Thai Intro 12 Day: The Best Way to See Thailand in 12 Days

Welcome back to my latest trip report! For my 2025 trip, I decided to switch things up and travel to Thailand at the end of November and into December. I always knew I wanted to go back to Thailand and this time I chose ‘Thai Intro 12 Day’ with INTRO Travel because the itinerary stood out, it looked well-balanced with culture immersion without sacrificing nightlife or comfort.

This time I wanted to see more of Thailand and explore Bangkok, Khao Sok National Park and Ko Pha Ngan. A big part of my choosing this tour was that I wanted to experience the Full Moon Party without the stress of planning logistics on my own.

Come with me and check out my Thai Intro 12 Day Review — and why it ended up being one of the best group tours I’ve ever booked.

Who is INTRO Travel?

Founded in 2005, this Australian company specializes in group adventures for 18- to 49-year-olds. INTRO Travel’s ethos is Real experiences – Real connections – Real travel.

One thing they offer on all their tours is ‘end-to-end’ support. They will take the time to help you with your onward travel when the tour is over…just another step into a stress-free vacation.

With thousands of reviews averaging a 4.8 out of 5 stars, I can see why they earned a solid reputation. They currently have 51 tours so you can find anything that fits your flavor.

Thai Intro 12-Day Overview:

Accommodations: INTRO Travel did an excellent job with the accommodations for all 12 days. Probably the best was the floating bungalows in Khao Sok National Park…just incredible! I must mention Sarana Bungalows in Ko Pha Ngan…just fantastic! These weren’t budget crash pads, they were places I was genuinely excited to come back to each night.

Food: Included on this Thai Intro 12 Day tour was 2 breakfasts, 4 lunches and 3 dinners. Since food is insanely cheap in Thailand, I took full advantage of the cheap street food, especially in Bangkok. I was able to get chicken and pork skewers for as little as 10 BHT.

Group Size: We were a full group of 20 travelers. Big enough to be social, small enough that the guide actually knew everyone’s name.

Guide: Special shoutout to “TK” she’s a young Thai local from Chiang Mai who now works for INTRO Travel. I’ve done many tours and experienced many guides, but TK is probably one of the best I’ve had. She handled everything behind the scenes, making the entire Thai Intro 12 Day feel effortless.

Transportation: All the transport was covered by INTRO Travel throughout the Thai Intro 12 Day, which included the overnight train, minibus, tuk-tuk, and ferries, which alone saved hours of planning and stress.

Optional Activities: There were no surprise upsells. What you see in the Thai Intro 12 Day itinerary is exactly what you get.

INTRO Travel – Thai Intro 12 Day Itinerary & Review:

Day 1: Was a simple meet and greet, and went to a Thai restaurant for dinner and drinks. There’s one thing I want to thank INTRO Travel and that is the accommodation on Rambuttri Rd (Rambuttri Village Hotel). It’s a popular yet quieter street in Bangkok that runs parallel to Khaosan Road.

After dinner, TK suggested heading to the rooftop bar at Baiyoke Tower. This I skipped for two reasons: I already visited Baiyoke Tower the day prior, and it wasn’t worth it (for me at least) to go to the rooftop bar.

I decided to take a stroll on Rambuttri Rd. and soak in what the night had to offer.

Day 2: We visited two temples, with the first being Wat Chana Songkhram, which was right next to Rambuttri Road and a short walk from our hotel. This old monastery was built before 1782 and is a must-visit for anyone interested in Bangkok’s history and architecture.

We took part of a ceremony (I forget the name of it) and we all received a blessing from a monk.

We then headed to the pier to catch the river cruise. The river cruise was cool, and we got to experience Bangkok from the river and TK started with a game of how many komodo dragons we spot along the way The winner got a free beer. There were a couple of sellers on boats that pulled up along side to sell refreshments and snacks.

After the cruise, we headed to the 2^nd temple – Wat Pho. This is home to Bangkok’s oldest and largest temple complex with its iconic Reclining Buddha. To give you an idea, the Reclining Buddha is 150 feet or 46 meters long. It’s truly impressive to see upfront. In addition, the complex houses the largest collection of Buddha images in Thailand.

