If you'd told me ten years ago that the country I'd return to most (more than France, more than Italy, more than anywhere with a direct flight from Chicago) would be Thailand, I'd have asked what you were drinking. Then I'd have asked for a glass.
But here we are. 65+ countries across all seven continents, and the one I keep choosing is the Land of Smiles. The beaches are gorgeous and the food is ridiculous, but that isn't the whole reason. Thailand makes you feel wide awake and completely at peace in the same afternoon.
Why do I keep going back to Thailand? Because it gives me everything at once: street food that rivals tasting menus, more than 40,000 temples, islands with impossibly blue water, and a culture built on sanuk, the idea that life should hold joy. As a Black woman, I've felt welcomed there again and again.
Key facts
- Best months: November to February, the cool, dry season.
- Getting there: most U.S. flights connect through Tokyo, Seoul or Doha, about 17 to 20 hours in total.
- Entry: U.S. citizens can visit visa-free for up to 30 days, as of October 2026.
- Where to stay: Rosewood Bangkok and Rosewood Phuket, where our group stays. Mandarin Oriental and Amanpuri are the classics.
- Our trip: the eight-day Thailand Experience, Bangkok and Phuket.
The First Night: Sensory Overload
A first trip to Thailand often starts the same way. You walk out of the Bangkok airport into warm, heavy air that wraps around you like a blanket. The ride into the city is a blur of neon, food vendors and tuk-tuks weaving through traffic with total confidence.
By the time you reach a riverside hotel on the Chao Phraya, you're wide awake, a little overwhelmed, and fairly sure Bangkok is the most exciting city you've ever seen.
So go for a walk. Order pad see ew from a street cart with no sign, no English menu and no empty seats, and it may be the best noodle dish you've ever had. Sit on a plastic stool on a sidewalk that hums at midnight, and you'll understand what travel is supposed to feel like.
What Keeps Me Coming Back
The Food (Obviously)
Photo: Caviar in the Air
Thai food is why I fell in love with cooking and with the idea that a meal can feel spiritual. And the distance between Thai food in America and Thai food in Thailand is about the size of the Grand Canyon.
Bangkok street food really does get Michelin attention. Jay Fai, the goggle-wearing queen of crab omelettes, cooks at a street-side shophouse and holds a Michelin star. A bowl of boat noodles from a vendor near Victory Monument costs very little and has more going on than most entrees back home.
Fine dining is just as serious. Gaggan Anand's restaurants have ranked among the world's best for years, and Nahm, the restaurant that changed how much of the world understood Thai cooking, still serves in Sathorn. Then there are the cooking classes, where you learn to balance sweet, sour, salty and spicy in one spoonful. They'll change how you cook at home.
The People
In Thailand, hospitality is a cultural value as much as a service standard. The Thai idea of sanuk (life should hold joy, and even ordinary things should be done with a little fun) shows up everywhere, from restaurant service to small talk.
As a Black woman traveler, I've felt welcomed in Thailand again and again. The curiosity is warm and real. People want to know where you're from, what you think of the food, and whether you've tried the som tum at the place around the corner. It's friendly without being intrusive.
The Temples
Photo: Caviar in the Air
Thailand has more than 40,000 Buddhist temples, from the gold of Bangkok's Grand Palace to quiet forest monasteries in the north. The wats (temples) are living places of worship, where monks begin the day at dawn with chanting that carries across the grounds.
Taking part in a morning alms-giving in Chiang Mai, offering rice to barefoot monks walking silently through the streets at sunrise, is one of the most humbling and beautiful rituals you can be part of.
The Islands
Thailand's islands are the dessert course. Phuket has the luxury resorts and the dramatic coast. Koh Samui has the wellness retreats. The Phi Phi Islands have water so turquoise you'll question your eyesight.
Why Thailand Is Different from Bali
I get this comparison constantly, and I've written about it in detail. The short version:
Bali turns you inward. It asks you to slow down and sit with yourself, like a meditation.
Thailand pulls you outward, into markets, onto beaches, through temples and across dinner tables loaded with dishes you've never seen. It feels like a celebration.
They're both wonderful, and they do different jobs. When I need rest, I go to Bali. When I need to feel alive, I go to Thailand.
The Moments That Stay With You
A midnight food tour in Bangkok's Chinatown. Following a guide through alleys that smell of charcoal and star anise, eating five dishes at five stalls, each one better than the last.
Sunrise at Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai. The golden temple coming out of the mist, monks chanting, the city far below. It's one of the most photographed temples in Thailand, and the photos don't do it justice.
A Thai cooking class in a family compound. Learning to make green curry paste by hand, pounding it in a stone mortar and tasting as you go until the balance is right.
A longtail boat through Phang Nga Bay. Limestone karsts rising out of emerald water and the quiet between them, like being inside a painting nobody has finished.
At Caviar in the Air, we bring our travelers into moments like these as participants, never spectators.
Ready for Thailand?
If you're planning, start with my Thailand travel guide, Bangkok to Phuket, then see our exact 8-day Thailand itinerary and what to wear in Thailand in April.
Our Thailand Experience is eight days in Bangkok and Phuket for women who want to feel fully alive: temples, a cooking class, the ruins of Ayutthaya, the Phi Phi Islands, and the kind of beauty that makes you forget what you were stressed about. You deserve that feeling.
Claire B. Soares is a 6X Condé Nast Traveler Top Travel Specialist and the founder of Caviar in the Air. Thailand is her most-visited country, and she's not done yet.
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