YES! THAILAND IS A FAMILY DESTINATION
Looking for an interesting destination where you can enjoy with your wife & kids? Thailand offers you everything to enjoy with your family. It has white sand beaches, lovely mountains, elephants, sparkling temples and bustling markets; there’s something for each age range. Travelling with family is always fun. It is important to holiday with your family and children to strengthen the love bond and to get us closer. I recently visited Bangkok and Phuket in Thailand and will talk about it only. In our group, we had India’s tech guru, Rajeev Makhani, his wife along with their two cute little kids. They were with us during all the sightseeing. This means if they can visit Thailand with their family, why can’t you? Thailand is beautiful and you have to make a visit to this “Land of smiles” with your family.
Here’s a list of family-friendly destinations in Thailand and all that you can do there with your children! Read on and do take notes.
DOLPHIN BAY PHUKET
I bet you can’t miss coming here with your kids. This is the one and only dolphinarium in Phuket!
It is an inimitable place where you can witness and even swim with dolphins. They are so amazing that your children will love you even more for getting them here.
The astounding dolphins and jet back seals will welcome you in their own affectionate way. The show begins with seals’ performances. They will come to hug you while taking a round of the amplifier. You may actually see how incredibly they play with each other and with their coaches. I recently visited Dolphin Bay Phuket. The way dolphins were porpoising, time and again my eyes were awestruck. They swam so benevolently, making the audiences go ga-ga with joy and delight. The sight was overwhelming and the kids around me kept clapping and got completely intoxicated in the environment.
Dolphins Bay also provides close dolphin encounter during the Royal Swim and Diving interactions.
You must come and see what all surprises await you at the amazing show “Phuket Meet Dolphins.”
PHUKET FANTASEA
It is a cultural theme park on the island of Phuket in Thailand and one of the most festooned parks I have ever witnessed in my life. I was stunned with excitement as I entered there. It is difficult to justify the beauty of this park in words. Phuket FantaSea park is an enormous site capable of accommodating any size group for daytime or evening events in an enchanting atmosphere of tropical splendour and rich cultural ambience of Thailand. One can see the beauty and magnetism of the ancient Thai culture in the plays enacted here.
The place has three prominent main attractions:
- A Thai cultural show performed inside a 3,000 seat theatre: It was a complete delight to see the show incorporating almost a dozen elephants; lion and many other animals and birds with innumerable colours.
- A wide spread buffet theme restaurant that seats 4,000 guests: The dining area was massive and undoubtedly the buffet spread was enormous with all your wish-list food served. Yes, the food was scrumptious!
- A shopping street: This street was colourful and bright. There were many shops selling marvellous toys for kids, cute little cartoon-shaped bags, some artefacts, etc.
Phuket FantaSea beholds the multitude of attractions which are not found anywhere in the world. You must make a visit to this park with your family, especially with your kids. The diverse shades and colours of lights, the splendid sounds of music, the changing sets and themes at the background in no time, will leave you to ask for more. Your children will bestow more love on you for showing them this magical park.
FantaSea Park turns imagination into creation to make your fantasy a living reality. If you visit Phuket and don’t make a visit here, your trip is incomplete.
VANICH FARM
It is a farm which is designed to reveal the actual environment, planting process and growing stages of sweet corn farming. We went for a show-round of the farm in a golf cart. There were many things showcased to us. We tasted the mint grown there, which was sweet in taste; sweet corns were so sweet that we ate them raw. The beauty of this huge garden covering approximately 45 rais or 72,000 sq.km. of land was picturesque. The raising yellow sweet corn and its lush green leaves, amongst colourful seasonal flowers and weaving sun hemps, are just a few experiences to be impressed.
The farm offers agro-tourism activities with a guided tour showing all facilities, including the production of corn milk, green corn field, rice paddy field, and various flower plots. I jumped into the wet mushy land, entangled myself with the buffalo and ploughed the land. Well, it is not easy but it was a good experience. Our team members even enjoyed sitting on the buffaloes and took pictures.
