morning after packing up for the return flight -- one of the coolest things in Thailand because of how large the statue is and the viewpoint it offers of the entire island of Phuket

• Fly back to DMK from HKT Phuket mid-day on Thai Lion Air

• We were pretty exhausted after the past few days, so we took it easy after returning by going on a Dinner Cruise that was along the Chao Phraya River that highlighted a lot of the sights of Bangkok at night time and had an open beer tab

  • This dinner cruise got surprisingly fun as the night went on and had a dance floor on the deck upstairs which we were able to cue songs up for on AUX

  • The food was also pretty solid relative to the experience overall

• After the dinner cruise, check out two of the top cocktail bars in Asia -- it is not difficult to walk-in to these places, but it was also a Wednesday night

  • Mahaniyom --#18 on Asia's 50 best cocktail bars list and our personal favorite 

  • Vesper -- #13 on Asia's 50 best cocktail bars list

Day 7: Elephant Sanctuary + Erawan Waterfalls + Bangkok Nightlife #2

• Wake up at 5 AM for a private car to come pick you up from home to go to the elephant sanctuary that is 3 hours away

  • Thailand is synonymous, along with the rest of SE Asia, for being the home of elephants and it is a very touristy thing to do

• At the elephant sanctuary, you will be able to feed the elephants fruit, make their food by rolling grass and nutrients into balls and placing it in their mouths, give them a mud bath, and then play with them in the river

  • This sanctuary is a very environmentally-friendly institution as it rescues elephants from poachers and other harmful places and brings them here to be taken care of

• After the day with elephants, the place will have bathrooms to shower in as well as a lunch buffet, which was decent

• The next stop on this tour is to the Erawan waterfalls, where there is a hike up a mountain that involves passing 7 waterfalls

  • To be completely honest, considering how tired we were on this trip, I think we could have skipped this specific activity and come back home to nap. However, the sights we saw and the waterfalls were pretty and it is cool to be able to say we hiked a waterfall trail in Thailand as well

• Return to the Airbnb and UberEats Rose Lane Burger to meet us there and nap while waiting for the others

  • 4 out of the 6 of us went to the elephant sanctuary and waterfall hike. The plan was for all of us to meet up again for post-dinner plans. In the meantime, here is what they each did with their solo-trip days:

    • One friend checked out Lumphini Park, walked around China town, got a Thai massage, took a Muay Thai workout class

    • The other friend used Airbnb Experiences to book a scent-making class and a cooking workshop with renowned industry leaders

    • These two friends started the day at a coffee shop, Breve, and then went their separate ways and met up again for dinner at Punjab Grill, which they claimed to be better than Indus (we're gonna say it was a biased review to make us feel jealous)

• After resting post-nature excursion day, Grab to Tichuca Rooftop Bar -- this rooftop bar has insane Bangkok skyline views, a cool tree-like structure that changes colors, and good drinks with a dance floor in the middle as well

• From there, we went to Sing Sing Theater where we ended up staying the rest of the night -- great club to dance at and not too packed

Day 8: Sightseeing Bangkok + Last Michelin Dinner

• ​​Hire a van for the entire day through the Airbnb hosts to have a self-paced sightseeing tourist day

  • Begin the day at Luka Cafe for brunch

  • Head to the Grand Palace to see the beautiful murals, temples, and old living quarters of the emperor. Wat Phra Kaew is also inside the same gated complex

    • You need to wear pants inside, so make sure to bring pants to change into

  • Head to Wat Arun afterwards -- one of the prettiest temples I have ever seen and its height, yet attention to detail is amazing

• After all of the sightseeing, we split up for a few hours before dinner again

  • Two friends went back to the Airbnb to relax because they were tired

  • Four of us went to Chinatown to check it out and walk around before one of them went back to the Airbnb

• Three of us went to a massage parlor to get a Thai massage -- would recommend these since they are very cheap for the value you get in terms of the full body massage

• Eat dinner at Phra Nakhon, a Michelin-level Thai restaurant along the waterfront that has a phenomenal wine pairing with its tasting menu -- one of the best meals I have ever had

Day 9: Return Flight to JFK from BKK via ICN