Since I was with the tour, the admission (300 BHT) was already included. The only knock was the crowds. I was definitely hit with the expectation vs. reality meme in my head.

Hot Tip: Go early to avoid the massive crowds and heat!

It was time for us to leave Wat Pho for our afternoon lunch, taking a tuk tuk to Myth Bangkok Street Food, a small Thai restaurant with probably the best Pad Thai I had (now that I look back on it). For the evening, they had planned dinner at an Indian restaurant but I skipped it and decided to have dinner at Madame Musur right on Soi Rambuttri. It was extremely convenient because there were so many things to do on Rambuttri and my hotel was right there. At the same time, I was able to avoid the madness that is Khao San Road.

After dinner, we headed to Kim Bar on Khaosan Road for a night of music and Thai buckets. Nighttime was mayhem with loads of foot traffic and loud music coming from every bar. Imagine for a second the whole street was a dance club…that’s Khao San Road. It was fun, but it could be overwhelming for some.

Day 3: We got our chance to try cooking some Thai cuisine at May Kai Dee Cooking School. I have to admit this wasn’t an activity I was really looking forward but I’m glad I showed up and did it! The assignment was to make 3 dishes among 5 groups.

1. Our first dish was a tofu + vegetable Pad Thai…I admit my group did great.
2. The second was Tom Kha Soup with a coconut milk base…delicious!
3. The final dish was Massaman Curry; this dish was for bragging rights as we were competing to see which group made the best. We didn’t win but the dish was excellent in my opinion.

Two women were helping us along the way, and they had fun with us singing the “Sap Sap Sap” song and of course, we all joined in. The word ‘Sap’ means delicious, spicy, or tasty in Thai.

Before leaving the class, I made sure to take the free recipe book they handed out. I headed back to the hotel with three others for a free afternoon and checked out Khao San Road during the day…much better and quieter. Some of us did some shopping and walked out of there with some souvenirs. The afternoon was a lot more chill, with us just hanging out and walking around.

That evening, we all took the minibus to the railway station to catch the overnight train to Khao Sok National Park.

The train station was incredible; they had full bathroom facilities (showers) and a full-size food court. Incredibly enough, the food was CHEAP. I was expecting overpriced food because it’s a train station…not at all. Most of us grabbed some snacks before the trip.

Day 4: Khao Sok National Park ranks as one of the highlights! The floating bungalows were incredible…my first time staying at an accommodation like that. After checking in, I spent the afternoon kayaking and swimming.

Before sunset, we took a longtail boat for an evening cruise around Khao Sok National Park.

In the evening, most of us spent the time sitting in front of the bungalows with beer in hand, stargazing and chatting amongst each other. Honestly it was a great way to spend the night…good vibes all around.

Day 5: In the morning we left Khao Sok to catch the ferry ride back to the mainland and headed to the ferry station, Thong Sala Pier in Donsak. I can’t exaggerate, we were really excited to get to Ko Pha Ngan. We finally arrived in Ko Pha Ngan at about 2:30 pm.

Most of us took full advantage of Baan Tai Beach right in front of the Sarana Bungalows and the pool. The afternoon and evening were more chill since the next day was the Full Moon Party, so we didn’t want to go too hard.

Day 6: The day of the Full Moon Party! I must confess a huge reason why I booked this trip was to experience the Full Moon Party…what can I say, I want to have a great time!

That morning, we had a complimentary Thai massage (INTRO Travel set this up) and it was exactly what I needed. If you’ve never had a Thai massage, I highly recommend it. I felt like a new man when it was over.

The rest of the morning and afternoon was free to ourselves, allowing us to recharge our batteries for the big night. I didn’t do much; I took a stroll up the road just to see what was near us.

At 7 pm, the pre-party started at Sarana bar with 2 for one drinks, which lasted for about two hours and the group took an air-conditioned shuttle to Haad Rin.

Since one of the members of the royal family died in November, the Full Moon Party was canceled making December 5^th 2025, the date for every partier to come out. There were probably about 20,000 people all over the beach.

Before entering the party zone, we each had to pay 200 BHT, which went toward beach clean-up.

