Welcome back to another travel blog of TheMoodRecipes.
As I wrote in the previous blog, that out of the Beach destinations, Krabi sounded just perfect for my needs. Thank you everyone for the love and support for the previous travel post, and as many of you asked for the complete details, along with the budget, I am writing this post, with all the budget and the complete experience. Hope this post will answer all the queries, If not, Please hit up the comment section, I will answer all the questions.
Please click here for the short version of the experience
Notes:
This post is NOT sponsored, it is purely from my personal visit/experience.
This is a long-detailed post about my visit to Thailand with the complete detail and experience.
Prices indicated are per person, these prices are approximate, depending upon the currency conversion rates, taxes, etc.
Without wasting much of the time, let me share the complete experience with you guys. I have divided the post into some major points for better understanding.
People.
“It is good people who make good places.” ― Anna Sewell, Black Beauty.
Thai people are popular for their hospitality all over the world. I traveled with my mom, so was very protective of her, as she was not good with the English language, and we both don’t understand Thai language. The people over there didn’t make us feel that we don’t belong here.
We were welcomed, greeted and loved at all the places we visited. I was overwhelmed with all the hospitality. Be it at the hotel, trips, restaurants, transports, most probably everywhere.
Some of our pictures interacting with the locals are below.
Accommodation.
We were looking for meals-included package, a pool, located near market and transport. All these conditions were met by Holiday Inn Express, Krabi.
The charges were 1147 Thai Baht per night, which included free breakfast.
We stayed at the hotel Holiday Inn Express located at one of the prime locations in Krabi: Ao nang Beach. I previously stayed at Holiday inn in Hyderabad, this was the second time with IHG group hotels. As I was a member of IHG group, I was given a free upgrade to the pool view room.
There were multiple situations where the staffs behavior just took me by surprise. You can read it here.
Trip Advisor Link
My TripAdvisor review Link
Day trips.
Layover at Bangkok: Mahanakhon SkyWalk, Bangkok
Discounted price (around 25 USD/ 1700 Indian rupees)
Normal price (around 35 USD/ 2400 Indian rupees)
It was a 5-night stay trip and our trip started from Kolkata to Krabi via Bangkok airport. There was a long layover of around 12 hours in Bangkok. So, we went to Mahanakhon SkyWalk. It was in my travel list from a very long time. Most importantly it has a 100 meter of glass where you can stand above 314m or to be exact on the top of 78th floor.
This was the first time, I visited a skywalk, and I must say it met all the expectation for scaring the shit out of me. It felt good to see I was not the only one, there were others who were in the same scared condition.
When I saw the YouTube video of the people getting scared and acting weird standing on top of the glass I laughed like hell, and I thought it would be a cakewalk for me. Forget cakewalk, I was literally scared to even get on top of the glass.
When I saw my mom, she was walking freely without any fear. When I asked, she said, don’t look down and it will be fine. That’s the way I managed to take some of the photos. You can see them below.
Trip Advisor Link
My TripAdvisor review Link
Journey to Railay Beach (100 Baht for taxi boat and 800 Baht for private boat)
It was raining when we landed in Krabi, and the same crazy thing continued the second day. So, we decided to skip the Island tours for the day, and we took a taxi boat to the Railay Beach to swim and chill in the Beach area.
We reached Railay Beach after about 20-25 minutes in a long tail boat ride. Railay was the second stop after Ton Sai Beach. The scene was amazingly beautiful with a green crystal-clear water. You can see the photos down below.
After we reached Railay, there was no looking back, kept my camera and other belongings and took a dip straight to the water. The water was warm and crystal clear. Me and my lazy ass stayed in the water for the whole day and did nothing. It feels great to do nothing the whole day and lie down in the Beaches with the wonderful view of the sea, with the cherry on the top: the islands.
I met Zack and his friend from California in the Beach, they were surfers and currently in a month trip exploring Beaches of South and East Asia.
Journey to hot Springs, Emerald Pool and Tiger Cave Temple. (around 25 USD/ 1700 Indian rupees)
The rains continued, and I didn’t care. I booked the package for Jungle tour (Island hopping tours will be highly affected by rains, so please avoid booking the tours in this kind of weather). We booked the package called Emerald Pool Jungle Tour & Tiger Cave Temple.
The trip covered:
Hot Spring Waterfall (TripAdvisor Link)
Nature Trail in Thung Theo
Emerald Pool (TripAdvisor Link)
Tiger Cave Temple (TripAdvisor Link)
My favorite part was visiting the Hot Spring Waterfall. Here we must pay around 1-2k for hot jacuzzi in spa, whereas here we get it completely free for as long as we want. The water was hot. I didn’t take any pictures there, as I wanted to enjoy the visit completely. However, you can see the real pictures from other travelers in TripAdvisor here.
