All Over Thailand

In the vein of Jojoone trying to get artsy with his aging smartphone, somewhere around Sam Roi Yot... all while fearing a chunk of rock might break off.

Another classic, at a time when there had just been quite a bit of rain.

In a national park with about ten remarkable waterfalls that everyone seems to overlook. One day, a geek told me: "Google is your friend." It was only a few years later that I understood what he meant...[:)]

11 national parks in France, 63 in the United States, and... 157 in Thailand, with nearly 180 expected by 2030!

They vary greatly in size, with the largest covering between 1,000 and 3,000 km².

Countless hikes and treks can be done in them, offering stunning landscapes, hot springs, caves, diverse vegetation including remarkable trees, tribal villages, and countless waterfalls—some more spectacular than others.

National park status makes access easier for visitors, with proper access roads, fairly basic toilets, and sometimes small restaurants or food stalls.

While entry is often free or costs just a few dozen baht for locals, it’s a different story for foreigners, who are assumed to be wealthy. And well, they *are* foreigners anyway. Depending on the park, you’ll pay between 100 and 400 baht for entry, plus, if applicable, 30 baht for your vehicle. The pricing logic isn’t always clear—a park with a 100 baht entry fee might turn out to be far more beautiful and interesting than one charging 200 or 300 baht.

Finding reliable information and useful details for most of these parks can be a challenge. In my opinion, the national tourism office should really step up its game here.

Note that it’s best to avoid weekends, as many Thais visit for a day trip or picnic. You might also want to check public holidays, when entry is free. Be careful during the rainy season, as some parks may close. A waterfall is beautiful, but when it’s pouring rain and the water is overflowing with landslides, it can quickly turn into a tropical nightmare.

As an example, here’s a tiny national park in a southern province, featuring a seven-tiered waterfall, a spectacular centuries-old tree, and large boulders scattered everywhere. Off the beaten path, like so many others...

In the last photo, I spotted the shark-head rock.

I finally took the time to read this thread—it’s a delight, thank you! Can’t wait for the next part.

And yeah, the AC in taxis/Grab is unbearable. I’ve lost count of how many sore throats we’ve had during our first trips to Thailand. Now, a neck wrap is a must in our bag—it’s the first thing all three of us do when we get into a vehicle, even before buckling up (no joke!)

Still, we were pleasantly surprised two years ago to find that the AC in the overnight train to Chiang Mai is finally set to a normal temperature. I still remember the awful nights spent freezing on that train, despite wearing warm clothes specifically for the trip, and often ending up with a sore throat! It’s much more comfortable now (plus, they’ve added much warmer blankets in the new trains).

Thanks again for this great share—I’m looking forward to the rest! Cheers!

Pretty happy to get a reaction, especially from you. I try to post roughly every weekend. I'm really glad you like my new format, even if it doesn't revolutionize the world of travel journals.

It’s a little scary, honestly.

To be honest, I don’t understand either the image or the comment, it’s true.

Just a quick reminder of the first lines of the travel journal: "You can post your personal photos in the following thread: voyageforum.com/...thailande-d10655574/

This journal is meant solely for my photos to maintain a consistent style."

Thanks and best regards

Oops... sorry!

It's not a big deal! But if one day you start your thread (like Songsam did), I'm in! [:)]

It can take a while to realize that the Thai expression "a little chili" means you're about to set your mouth—and, incidentally, your stomach—on fire and break out in a facial sweat. You should know that when a Thai cook says "a little chili," they’ll add what they consider a tiny amount—but it’s usually way more than you’d expect. Once you learn the phrase "really no chili," you’re in much better shape. That is, as long as you know that some dishes (especially curries) are prepped with pepper and chili added beforehand.

You might wonder why Thais add so much chili to their food to give it flavor, when their cuisine is already so tasty and packed with delicious herbs. When a Western guy occasionally returns to his homeland with his Thai wife, it’s almost guaranteed that by the second trip, she’ll be packing her own stash of chili in her luggage.

When you venture off the beaten path, the food scene changes. Sometimes, for lack of better options, you settle for a simple dish or a hearty soup—but you’ll often find pleasant surprises. The least you can say is that the variety is impressive.

Still in the "enjoy your meal" series:





You can always find dishes for 40 or 50 bahts, sometimes served with a small soup, in totally authentic little eateries.

