As the end of 2023 hurtles towards me, I am frantically typing up the 13th edition of my annual specialty coffee and food awards, in which I share my favourite coffee shops, eateries, bars and individual dishes from among those I visited for the first time in 2023 — in London and on my travels around the world.
The last major stop on my Thailand trip was on the island of Ko Lanta (technically Ko Lanta Yai, and also spelled Koh Lanta), located in the Andaman Sea off the southwestern shores of the Thai mainland near Krabi. I thought long and hard about which island (or islands) to base myself on and decided that Ko Lanta would be the best for me in terms of weather (for early December), beaches, things to do, nightlife (lack of it in my case!) and easy access to the mainland and other beautiful islands.
From Bangkok, I took a short flight to Chiang Mai and spent four full days exploring the former capital of the Lanna kingdom and the nearby area. With a wider urban population of close to 1.2 million, Chiang Mai is the largest city in northern Thailand but the Old City and central area are relatively compact and it's easy to get around on foot or by hopping into a songthaew (shared van) or tuk tuk.
After Bangkok, my next step was Chiang Mai, the largest city in northern Thailand. Chiang Mai province and its neighbour, Chiang Rai, are also some of Thailand's biggest Arabica coffee growing regions so I was looking forward to enjoying even more Thai-grown coffee than in Bangkok.
The city also has a very well established specialty coffee scene and I knew I wouldn't have much need for my Aeropress while I was in town. During my stay, I visited excellent eight coffee shops — some of which were already on my list, others I spotted during my wanderings — but I spotted many more that I'd have loved to have visited if I had more time.
During my two-week stay in Thailand I spent four full days in the capital, Bangkok: three at the start of my trip and one Friday night and Saturday at the end. Bangkok is a large, sprawling city with so many things to do and places to eat, drink and shop. This trip was an introduction to the city for me rather than a completion but I covered a lot of ground, visited the main sightseeing spots on my list, ate many delicious meals from 50 THB (£1.10) street food dishes to rather more than 50 THB tasting menus, shopped, wandered and visited nine specialty coffee shops.
My main holiday this year was a very long-awaited trip to Thailand. I spent two wonderful weeks in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and the Andaman Islands and I'll be blogging about each of these destinations over the next few weeks. First up is my specialty coffee guide to Bangkok, a city that has some seriously impressive — and beautiful — coffee spots.
