Destination: Jesada Technik Museum — hundreds of cars you’ve probably never seen before (Nakhon…

Old cars don’t die, though some get sent to the junkyard for recycling. At the Jesada Technik Museum (เจษฎาเทคนิคมิวเซียม), the recycling center will have to wait — we’re having too much fun enjoying them. Opened by Mr. Jesada Deshsakulrith in 2004, the two...

Destination: Batcat Museum — the biggest collection of Batman stuff in Thailand (Bangkok)

  Batman, anyone? Easily the biggest collection of memorabilia and items of its kind, the Batcat Museum has tens of thousands of items on display, almost all of which fall under the fantasy / animation genre. How many masks can you identify? The name on the...

Destination: Ko Kret — a mainstream touristy daytrip with… deep-fried flowers? (central Thailand)

Hailed as a rural escape from urban Bangkok, Ko Kret (Koh Kret) is what happens when a backwoods area becomes touristified. It’s a perfect daytrip from Bangkok, particularly when it’s not too hot — just be ready to work through some crowds to find the island’s truly...

Destination: the Museum of Counterfeit Goods — where telling real from fake is a LOT harder than you think (Bangkok, Thailand)

You’d think a museum built by lawyers would be as dull or dreary as the paperwork. Complete with 4,000 exhibits (only a fraction of which are on display at any given time), the Tilleke and Gibbins Museum of Counterfeit Goods offers up a surprisingly broad view of the...

Destination: Puek Tian Beach — a naked ascetic, a dragon ridden like a horse, and a six-meter-tall she-demon (Phetchaburi, Thailand)

Yep, these are some colorful characters here — and proof that stories can live on well past the author’s lifetime. It turns out all three of the personalities mentioned in the title are characters in one of Thailand’s most famous poems. Meet Phra Sunthorn Vohara...

Destination: Amulet Market — the accidental tourist destination? (Bangkok)

It’s not that I eschew the mainstream tourist destinations — seeing the same buildings as millions before me just lacks interest. The Grand Palace? I may get there someday. Temples that require an admission fee? When there are thousands across the country that don’t?...

Destination: Thip Samai — where Bangkok first tasted Pad Thai (Thailand)

It’s fairly rare for us to plan a specific restaurant when we travel. That’s partially because we’re not always sure what side of town we’ll be on, what will be nearby the hotel, and so on. The places most commonly referenced in magazines and newspapers (e.g. the ones...

Destination: Chacheongsao – a World Sand Sculpture park and a temple known for its bats (Chachoengsao, Thailand)

Sometimes you go to a place without knowing exactly what to expect. I’ll thank outdated news stories and bad directions / maps that required more wandering around than necessary — ironically, it’s these stories that made the trip possible. We needed four different...

Destination: Museum of Siam and the Body Project — a normal enough museum with an oddball exhibit…

It’s fairly rare for me to be surprised by a mainstream place well on the tourist trail. We were mainly interested in the special exhibition (talked about shortly), but instead decided to start with the museum. A quick note: the museum is great for kids! The beauty...

Destination: The Sanctuary of Truth — an exquisitely carved wood building that redefines irony (Pattaya, Thailand)

This one picture should say it all — ‘The Sanctuary of Truth’ comes complete with ATV’s and a shooting gallery: That the Sanctuary was still a few hundred meters away was no consolation — paying the admission fee to the Sanctuary itself doesn’t mean you get to skip...