Below, in a touristy town, a perfectly acceptable Western-style dish, priced at only 70 bahts:



Believe it or not, we never gave in to the local desserts, despite how tempting they looked...

For local desserts, I had a subscription to Mango sticky rice—found at the corner of Silom Road and Sala Daeng Road in Bangkok, and also in Prachuap Khiri Khan at the market. The rice was dyed blue with butterfly pea flowers, green with pandan leaves, and yellow with... maybe turmeric? The whole thing was drizzled with coconut milk, of course. I still dream about it.

Hi there, I’m not a huge mango fan—I’ll have one every now and then, but mango with rice doesn’t really tempt me. Still, your descriptions are making my mouth water! [:)]

Tourist season is coming up. Now it's time to choose a hotel with a pool.

Hello, So glad to see you’re still active on the forum! What a great collection of hotels with pools! Do you have any to recommend within a reasonable budget (max 80 €)? I’m leaving this Wednesday until mid-December. We’ll head down to Bankrut with a few short hops (already booked). But from mid-November, I’m not sure where to go... Maybe head back up, stopping in Cha Am—which I don’t know yet—then Ko Kood, near Ko Chang. Though I’m not sure if it’s accessible with the events involving Cambodia... Thanks for your suggestions! !

My last trip to Thailand, 2024.

Hello,

Do you have any recommendations for a reasonable budget (max 80 €)? I'm leaving Wednesday until mid-December. Thanks for your suggestions!

Hey, on this coast, I’ve stayed several times at the Peri Hotel in Hua Hin. If you can get it for between 50 and 70 €—which is the low-season price—it’s an excellent value for money. Great rooms and an awesome breakfast. The beach is just at the end of the soi, with comfort and nice decor.

Thanks so much, I’ll make a note and check it out next week!

Hello, So glad to see you're still on the forum!

Wow, that makes at least 5 people happy I’m still around here [;)]

What a great collection of hotels with pools! Do you have any to recommend for a reasonable budget (max 80 €)?

I always check Agoda—between the photos and recent guest reviews, you can always find something that works. With inflation over the past few years, the average price for nice hotels has gone from around 30 € to nearly 40 €. At that price, you get a room with a mattress suitable for Westerners, a pool, and breakfast about half or two-thirds of the time. Every time I choose a more luxurious—and pricier—hotel, I realize it’s mostly smoke and mirrors. You just get a fancier lobby and reception, staff putting on a "premium" act, and guests who are quiet but sometimes a bit snobby. The upkeep, repairs, and staff competence rarely match the price. But overcharging for the bar, restaurant, and tours? That’s still going strong in expensive hotels.

I’m leaving Wednesday until mid-December. We’ll head down to Bankrut with a few short hops (already booked). But from mid-November, I’m not sure where to go... Maybe head back up, stopping in Cha Am—which I don’t know yet—then Ko Kood, near Ko Chang. But I’m not sure if it’s accessible with the current situation involving Cambodia... Thanks for your suggestions!

Cha Am is pretty small and not very lively, but it does have nice beaches. It’s hard to give advice without knowing your full itinerary. You might want to open a new thread about that.

You can say what you like, but we’re not all equal under the sky. Some people are more or less pleasant to look at, and if we could’ve made ourselves, we’d all be a lot better looking.

My wife and I often marvel at little Asian kids—they’re honestly, most of the time, absolutely adorable. The little boys, with their lost and wide-eyed expressions. The little girls, looking like perfect dolls. There are so many who are so cute, you’d almost think about adopting them.

I regularly stop myself from taking their photos so no one gets the wrong idea, but it’s heartbreaking to give that up.

Makes you wonder if that adorable appearance isn’t a preview—especially with Thai people—of the endearing side you find in them once they’re adults...

You’re totally smitten with Asian kids because you find them all so cute, but their parents are just as smitten with our blond, red-haired, curly-haired, or blue-eyed kids, or those with fair skin... For them, olive skin, straight black hair, and dark eyes are completely ordinary. They’ll go out of their way to touch our kids’ curly hair and take tons of photos of them!

They’ll go to any lengths to touch our kids’ curly hair and they take tons of photos of them!

