Bangkok to the Gulf Islands: Thailand with Kids in July
Temples, tuk-tuks, and turquoise shores
Thailand in the rainy season is wilder, greener, and far less crowded than you'd expect — and with kids in tow, that makes every day an adventure. This 33-day family loop takes you from Bangkok's chaotic, glorious streets through the misty mountains of Chiang Mai, down to the Gulf Coast islands where you ditch the tourist trail and find your own perfect beach. Expect market hauls, waterfall swims, tuk-tuk white-knuckle rides, and a few happy surprises along the way.
The story
Bangkok hits you like a warm, fragrant wall the moment you step off the metro. Within hours you're on a river taxi weaving past golden temple spires, haggling for sunglasses in Chinatown, and watching the city light up from the waterfront at Icon Siam. The days blur into a beautiful chaos of temple visits, cycling through hidden green islands, and late-night food markets where the kids eat things you'd rather not think about.
Heading north, the pace softens. Chiang Mai feels like a village that forgot to stop growing — low rooftops, Sunday night markets that stretch forever, and jungle roads that unspool into waterfalls nobody else has found. You hire a car for two days and drive the Samoeng Loop, eat breakfast in the middle of nowhere, and climb a hillside village for a view that makes the whole detour worth it.
The south is a lesson in trusting your instincts. Koh Samui's tourist strip isn't for you, Koh Pha Ngan's party zone definitely isn't, but the northern tip of the island — Salad Beach — turns out to be everything you were looking for: calm water, good food, and the kind of easy rhythm that makes you want to stay forever.
The route
Highlights
- Cycling Bang Krachao — Bangkok's leafy 'green lung' — by Thaise mini-bike with only Google Maps and YouTube tips as your guide
- Swimming in all seven tiers of the Erawan Waterfalls, a two-kilometre jungle climb that pays off at every level
- Driving the Samoeng Loop outside Chiang Mai and stumbling on a crowd-free waterfall that rivals anything on the tourist circuit
- Wandering Chiang Mai's legendary Sunday Walking Street market until the food stalls pull you in for dinner
- Discovering Salad Beach on Koh Pha Ngan after two island misfires — proof that the best spots reward the persistent
- Riding a motorised tuk-tuk through Bangkok traffic at night and arriving at the hotel equal parts terrified and delighted
Day by day
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Bangkok
Day 1-5Five days in Bangkok is just enough to scratch the surface of this magnificent, maddening city. You arrive like a local — metro from the airport, sim card in hand — and spend the first morning simply eating and walking and sleeping off the flight. From there the days fill themselves: a river taxi to Chinatown where sunglasses cost €2.50 and every stall sells something you've never seen before; a morning at Wat Pho to stand open-mouthed before the enormous reclining Buddha, followed by a motorise
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Nakhon Chai Si
Day 6A single night near Kanchanaburi anchors a day of genuine historical weight. The Hellfire Pass audio tour leads you through the mountain cutting where prisoners of war laboured on the Death Railway — it is quiet, sobering, and unforgettable. You follow it with a waterfall stop and a visit to the end-of-the-line station of the Bangkok–Nam Tok railway, then close the evening at a riverside restaurant where fish nibble your feet and the jungle presses in on all sides.
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Salaya
Day 7An early start earns you a place in the queue at Erawan Waterfalls — one of Thailand's most beloved natural attractions, and busy for good reason. Seven cascading tiers connected by a two-kilometre jungle trail, each pool clear enough to swim in, each climb a little steeper than the last. You swim in all seven. On the drive you spot a roadside sign warning of crossing elephants, though the elephants themselves remain elusive.
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Bangkok
Day 8-9The car goes back and you return to Bangkok by bus for one night before flying north. Before leaving the Kanchanaburi area you pay your respects at the war cemetery, where row upon row of headstones mark the graves of young men from across the world who died building the Death Railway. It is a quiet, necessary stop. The bus ride back to Bangkok is comfortable, and tomorrow brings a flight to Chiang Mai.
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Chiang Mai
Day 10-14Chiang Mai earns its reputation within the first hour — low-rise, leafy, and full of good food and friendly faces, it feels like a town that happens to have a city inside it. The Sunday Walking Street market is the social heart of the place: enormous, colourful, and impossible to leave quickly, especially when the smell of grilled things pulls you toward the food stalls. A waterpark day gives the kids the adrenaline fix they've been waiting for, with every slide ridden at least ten times. Dinner
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Suthep
Day 15A travel day bridges the mountains and the coast: a short flight to Surat Thani, a simple overnight stop, and then onward to the ferry for Koh Samui. The hotel is basic but cheerful, and the corridor fairy lights make the kids laugh.
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Baan Thong Po
Day 16-17The songtaew and minibus transfer to the pier is an event in itself — somewhere along the way you pass a man on a motorbike with a sidecar, and inside the sidecar sits a monkey. Koh Samui delivers a beachfront bungalow with a lovely restaurant and a genuinely pretty setup, though the noise from the main road and the cigarette smoke are less welcome. When the afternoon thunderstorm rolls in at four o'clock and turns the sky purple, you play cards and watch the rain and remind yourself it's still
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Lamai Beach
Day 18You hire a car to explore the island properly and scout for somewhere better to stay. The drive reveals that much of Koh Samui's coastline has been thoroughly claimed by mass tourism. A random discovery near the car park — a capybara café where you sip a drink while giant rodents wander past — is the unexpected highlight of the day. By evening, new plans are forming.
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Ko Pha Ngan
Day 19One night on Koh Pha Ngan is enough to confirm that the southern party village is not your scene — the dispensaries, the noise, and the aggressively friendly massage-parlour staff make for an entertaining story and not much sleep. You order pizzas, watch a film in the room, and start planning the morning move.
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Phet Pha-ngan
Day 20-31A early-morning post in a Thailand travel group brings the tip you needed: Salad Beach, on the quiet northern coast of Koh Pha Ngan. You arrive and immediately understand why people rave about it. The beach is beautiful, the vibe is calm, the restaurants are genuinely good, and there is none of the frantic energy of the south. You book five nights on the spot and spend them doing almost nothing — swimming, eating, reading, and letting the island work its magic. It turns out to be the best decisi
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