Emerald pool is a natural pool with crystal clear water, hidden in the jungle. You must walk around a kilometer to reach this pool after entering the jungle park. Be very careful while entering the pool, as it is very slippery, and I got the wonderful view where people slipped in to pool automatically with an element of surprise. The best part is after falling to the pool, no one got up, they started swimming hahaha
After taking a refreshing shower in the Emerald pool and hot Spring Waterfall, our trip continued to the Tiger Cave Temple. There were several Temples around there, most of the people, along with us went to the Temple with 1,237 steps to climb up. The view was really breath taking out on the top. You could see almost the whole Krabi town from the top. I loved the view, and the cool breeze, and at that time, the rain stopped. You can see the see some of the pictures here.
Journey to Phi Phi Islands. (around 35 USD/ 2400 Indian rupees)
Phi Phi Islands are the most popular group of Islands in the Southern Thailand. This is the main attraction trip from Phuket and Krabi, as it sports excellent spots for snorkeling, clear Beaches to swim and spend a lazy day.
The trip covered:
Bamboo Island (TripAdvisor Link)
Monkey Beach (TripAdvisor Link)
Tonsai Bay (TripAdvisor Link)
Viking Cave (TripAdvisor Link)
Pi Leh Bay (TripAdvisor Link)
Loh Samah Bay (TripAdvisor Link)
Maya Beach (The Beach is closed now, for coral reef preservation) (TripAdvisor Link)
My favorite part was swimming in Bamboo Island and snorkeling (we got chance to snorkel twice as the weather was just great and clear. We snorkeled at Loh Samah Bay and Dana Bay)
Bamboo Island had one of the best crystal waters, I have ever seen in my life (Seen clearer Beach? Please let me know in the comment section below).
I did snorkel the first time in my life, and it was worth it. Seeing the fishes, coral reefs and sea bed so closely, was something else. This is a must do in Krabi. I would recommend this with all heart.
Note: You don’t really need to know how to swim to enjoy snorkeling.
The views from the speed boat, crossing the islands, other boats and shouting out of excitements, while something exciting happening is worth a try.
Maya Beach was closed by Thailand government for the coral reef preservation. However, we stopped near the island for taking photos. Everyone was busy taking the photos, from wherever they could find a spot. I got on top of the speed boat and on the extreme front to take the best shot possible.
Every Island is worth visiting in the Phi Phi group of Islands.
Note: This is one of the expensive day trips out there, especially if you opt for a speed boat tour.
Journey to Hong Islands (Costs around 20 USD/1400 INR)
It is one of the National Marine Park in Krabi, and one of the most peaceful and beautiful group of Island and lagoons out there. Phi Phi/James bond Island are the popular ones and you will see all of Thailand is coming together for the tour and rides but trip to Hong islands are peaceful and a bit away from the tourist crowd.
The trip covered:
Hong Island’s Lagoon (TripAdvisor Link)
Pakbia Island (TripAdvisor Link)
Lading Island
Hong Island’s Bay (TripAdvisor Link)
We recommend taking the Hong Island trip at the last or second last day, because it is kind of a lazy trip.
We spend around 2 hours of time in the Hong Island/Lagoon swimming and snorkeling, as the water was clear, and sun was bright.
Pakbia and Lading Island was beautiful. We stayed around an hour in these Islands. These are perfect spots for running lazy and doing nothing. If you are looking for a place, without much crowd and chill at different Beaches, this is the perfect trip for you. Instagrammers and bloggers will find these Hong Islands perfect for a quick snap and a perfect photo frame.
Tip: Beware of Jellyfish (They are present almost everywhere and you’ll see sign boards to avoid them)
Chilling in the pool, and flight back to home.
We did not plan anything for the last day, as we were already tired and over all satisfied with the trip. Our hotel had a wonderful and a very well-maintained pool, and honestly, it was one of the deciding reasons, that we decided to stay with IHG group of Hotels.
Expenses.
1 US Dollars = 31.37 Thai Baht
1 Thai Baht = 2.22 Indian Rupee
Trip expenses will totally depend on lot of factors and the mode of transport you are travelling in the country.
Flight tickets are cheaper to Thailand, than compared to the other countries. You can check the prices here.
Travelling within Thailand.
Thailand is completely a tourist ready place and the cities are well connected to each other. You can take domestic flights, ferries, taxis, buses and all the other means of transport to travel within the country.
Legal formalities.
As you all are aware, if you are not a citizen of Thailand, you will require a valid passport to enter Thailand with empty pages for the immigration stamps. For the complete requirements, please visit the official Thai website here.
Coming to the Visa part, Visa on Arrival is available, which is completely free for now. You can see all the details in the above given link. I will highly recommend getting an E-Visa (If you are looking for easy and quick immigration formalities) as it will save couple of hours, because Thailand gets thousand of visitors everyday and the queues are very long.
E-Visa is provided officially by the company called VFS, you can check it out here.
My personal favorites.
I personally have two favorites,
Skywalk Mahanakhon, Bangkok
The day trip to the Phi Phi Island, Krabi
Things to carry.