It’s not just kids. 😅 I had a hard time with this in India, and some kids in Uganda were determined to touch my hair to see if it was real. 😂 In Uganda, it was funny, but in India, some men’s behavior was really annoying.

In my opinion, it’s important to get someone’s consent before taking their photo. With kids, it’s a different story, and we should think about whether it’s okay to share those photos on a forum.

Judging by their reactions, parents are delighted when we decide to take photos of their children, and even happier when we show them the photo.

The question of systematically asking for permission is a recurring topic on forums, just like whether or not to take a plane, or whether or not to seek deeper contact with locals. Some people quickly end up condemning others.

My first reaction would have been to say that when you're trying to create a beautiful image, there's not much to feel guilty about. It’s worth noting that people who are warned almost always strike a pose that’s completely contrary to the reason you wanted to take the photo in the first place—there’s no spontaneity left. In Asia, especially, they tend to automatically make a V-sign with one or both hands.

Of course, you should also be the first to let yourself be photographed and take photos for those who ask you. We haven’t always been thrilled at the thought that a few minutes later we’d appear on Facebook, but we’ve always played along. If you’re worried about people who don’t want to be seen, let’s just say you should avoid traveling altogether. What also influences our perspective is that there’s virtually no chance our subjects will come across themselves on VF... If they did, they’d probably be flattered to appear in our selection of images.

I get your point, but I wonder how we’d feel if our own kids or grandkids were photographed and those photos shared online.

A temple near Mae Teng, brand new, spotless, and totally kitsch.

Queen Sirikit passed away on October 24, 2025, at the age of 93.

Deeply beloved by Thais, she established foundations and institutions dedicated to education, employment, the arts, and crafts. She frequently traveled to rural provinces. Additionally, she was the wife of the much-loved King Rama IX (the second-to-last king) and the mother of the current king.

There is a one-year mourning period for civil servants and a one-month period for the rest of the population. Everyone, including tourists, is asked to dress in white or dark colors—not bright ones—and to adopt appropriate behavior.

Of course, you can’t avoid seeing tributes popping up everywhere.

Queen Sirikit was often photographed by her husband, Rama IX, who never traveled without his camera...

She had the wonderful Vimanmek Palace, built entirely in teak in 1901, restored and used it to display the King’s photos.... Unfortunately, it’s now closed and, it seems, dismantled....

Your particularly interesting post let me discover this really strange story about the dismantling of the Vimanmek Palace. It even seems a bit suspicious.

They managed to make the world’s largest teak house disappear without a trace, turned it into a state secret, and haven’t communicated about what happened next.

We missed visiting it about a dozen years ago because there were some disturbances and that area was closed. There were almost only military personnel in the streets. Now, it’s certain we’ll never see it since, at best, it won’t be open to the public anymore.

I was really surprised by the disappearance of the Vimanmek Palace a few years ago when I wanted to show it to some friends. I loved that huge teak mansion—the largest teak building in the world. When we stayed in Bangkok for a few days, it was a nice change from the temples... It used to be a royal residence and had been turned into a museum, but the new king had it dismantled[:/] As for Queen Sirikit, who was remarkably beautiful, she met the future King Rama IX in Fontainebleau. She was the daughter of Thailand’s ambassador to Paris, and the future king was living in Switzerland where he was studying.

@ everyone, If you like this kind of royal teak building, the King Rama II Memorial Park in Amphawa isn't huge but is definitely worth a look.

It turns out that Charles de Gaulle had a soft spot for her and described her as the "most beautiful queen in the world" in the early 1960s. Elizabeth II must’ve done a double-take [:)]

Sometimes, one or another massage parlor wants to avoid misunderstandings.

evening! The opposite of a real massage, as the sign says, is a virtual massage—basically, no contact? That seems pricey for a massage, lol :) Anyway, those are some beautiful photos

and some kids in Uganda really wanted to touch my hair to see if it was real.

Yet the profile picture you’re using on this forum makes it look like you’ve got very short hair, hehehe [;)]

Heads up, I suspect someone hacked Mathews' username. Or maybe he’s really changed!

Watch out, I’m afraid someone hacked Mathews’ username. Or maybe he’s really changed!

Yeah

Ad break:

Tourists love markets. In some places, they feel so authentic!

