Thailand in 10 days: Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket

Day 2 — The golden day: palace, reclining Buddha, dawn temple

Dress for temples all day (covered shoulders/knees — light cotton, not shorts-plus-scarf improvisation).

• 08:00 — The Grand Palace & Wat Phra Kaew at opening (฿500, kids under 120 cm free): the Emerald Buddha in its gilded cosmos, the mosaic guardians, the murals. Two hours before the heat and coaches. (Rehearse the scam response: it is not closed.)
• 10:30 — Walk 10 minutes to Wat Pho (฿300, includes a water bottle): the 46-metre gold Reclining Buddha, mother-of-pearl feet, and the courtyard stupas. This is also Thai massage’s birthplace — the on-site school charges ~฿320/30 min for the real curriculum.
• 12:30 — Riverside lunch at Tha Tien pier stalls (~฿80–150).
• 13:30 — Cross-river ferry (฿5!) to Wat Arun (฿200) — the porcelain-encrusted Temple of Dawn; climb the steep central prang terraces.
• 15:30 — Long-tail or Chao Phraya Express back; ice coffee; optional Jim Thompson House (฿250 — the silk king’s teak mansion and Thailand’s best small museum).
• 18:30 — Golden hour: Wat Arun viewed from across the river at a Tha Tien rooftop (the photo), dinner around Khao San/Rambuttri’s calmer lanes or a proper riverside restaurant (~฿200–450).

Day 3 — Markets and choices

Pick by day-of-week and appetite:

• Weekend? — Chatuchak Market (free): 15,000 stalls, planet-scale — go at 09:00, exit by heat-stroke o’clock with coconut ice cream inside you.
• The rails-and-boats day: the Maeklong Railway Market (stalls fold back for the train, eight times daily) + Damnoen Saduak floating market combo tours (~฿1,300–1,800 pp, morning) — touristy, undeniably fun with kids.
• The history day: DIY train to Ayutthaya (from ~฿20–50!): the ruined 14th-century capital by bicycle — Buddha head in the banyan roots at Wat Mahathat, ฿50 per major temple.
• 19:00 — Back for the modern-Bangkok evening: ICONSIAM’s food floor and light fountain, or muay thai at Rajadamnern (from ~฿1,500–2,500 — the real thing, electric even for non-fans).

Day 4 — Fly north, temple dusk in Chiang Mai

• 09:30 — BKK → Chiang Mai (1h15; Thai/AirAsia/Nok from ~฿1,200–1,800 with a bag — book ahead, fares crawl upward).
• 12:30 — Check into the old city (the moated square mile) or riverside; lunch = your first khao soi (curried noodle soup with crispy nest — ฿60–90 — the north’s dish and possibly Thailand’s best).
• 15:00 — Old-city temple walk: Wat Phra Singh’s gilded Lanna hall → Wat Chedi Luang — the massive ruined chedi that once held the Emerald Buddha; stay for the 17:00-ish monk chat/evening chanting (free; genuinely moving).
• 19:00 — North Gate (Chang Phueak) night market: the cowboy-hat khao kha moo (braised pork leg) queue is famous; halal and veg carts share the block (~฿50–120 dinner).

Where to stay in Chiang Mai (three nights)

• Luxury: Na Nirand Romantic Boutique Resort — 4.9/5 (~1,800 reviews), Lanna teak colonial under a riverside rain tree. ~฿4,500–6,500.
• Mid-range: 99 The Heritage Hotel — 4.8/5, colonial courtyard calm inside the old city. ~฿1,800–2,800.
• Budget: the old city’s guesthouse economy is Thailand’s best — spotless family-run rooms at ฿600–1,000; pick by current reviews and stay inside the moat.

Day 5 — The elephants, done right

• 07:30 — Pickup for Elephant Nature Park — the sanctuary that rewrote Asia’s elephant tourism: ฿2,500 per person for the day visit (transport from the city and a huge vegetarian buffet included; book weeks ahead — it’s non-refundable and sells out). You’ll walk with rescued herds, feed the old ladies watermelon, and hear each elephant’s logging-or-trekking-camp backstory.
• The ethics box, plainly: if a camp offers riding, shows, or tricks — it’s exploitation, full stop (breaking an elephant to carry humans is exactly what it sounds like). Even bathing-with-elephants programmes have been phased out by the best sanctuaries as stressful. Watching giants be giants is the premium experience — this is the one booking on the site we’ll be preachy about.
• 17:30 — Back in town, spectacularly happy. Massage (฿300–450/hour — the Women’s Correctional Institution Vocational Centre’s programme is famous and superb), dinner in a riverside garden (~฿150–350).

