Southeast Asia
Golden temples, street food, islands and a smile.
Thailand is the easy heart of Southeast Asia — a warm, welcoming country of glittering temples, palm-fringed islands, misty northern hills and some of the best street food on the planet, all at prices that stretch a budget for weeks. Bangkok, the frenetic capital, is the gateway: a steamy, thrilling sprawl of gold-spired temples, canal markets, rooftop bars and food carts on every corner, where the ancient and the ultra-modern collide. Cheap, chaotic and utterly seductive.
What things cost: Thailand is wonderfully cheap — a plate of superb street food costs a euro or two, a long taxi not much more, and rooms span backpacker-cheap to affordable luxury. Bangkok's malls and rooftop bars can run to Western prices, but you never have to. When a zone below says 'low', that means very low indeed.
Sometimes the event picks the city for you.
A nine-day Chinese-Thai festival when Chinatown goes meat-free and yellow-flagged food stalls serve up a feast of inventive vegetarian street food. A delicious, atmospheric time to eat your way through Yaowarat, amid processions and temple rituals.
Bangkok · Chinatown (Yaowarat)
One of Thailand's most beautiful nights, when people float little candle-lit banana-leaf baskets (krathong) onto the rivers and canals to honour the water goddess and let go of the year's ill fortune. The Chao Phraya and the temple ponds glow with a thousand tiny flames.
Bangkok · The river & canals citywide
A colourful festival marking the end of the cool season, when the city's famous flowers are at their peak — a grand parade of elaborate floral floats, garden displays and beauty pageants, centred on Suan Buak Haad park. A pretty, gentle and very local celebration, and a lovely time to enjoy Chiang Mai's best weather.
Chiang Mai · Suan Buak Haad Park & the Old City
Bangkok's Chinatown erupts for the lunar new year — dragon and lion dances, firecrackers, red lanterns and a street feast down Yaowarat, one of the biggest celebrations outside China. Loud, colourful and delicious; come for the parades and the food.
Bangkok · Chinatown (Yaowarat)
Thai New Year, celebrated with the world's biggest water fight — three days of the whole country dousing each other with hoses, buckets and water pistols to wash away the old year, in the hottest week of the year. Khao San and Silom are ground zero; expect to get soaked, and love it.
Bangkok · Khao San, Silom & citywide
The Thai New Year, celebrated in Chiang Mai with the country's biggest and wildest water fight — the streets around the Old City moat become three days of joyous, soaking chaos, alongside temple rituals and processions. Enormous fun (nothing stays dry); bring a waterproof phone pouch and join in. One of the most exuberant festivals on earth.
Chiang Mai · The Old City moat & across town
