Bangkok
Wat Arun
The Temple of Dawn, on the Thonburi bank. Its central prang is faced in porcelain and broken ceramic, which is why it reads as texture up close and as a silhouette from the river.
Phuket · Krabi · Bangkok
Thailand
Islands, temples & street life
Bangkok's temples and river, then the limestone coast of the Andaman — arranged as one itinerary with the internal legs and transfers built in.
The place
Two trips joined by a one-hour flight
Most Thailand itineraries are really two trips joined by a one-hour flight: a city at the top and a coast at the bottom. Bangkok is dense, and rewards a day or two more than people give it; the Andaman coast is where the limestone comes out of the water.
The temples are the reason to give Bangkok its time. Wat Arun sits across the Chao Phraya from the old royal quarter, and the river is still the sensible way to move between them — the express boats are faster than the roads and cost a fraction of a taxi.
South, the choice is coast or island. Krabi and Phang Nga can be done from the mainland with day boats; Phuket is the airport and the hotel supply. Which one suits depends on how much boat time the party will actually tolerate.
Good to know
- Flying time from Dubai
- About 6 hours non-stop to Bangkok (BKK)
- Time difference
- 3 hours ahead of the UAE (UTC+7)
- Currency
- Thai baht (THB)
- Language
- Thai; English widely used in tourism areas
Entry requirements vary by passport and change without notice, so they are not published here — we confirm what applies to your travellers at the time of booking.
Where we take people
Places to visit in Thailand
A starting point, not a fixed route — every itinerary is written around the party, the dates and how much moving about they want.
Bangkok
The Chao Phraya
The river the old city was built along, and still the fastest way across it. Express boats run to the temple piers; the crossing to Wat Arun takes a few minutes.
Bangkok
Bangkok after dark
The city changes register at night — rooftop bars, the night markets, and a skyline that is genuinely dramatic from height. Worth planning one evening around rather than leaving to chance.
Krabi
Railay
A peninsula cut off by its own cliffs — no road reaches it, so arrival is by longtail from Ao Nang or Krabi town. The climbing routes on the headland are among the best known in Asia.
North of Phuket
Phang Nga Bay
Limestone stacks standing straight out of shallow green water, inside a national park. The famous one is Ko Tapu; the bay is better seen early, before the day boats converge.
Andaman coast
The Krabi coast
Longtails, karst headlands and a string of beaches that are easier to reach than Railay and quieter than Phuket. The base most first itineraries should probably use.
When to go
Timing is most of it
Thailand's two coasts run on opposite cycles, and this is the detail most summaries drop. The Andaman side — Phuket, Krabi, Phi Phi — is at its best November to March. The Gulf islands, Samui and Phangan and Tao, are wettest October to December, so a December trip that works perfectly in Krabi can be a washout on Samui.
Nov – Feb
Best
Cool, dry season
The best of the year almost everywhere: clear skies, lower humidity, calm water on the Andaman side.
Mar – May
Hot season
Still dry, noticeably hotter. Temples and cities are harder work in the middle of the day; the coast handles it better.
Jun – Oct
Southwest monsoon
Rain and swell on the Andaman coast, and the season when boat crossings start getting cancelled. Bangkok stays workable.
How we run it
Planned here, run there
Our own vehicles and guides are in the Emirates. Thailand is run through operators we work with there — which is why the plan comes from us and the driver meeting your travellers is local.
01
The internal legs, handled
A Bangkok-and-beach trip has a domestic flight, two airport transfers and usually a boat in it. Those are the joints where self-planned itineraries come apart, and they are what we sequence first.
02
The right coast for the dates
Because the Andaman and the Gulf have opposite wet seasons, the same fortnight can be the best or the worst choice depending which side you booked. We plan the coast around the dates rather than the other way round.
03
One point of contact
Planned by the Dubai team, delivered by operators we work with in Thailand. You deal with us, not with four separate suppliers.
Next step
Tell us who is travelling
Dates, party size and whether this is a first visit or a return — that is enough for us to come back with a routed itinerary rather than a brochure.