INTRO Travel got the group VIP entry into Drop In Bar which was very cool. Since 1989 this beachfront bar & restaurant is one of the leading Full Moon Party venues and they had it all. Thai buckets, fire shows, DJ’s and great music…what more could I ask for?

I broke away from the group and walked the alleyways a bit, scoring some buckets for just 150 BHT. I was tipsy when I arrived, and these buckets were just adding fuel to the fire.

I can’t lie, I tapped out by 2:30 am – I was too drunk with the bouncers helping me up and down the stairs, that was my tipping point to head back to Sarana.

Day 7: Island Trip or ‘Sababa Trip.’ Going in, I already knew that there’s more to Ko Pha Ngan than just the epic parties. We visited 2 beaches and 3 viewpoints, left at 11 am and got back at 6 pm for the evening BBQ.

• Secret Beach was our first stop on this trip. It’s a nice beach with some nice spots to sun bath snorkel or swim. We stopped at Koh Raham Restaurant Beach & Bar for drinks.
• Viewpoint #1 (I forget the name) here we had lunch which was very good and generous portions. Other than that the viewpoint wasn’t that special.
• Koh Ma Beach is known for the sandbar that acts a walkway to another beach. Problem was it was hightide so it looked a little difficult to walk. I will say this beach was a little better than Secret Beach.
• Last stop was the Apichada Viewpoint for drinks and sunset. We all loved this place! The views here were the best and the atmosphere was just incredible. Seriously this viewpoint was so much better than the earlier one and with Apichada there was an awesome deck you could hang your legs off from and vibe to the music the DJ was playing.

I can’t stress how great Apichada View Point is. If you ever visit Ko Pha Ngan this is a must visit!

We learned a couple of days later that ‘Dave The Dog’ passed away 😢

Day 8: The group went to the free Muay Thai boxing class at around 10:30 am, I decided to do my own excursion and hike the Bottle Beach Viewpoint (far north of the island). Since this wasn’t part of the itinerary, this was an activity I had to do on my own. The Sarana Bungalows is on the southern coast of the island, so I needed ground transport to get there.

The problem was that the Grab app doesn’t work on the island, so my options were limited to just two:

1. Rent a scooter. The only problem is that I never ridden a scooter before. I kept noticing tourists with full arm & leg bandages covering up road rash. Why risk it and wind up being that guy?
2. Sarana offered a private bus with drop-off and pickup to and from. This was extra; no one else wanted to do this, so I went for it and paid ‘Mac’, a bus driver at Sarana 2200 BHT ($69 USD) to drive me right to the viewpoint entrance.

Mac was great! He drove me right to the viewpoint entrance and said I could take my time. I have to say the hike to the viewpoint is about 20 minutes…the terrain was treacherous!

I kid you not, there was a simple path for you to follow, but you’re hiking through the jungle. The ground was uneven, and you had to maneuver around rocks and other obstacles. The only relief I found was that the jungle canopy shielded me from the harsh sun.

I finally reached the viewpoint and it was amazing! If I thought the hike to the viewpoint was sketchy, then the actual viewpoint itself was downright scary. I wasn’t the only one there, I think I saw about a dozen people walking the rocks to get that perfect pic…so was I 😊

I took my time there at least 40 minutes, enjoying the views. I’m not too crazy about heights but I powered through it and walked to the very end.

This was probably my 3^rd highlight of the trip…I loved doing this solo excursion and it was worth every penny.

Hot Tip: It’s best to do the Bottle Beach Viewpoint in the morning. You avoid the crowds and you’ll have this picturesque spot mostly to yourself.

At this point, I was thinking my day trip was over but Mac offered to drive me to Than Sadet National Park since it was on the way back. It was there that I got to visit the Phu Daeng waterfalls for just 100 BHT.

It was great because there were hardly any tourists…there was a handful and me…perfect!

Mac also suggested I visit the King Rama V Monument. This site commemorates the King’s visit to the island in 1888. From my understanding, this site is extremely important to the locals and revered.

There you have it – I got to visit three sites on a solo excursion for $69 USD in 4.5 hours….was it worth it? YES!

This point marked our last evening on the island, so we had to pay our tab at Sanara bungalows. We then went out for dinner at Sand and Bar Restaurant, which sits right on the beach with excellent views. After dinner, we walked out onto the beach for drinks at Emma Bar with a fire show right in front.

