If you’re planning a trip to Thailand and wondering what absolutely can’t be missed, then this post is for you! After spending 3 weeks backpacking in Thailand in 2023, I fell in love with the beauty, people, food and culture of this amazing country. There are a few things to do in Thailand that really stand out to me as some of my favorite travel experiences ever and deserve a spot on everyone’s Thailand travel bucketlist. From swimming in turquoise water with sea turtles and spending a day with rescued elephants, to learning how to make my favorite Thai dishes, these were the best Thailand experiences that made me fall in love with the country.

This guide of the best things to do in Thailand includes practical tips, my personal experiences, and links to the best budget-friendly tours. All of these experiences are great for solo travelers – in fact, all of Thailand is great for travelling solo. Out of everywhere I’ve been, Thailand is one of the most welcoming and easy-to-navigate countries. Most importantly, it’s safe for women travelling solo and its a very popular backpacking destination where you will encounter lots of other solo travelers.

If you want to see my exact Thailand travel itinerary, which is perfect for solo travelers, check out my 3 Week Thailand Itinerary from South to North. I give my honest opinion of the 8 destinations I visited and how long you should stay in each stop.

The Best Things to do in Thailand

Island Hopping in Koh Phi Phi

Visiting the Phi Phi islands is one of those classic Thailand travel experiences that you can’t miss. If you’re looking for the towering limestone cliffs, turquoise lagoons and white sand beaches that you’ve probably seen in pictures, this is where to come. If you’re staying on Koh Phi Phi Don (the largest and only inhabited island in the Phi Phi islands archipelago), then you can take a half-day or full-day longtail boat tour straight from Ton Sai Beach. You can book your tour ahead of time here, or book directly on the island with a tour company or the boat drivers (if you’re comfortable negotiating, you can often get a cheaper price that way).

If you’re staying in Phuket or Krabi, you can also visit the Phi Phi Islands on a full-day speedboat tour. After about a 1 hour boat ride, you’ll arrive to the islands and stop at a few stunning locations. Although each tour is a bit different, most stop at the popular spots like Maya Bay, Monkey Beach, and Pileh Lagoon for snorkeling (and they provide snorkeling gear!). The full-day tours typically include a buffet lunch as well.

If you’re staying on Koh Phi Phi and traveling with a group, you should consider booking a private tour to explore the islands. It will likely be the same price as booking a group tour, and you’ll be able to tell your tour guide exactly where you want to go. Whether you’re booking a group tour or a private tour, try to leave as early as possible, as the popular spots can get quite crowded by midday. Maya Bay in particular gets very crowded. We arrived around 10 and there was quite a few people, but we were still able to enjoy the scenery and get some good pictures. I can imagine it gets more packed in the afternoon.

Don’t forget to wear your bathing suit and bring plenty of water, reef-safe sunscreen and a waterproof case for your phone if you want to take pictures in the water!

Stay Overnight in Khao Sok National Park

Khao Sok National Park is a unique destination that should be added to every Thailand itinerary! Khao Sok is famous for its Cheow Lan Lake, a manmade reservoir created in the 1980s. Today, its known for its dramatic limestone cliffs, emerald green water and incredible biodiversity. It’s become a popular spot for travellers who want an immersive jungle experience sleeping in an overwater floating bungalow.

Although you can visit Khao Sok National Park on a day trip, I would highly recommending doing an overnight tour, where you’ll sleep in a cabin floating over the beautiful lake. This experience was unlike anything I had ever done before and definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone, but I loved it! The bungalows are off-grid with no wifi and almost no electricity, making it a great excuse to disconnect and appreciate the nature around you. Along with 3 meals, the overnight tours include short hikes to caves, kayaking, and late-night and early-morning safaris, which you wouldn’t get to experience on a day tour.

Your experience in Khao Sok National Park depends a lot on how much you’re willing to spend. We booked one of the cheapest tours we could find with the company Khao Sok Lake, and the price definitely matched the amenities. The bungalows were as basic as could be with just a bed and mosquito net, the bathrooms weren’t clean and the food was just okay. Despite this, we had a great tour guide who made the boat rides and safaris truly memorable and informative. I loved that the tour company was able to arrange all of our transportation from Krabi and to our next destination. So I recommend the company Khao Sok Lake, but if you value a bit more comfort then book one of their higher-end tours that include modern amenities!

Pack light (you can only bring a small backpack) but don’t forget the off-grid essentials like bug spray, a fully charged phone and a portable charger. The bungalows and bathrooms are completely dark after a certain hour, when they turn off the generator, so you will need a flashlight. I just used my phone light, which is why that portable charger is key!

Snorkel or Scuba Dive with Sea Turtles

Many of Thailand’s islands are known for world-class snorkeling and scuba diving. Koh Tao, which is a small island in the Gulf of Thailand, is especially popular for snorkeling and diving due to its calm, clear waters and coral reefs teeming with marine life like sharks and turtles. It’s often called “Turtle Island” because of the green and hawksbill sea turtles that you can see in many of the bays.

Doing a guided snorkeling boat tour in Koh Tao will give you access to the best reefs and provide you with the proper snorkeling gear. During my tour, we stopped at Shark Bay, Ao Leuk and Hin Wong Bay, and had a guide who knew exactly where to find the turtles. It was pouring rain the day that I went, but surprisingly, it didn’t affect the experience much. We were still able to see a bunch of turtles and other marine animals like colorful fish and small sharks.

