8 Days in Thailand: Why I'd Take Phang Nga Bay Over Phi Phi
An 8-day Thailand route through Phuket, Krabi and Bangkok — the boat day that's actually worth it, what Maya Bay is like now that you can't swim in it, and the honest case that Phuket and Bangkok are both overrated.
Eight days: three in Phuket, two in Krabi, and the back end in Bangkok. I did it with a friend, but we travelled the way solo travellers do — hostels the whole way, public transport, nothing pre-booked that didn't have to be.
Here's the honest summary before the day-by-day, because it's the thing I'd want told to me straight:
Phuket and Bangkok are both overrated. They're where you sleep and where the boats and flights leave from. The trip is the days on the water and the day in Krabi, and if you build the itinerary around the cities instead of around those, you'll come home wondering what the fuss was about.
And if I did it again, I'd change nothing about this route — I'd just add a couple of days on the end and go north to Chiang Mai.
Day 1: Phuket Old Town and Patong Beach
Phuket Old Town is the better half of this day — Sino-Portuguese shophouses, street art, cafés, and it's walkable.
Patong Beach is the other half. The sand and the swimming are fine, and Bangla Road at night is the thing Patong is famous for.
I'll be blunt: both are overrated. Bangla Road is a neon strip that exists to sell you things, and Patong is a beach with a lot of people on it. Go once, see it, form your own opinion — but don't plan days around it.
Two practical notes from the day: the Big Buddha was closed when I was there, so check before you make the trip up. And have a coconut smoothie — that one I do mean.
Day 2: Koh Phi Phi and Maya Bay
A full day on the water out of Phuket. I did it by longtail boat, which I'd recommend over the speedboats — slower, but you're actually in the scenery rather than being fired through it.
You can still get into Maya Bay. There's confusion about this because the bay was closed for years, so here's what it actually is now: the boats dock round the back at Loh Samah, and it's about a 20-minute walk over to Maya Bay itself. Swimming in the bay is not allowed — you look at it, you don't get in it.
And it's still worth doing. Even standing on the sand rather than swimming, the bay is beautiful. Just go with the right expectation so you're not annoyed on the day.
Pileh Lagoon is on the same route and is the green-water, sheer-cliff one people picture when they think of Phi Phi.
Book this the day before. Every street corner in Phuket has a tour operator, and it's also on GetYourGuide — there's no reason to arrange it from home.
Back on shore, the Phuket Sunday Night Market on Thalang Road is the good version of Phuket: street food, mango sticky rice, and a crowd that isn't there for Bangla Road.
Day 3: Phang Nga Bay — the one to do
Another boat day, and this is the best one.
If you only have time for one boat trip, make it Phang Nga Bay, not Phi Phi. Phi Phi is the famous one and Phang Nga is the better one — limestone towers standing straight out of flat water, caves, and lagoons you get into rather than look at from a distance.
James Bond Island is the postcard stop and it's busy, which is fine because it's brief.
Monkey Bay and Hong Island are the rest of the day — Hong Island is where you actually stop and swim, and it's the better use of your time than queuing for the James Bond photo.
Day 4: Phuket to Krabi, and Railay
Be realistic about this one: half the day goes on getting to Krabi. That's the whole reason it's not a bigger day.
With the afternoon, go to Railay Beach. It's cut off from the mainland by cliffs so you reach it by boat, and it's the most dramatic beach on this itinerary by a distance — the karst walls come right down to the sand.
Krabi Town itself is a base rather than a destination. Perfectly pleasant, wooden shop-houses, a walking street market at weekends, and that's about the size of it.
Day 5: Tiger Cave Temple and the Emerald Pool
The best day on land.
Tiger Cave Temple (Wat Tham Suea)
1,237 steps to the top, and it is genuinely brutal. Not a stroll with a view at the end — a hard, hot climb up steep uneven stairs.
I did climb all of them, and the view from the top is worth it. That's the honest verdict: it's hard, it's not optional if you want the view, and you should do it early before the heat.
Emerald Pool and Blue Pool — know which is which
These get written up as one place constantly and they are two different pools on the same jungle trail, with one important difference:
- The Emerald Pool (Sa Morakot) is the one you can swim in. It's a natural warm spring — the water really is warm, which is a strange thing to feel in that heat and is half the reason it's memorable.
- The Blue Pool is the vivid turquoise one further along the trail, and you cannot swim in it. It's a look-at-it pool.
So: walk to both, swim in the Emerald Pool.
Day 6: Fly to Bangkok
Short domestic flight, and the evening on Khao San Road — backpacker central, street food, bars, and worth seeing once for what it is.
Day 7: Grand Palace, Wat Arun and the river
The one full Bangkok day, and it holds everything you need.
The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew in the morning. Dress code is enforced — shoulders and knees covered, no exceptions, and they will turn you away.
Wat Arun is straight across the river and the better of the two to look at, especially from the far bank in the late afternoon.
Finish with a night cruise on the Chao Phraya. It's touristy and it's still the right way to end the trip — Wat Arun lit up from the water is the best Bangkok looks.
Day 8: Departure
Fly home from Suvarnabhumi. If you land on a weekend and have the morning free, Chatuchak Weekend Market is the one thing worth squeezing in.
What I'd change
Nothing about the route — I'd just want two more days, and I'd spend them going north to Chiang Mai. This itinerary is entirely southern Thailand: islands, limestone and one big city. The north is a different country in feel and it's the obvious gap.
Other than that:
- Phang Nga Bay over Phi Phi if you can only do one boat day.
- A day and a half is enough for Bangkok unless you specifically like city time. I don't, particularly.
- Don't over-invest in Phuket. It's the launch pad, not the destination.
Practical notes
- Book the boat trips in-country, a day ahead. Every street in Phuket sells them.
- Take the longtail over the speedboat if you get the choice.
- Temples: shoulders and knees covered, shoes off.
- Tuk-tuks and taxis — agree the fare first or insist on the meter.
- Do the hard things early. Tiger Cave Temple in the middle of the day would be miserable.