Day 9: Was our longest travel day, we left Ko Pha Ngan for Phi Phi Islands. Ready at 7:00 am for a short bus ride to pier. 2-hour ferry ride back to the mainland, then 2-hour bus ride to catch another ferry from Krabi to Phi Phi island. 1 hour ride to the hotel.

Arrived at 5:30 pm for nighttime dinner at Dow Restaurant plus fire show on the beach in front of the Sea Gypsy. Can’t remember too much what we did afterward but I’m sure it involved alcohol.

Day 10: Was supposed to be a great day on activities with snorkeling, a visit to Maya Bay, and an evening boat ride to see the bioluminescent plankton. I decided to get some food before the trip and decided on mango sticky rice.

Only problem was I got food poisoning! Yep, I missed the whole day. I didn’t get to snorkel, see Maya Bay, or the bioluminescent plankton.

Kid you not, I was pissed! What could I do – it was coming out for both ends.

I literally just laid in my hotel bedroom and drank water with electrolytes, just a total waste of a day. Luckily Imodium A-D came to the rescue.

Day 11: Luckily, I was well enough to enjoy the Phi Phi Sunrise at viewpoint #2. About 9 of us made it for this hike and it was incredible. To enter the viewpoint, it cost 50 BHT ($1.60 USD). We were pretty much the only people there. We hung out at the viewpoint for some time…enjoying the sunrise, scenery and taking pics.

Hot Tip: If you want to enjoy the Phi Phi Viewpoint #1 or #2 then go early in the morning to avoid the crowds.  

We headed back to the hotel to get ready for the afternoon speed boat tour, hitting up three beaches:

• Monkey Beach – was a bit of a spectacle as we’re trying to get photos of these monkeys and doing our best not to agitate them and get bit.
• Lunch on Lana Beach – relaxed on the beach with a fresh coconut.
• Mui Beach time for us to enjoy some snorkeling – very nice being in the water and getting to snorkel for a while.

We spent the day just enjoying ourselves at the beach, relaxing as much as possible.

After dinner at Acqua Restaurant (great food btw) we headed to explore some of the nightlife and went to Kongsia Live Bar for Thai buckets and karaoke…4 of us decided to join in and grab the mic 😂

By midnight, I already tapped out while the rest of the group headed to a Phi Phi staple, Backpacker Bar, they offer 2 buckets for a mere 300 BHT. I was here back in 2017 and I don’t remember much since I was shitfaced 🤣🤣

Day 12: My last day is where INTRO Travel impressed me. I needed some assistance to leave Phi Phi and head to Phuket to catch my evening flight. The night before TK helped me with that in getting the ferry ticket + private taxi service to the airport. She took the guesswork from my hands and walked me through it.

The total cost was about 1600 BHT ($50 USD), which I happily paid, making the final portion of my trip stress-free.

On top of that, I was allowed to join the rest of the group for the afternoon in Phuket for one final lunch with “G” a really cool dude from Germany.

After my last lunch in Thailand, I walked back to the hotel and grabbed my taxi ride to the airport. I need to give a shout out to my driver…the evening traffic was awful but he took every possible shortcut to make sure I caught my flight on time (70-minute taxi ride).

Final Thoughts on Thai Intro 12 Day with INTRO Travel:

Of all the tour companies I’ve traveled with, INTRO Travel is probably the best so far. The Thai Intro 12 Day completely exceeded my expectations. I assumed it would lean heavily toward partying with average accommodations but instead, it delivered an incredible balance of culture, adventure, comfort, and nightlife.

If you want to experience Thailand without feeling rushed, overwhelmed, or stuck planning every detail, Thai Intro 12 Day is hard to beat.

Should You Book Thai Intro 12 Day?

Yes, if…

• You want to experience Thailand without planning every detail yourself
• You want a social group without it feeling like a chaotic party tour
• You want all the transportation handled for you
• You want great accommodations without paying luxury prices
• You want iconic experiences like the Full Moon Party done the right way
• You want serious value for a 12-day Thailand itinerary

👉 If I were booking my 2^nd Thailand trip all over again, I’d choose Thai Intro 12 Day without hesitation!

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