1-Month Thailand Itinerary

Days 1–4, Bangkok for four nights

Four nights is two more than most plans give Bangkok, and it buys the Old City without the heat crush and a day out of town. Day 1 is arrival and Chinatown's street food on Yaowarat Road. Day 2 is the Grand Palace, Wat Pho and Wat Arun before midday. Day 3 is Ayutthaya, about an hour north by train from Krung Thep Aphiwat for about ฿20 in third class or ฿50 on the 09:05 Bangkok Connex, then a ฿10 ferry to the island and ฿300 for the seven-temple ticket. Day 4 is Chatuchak if it's a weekend, or Jim Thompson House and a rooftop if it isn't.

I lived in Bangkok's Rama 9 and Huai Khwang area for two or three years and mostly got around on the MRT, so I'd sleep within a walk of a station. Sukhumvit around Asok or Silom puts the Old City and the railway station on one line. From the airport, take the Airport Rail Link or the metered taxi rank, and don't board the trains with your bags at rush hour. Leave extra time for evening taxis, because the traffic is the one thing you can't plan around.

Day 5, the 18:40 sleeper to Chiang Mai

Check out, leave your bags at the hotel and spend the day at a market or a museum, then take Special Express #9 from Krung Thep Aphiwat at 18:40. A second-class berth costs ฿941–1,041, makes up into a bed with a curtain, and replaces a hotel night. You wake to the mountains and arrive at 07:15. Tickets open 90 days ahead and lower berths sell first from November to February.

Days 6–10, Chiang Mai for five nights

Five nights lets Chiang Mai be a place you live in for a while rather than a list. Give the first morning to the Old City temples inside the moat, then Doi Suthep at its 06:00 opening before the coaches, an afternoon at an ethical elephant program, a morning cooking class that starts at the market (about ฿1,000–1,500 with pickup and lunch) and Wat Umong's forest tunnels. That still leaves a day out. Doi Inthanon, Thailand's highest mountain, is two hours each way, about ฿1,200–1,800 on a tour plus a ฿300 park fee, and the Green Bus to Chiang Rai and the White Temple takes 3h20–3h45 from ฿260, 13 times a day, which makes it a long day out.

Stay inside the Old City moat or just outside it for the temples and the Sunday Walking Street, or in Nimman for coffee, coworking and newer restaurants. A Grab or a red songthaew across town costs ฿30–50, so the wrong choice costs minutes. If you're extending your stay past 30 days, this is the week to do it, and the visa section below has the two offices.

Days 11–13, Pai for three nights

Prempracha's minivans leave Chiang Mai's Arcade terminal every hour from 06:30 for ฿150–220 at the counter and take 3.5 to 4 hours over the 762 curves of Route 1095. Arrive for the hot springs and Pai Canyon at sunset. Spend the full day by scooter, with Morpaeng Waterfall at its 08:30 opening, the ฿30 Kho Ku So bamboo bridge across the rice fields, and the White Buddha in the late light, and keep the third day for the valley at its own speed and the walking street at night.

Book the Day 14 van with the airport drop. Some van tickets end at Chiang Mai airport rather than the Arcade terminal, and an early one makes the midday or afternoon flight south.

Days 14–17, Ao Nang or Railay for four nights

Thai AirAsia flies Chiang Mai to Krabi nonstop about three times a day in two hours, from 07:55 to about 17:00, and Bangkok Airways adds three a week in the cool season. Every other airline on that route changes planes in Bangkok and turns two hours into five or more. From Krabi airport the shuttle to Ao Nang is ฿150.

Ao Nang has the most hotels and restaurants, and the island boats leave straight off its beach. Railay is the roadless peninsula of limestone towers a ฿100 longtail away. I stayed at Railay Village Resort & Spa when I visited Railay, I proposed to my wife on Phra Nang Beach in 2023, and it's still one of my favorite trips in Thailand, so if the budget stretches I'd give Railay two of the four nights. Use the days for Railay and Phra Nang Cave Beach in the early morning, a speedboat to the Hong Islands, and one day with nothing booked at all.

Days 18–22, Koh Lanta for five nights

Bundhaya's speedboat leaves Nopparat Thara pier near Ao Nang at 10:10 (Railay East at 10:30) and reaches Saladan on Lanta around 11:40–12:00 for about ฿1,215, all year. From November the Ao Nang Princess ferry leaves at 10:30 for about ฿670, slower and steadier.

