Thailand

Northern Thailand

February 2010 • For better or worse (emphasis on the latter), I followed the tourist trail from Bangkok to Chiang Mai in the north, stopping along the way in Ayutthaya, Lopburi, Phitsanulok, Sukhothai, and Lampang. Outposts of KFC and 7-11 were in abundance, yet I did sometimes manage to find traces of a unique cultural heritage, much of it fenced off in tidy, multiple-ticket historical parks. Thailand is a good example of what happens to a country when it's a cheap tourist hot spot for 20 years. Don't let it happen to you, Myanmar.

close