Your family can try this too or there are outdoor learning experiences such as “pick your own corn” and “harvest your own vegetables” which is a true experience of “Farm to Table”
Besides everything, Vanich Farm also has an organic garden to take care of your hunger pranks and feed you at their restaurant.
BEAUTIFUL BEACHES OF THAILAND
There are many beaches in Thailand. Since I visited Phuket, I will talk about my beach experience here.
Phuket is a huge island with a wide selection of beaches to suit every flavour. Most of the beaches are located on the west coast of the island. If you want to spend some peaceful moments with your family then opt for beaches towards the island’s north-western coastline. If you want to party with your family and stay in a place full of hustle-bustle then opt to stay in Patong, Karon and Kata. The greatest concentration of hotels, shops and restaurants are located here.
Hotel Movenpick, where I stayed for three days, was at Karon Beach. It was amazing to be residing right on the beach. I went to the Karon beach to explore the early morning beauty of the white sand and clear water. I adored the experience of waves crashing on my feet. The view was completely different and more enchanting during the evening hours when the golden red sun was setting calmly and the rays of various hues of red and orange could be seen in the clear sky. There were many kids playing on the beach. Some were making houses with the sand, while some were enjoying the dip in the beach. There were families and couples who were adventurous and indulged in water sports like Parasailing, Jet Boats and Speed Boats, etc.
SIAM PARK
It is a recreation park spread in a gigantic area of 300 rais for locals as well as for foreign tourists coming from around the world to relax and enjoy. This amusement park has a massive variety of countless gratifying rides and an incredible water park to soak you in water with the world’s largest artificial beach. The Guinness World Records has renamed it as “Siam Park Bangkok” to reflect its international image. Siam Park is divided into many zones like the x zone, water park, family world, fantasy world, small world, etc. You can get wet with your kids in the water pool and other water slides.
If you want to explore the park you can enjoy the gigantic fun rides or check out the adventure corners like the Jurassic adventure, etc. It also promises you a 360-degree view from high up when you step into the Siam tower.
PHUKET BIRD PARK
Phuket Bird Park is the only privately owned bird park on the Island spread on 12 acres of land. This park is so vibrant & dazzling with over thousand birds of more than 100 amazing bird species from Asia, Africa and South America. There are many birds here, to name a few we saw brilliantly coloured and mischievous macaws, gorgeous hornbills, dignified eagles and pretty big eye owls. The bird show is outstanding as they perform in front of your eyes. These colourful & pretty birds will even paddle a cute little cycle made for them. You can see children enjoying & going fanatic during the show. One of our team members’ even fed the birds.
These birds are taken good care by the park as they are nestled closest to their natural habitats where there is a beautiful lush green grand garden with a natural waterfall. They will entertain you as well as helping you learn more about birds like no other places you have seen. This will make a perfect day for you and your family.
ISLAND HOPPING
There are innumerable islands in Thailand. You can go island hopping. When I was in Thailand, we went to Phuket. Next day, we went for a day excursion to Racha Island. We boarded a speedboat and enjoyed the natural beauty around us. It takes about an hour to reach this Island. Racha Island is best known as excellent diving and snorkelling destination. The water there was crystal clear and ideal with minimal habitation. I dived into the water and absolutely loved snorkelling here. Even, Rajeev Makhni’s kids enjoyed snorkelling as it is safe for even small kids. We got a chance to view the untouched marine life of this beautiful island as we saw schools of multicoloured fishes.
It was lovely being there. I carried some amazing memories with me back to India. Hope you enjoyed reading the article. Now, pack your bags & visit Thailand with your family.
I will also be sharing videos on them soon in my next blog.
P.S.: The trip was sponsored by Tourism Authority of Thailand.
Picture Credit- Some pictures of Phuket FantaSea are taken from them as taking the camera is not allowed.