Lanta is the base to make the longest stay. Long Beach (Phra Ae) has the island's most reliable swimming and the best spread of restaurants, and Lanta Sand Resort & Spa, a beachfront resort with a pool there, is my pick for most first visits. Five nights covers a scooter loop down the west coast to Kantiang and the national park lighthouse at the southern tip, sunsets at Klong Khong, a Koh Rok snorkeling day (about ฿1,600–2,200, roughly November to April), and the old stilt town on the east coast. I've been to Lanta Old Town, the century-old stilt town on the east coast.

Days 23–25, Koh Phi Phi for three nights

From mid-October Bundhaya sails from Saladan to Tonsai pier at 10:00, 13:00 and 15:30 for ฿700, with a ฿20 pier fee at Tonsai in cash, in 30 to 40 minutes. Three nights on Phi Phi is one more than the day-trippers give it, and it buys the viewpoint at sunset (฿50), the early longtail that reaches Maya Bay before the day boats, Pileh Lagoon, and Long Beach once the crowds leave in the afternoon.

Sleep on Long Beach, a ฿100–150 longtail from the village, or at Laem Tong on the northern tip, not in Tonsai village, where the bars at Loh Dalum carry until 1 or 2 in the morning. Book Phi Phi two to three months ahead for December to February. The island runs 25–40% pricier than the mainland, and much of it runs on cash.

Days 26–28, Phuket for three nights, then home

The ferries leave Tonsai for Phuket from 09:00 to 15:30, about two hours from about ฿500, and the speedboats run until about 17:00 for ฿750–850 in an hour. Almost every boat lands at Rassada pier, and a taxi from there to Kata or Karon is about ฿800.

Kata and Karon have the swimmable beaches and enough evening life without Patong. Give a day to Phuket Old Town's Sino-Portuguese shophouses, and an evening to Bangla Road in Patong if you're curious. I've been there at night, and it's chaotic and busy but fun. The last full day is the reason this plan ends on an island with an airport. On Day 29 you're about an hour's drive from the terminal with no boat to catch, and the stamp still has a day left.

Mid-February to April, trade the north for Kanchanaburi and Khao Sok

Both coasts are dry, but crop burning fills Chiang Mai and Pai with smoke, worst in March. Keep Bangkok, then give the north's nine nights to Kanchanaburi and Khao Sok. The train from Bangkok's Thon Buri station to Kanchanaburi costs ฿100 and takes about 2 hours 45 minutes, and three nights there covers the River Kwai and the waterfalls. Then go back through Bangkok and fly from Don Mueang to Surat Thani, about ฿1,000–1,650 and 1 hour 15 minutes, and take Phantip's van from the arrivals hall to Khao Sok for ฿250–300 (the last leaves around 16:15). After three nights in the rainforest or on the lake, the shared vans to Ao Nang take 3.5 to 4.5 hours for ฿300–500, and the rest of the plan runs as written, with a night added to Lanta and to Phuket.

May to September, take the north and the Gulf islands

The southwest monsoon brings rough seas to the Andaman side, while Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao have some of their best weather. Keep Bangkok (4), the sleeper and Chiang Mai (4), go to Pai (3), and come back to Chiang Mai for one more night, because Bangkok Airways' one nonstop a day to Koh Samui leaves at 11:30 and lands at 13:15. Then stay on Samui (4) in Bophut or Chaweng, take the 20–50 minute boat (฿200–500) to Koh Phangan (5) for the quiet northeast bays, and the fast boat (฿600, about an hour) to Koh Tao (5) for the diving, where an Open Water course runs about ฿11,000–12,500 over 3.5 to 4 days. Lomprayah's 10:15 boat-and-bus from Koh Tao reaches Bangkok's Khao San Road at 20:30 for ฿1,250, which leaves one night in Bangkok before the flight home on Day 29. That's 28 nights again.

September and October, the hardest month for a beach trip

The Andaman coast is at its wettest and the Gulf's rainy season is beginning, with November Samui's wettest month. If those are your dates, September still suits the Gulf version, and the rainy-season guide covers both months, when the rain mostly comes in afternoon bursts rather than all day.