All 77 provinces, the six regions and the places most people come for. Tap a province to see what's there.
Thailand is often compared to an elephant's head, with the long southern peninsula as its trunk. The mountains are in the north, the big Isan plateau fills the northeast, and the flat central plains run down to Bangkok and the top of the Gulf. Below that, the country narrows to a thin strip with the Gulf of Thailand on one side and the Andaman Sea on the other.
That shape affects how you travel. Bangkok sits in the middle, so most long trips start there. Trains run north, northeast and south, and our Thailand by Train guide covers each line. If you'd like a trip that's already put together, try one of our routes.
Mountains, old Lanna towns and cooler winters. Chiang Mai is the usual way in.
Start with: Mae Hong Son, Pai, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Sukhothai
The big northeastern plateau: rice country, Khmer ruins and the Mekong along the Laos border.
Start with: Loei, Nong Khai, Udon Thani, Khon Kaen, Korat, Phimai, Buriram, Ubon Ratchathani, Khao Yai
The flat river plains around Bangkok, including the old capital at Ayutthaya.
Start with: Ayutthaya, Bangkok
A short trip from Bangkok, with the beaches around Pattaya and the islands of Trat.
The long strip along the Myanmar border, from Kanchanaburi down to Hua Hin.
Start with: Kanchanaburi, Hua Hin
The narrow peninsula between two seas, with the Andaman islands on one side and the Gulf islands on the other.
Start with: Ko Tao, Ko Samui, Khao Sok, Phuket, Railay, Ko Lanta, Songkhla
The same map as an image, with the main destinations labeled, to save to your phone or print for the trip.
Thailand is in mainland Southeast Asia. It borders Myanmar to the west and north, Laos to the north and east, Cambodia to the southeast and Malaysia to the south. It has coasts on the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea.
Thailand has 77 provinces if you count Bangkok, which is run as a special administrative area.
We use six: the North, Isan (the Northeast), Central, the East, the West and the South. Some maps group them differently, so you may also see four or five regions.
There are three main groups. The Andaman coast has Phuket, Krabi and Trang, the Gulf has Ko Samui, Ko Pha-ngan and Ko Tao, and the East has Ko Chang and its neighbors near Cambodia. The coasts have different best months, so check when you're going before you choose.