Overwhelmed by the smell of dried fish, assaulted by barbecue smoke where the charcoal contains a component that could almost be used for attacks, yet charmed by the sweet scent of desserts so colorful you’d think someone dropped a box of artificial dyes in them—we still can’t get enough.

We really enjoyed the night markets in Lampang, Phayao, Chiang Rai, and Phrae. The one in Cha Am every Wednesday from 4 PM to 9 PM isn’t bad either.

Since the cold chain isn’t always strictly followed, your stomach might complain later.

It’s fun to stroll around, savoring a little piece of pork on a skewer drizzled with sweet sauce or a cold slice of pineapple. You leave delighted with a great deal—like pairs of socks for 20 baht or a small crossbody bag for 200 baht.

But after a while, it’s like temples—you start to get jaded. Still, you have to listen to those exclamations, the banter and laughter between vendors or between vendors and customers, watch those families who’ve come from the countryside, and those strange products you’ll never quite figure out.

And even, seen from the inside:



Locals were just as curious as we were about how well the skewers were cooked:

listen to these interjections, these conversations and laughter between vendors or between vendors and customers

True, but in the photos (I’m thinking of the first and fourth), it doesn’t come through much because you stood too far away. You’ve got to dare to get closer—put the photographer right in the middle of them so all the people, the goods, and the money changing hands are in the shot. Your photo will gain so much more energy, and you’ll practically hear the people talking.

Has there ever been an open "market photos" theme in the Thailand section?

I realize that by replying to Songsam, I cluttered your travel journal with my photos. It seems like a good idea to open a Thai market thread.

When it comes to choosing photos, that’s a personal preference. For those who don’t know the country, the wide shots with lines of shoppers still on their motorbikes are perfectly typical and part of daily life. I was surprised to see them buying their meals on their bikes at the market in the morning before heading to work, then stopping by again in the evening on their way home... obviously, the products offered aren’t the same in the morning, afternoon, and evening—the mobile stalls change depending on the time of day!

Back home, markets are disappearing, but in Thailand, they seem to be thriving.

From the very start of my travel journal, I kindly mentioned that I was keeping it for my photos, along with a gentle reminder later on. I hadn’t considered that some people might no longer understand what’s written in their own language, or that our cognitive challenges can sometimes lead us to forget so easily. I believe that on this site, anyone can start threads, and I encourage every reader to dive in—because the more participation and open threads there are, the more alive VoyageForum will be.

Also, under the "Forum" section, by clicking on "Other Sections," there’s a monthly photo contest that would benefit from new competitors.

Sure, but in the photos (I’m thinking of the first and fourth), it doesn’t show much because you stood too far away. You’ve got to dare to get closer—have the photographer right there among them so all the people, the goods, and the money changing hands are in the shot. Your photo will gain so much more energy, and you’ll hear people talking.

Has there ever been a “market photos” theme open to everyone in the Thailand section?

My wife’s the real photographer. More than ever, I don’t want to waste too much time on it or ruin the lived experience. I want something that looks like real life. Sometimes you see things up close, sometimes from afar. And by the time you get closer, the subjects lose their spontaneity or have moved on.

I hadn't considered that some people no longer understand what's written in their own language, or I hadn't factored in that our cognitive issues sometimes make us forget so easily.

Hey jojoone, uh, about not understanding anything—I actually didn’t get your message or what you were getting at. It’s true that Thai is a really tough language to learn; you’ve got to grasp those guttural sounds and all the different tones from the person you’re talking to. As for written Thai, it looks like kabbalistic symbols to me. But I’m rambling—I don’t even know which languages you’re talking about...

It’s my wife who’s a real photographer.

Here we go again—what makes someone a "real" photographer? And what makes a "fake" one? If your wife’s a real photographer, then logically, she photographs real things since she’s real.

Somewhere in the middle of nowhere, but right by the highway, between Lampang and Tak.

At the top of the hill, a parking area to rest during your trip, a small market, and places where ancestors and spirits are honored.

Capturing a couple of future newlyweds. What style, what creativity!

Every now and then, you remember why you came to this country.

Real gold diggers! Not the ones looking for gold around grandmas' necks in our neighborhoods ;)

A Christmas without floods, without snow, without cold, and without clouds. But hey, we make do with what we’ve got...

Hi,

Could you please review my message from November 30th?