Thailand in 7 days: Bangkok, Phi Phi, Phuket and Chiang Mai

From New Delhi to Bangkok

I arrived in Bangkok from New Delhi, in India, right after my birthday. I was in Thailand from August 11 to 18, 2025, a week, and my departure flight to Tokyo, in Japan, left from Don Mueang airport.

That's why the first thing I did was leave my carry-on stored at that airport and explore the interior of Thailand with just my backpack. I thought it was best because these airlines are tricky: they tell you it's 8 kilos in total between backpack and carry-on, and in the end they charged me.

The airport's luggage service only accepts cash, but the good thing is that you pay when you pick it up, so I left it on arrival and only paid when I collected it. Then I went to the hostel, Mad Monkey Bangkok.

Bangkok in one day, from the Dragon Temple to the rooftop

My route in Bangkok started with the transfer to Wat Samphran, the famous Dragon Temple. It's about 40 kilometers from the center and is a 17-story red tower wrapped by a giant dragon.

In the afternoon I went to the Grand Palace and the royal theater, where I saw a Khon show, the traditional Thai masked dance.

Then I took the orange flag boat along the Chao Phraya river to see Wat Arun. The night continued at Asiatique The Riverfront, with a traditional dance performance and dinner.

I closed the day at the Sky Bar rooftop, where a scene from the movie Hangover was filmed, with the whole city lit up in the background.

Phi Phi and the 7 islands tour

The next day I took a flight from Bangkok to Phuket. Inside the airport I took a bus to the Rassada pier, and from there the ferry to Phi Phi departed.

I checked in at the ChaoKoh Hotel Phi Phi Island, relaxed on the beach and then we went to the island's viewpoints, known as Phi Phi Viewpoint.

The next day I did the 7-island tour in 7 hours. Among the stops were Maya Bay, Bamboo Island and Monkey Beach.

Since I only had a few days there, I decided to go back to the hotel to get ready and go out to see Phi Phi's nightlife. One of the options was to go to the fire show and then to the beach area where the bars of several hostels are, near Slinky Bar, to end our night at Reggae Bar, where we watched live Thai kickboxing.

Phuket Old Town and an elephant sanctuary

On the fourth day exploring Thailand, we were going to the elephant sanctuary called Bukit Elephant Park, so we left Phi Phi early heading to Phuket Old Town, where they would pick us up to take us to the sanctuary.

Bukit Elephant Park is a sanctuary where female elephants rescued from different places, like circuses, live, and I remember one of them was around 80 years old. The idea is to feed and observe them in their environment, without riding or bathing them.

There I did the Elephant Nature Afternoon visit and, when it ended, I went back to Phuket Old Town.

Chiang Mai, temples and a day in Chiang Rai

The next day I flew from Phuket to Chiang Mai and stayed at The Yard Hostel. That day I visited three temples: Wat Duang Dee, Wat Phra Singh and Wat Chiang Man.

On the second to last day in Thailand I did a full day to Chiang Rai, which is about three hours from Chiang Mai by road. The route included a long-neck Karen ethnic village (7 Tribes Village), the Mae Kachan hot springs, the White Temple and the golden temple, the Blue Temple, a stop at Lalita café and the Guan Yin statue with Wat Huay Pla Kang and everything there.

My last day at Doi Suthep

On my last full day in Thailand I asked a taxi driver to take me to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, a temple on the mountain in Chiang Mai. Normally there are shared cars that gather several people to take them there, but since I was alone I had to pay a bit more because I wanted to go anyway.

At night I went to the airport because my flight to the next destination left in the early morning; there I picked up my carry-on and paid in cash as I mentioned before.

My tips for a week in Thailand

What I take away from Thailand

Thailand stayed as one of my favorite destinations to travel solo. In a week I went through temples, islands, elephants and mountains, and I met so many other solo travelers. If you want to know what I look at before booking, I tell it in my article about safe countries to travel solo. From Bangkok I continued to Japan, and my first stop was Mount Fuji, which I tell in this article.