Why Thailand Must be on your Bucket List

It was our very first Chinese New Year holiday in China, and we had two weeks to spend anywhere in Asia.  Obviously, we wanted to escape the Beijing smog that seems to always hang in the air during the winter.  We also wanted to escape the cold, windy Beijing winter.  All of our friends seemed to be going to Thailand.  We had never had a desire to go to Thailand.  All I knew about Thailand was that there were elephants, Thai food, and it was a very Buddhist culture.  Nothing really intrigued me about going to Thailand.

So we went to the Philippines instead.  AND we had a great time.

We also love the Philippines, but that’s a different blog post.

Fast forward one year.

This time we had four weeks of vacation time for Chinese New Year.  We decided we might as well go to Thailand to see what all the fuss was about.  We also went to Singapore (and a short bit in Malaysia), because we didn’t want to stay in Thailand the whole time in case we didn’t like it.

We loved it.

So here are some reasons why Thailand must be on your bucket list

1.Bangkok Swing

Okay, maybe you aren’t a swing dancer.  BUT, if you are, it is the most friendliest, welcoming, fun, crazy scene ever!  The organizers, Youngji and Oat are some of the friendliest, happiest people on the planet and their friendly and welcoming character has become the character of the whole scene.  All you have to do is look at Youngji’s smile, and that’s kind of a picture of what the whole scene is like.  If you decide to go to Thailand and want to dance, the BEST time to go is for their annual swing festival “Big Bang”.  International instructors, dancing all night, staying outside of Bangkok at a nice little resort, dancing in the street under beautiful lights in front of this magnificent golden pagoda (pictured on our Facebook page), it’s unforgettable.  If there was nothing else to do in Thailand, it would still be worth going for Bangkok Swing.  Anyway, I could go on and on…

2. A Massage a Day

Don’t they say that a massage a day keeps the doctor away?  Maybe that’s not the saying, but you could afford to get a massage every day in Thailand.  While it is very inexpensive to get a massage in Thailand, it is not lacking in quality.  I pay more in China to get a massage and 50% of the time it’s the most uncomfortable massage ever (which is why I stopped getting massages in China).  Literally, I have never had a bad massage in Thailand.  Thai style massage is very interesting.  It’s a more active style of massage, where the masseuse will walk on you, and stretching is included in the massage experience.  Some very non-flexible people may not like Thai massage for that reason.  If you happen to be one of those non-flexible people, you should still try a foot massage.  They’ll massage your whole legs and do some nice leg stretches that will leave you feeling renewed and refreshed to A) keep dancing, or B) continue shopping at Chatuchak Market.

3. Breathtaking Beaches

After going to beaches in California, Hawaii, the Philippines, and Thailand, I have decided on my #1 beach in the world:  Railay Beach.  It is perfect.  When I was swimming in the water looking at the cliffs around me, the beautiful sand, the blue water…I just could not imagine a more perfect place.  A beach is not only about the sand or the water.  It’s about the surrounding features as well.  The way that Railay is tucked into this cove with cliffs on both sides with such greenery.  The way that there’s a little area to get snacks and drinks. The way that you have to take a ferry to get there.  It’s the whole package.

4. Thai Food

I think it’s pretty clear that in Thailand you will eat the best Thai food!  I knew about Thai curry, and I really like it, but I don’t need to eat it every day.  Thai salads on the other hand?  Yes please!  It’s the perfect mixture of sour and spicy that just makes my mouth so happy.

When we were in Thailand we took a cooking class…I’ll share more about that in a future post.  It’s an experience you shouldn’t miss.  Totally worth it.  Now we have a cookbook that tells us exactly how to make some of our favorite Thai food.

5. Thai Iced Tea

If I lived in Thailand I would be fat.  Solely because of Thai Iced Tea.  Tea.  Milk. Sugar. Condensed Milk.  Ice.  It’s that perfect taste to keep you refreshed and energized!  I can’t decide which I love more:  Thai Iced Tea or Vietnamese Iced Coffee.  It’s a tough call, people, but iced drinks + sugar + tons of caffeine = Happy Mrs. Turner.

6. Affordable Travel

Mr. Turner and I always like to travel on a budget.  We are working on becoming debt-free, so we try to be careful when we travel.  After you buy the flight to Thailand, travel within Thailand as well as accommodation and food are very affordable.  In the future, we will try to share more in detail about our past trips to Thailand and how much you can expect to spend.

7. The people

Sometimes when you travel somewhere, you find that the people that live in that place aren’t that friendly.  Maybe it just happens to be a bad day for every person you encounter, or maybe it’s just not a friendly place.  Thailand is a friendly place!  At every place we stayed, the people were so welcoming.  In Krabi, we stayed in a little bungalow that was family-owned.  The family was always around to talk to us during breakfast.  They would wait for everybody to return back to the hotel at night to make sure everybody was safe.  They truly treated all the guests as family.  The guy even called us a couple days after we stayed there to make sure we arrived at our next destination safely.  When you travel to Thailand, be sure to talk with the people, because to really know a place, you must know the people.

Photo Credit: Photo 1 (I don’t know.  Not me).

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