Luxury holidays in Thailand
Thailand with True Travel
Thailand charms travellers with its rich Buddhist heritage, famed hospitality, and legendary street food. Explore the bustling night markets and grand palaces of Bangkok, venture north to Chiang Mai’s mountain temples and elephant sanctuaries, and island-hop through dramatic limestone karsts in the Andaman Sea around Phuket, Krabi, and Koh Yao Noi.
Start planning your tailor-made holiday to Thailand or speak to a specialist 0203 930 3998
Specialist Tip
For the real taste of Thailand, look beyond upscale restaurants and head to its streets and markets. Ingredients and cooking styles vary dramatically around the country, making local food stalls one of the best ways to understand each region and its distinctive flavours.
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Golden Triangle
The Golden Triangle marks the point where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet, at the confluence of the Mekong and Ruak rivers. There is a small viewpoint right at the river junction, but the better view is above it: a staircase beside the town's opium museum climbs a tree-lined hill to a hilltop lookout over all three countries at once. It is a quiet, slightly strange place to stand, given how much history has passed along these two rivers.
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Quick Answers
The Thai Baht (THB) is the local currency, and ATMs are widely available across Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket, so there’s little need to arrange currency before you travel. Notes and coins carry the image of the Thai monarchy, which is worth bearing in mind when handling cash, given how seriously this is treated locally.
Thai is the official language, and while English is used confidently throughout Bangkok’s tourism industry and major resort areas, it becomes noticeably less common once you’re in smaller towns or rural areas. Guides and hotel staff at established properties operate comfortably in English regardless.
Thailand operates on Indochina Time (ICT, UTC+7) year-round, with no daylight saving changes. Early starts for temple visits or trekking mean it’s worth adjusting to local time as soon as you land rather than treating the first morning as a buffer day.
Tap water is not safe to drink anywhere in Thailand, including Bangkok. Bottled or filtered water is provided as standard at all reputable hotels and should be used throughout your stay, including for ice, which reputable establishments make from filtered water as standard practice.
Cards are widely accepted at hotels, larger restaurants and shopping centres in Bangkok and Phuket, but markets, street food stalls and tuk-tuk drivers typically expect cash. Small-denomination Baht notes cover most day-to-day spending far more smoothly than relying on cards outside established venues.
Tipping isn’t a deeply traditional custom but has grown steadily in tourism-heavy areas, and small cash amounts for guides, drivers and hotel staff are genuinely appreciated where offered. Many restaurants now include a service charge, so an additional tip is a bonus for excellent service rather than an automatic expectation.
Thailand uses a flexible mix of socket types, and most modern sockets are designed to accept several plug shapes, including Type A, B, C, F and O, making this one of the more forgiving destinations in the region for travellers without the exact matching adapter. A universal adapter is still worth packing for peace of mind, particularly at older properties.
Mobile coverage across Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket is excellent, and tourist SIM cards are readily available at the airport on arrival, making connectivity one of the more straightforward aspects of a Thailand trip. Coverage does thin out in more remote northern hill regions, though this is limited to specific trekking itineraries rather than most standard routes.
Modest clothing covering shoulders and knees is required at temples, and this is strictly enforced at sites like Bangkok’s Grand Palace, where visitors without appropriate coverage are turned away or asked to rent a wrap at the entrance. Lightweight, breathable fabrics suit the consistently warm, humid climate far better than heavier clothing brought out of habit.
The wai, a slight bow with palms pressed together, is Thailand’s traditional greeting, and returning one when offered, even imperfectly, is a small gesture that’s warmly received. As in several Buddhist cultures in the region, the head is considered the most sacred part of the body and the feet the lowest, so avoiding touching someone’s head or pointing your feet at a person or Buddha image matters here too.
Thailand’s lese majeste laws make it a serious criminal offence to criticise, insult or disrespect the monarchy, and this extends to handling currency carelessly, since Baht notes carry the King’s image. This isn’t a minor cultural nicety but a genuinely important legal matter to understand plainly before you travel, given how differently it’s treated here compared with most other destinations.
Genuine sanctuaries prioritise no-riding, observation-based interactions that allow elephants to behave naturally, which has become the standard reputable operators now follow, in contrast to older riding camps still found in some areas. Your specialist will have already vetted any elephant experience on your itinerary, but it’s worth knowing that riding is generally the marker of an outdated, less welfare-focused operation.
Songkran, the Thai New Year in mid-April, is celebrated nationwide with large-scale public water fights, and if your itinerary falls during this period, expect streets in cities like Chiang Mai and Bangkok to become genuinely soaked, festive, and at times difficult to move through quickly. It’s a wonderful time to be in Thailand if you’re prepared for it, but worth flagging with your specialist if you’d rather avoid the disruption to sightseeing plans.
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