Bangkok's golden temple chaos, Phi Phi's limestone bays, Phuket's shophouse old town — we walked all three, and the street food alone justifies the flight.
Thailand runs on generosity — of flavor, of golden Buddhas, of smiles that mean it. Bangkok is the deep end: temple spires against glass towers, canal boats commuting past street-food woks, markets that sell everything twice. Give it three days minimum and surrender to the current.
Then the Andaman: Phi Phi's limestone towers rising from water so turquoise it looks color-graded (the early boat beats the crowds to Maya Bay), and Phuket's old town — Sino-Portuguese shophouses in candy colors, weekend night markets, and viewpoints that explain the postcards.
We walked all three in 2019, and the enduring lesson is: eat everything. The $2 street plate routinely out-cooks the resort restaurant. Follow the office workers at lunch and the families at dinner; they know.
Bangkok-to-islands routing, early-boat bookings, temple dress-code prep, and the street-food map we'd trust with our own trip.