May is the last month of summer and the beginning of the rainy season, which starts from mid-May. Among the six regions of Thailand, the Southern region has the highest rainfall. The most popular types of tourism in May are ecotourism and cultural tourism. Let’s explore the amazing nature and charming tradition of this month.
Let’s end this summer with a trip to the Satun Geopark Museum in Satun province, a place with abundant natural resources that has been approved as the first UNESCO Global Geopark in Thailand. At the Satun Geopark Museum, there’s a wide range of activities for you to participate: rafting, diving, caving, or recreational excursions to a waterfall and a beach. There’s also a place where you can buy souvenirs and community products and experience the local culture. Another interesting activity is the Fruit Buffet Festival that will be held every year. Many of the fruit orchards are open to visitors. This event has become one of the most popular attractions for both Thai and foreign tourists who love fruit. You can enjoy the Fruit Buffet at the following orchards that we recommend. Starting with Rayong province, the first one is Suan Lamai, an orchard that offers not only a seasonal fruit buffet, but also a coffee shop and natural pet-friendly camp. The second is Suphattra Land where you can also buy OTOP products, especially our recommended durian cake. The third one is Suan Lung Thongbai, a famous orchard of which one of its signature menus is homemade durian ice cream. Next is Chanthaburi that has KP Garden. If you visit KP Garden, don’t forget to try the famous Stir-Fried Rice Noodles with Crab Meat and enjoy cycling activities and free goat feeding.
Last but not least, let’s go to Suan Durian Land in Chanthaburi, in addition to the buffet of fresh fruits, there is cozy accommodation with a mountain view, a coffee shop, and an area for adventure activities, which is perfect for a colourful trip. After filling our stomach, we continue our trip to Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi, where we can be among thousands of butterflies in a cozy atmosphere because it’s during the butterfly watching season. If anyone wants to see butterflies while camping, May is the perfect month to begin your trip because there will be the largest butterfly migration. Sometimes the number of butterflies that migrates can be over a 100,000 with more than 200 species. After this period, the number of butterflies will start to decrease. You can also see the sea of mist at Khao Phanoen Thung in Kaeng Krachan National Park.
Let’s bid farewell to this summer in Nakhon Si Thammarat by getting on a boat and setting out to see pink dolphins at Laem Prathap and Kwang Pao Bay. These spots are the habitat of more than 50 pink dolphins. Visitors can travel by boat to see them closely. However, we don’t recommend buying fish food or fish from the shore because it may cause the dolphins to change their eating habits. After a long trip, let’s relax at our last stop: the Rajjaprabha Dam in Khao Sok district, Surat Thani province, or widely known as the Guilin of Thailand. The Dam is located in the area of Khao Sok National Park. Thanks to its natural abundance, this place has a very beautiful atmosphere like heaven on Earth, especially at this time of the year. The weather is also great because it’s the end of summer and the beginning of the rainy season.
After the temperature gets lower and the scent of rain can be smelled, it’s the beginning of the Bun Bang Fai Festival in the Isan region. The Rocket Festival in Yasothon province will be held annually on the second weekend of May. The highlight of the Festival in Yasothon is the spectacular shows of parades and cheering teams one day before the Festival begins and the amazing traditional fireball parades and also traditional Isan Soeng dance from 9 districts of Yasothon on the Festival day. Kalasin province has this tradition as well. It’s called the Pinwheel or Bang Talai Rocket. The Talai Rocket Launching Festival is held on the third weekend of May of every year.
