Thailand is one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations on
the planet receiving an estinated 15.9 million tourists in 2010. Perfect
marketed images of tuk-tuks, long-tail boats, glimmering temples and
glamorous Thai dancers are what the mind conjures up when someone says
Thailand.
Living here for two years, I have had the immense pleasure of seeing
many different sides of this fascinating country, the hugely celebrated
and the unassuming, the popular and the forgotten.
Each place has its unique surprises and my experience makes me cringe
when I hear some stuck up backpackers say that Thailand has nothing for
them in way of adventure anymore. As someone once said, “only boring
people get bored.” Especially in Thailand.
10 Unique Places in Thailand
1. MaeKlong Market, Samut Songkram
MaeKlong Market in the province of Samut Songkram is an unbelievable
example of Thailand’s ability to thrive in regardless of circumstances.
The market is situated on the train tracks of MaeKlong Railway and eight
times a day, seven days a week, the train passes in and out happily.
The train literally goes directly through the middle of the market
stalls and over the goods on sale. Rather than relocate a market which
had been running for decades in this area, locals adapted superbly so
that daily life was not interrupted.
The vendors simply pull back any awning that sticks out too far
within centimeters of where the train will pass and usher shoppers to
step back. Locals know the exact time each day the train arrives and
once it has passed through, the awnings are recoiled and they are back
on the tracks laying out their fruit, meat and seafood as if nothing
happened.
2. The Forensic Museum, Bangkok
Have you always wanted to see a scrotum
with elephantiasis? Er… no, us neither! Bangkok’s forensic museum holds a
bizarre collection of everything that is weird, outrageous and just
downright freaky about Thailand.
For anyone looking to investigate a very
different side of Thailand, look no further… though be warned this place
is not for the squeamish or faint of heart!
With macabre interest in death and illness,
the museum displays a collection of gruesome photographs of
decapitations, deformed feotus’s in glass jars, an exhibition of skulls
with bullet wounds through the head and the star attraction, the
embalmed body of 1950’s Chinese cannibal, Si Quey. Next to the cabinet
read the handwritten words “because he loves to eat human’s organ not
because of starving”.
3. Phuket Town
Most people head to Phuket strictly for beaches and all night
parties, however, what most people fail to appreciate is Phuket town
itself. Dating back to the 16th century, colonial powers had an interest
in Phuket’s natural resources, namely its booming tin mining industry.
As a result, the architecture of the town is a mix of Sino-Portuguese
shop-house and Sino-Colonial mansion style. Despite it being home to
the cheapest digs in town (the famous On-On Hotel was featured on the
opening scene’s of the movie, The Beach!) there is a surprising lack of
backpackers roaming the town.
Artsy tea-shops and atmospheric jazz bars have now taken residence in
the old shop-houses and there are some great (and cheap)
Chinese-influenced eating houses. Visitors heading there in October are
in for a treat as the Vegetarian Festival takes place with incredible
feats of self-flagellation and body piercing.
4. Mae Sot or “Little Burma”
Nicknamed “Little Burma,” due to the presence of over 200,000 Burmese
refugees living in the area, the border town of Mae Sot doesn’t really
feel like Thailand at all.
Walking around the local market you will see women with a yellow
paste, ‘thananka’ bark smeared on their cheeks and men, wearing the
traditional Burmese wrap-around skirt, the longyi.
The town is fascinating in the sense that it makes you realize just
how complex the Burmese nationality is with ethnic minorities from
Karen, Kachin, Mon, Arakanese; each with their own separate customs,
cultures, dress and cuisine.
Eat chapatis and dal in the Muslim quarter in the morning for
breakfast and then feast on Karen curries in the evening. For
backpackers who are considering visiting what is now called ‘Myanmar,’
Mae Sot is an intriguing taster.
Plus, the bridge over the River Moie has just opened for border runs
so the town may well be seeing more backpackers here in the coming
months.
5. Nan Province
The remote province of Nan is a
mountainous, forested area that for many years was an autonomous kingdom
cut off from the rest of Thailand and the outside world.
The area remains somewat separated from the
rest of Thailand in the fact that very few tourists venture here. Home
to the largest national park in Thailand, the beautiful Doi Phu Kha
National Park, the area has an abundance of impressive limestone caves,
karats and waterfalls, not to mention the ancient salt mine village, or
‘Ban Bo Klua’ as it is known in Thai.
