Beach and Food Road Trip Adventure in Southern Thailand
There are many different ways to adventure in Thailand. For my experience it seemed to embody the themes of beaches and food, two things that Thailand does just as good, if not better, than anywhere in the world. Southern Thailand was our focus where the beaches are busy and beautiful and along the way we encountered meal after meal after meal of extraordinary food. After a few weeks of trekking in Nepal I flew from Kathmandu to Bangkok and this was the perfect type of yang to my high elevation yin mountain adventure in Nepal. In this article I share some of our favorite moments and experiences in Southern Thailand. Most of which revolved around beaches and food! Come adventure in the waters and kitchens of Bangkok and beyond in Thailand with me!
We went from Bangkok to Ao Nang to Khao Lak to Phi Phi Islands to Phuket on this Southern Thailand Road Trip. If you’re interested in some of these spots read on to learn more!
Wat Arun, Buddhist Temple in Bangkok.
I’d been told numerous times over that Thailand had some of the best food in the world. I would agree with that. It was easy to find and hard to mess up. I’d also been told numerous times over that Thailand had some of the best beaches in the world. I would agree with that, but it’s easier to mess up. There are crowds, overhyped spots, touristy gringo trails, and more hidden amongst some of the quietest and most serene sandy spots of terrain I have ever been to. You just have to look a little harder and be more intentional about your beach time. We spent two weeks in Southern Thailand and could have spent two years, but I walked away from it with another country that I can’t wait to visit again. Kop khun krap Thailand :).
Our Thailand Beaches and Food Itinerary!
Bangkok Three Nights, Overnight Train South, Ao Nang Three Nights, Khao Lak Three Nights, Phi Phi Islands/Phuket Four Nights.
We did a great combination of seeking out local cuisines and doing food tours in Thailand. Ao Nang and Phuket’s touristy areas definitely take a bit more work to make sure you find the true “hidden gems" but overall it’s hard to really mess it up. You might pay more or they might have chicken fingers on the menu too but it’s certainly going to be better than your tom cha soup, unless you’re Thai of course ;)!
Here are a few of the FOOD tours we did that I would recommend if you find yourself wanting a snapshot of the food scene in Thailand!
Bangkok Street Food Tour. Highly recommend it, 10/10!
Phra Nakron Cooking Class. Again, 10/10 and the way they staggered the eating and the cooking (back and forth) was a pleasant surprise as someone who has done a lot of cook then eat everything classes. I would also go back and eat here just as a guest! The restaurant was so cute and the staff (our bosses on the line, haha) was so SWEET!
Old Town Phuket Secret Food Tour, one not to miss! Ask for Pai :)!
Ao Nang Community Collective Cooking Class. Fun and learned a few things about the area!
We also had the good fortune to stop at a local farm near Khao Lak. We had mulberry tea and toured the organic farm with one of its workers. Not quite a food tour but also a food related activitiy!
We did do a little bit more than eat in Thailand though, here’s the beach info!
While I felt like it was tough to mess up the food I do think you can mess up the beaches. Thailand’s beaches are busy and crowded and not all beaches are the same, depending on what you want. If you’re looking for quiet and serene you will have to work a little harder to find such a thing.
We did fantastic activities and adventures along the way on our beach hopping road trip. We chose this to get a bit more sense of the vibe and energy of a few different places, so that we could then return to a favorite and maybe try another spot as well.
Overall Khao Lak was my spot I would return to again and again. The nearby National Park, hiking trails, kayaking options, and surfing all made it a clear would love to return to destination for me! I currently live in the US, and places like Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama, the US and British Virgin Islands and more are much closer than Thailand’s beaches. But Khao Lak had an energy that would be worth the longer travel to me. In reality though Thailand’s beaches for me will be coupled with a longer trip somewhere nearby (Nepal, Bhutan, India, Vietnam, etc.) It doesn’t mean I didn’t think all the thirteen islands I visited weren’t incredible, it’s just there’s probably a lot of equally comparable places in Aruba and Jamaica already exist. That are much closer to where I live.
So, this isn’t a MUST DO Thailand guide is it?
My Thailand thoughts and experiences don’t run like a greatest hits record. I attempted to make that come through in this article as I wrote it. Thailand was less about the must do’s and more about the slow process unfolding before your eyes. Don’t get me wrong, the beaches and the food scene in Thailand were OUTSTANDING. But I travel and move about the globe in the way in which I do not to cross something off of a bucket list. Or to see everything a place has to offer. I pass on this because it simply can’t be done. You live in a place your whole life and unless you really seek out the nooks and crannies you’ll never see it all. Let alone in a place you only visit once or twice in your life.
So that’s what I would implore you to consider on your Thailand adventure. Food is SUPER important to me. I am a vegetable farm seasonal worker, I have run a food truck for several years, and I host cooking classes. Food is life force energy at work to me. It’s an opportunity to learn, grow, laugh, and connect with each other. Whether that’s when traveling abroad or with your close family on a holiday. It lights me up so I chose to focus on it during our time in Thailand.
What’s your Thai food adventure?
And when I say this I refer to how I didn’t build this Thailand trip as a greatest hits or must see everything experience. I love food so we made this a big part of our Thailand experience. We do everywhere but we heard so much about Thai food that it seemed worth the hype to make it a HUGE part. We also surfed, kayaked, and had lots of down time that we filled in randomly.
Southern Thailand can be visited a MILLION different ways. You should choose yours. We picked out our favorite things (food, surfing, snorkeling, etc) and built a trip around it. You’ll never see it all in Southern Thailand, even if you’re born and raised and live to be 117 in the area.
Why try to see it all then? Especially knowing you won’t!
That’s the question I tried to answer this trip and that I have been frequently trying to answer on all my trips. Since I won’t see it all what do I want to experience and feel while I am there. Also, what do I want to take home from Thailand with me? That I can hopefully share for decades to come. This isn’t physical of course. This is the verbal stories, funny recounts, and words that I can put in this article!
Go FEEL Thailand. Ground your feet into its space and breathe. Then go do some stuff that lights you up there. It need not be perfect or everything. But it need be YOU.
The world is big, beautiful, and always holding space for us! This Southern Thailand adventure was no different!
Was this the Southern Thailand trip I would have taken ten years ago? Nope.
Was it the kind of trip that I am feeling into now? Exactly.
Southern Thailand was amazing. Because of the people, the beaches, the food, and us choosing to slowly experience it :).
Thanks for reading!
Because Adventure Feeds the Soul,
Mike
