Thailand
The north is a different country from the islands, and the better one.
Skip the full-moon circuit. The north — Chiang Mai and the hills around it — is where the food, the craft and the pace are.
Places in Thailand
Ayutthaya
Thailand's former capital, its temple ruins now shared with canal-side noodle stalls and quiet guesthouses.
Bangkok
A capital of malls and motorways that still runs, alley by alley, on kitchens barely changed since the 1970s.
Chiang Mai
A walled old town ringed by villages that are still villages.
Pai
A small mountain town in Mae Hong Son that slows down on its own terms.
Phuket
Past the beach resorts, Phuket's Old Town is Sino-Portuguese shophouses and coffee since before the tourists came.
Logged in Thailand
Ayutthaya Antique House
Ayutthaya, ThailandA restored teak homestay in a quiet Ayutthaya garden, a short walk from the riverside temple ruins.
Baan Nok craft hamlet
Chiang Mai, ThailandCeramicists, one coffee cart, and a pond. Ten minutes off the loop and nobody follows.
Custard Nakamura
Bangkok, ThailandA tiny Japanese bakery in a Sukhumvit alley making the same custard pudding buns since 1970.
Khao Soi Lung Prakit Kad Kom
Chiang Mai, ThailandA charcoal-fired khao soi shop in the old Kad Kom market, the bowl people credit with making Chiang Mai's khao soi famous.
Khao Soi Mae Sai
Chiang Mai, ThailandA decades-old khao soi shop near Chiang Mai's Chang Phueak neighbourhood, cheap and consistently packed with locals.
Kobe Tonteki Phrom Phong
Bangkok, ThailandA cash-only Japanese-Western hole-in-the-wall near Phrom Phong, known for sous-vide pork done impossibly tender.
Kopitiam by Wilai
Phuket, ThailandA heritage Sino-Portuguese coffee house on Phuket Old Town's Thalang Road, known for its old-town breakfast.
Pa Lek Boat Noodle
Ayutthaya, ThailandA third-generation boat-noodle stall by an old Ayutthaya canal, still running on the same rich pork broth.
Prik-Yuak
Bangkok, ThailandA no-frills Phaya Thai neighbourhood kitchen where locals queue for home-style Thai curries.
The House Cafe'
Pai, ThailandA laidback riverside coffee shop near Pai's walking street, more hammocks than menu boards.
WHYs Nimman Cafe & Restaurant
Chiang Mai, ThailandA green, plant-filled food hub in Nimman stringing several small cafés and kitchens around one courtyard.