The best way to get to Nan province is by
motorbike from Chiang Mai on roads which are superb for riding passing
through spectacular mountain scenery. The town of Phayao, located on the
picturesque Phayao Lake is the perfect stop off point to explore more
stunning mountain scenery and nearby hill-tribe villages.
6. The Trang Islands
Just four hours by bus from the tourist hotspot, Krabi, lie the
‘secret’ islands of Trang, a group of 47 separate craggy isles each one
blessed with raw, unspoilt beauty.
The area which consists of 120-mile coastline remain untouched by
tourism and you will find no fast food restaurants, internet cafes or
tacky souvenir shops here. During low season (June-September) the
islands are completely deserted and you will have to persuade the local
fisherman to take you out from the main port of Trang to the outer
islands.
It is quite possible that you will be the only Westerner there as you
explore the beautiful white sandy beaches, limestone caves and
waterfalls that were recently designated a national parkland.
The accommodation is cheap and very basic but with a location so
idyllic, the Trang islands are like Thailand 20 years ago. If it is true
escapism you are after, the Trang Islands just may be your adventure
playground.
7. The White Temple and the Black House, Chiang Rai
It is true that with such an abundance of noteworthy temples in South East Asia, at times during your trip you may feel guiltily ‘templed out.’ After coming from Thailand’s capital of culture, Chiang Mai with its 300+ temples, the last thing you want to do in Chiang Rai is see another!
Yet, the White Temple just may be different from anything you will
have seen before with its eerie concrete hands and ghostly heads
surrounding the entrance of the temple and its huge silver tusks
reflecting the light as you walk up to the daunting doors.
The temple is like something out of a strange gothic fairy tale and
was built by artist ‘Ajarn Chalermchai Kositpipat’ as a Buddhist
offering. Less than 2km from the White Temple, you will find the
mysterious ‘Baan Dam’ or the Black House, built interestingly by
Kositpipat’s former student, artist Thawan Duchanee.
With an extensive collection of taxidermy, including the entire
skeleton of an elephant, the Black House is a bizarre contrast to the
pure White Temple. An antagonistic creation by the artist perhaps?
8. Khao Yai National Park and Bat Cave
Every night without fail as the sun begins to set in Eastern
Thailand, a thick black cloud spouts from the mouth of an eerie cave on
the edge of Khao Yao National Park.
They are thousands upon thousands of ‘wrinkled lipped’ bats who come
out to hunt at twilight creating what seems like one giant living
organism in a ribbon pattern across the sky.
Just four hours from Bangkok, the park is also home to 67 species of
wild mammal including the Asiatic black bear, Asian elephant, gaur
gibbon and even tigers! Visitors can walk the many hiking trails in the
area to spectacular waterfalls, observation points and even a dinosaur
footprint (a four day trek!).
9. Doi Inthanon National Park
It was this time last year when hoards of Thai people raced to the
peak of the highest mountain in Thailand (2565 metres) to get their
first experience of frost! Whilst English people find this incredulous,
the park does have more to offer than its cold winter temperatures.
Riding a motorbike through the park is the best way to explore a
landscape that changes with each turn; at times rugged, misty, cold and
eerie and then almost mediterranean with lush rolling hills,
rhododendron bushes and smiling farmers waving as they plough the fields
in the sun.
On the way up the mountain (you can reach the summit by road) there
is a Hmong hill-tribe settlement where visitors can stay overnight in a
homestead and observe the organic farming practices here which are a
Royal Project initiated by the current King of Thailand to stop the hill
tribes from growing Opium.
Although the area of Doi Inthanon is well set up for tourists, it is rare to spot backpackers here.
10. Tarutao National Marine Park and the Deep South
Right on the border with Malaysia, Thailand’s deep south is very
underdeveloped compared to Krabi and the Gulf islands. Today, it remains
an area which tourists are wary of due to continued travel warnings
because of the Muslim fighting in the area.
However, this area has more than one surprise up its sleeve, not
least the stunning Tarutao National Marine Park, an archipelago of 51
exquisite islands which were the setting for Thailand’s version of the Survivor TV program.
One of the first national marine parks in Thailand, its sparkling
beaches, coral reefs and virgin rainforest remain in pristine condition.
It is hard to believe that the largest island, Koh Tarutao was once a
huge prison with over 10,000 prisoners sent there.
One of the islands here, Koh Lipe has managed to evade park protection and is beginning to develop into a popular resort. Go now before pressure from developers to build more resorts becomes too much! The park is closed May-November.
