Your Ultimate Guide to Krabi, Thailand

Since I started planning this trip, I wasn’t sure what other city I should do in Thailand besides Bangkok. Either it was going to be Phuket or Krabi. I had heard a lot of things about Phuket and had seen a lot of pictures about it but had never heard of Krabi. My coworker was just in Krabi and when he got back, he told me all about it. He advised me that I check out Krabi instead of Phuket. Since Phuket is so popular, there are a lot of tourists and on the other hand, Krabi is quite the opposite. It’s definitely starting to get become a tourist attraction but it’s still not quite there like Phuket. And since I was looking for a very low-key city after spending a few days in a busy city like Bangkok, Krabi sounded like a better idea. And I can assure you, it was.

• Dates in Krabi, Thailand
  • December 16th, 2019 – December 19th, 2019 (3 nights, 4 days, Monday – Thursday)
• Language: Thai
• Local Currency: Bhat (1USD = 31.23 Bhat)
  • Total Amount of money spent for 3 nights, 4 days (Including Hostel): $102.09 (3187.79 Bhat)
• Total money spent in Krabi, including my hostel and the elephant sanctuary: $211.17 (6577.95 Bhat)

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1. Airport: Krabi International Airport – KBV

I flew from Bangkok’s Don Mueang International Airport (DMK) to Krabi International Airport (KBV). If you’re flying one of the budget airlines like me, there is a high chance you will be flying from DMK rather than Bangkok’s main international airport Suvarnabhumi. I few Air Asia and for some weird reason, they upgraded me with more legroom, and I didn’t mind that at all. The flight was fully booked and I didn’t have any problem with my baggage. They allowed 1 carry-on and that’s all I had. So, I didn’t have to pay for the luggage like with other airlines. For the most part of the flight, I was writing my Journal so I didn’t even realize where the hour and 20 minutes went.

2. Public Transportation

There is absolutely no government public transportation. You will have to either rent a scooter or book transportation with other private companies. Plan accordingly.

You can be staying in multiple different places in Krabi but a few famous ones are Old Town, Ao Nang, or Railay Beach. I was staying in Ao Nang but if I were to recommend Krabi to someone, I would say, spend 2 days in Old city, 1 Day in Ao Nang and 1 day in Railay Beach area because it’s very hard to move around from area to area. Krabi doesn’t really have government-run public transportation. You can either get a scooter or be dependent on different companies that run bus service from one town to other. Once we got off at the Krabi airport, there is a white bus with big bold blue letters that’s always outside of the airport and provides the cheapest transport service (6 am – 6 pm). I don’t have a picture of the bus because I was never really planning on blogging about my travels but believe me, just look for a white bus with big bold blue writings. Unless they changed their colors. I stayed in the Ao Nang area, so it was 150 Bhat one way and then if I keep my receipt, then my return trip to the airport is 100 Bhat. They have an amazing online service portal to reserve it as well. I’ll post the picture of the receipt at the bottom and I’ll insert the link: Link

The ride from the airport to the hostel was really beautiful and scenic. GREAT VIEWS. Simon & Paul’s hostel was actually super close, like 2 min walk from where I was staying, and I sort of wish I had stayed at their hostel and mine. I’ll tell you in my hostel review below.

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3. Hostel – Slumber Party Hostel – 3 days

REVIEW: 6/10

If you can’t already tell from the name, I can tell you that it was an absolute party hostel. They have a bar on the hostel property that bumps loud music till late night, some local don’t like this place at all. I like partying and I go out a lot in Chicago as well, but it does not mean that I want to be out every day. They had loud music bumping every single day I was there even when there was no bar crawl going on. The staff also gets so carried away by the whole partying scene that they sometimes forget that it’s a hostel.

I was put in a room with 8 capsule/pods bed with outlets, lights, and all the other normal things that every hostel room would have. Here is the twist though, they added 2 traditional bunk beds in the same room, making it a 12-bed room and those two added 4 beds did not have outlets to charge our phone at night. I had to leave my phone in the room at the common outlets. It also didn’t have reading lights. In order for me to do anything later at night, I would have to turn on the main light and disturb everyone sleeping in the room. Now, you might say, use your phone’s flashlight but when there is no outlet and your phone is charging at a common outlet somewhere in the room, you can’t use your phone. No privacy curtains on the beds either. Just simply out and open. One of the other rooms also had a bed bugs problem so they had to switch all of those people to a nearby hostel because one of the girls that were sleeping there got bit by it. One of the days I was staying there, the bartender was taking song requests and I asked him to put a song and he asked to buy a shot first and then he’ll put the song on.

Pros:

Hostel has good daily events that you can pay for and do. Good ways to make friends

• They have pub crawl every Monday & Wednesday for 499 Bhat
• They have an all-day island tour for 849 Bhat
• They also had a 6-hour kayak tour for 599 Bhat
• Temples tour for about 599 Bhat, I think.

Cons:

• Not good management
• Staff get really carried away by the party scene
• Bed Bugs
• No outlets or reading lights in some of the rooms

You can book your stay here: Link

• I booked: Zen – 12 Bed Mixed Dorm
• Paid about 1350 Bhat ($43.34) in total for 3 nights.

