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<< Back to Thailand Ideas & things to do |
Ideas and things to do in ThailandLearn to Scuba dive Discover a new world  Do this because... Thailand is one of the cheapest and most beautiful places to dive in the World. There are loads of dive shops where you can get your PADI Open Water certificate for less than £150, which includes four days of training and diving and all your kit. You'll swim among huge trigger fish, colourful coral and puffer fish, and even Nemo makes an appearance.Click here >> for more info about diving in Thailand Muay Thai Thai boxing  Go there because... it’s bloody good fun! Thai boxing matches are held at Bangkok's Lumpini Stadium. It's loud, packed and a lot of fun, thought the fights get quite brutal at times. Buy one of the cheaper tickets if you'd rather sit with the fans than at the front with the tourists complaining about blood-splatters on their Ralph Lauren.Tiger Temple Tigers... monks... what more could you want?  Go there because... you get to stroke tigers! This Buddhist temple in Thailand's Kanchanaburi province began taking in injured and orphaned cubs in 1999. It now has 18 tame tigers as well as other rescued animals. For a small donation (which goes to conservation projects) a monk will lead you amongst the tigers; you can touch them and get your photo taken.Elephant trekking See the World from another angle  Do this because... it's a great chance to make friends with these gentle giants, and see some amazing scenery in the process. Chiang Mai, with its lush forests and breathtaking mountains, is the place for elephant trekking. You can combine it with a spot of bamboo rafting and swimming in jungle waterfalls for a great fun day.Click here >> for gap year placements with elephants in Thailand Visit the hill tribes A different side to Thailand  Do this because... you'll get an insight into traditional rural life in Thailand. From Chiang Mai you can trek up into the surrounding mountains which are home to the hill tribes. The tribes live a largely traditional way of life based on subsistence farming, but make a few extra bob by providing unique accommodation for groups of trekkers.Click here >> for gap year placements with hill tribes in Thailand Khao San Road Backpacker hub  Go there because... whether you end up loving it or hating it, you have to check out Khao San Road. This road in Bangkok is where most backpackers head to when they arrive. It's packed with travellers from around the World and lined with hostels, bars, restaurants, travel agents and stalls selling everything from wall-hangings to pirate CDs. Great for people-watching...Click here >> for our recommended hostel just off Khao San Road Damnoen Saduak Floating Market Whatever floats your boat  Go there because... it's one of the coolest places to shop in the World. Hundreds of little boats piled high with fruit, vegetables, chickens, blankets, clothes and knick-knaks jostle for position in a web of canals. You can wander along the shores, stopping to eat hot food from one of the boats, or hop on a boat yourself and join the action. Click here >> for backpacker tours of Thailand, many of which take you to the Floating Market Chill on an island Sun, sea, sand and snorkelling  Do this because... Thailand's islands are a legendary place to unwind. Find yourself a beach hut (for a couple of quid a night), bagsy a hammock, then spend your days chilling and snorkelling and your nights socialising in a beach-side bar. Koh Samui is great for partying, Koh Phangan has the Full Moon Parties and Koh Tao is a Scuba diver's paradise. Grand Palace, Bangkok Buddhist bling  Go there because... it's an exotic architectural masterpiece. The fabulously ornate, golden palace was once home to Thailand's king and government. You'll also find the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, home to a deeply sacred statue of the Buddha carved from a single piece of jade. Dress modestly or you won't be allowed in. Click here >> for our recommended hostel in Bangkok Full Moon Parties Full Moon Party, Koh Phangan, ThailandGlowsticks-a-go-go! Slap on the fluorescent body paint, grab yourself a goldfish bowl of questionable alcoholic content and join 10,000 other revellers in shaking your stuff on the sandy beach of Haad Rin, the island's nightlife capital.  The Full Moon Party atmosphere starts bubbling up to a week before the actual event. Beachside bars play 24 hour music, DJs spin warm-up sets and everyone gets into the Full Moon spirit. Be warned, the place gets rammed a fair few days before the big party, so you'll need to get your accommodation booked up beforehand. If you're planning to any sleep that is... The Full Moon Party is held each month (on the eve of the full moon surprisingly...) Twelve major sound systems run the length of the beach, so chances are you won't be able to miss where the party's at. Drum 'n' bass, dance, trance, house, hip hop... the music is varied and top DJs keep on doing their thing well into the morning. Full Moon Parties mean table-dancing, fire eaters, jugglers, candle-lined beachfronts, midnight swims, plenty of alcohol and backpackers from across the globe getting together to shake their money-makers. There are also Half Moon Parties and Black Moon Parties should you miss out on the main event. Be warned, this may not be your scene if you're a pipe and slippers type... Things to think about... 1) Please respect the beautiful island of Koh Phangan. Take your rubbish with you and do all you can to leave the locals with a positive image of backpackers. 2) Not everyone is in it for the music and the booty-shaking. Bad people go to full moon parties too... stay aware. 3) Be sensible on the alcohol and drugs front. Girls (and guys), stick with a group and keep an eye on each other. 4) If you've been drinking, stay out of the sea. It's dangerous. 