Thailand is Worth the Hype: 4 Reasons to Go
Thailand seems like one of the hottest travel destinations right now, but is it worth the hype? It certainly caught my eye when I decided to travel to the other side of the world before starting my career and spend a month in Thailand and Cambodia. Here are some of the things I loved about the country and some reasons why I would say that yes, Thailand is worth the hype, and you should go there too!
Culture
Obviously as an American traveling throughout Thailand, you quickly come to realize just how different the culture is. Everything was just so incredibly different than anything I had experienced in my four months of living and traveling throughout Europe, which made the adventure that much more exciting. I loved walking through street and floating markets, exploring majestic temples with chanting monks, and learning how to cook like the locals.
Nature
The county’s natural beauty will take your breath away. You can experience incredible mountainous jungles, pristine beaches and islands, and rainforests older than the Amazon. Traveling to Khao Sok National Park to experience the rainforest and lake filled with limestone karsts felt like scenes out of Jurassic Park or King Kong. Outside of Chiang Mai, another one of my favorite experiences was taking a tuk tuk up a mountain and hiking up to the top of Doi Suthep to see the temple at its peak. With hundreds of islands and mountains, Thailand is full of experiences like these!
People
Thailand is known as the land of smiles because the people are so nice. Buddhism also means that crime is pretty low in the country. Of course you do need to be vigilant, particularly in Bangkok since it’s a busier city (and you’ll definitely find people trying to scam tourists into buying a suit). But generally, Thai people are very nice and the country is much safer than other more Western countries. It’s certainly nice to have this type of reassurance when traveling somewhere so different from home!
Cost
The most we ever paid for a hotel in Thailand was $27 a night, and that was when we decided to treat ourselves for a nicer place. Food in the country is also comparatively cheap in most places. Honestly my month-long trip to Thailand and Cambodia was probably similar in price to my weeklong trip to Iceland, even including airfare ($1,000 to Thailand, $400 to Iceland). Since traveling throughout the country is so cheap, I would encourage you to splurge more on excursions and experiences so that you can get more out of the trip. Some of our favorite things we did were day trips to Khao Sok National Park and a cooking class in Chiang Mai.
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