Living in Bangkok all our life, we’ve come to realize we haven’t really explored much of Thailand. I mean seriously, it seems that tourists and travelers get to see more of the country in a few months than we have in a year. Maybe we had been complacent or knew that time wasn’t going anywhere. But the more we saw our friends and travel bloggers talk about their favorite Thailand destinations and awesome trips they were taking, the more we wanted to as well.

It goes back to the reason why we started Dose of Life – to kind of kick us in the butt to go out and explore more. And explore we have. In the past 12 months, we have definitely seen and experienced a lot.

Since we’re on the subject, we’re taking this opportunity to countdown (in no particular order) our favorite destinations in Thailand that we visited so far.

Prachuap Khiri Khan

Prachuap Khiri Khan is a beautiful coastal province in the Central-Southern part of Thailand, which is growing in popularity.

Known for: beautiful beaches, coastal drives/bike riding, national parks and low mountains

Must see places: Kui Buri national park // Phraya Nakhon Cave // Ao Manao Beach // Khao Lum Muak // Koh Talu

For more details, read about our 4-day trip here.

Related read: 6 months travel review in pictures 

Chanthaburi

Directly opposite from Prachuap Khiri Khan across the Gulf of Thailand, to the Eastern side of Thailand lies another coastal province known for its charming character.

Known for: national parks, beautiful coastal drives, mangrove forests, local beaches, gem trade and seafood

Must see places: Khun Krabaen mangrove trail // Chanthaboon old town // Namtok Phlio National Park // The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception // Noen Nang Phaya viewpoint

 

More on Chanthaburi, read through our 3-day trip and scenic drives

Chonburi

Most people think of going to Pattaya as it is one of the closest beach area from Bangkok. Now Pattaya is part of Chonburi province but if you look at the capital (also called Chonburi city), it’s actually even closer from Bangkok and exudes a more relaxed, pleaseant and local ambiance.

Pattaya is clearly the loud and obnoxious sister of Chonburi city, which is why we really loved visiting the latter.

Known for: local beaches, temples, and seafood

Must see places: Snow mountain // Grand Canyon of Chonburi // Wang Saen Suk Hell Garden

Read more on our Chonburi day trip

Doi Ang Khang, Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai is awesome but did you know there is more to it than just the main city area. We drove up further north up in the mountains, close to the border with Burma to a place called Doi Ang Khang. It is a beautiful mountaneous region where the temperatures can drop as close to 0 °C degrees in winter.

Our trip here was spontaneous and we opted this place over Pai. There are a lot less foreigners here but plenty of Thai tourists and locals living here. One of our best and top places to visit in Thailand by far.

Known for: camping, beautiful views, serene landscape and temperate climate fruits, flowers, and vegetables

Must see places: Royal Agricultural Station // Mu Ban Khum village // Kiu Lom Viewpoint // 

We have a few others that make the list but they are quite well known already so we won’t be mentioning them in detail. Other favorite Thai destiantions are:

Koh Nang Yuan

Ayutthaya

And there you have it folks, are ulimate list of favorite Thailand destinations we visited this past year as part of our efforts to rediscover the country.

Which of these places have you visited or want to visit? Let us know in the comments and don’t forget to follow us on Instagram for more.