5) Keep your shoes on. Broken glass and bare feet are a bad combo. 6) Local hostels often require a three night minimum stay around Full Moon Party time, so try to get there early if you can. You'll get a cheaper rates too! Our users say...  "Eventually the Full Moon Party arrived and as night fell we started to apply luminous paint to our bodies. I know it sounds cheesy but at Full Moon it works! When we stepped onto the beach, it was rammed. There must have been two or three times the amount of people there compared to the warm-up nights. A few buckets down though and it didn't matter anymore. Dancing on tables and stages or wherever there was room ensued and I had the most mad night of my life. It just didn't matter how much you danced you just carried on, the adrenalin rush was intense. When the sun came up it was like something out of ‘Saving Private Ryan’. The beach was covered in people walking round in a daze or laid out on the floor looking half dead while the bass coming from the drum ‘n’ bass tent sounded like bombs going off. There were still some of us who kept on dancing and drinking though. At 9am the few people I had re-found and I decided to call it a night - or day - and head back to the hostel. It was the best night of my RTW trip by a mile." - Rhys Ingram  "The Full Moon Party on Koh Pha-Ngan was so much better than I expected. After hearing so much negativity about it I was beginning to think I wouldn't bother, but then I always said I would have to try it for myself before deciding, and it was brilliant! I think it really got into swing at around 5.30am but don’t know if this was maybe due to the fact that by then I'd been dancing for nearly 12 hours and had drank 12 buckets of sangsom mix! (No, I didn't really have 12. I’m not that hardcore...)" - Sarah Cumming "The highlight of Thailand was of course the Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan. Wow! It was so much fun! Everyone dances on the beach all night and then all day, drinking buckets of the cheapest whisky in Thailand! I highly recommend these parties! Especially since there are 'warm up' parties, half moon parties, night after the full moon parties.. every night is a party on Haad Rin!" - Helen Bray "I was advised not to stay in Haad Rin for the Full Moon Party and this was good advice: Haad Rin never quietens down, despite best attempts the beach is dirty and all night men piss in the sea instead of using the toilets... It is also expensive around Full Moon and I heard a lot of reports of break-ins and burglaries. Instead I stayed a short taxi ride away in Ban Tai in a blissful, beautiful resort which was cheap, quiet and basically paradise. This meant I could spend my days relaxing in a hammock on the beach and my evenings living in up in Haad Rin. A private taxi was expensive so I found it best to wait by the side of the road and flag down the 50B-a-ride pick-up taxis that come along fairly frequently. On the night of the Full Moon Party I discovered you can fit 19 people in a Toyota Pick-up (although I was assured we weren't trying very hard and you can actually fit closer to 25). We'd been to Haad Rin for the nights leading up to the Full Moon Party and had a great time, dancing on the beach, drinking buckets and meeting lots of people. On the night of the FMP we bumped into various people we'd spoken to the previous nights and the atmosphere was just alive with friendliness and everyone looking to have a good time. There were more people out earlier on the Saturday night: it was in full swing by about 11pm where on previous nights it didn't really get going until midnight or 1am. The bars all play different music and you can find something to fit your preference, there's a lot of techno but also house, drum and bass, RnB and general cheese! In the end it doesn't really matter as you find you move up and down the beach to meet people, following people you know etc. You can sit outside the bars on the mats provided until things really kick off and people start dancing in every available space and then you are likely to get sand kicked in your face! I would advise to stay away from the widely available drugs, the police do patrol and will arrest you. Aside from that I spent a proportion of my evening looking after a mushroom casualty and all he was really capable of doing was giggling - when this was got boring I took him to watch fire dancers as revenge, but seriously I was worried: there are so many people and the sea is tempting when you are on drugs and if you get lost or lose a member of your group it can ruin your evening. It is worth having a meeting point as if you do get separated you may not find each other again. It really was a night I won't forget in a hurry - I took a moment to sit by the water with friends and look at the moon and think about where I was, cliche but worth doing, I don't know if I will ever get to go to one again and it was a moment I wanted to remember. While it is just a big beach party it is also such a good night, due to the number of people, all wanting an excellent party and all adding to the incredible atmosphere. A word of warning though, if you are hardcore enough to stick it out until the morning, you will get sunburnt on the beach and the cleaners coming round will 'clean up' anything... your camera, bag, shoes... they're not fussy!" - Tori Groom Dates for Full Moon Parties 2007/2008 Saturday 4th March 2007 Monday 2nd April 2007 Wednesday 2nd May 2007 Thursday 31st May 2007 Friday 29th June 2007 Tuesday 31st July 2007 Tuesday 28th August 2007 Wednesday 26th September 2007 Friday 26th October 2007 Saturday 24th November 2007 Monday 24th December 2007 Tuesday 22nd January 2008 Friday 22nd February 2008 Friday 21st March 2008 Sunday April 20th 2008 Tuesday 20th May 2008 Thursday 19th June 2008 Click here >> for the website Click here >> to email |
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