Thailand is a tourist ready country, so you will get almost everything here, from daily basics to luxurious, but it is recommended to carry your own things, to save yourself some hassle.
Sunscreen
Mosquito repellent cream
Umbrella
Waterproof cases for portable electronic gadgets (camera, phone, etc.)
Thai sim card (available at all the major airports and places to enter Thailand)
Travelers charger (If you are not from Asia)
If you have visited or planning to visit Thailand, please feel to ask or leave a comment down below, I will personally reply all the comments, so that we can have a discussion.
Share the article with your dear and near ones to activate their travel bug.
Great post :)
Thank you so much :)
No problem :) check out my blog when you get the chance ?
Sure buddy, will do.
Thanks for dropping by :)
Thank you!
This looks like so much fun! I love your photos, really makes me want to go!
Thanks Wren,
Go for Krabi, You are gonna love it.
It looks like you had a fantastic time there, and great to meet new friends from around the world too :)
Yeah, it feels great talking and making friends all over the world.
Thanks for dropping by :)
You really covered a lot on your trip! It’s great that you made so many new friends!
Thanks Tammie.
I planned this trip from a very long time, which helped me a lot.
Reading this just made me want to go to Thailand but I don’t think I’ll be travelling in the next year or so.
Join our next trip.
You are gonna love it. :)
I never been there but I can really say that you’ve had a lot of great time visiting Thailand. It is really a nice destination on my next trip and hope that this will happen soon.
Yeah sure Gervin.
Thailand is a beautiful country and It has something for everyone.
Thailand is by far one of my favorite countries in Asia to visit! I just love the food and the people are just always so nice and gentle. I can’t wait to get there again now with my kids!
Exactly, Food, people, Islands whatever you see in Thailand, it’s great :)
I love how nature-ish your trip was. Come by to the PH next time. But men, your photos are good! Thai is not in my bucket list but if given an opportunity, why not!
Definitely, Philippines has one of the most wonderful waterfall in the world, There’s no chance that I am missing that out.
Thanks for dropping by :)
Loved reading about your trip to Thailand! I went to Thailand about two years ago, to Bangkok and Chiang Mai, and it was one of the best holidays. Like you said, Thai people are so friendly and make you feel at home!
I didn’t have time for Chiang Mai this time, but I am planning it some time soon.
Thailand sounds like the perfect summer destination! It is always great to visit a place that has friendly people, so glad to hear you had fun!
Thanks.
Yes it is really wonderful :)
I’ve been to Bangkok twice now. But I never went to the Skywalk. Bangkok still one of my favorite place to visit! I really love them, and food is just outstanding! Actually to be honest I never knew about Skywalk, I think I’m so outdated lol but next time I really want to try the Skywalk even though I have the fear of height.
Ha ha don’t worry, The skywalk opened recently and it’s a must visit.
Wow what a fun trip! I haven’t been to Thailand but I’d love to!! Loved this detailed post!
Thanks for dropping by :)
I have never been to Thailand, but I have always wanted to go. Since I love caves, I’d love to visit the Tiger Cave Temple someday!
Tiger Cave is really peaceful.
You will have a lovely and wonderful evening.
This seems like you had a great time and was very detailed. I have to bookmark this for whenever I may visit.
Thanks for dropping by. ?
Thanks for the very detailed blog, I heard and read good stuff about Thailand and reading your blog makes me dream about visiting there even more..
Go ahead, you are going to love it ✌️
Thailand seems so beautiful based on your post!
Yeah, it’s wonderful.
Give it a try, you’re gonna love it.
You seem to have enjoyed your visit . I will sure to check this out when travelling to Thailand .
Yeah, had a good time.
Thanks for dropping by Elizabeth, have a nice day :)
This was such a thorough guide! I truly appreciate the effort that you put into making sure you left nothing out, and now I feel like I must visit Thailand! Your photos are stunning as well
Thank you so much Alexandra :)
have a nice day
Such a well-documented post and the photos are amazing! We’ve been to Thailand a few years ago but didn’t get a chance to roam around, and with this post, it’s clear to me that we to get back again for a holiday!
Thank you so much for your kind words.
It was a wonderful journey :)
Nice question asked on the first paragraph. I think nice people really matters, of course it would be discouraging if you heard reviews or reactions from other other tourists that the certain place ain’t got hospitable people in it
So true, the local people do play an important role.
Thailand is on my bucket list! What a great trip!
Thank you. :)
Thailand looks so amazing..! I haven’t have the chance to travel yet.. ? But it’s definitely on my bucket list..
Yes, it is.
Go ahead and plan something, I am sure you will love it :)
I have to put this on my travel bucket list. Seems like a great vacation place.
Yes, it is.
Great post dude! Next time, please visit Malaysia :)
Sure, Malaysia is already in my travel list.
Thanks for visiting!
Wow! This is a real guide to the country. Great job and a great journey it was :)
Yes, it was really amazing.