Top 10 Attractions in Thailand according to Fodor's
10. Songkran Festival
The most obvious celebration of Songkran is the throwing of water upon others. Thais roam the streets with containers of water or water guns. In addition, many Thais will have small bowls of beige colored talc sold cheaply and mixed with water which is then smeared on the faces and bodies of random passersby as a blessing for the new year.
9. Chatuchak Market
Northern Bangkok's biggest draw is the Chatuchak Weekend Market, an incredibly vast, 35-acre indoor and outdoor market that has more than 8,000 vendors selling anything and everything under the sun. To put that number in perspective, if you browsed every stall one minute each, non-stop for eight hours on every Saturday and Sunday, it would take you around two months to visit them all! A good rule of thumb is to buy immediately if you spot something interesting, as you will never find that same stall again.
8. Wat Pho
Wat Pho, popularly known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha is this the largest temple of Bangkok, and probably the oldest too, as it pre-dates the founding of the capital by about 200 years. Most foreign travellers come for the much-needed picture of themselves with the enormous Reclining Buddha - the largest reclining Buddha image in Thailand and possibly the largest in the world.
7. The Ruins of Ayutthaya
Founded around 1350, Ayutthaya became the second capital of Siam after Sukhothai. Throughout the centuries, an ideal location between China, India, and the Malay Archipelago made Ayutthaya the trading capital of Asia and even the world. By 1700 Ayutthaya had become the largest city in the world with a total of 1 million inhabitants.
6. Koh Samui
Ko Samui is an island in the Gulf of Thailand, about 700 km south of Bangkok and 80 km from the eastern coastline of Southern Thailand. An island of great natural beauty and variety, Samui is home to some 50,000 full-time inhabitants.. The palm-fringed shoreline and coconut and fruit cultivation of the coastal lowlands rise to a central granite massif, the slopes of which are cloaked in virgin rainforest.
5. Khao Sok National Park
Khao Sok National Park is a jungle reserve in Southern Thailand. It is one of the most beautiful wildlife reserves in Thailand. The park comprises the largest area of virgin forest in Southern Thailand and is a remnant of rainforest which is older and more diverse than the Amazon Rainforest.
4. The Grand Palace
Bangkok's most popular tourist attraction, the Grand Palace is the former residence of the King and is built adjacent to, and more or less integrated with Wat Phra Kaew (also known as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha). It covers a wide range of architectural styles, ranging from the pure Ayutthayan style of the temples to a blend of Thai and Western styles for later structures.
3. Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai is the hub of Northern Thailand. With a population of over 170,000 in the city proper, it is Thailand's sixth-largest city. On a plain at an elevation of 316 m, surrounded by mountains and lush countryside, it is much greener and quieter than the capital and has a cosmopolitan air and a significant expatriate population, all factors which have led many from Bangkok to settle permanently in this rose of the north.
2. Phang Nga Bay
Phang Nga Bay is a bay between Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi north of Ko Yao, known for its limestone rock formations. Most visitors explore the area in a one-day tour, but some larger islands have accommodation available. Phang Nga Bay is one of the most beautiful bays of Thailand. It is famous for its gravity-defying limestone formations, including James Bond Island (Ko Tapu).
1. Ancient Sukhothai
Sukhothai is a small city in Lower Northern Thailand, 427 kilometres north of Bangkok. Its attraction lies in the ruins of the ancient city Sukhothai, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The name translates as the dawn of happiness. Ancient Sukhothai was the first capital of the Sukhothai Kingdom, a long arc of territory that ran through what is today's Laos and western Thailand as far as the Malay states.
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