Day 6 — The mountain temple, then knives out (cooking class)

• 07:30 — Red songthaew (shared truck-taxi, ~฿50–80 each way from the zoo stop) winding up to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep (entry ~฿50): 306 naga-flanked steps to the gold chedi with the whole valley below — mornings beat both haze and crowds. Optional add-on: Bhubing Palace gardens or a Hmong village further up.
• 12:30 — Back down for Nimman’s café district — the north grows Thailand’s coffee, and it shows (~฿70–120 a cup, worth it).
• 15:00 — Thai cooking class (~฿1,200–1,500, 4 hours with a market tour): you will make khao soi and pad thai better than your hotel’s, and the recipe booklet is the trip’s most-used souvenir. (Sunday instead? The Sunday Walking Street market swallows the old city whole from 16:00 — do that.)
• 20:00 — Night Bazaar wander or rooftop farewell to the north.

Day 7 — Fly to the island

• 10:00 — CNX → Phuket direct (~2 h; AirAsia/Thai from ~฿1,900–2,600 with a bag).
• 13:00 — Check in at Kata or Karon (this guide’s base: real beaches, family-calm, 20 minutes from the circus). Patong is the nightlife capital — visit by choice, sleep elsewhere.
• 15:00 — Beach afternoon: Kata’s surf-school waves (seasonal), Karon’s three white kilometres. Flag rule is law: red flag = no swimming, monsoon rips are Phuket’s real danger, not sharks.
• 18:30 — Karon Viewpoint for the three-bays sunset shot, then grilled seafood dinner — Muslim-owned beachfront grills around Kata/Rawai are both excellent and halal (~฿300–600 for two, pick your snapper by weight).

Where to stay in Phuket (three nights)

• Beachfront luxury: Phuket Marriott Resort & Spa, Merlin Beach — 4.7/5 (~8,000 reviews), private-bay seclusion with three pools. ~฿6,000–9,000.
• Mid-range: Chanalai Flora Resort — 4.9/5 (~4,000 reviews), pools-and-views hillside steps from Kata Beach. ~฿2,500–4,000.
• Value: Hotel Clover Patong — 4.9/5 (~3,200 reviews), TripAdvisor’s #1 value on the island, rooftop pool (choose it if Patong’s buzz is a feature for you). ~฿1,500–2,500.

Day 8 — Phi Phi: the turquoise day

• 07:30 — Speedboat day tour to the Phi Phi islands (~฿2,000–2,600 pp including hotel pickup, buffet lunch and national-park fees — verify the park fee’s inclusion when booking): Maya Bay (The Beach’s bay — viewing platforms and shallows only, no swimming, and it typically closes August–September for reef recovery), the cliff-walled Pileh Lagoon swim, Viking Cave, snorkelling over parrotfish at Khai or Bamboo Island.
• The honesty: it’s a conveyor-belt of longtails and speedboats because it’s that beautiful — book the earliest departure, and choose operators capping ~30 guests. Monkey Beach’s macaques bite; feed nothing.
• 17:00 — Back; recovery massage (฿400ish); night market dinner (Chillva or Karon Temple market on its nights).

Day 9 — Big Buddha, Old Town, last beach

• 09:00 — The Big Buddha (free; 45 m of white marble on the ridge, island-wide views; dress modestly) and Wat Chalong, Phuket’s grandest temple (free, donations).
• 11:30 — Phuket Old Town: Sino-Portuguese shophouses in crayon colours along Thalang and Soi Romanee, third-generation Hokkien coffee shops, the ฿80 local lunch (try Hokkien mee or roti at a Muslim canteen — the Old Town’s halal heritage runs deep).
• 15:00 — Final beach hours; parents alternate massage shifts; kids build the last sandcastle.
• 19:00 — Farewell dinner: Rawai seafood grills or a Kata cliffside table (~฿400–900 for two). (Bangla Road, for the curious: one loud neon street in Patong — adults-only energy; families lose nothing by skipping.)

Day 10 — Home, directly

• Morning — HKT flies non-stop to several long-haul hubs (Emirates, Etihad, flydubai) — the open-jaw (into Bangkok, out of Phuket) that makes this triangle effortless. Last mango sticky rice at the gate.