Although I didn’t scuba dive in Thailand, my friend who I was travelling with did and had an amazing experience. She was already scuba certified and went on 2 dives during out 3 day stay in Koh Tao. She said she saw even more sea life than I did while snorkeling. If you are not scuba certified, Koh Tao is one of the cheapest places in the world to get your PADI certification and there are dive schools everywhere.

By the way, if you’re staying on the nearby islands of Koh Samui or Koh Phangan, there are snorkeling day trips to Koh Tao available from there too!

Go Temple Hopping

Temples, or “wats” as they are called in Thai, are an essential part of Thai culture, so dedicating some time to temple hopping is a must. Bangkok, Thailand’s busy capital city, is the best place to do this, either by self-guided tour or a group tour. The top sights to see in Bangkok are Wat Pho, home to the Reclining Buddha, Wat Arun, known for its riverside spires, and The Grand Palace, a large complex with gold pagodas, incredible mosaic designs and the sacred Emerald Buddha.

During my visit to Bangkok, I explored Wat Pho and The Grand Palace, and admired Wat Arun from across the river, all in one morning. Wat Pho and the Grand Palace are located right next to each other, so they’re easy to see on the same day. Although I enjoyed exploring the temples at my own pace, I would have liked to do a temple tour to learn more about the history and spiritual meaning behind the temples. This affordable and highly-rated guided tour goes to all three temples in 5 hours.

Try to visit the temples in Bangkok as early as possible to avoid the midday heat and crowds. Wear clothing that covers your shoulders and knees, and be aware that you must remove your shoes before entering certain buildings. As always, be respectful while exploring these sacred spaces!

If you have an extra day in Bangkok and want to see some ancient temple ruins, consider taking a day trip to Ayutthaya, the former capital of Siam. Founded in 1350, it was once one of the largest cities in the world, but today its temple ruins are spread across a historical park. You can get to Ayutthaya with a 1.5 hour train from Bangkok or join a guided tour, which includes transportation, entrance fees, a local guide and lunch.

Take a Thai Cooking Class

If you love Thai food as much as I do, taking a cooking class in Thailand should be at the top of your bucket list! It’s one of the best ways to dive into the country’s culinary culture and learn how to make beloved dishes like Pad thai, Curry and Mango Sticky Rice. While cooking classes are available all over Thailand, I recommend you do one in Chiang Mai, where many school have farm-to-table experiences.

We did a cooking class in Chiang Mai with Thai Farm Cooking School and I cannot recommend them enough! We chose the half-day morning class, where we cooked 4 different dishes: a curry, a soup, a noodle and a dessert. There are a few choices for each category and all the dishes can be made vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free. The class included hotel pickup, a visit to a local market to learn about Thai ingredients, and then a ride to their beautiful organic farm just outside the city. I decided to make vegetarian versions of Yellow Curry, Tom Kha Soup, Pad Thai, and Mango Sticky Rice. They were all so delicious, I couldn’t believe I actually made them with my own hands!

At the end of the day, we went home with a small to-go bag of leftovers, a cookbook with all the recipes, and so much interesting knowledge about Thai cuisine. Something the chef said that stuck with me: “Thai food is so good because we put sugar in every dish”. As someone who has a sweet tooth, I couldn’t agree more. The way that Thai cuisine blends sweet, sour, spicy, and salty flavors is unmatched, and I think its why it’s one of my favorite cuisines!

Visit an Ethical Elephant Sanctuary

Elephants are sacred in Thai culture, but unfortunately, they’ve long been exploited for labor, entertainment, and tourism. Most elephant “sanctuaries” you’ll find in Thailand continue to use unethical practices. It’s pretty well known that riding elephants is unethical, but many “ethical sanctuaries” still allow you to bathe and touch the elephants, which are forced interactions.

If bathing with and petting elephants was something you were planning on doing during your trip to Thailand, I encourage you to reconsider and instead visit an no-bath, no-touch sanctuary. There are a few amazing ethical elephant sanctuaries near Chiang Mai where you can spend the day learning about elephants, feeding them, walking alongside them in their natural environment – all without chains, riding, or forced interaction.

After a lot of research, I decided to visit Chiang Chill, located about an hour outside of Chiang Mai and had the BEST day (so good that I got a tattoo of an elephant later that day to commemorate the experience). They have 4 elephants that were rescued from logging camps and tourist shows, who now roam freely on protected land. Since the elephants are domesticated and couldn’t live in the wild on their own, a sanctuary like this is the best place for them to live out their lives.

We started our day at Chiang Chill with a trek to find the elephants who were freely roaming the property. We found all 4 of them and watched from a distance while taking pictures. Then we ate a vegan lunch and prepared lunch for the elephants, which was sugar cane. At exactly 1 pm (they know their lunch time!) the elephants came walking down the hill to eat and we watched them devour the sugar cane we had just cut up. It was truly a magical experience getting to learn about and watch these animals so close.

If you’re in Chiang Mai then I highly recommend booking a tour with Chiang Chill here. And if you want to learn more about how to be an elephant-friendly tourist and see the 10 ethical sanctuaries throughout Thailand (yes, there are only 10 that are truly ethical!), check out this article from World Animal Protection.

I hope this post gave you an idea of the incredible things to do in Thailand. These 6 unforgettable experience showcase the best of the country’s natural beauty, wildlife, culture, and cuisine. If you want to truly experience the many regions of Thailand, from its dreamy islands to its vibrant cities, then check out my 3-week Thailand Itinerary from South to North!