If you wish to skip the whole party scene or only do it once or twice, I would recommend staying at K-bunk: Link

4. Itinerary

Day 1

I met two guys at the airport that were going to Krabi too and guess what? They were staying at the same hostel I was in Bangkok. Once Again Hostel. I saw them a few times in the common area downstairs at the hostel but never really interacted with them but when I saw them at the airport, I took my chance and talked to them and we ended up hanging out all three days I was there. Simon and Paul were both from Hamburg, Germany. They were on a long gap year after high school and were traveling for a year. How crazy is that? And the most amazing thing is that they’re only 18 & 19 years old. Man, if I had fallen in love with traveling a bit earlier, I wonder where I would be right now. I’ve done 16 countries up till now but if I started traveling a bit earlier, I would be at 30 probably but it’s better late than never and I’m still 22 so it’s not late at all. I consider myself very privileged and lucky to be able to travel this much at such early in my life. They both worked full time, saved up money and now they’re traveling the world. That is sick and I only wished that I had done that earlier. I did the pub crawl on Monday when I landed there, I invited Simon & Paul to join and they had some great fun as well.

Day 1 Expenses

• Hostel: 1350 Bhat ($43.34)

• Bus to the hostel 150 Bhat ($4.82)
• Dinner: 200 Bhat ($6.42)
• Pub Crawl: 499 Bhat ($16.02)

DAY 2

I woke up around 9 am, got ready, and met up with Simon to go see a temple nearby. This temple wasn’t quite done yet so there was some construction still going on but regardless, we climbed up to the top and sat there for 3 hours just talking about life until we got hungry. While we were up at the top, you would see all of Krabi, beautiful scenery. Once we got hungry, we got down and started walking towards our hostel to find something to eat.

• Side note: If you stay in Ao Nang, it’s a very popping area. The whole strip has some great restaurants, cheap Thai food, massage places, souvenir shops, bars, nightclubs and the street lead to the Ao Nang beach.

Back to the food… We came across this good lowkey locally owned Thai restaurant/food stall. We both ordered green curry w/ steamed rice with a drink for ONLY 130 Bhat. That’s beyond CHEAP. I’m also really glad I ran into this place because back in Chicago, I always get a green curry sauce stir fry every time I got to a Thai restaurant. Glad I got to try it in Thailand. Post food, I went to the AoNang Elephant Sanctuary and It was about 7 pm when I had returned, took a shower, and met up with Simon and Paul for some dinner. We were craving some American/Italian food since we had been eating Asian food ever since we started our journey. We went to a pizza place and got a margarita pizza which was good but super expensive as it was a foreign restaurant in Thailand. Paul went to sleep after dinner, Simon and I went for a walk to check out the souvenirs shops and just walked around for a bit, I also attended my 9 PM work call.

Day 2 Expenses

• Lunch: 130 Bhat ($4.17)
• Elephant Sanctuary: 2500 Bhat ($80.25)
• Dinner at a fancy place: 700 Bhat ($22.47)

Day 3

My last day in Krabi was relaxing. Woke up, got ready, grabbed a Thai Ice coffee and some Thai pancakes with Simon and Paul, and then we headed down to AoNang Beach to relax until noon and then I headed back to the hostel to go that kayak tour I had booked with them. To be honest, though, I wanted to just relax on the beach and take one of those long-tail boats to Railay Beach, but I had already booked it so oh well. But after I got back, I sort of appreciated it, it wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t the worst either. Made some good friends, met someone that works at the same company I do but at a location in Europe and lastly, since Ao Nang beach was on the way to the hostel, they agreed to drop me off at the beach since I was meeting up with Paul and Simon to go to the Railay beach anyway. We took one of those long tail boats to the beach, it’s usually 200 Bhat for a round trip but if you want to come back after 6 PM from Railay beach, then it’s 50 Bhat extra, which we didn’t mind since we wanted to see the sunset and eat dinner there. This beach is known for its beauty and trust me, it did not let me down.

Once we got back from the beach, we walked to our hostel which was about 20 mins and then came the bittersweet moment. This was the last time I was seeing them in Krabi. I was leaving for Singapore the next day and they had an all-day boat tour planned through their hostel. I packed everything and came downstairs to chill with the people I met on the kayak tour and went to sleep around midnight.

Day 3 Expenses

• Breakfast: Pancakes & Ice Coffee: 30 Bhat ($0.96)
• Kayak Tour: 599 Bhat ($19.23)
• Boat to Railay Beach (round trip): 250 Bhat ($8.03)
• Dinner: 70 Bhat ($2.25)
• Bus back to airport next day: 100 Bhat ($3.21)

5. Five things you HAVE to see

1. The Chinese Temple

FREE

This temple is a bit off the road but that road leading up is really beautiful. Palm trees all the way leading to the temple.

A lot of stairs so please wear something comfortable you can climb up in

Also not a tourist spot so get ready for some amazing views from a not crowded place

2. Tiger Cave Temple

FREE

This is another temple with really amazing views. It seems as if all the temples in Krabi have some sort of stairs

There are 1200 stairs so make sure you’re hydrated throughout

I couldn’t get to this temple since I was staying in Ao nang area and it’s located more towards the Krabi old town and that’s why recommend spending 2 days in old Krabi town, 1 day in Ao nang area and 1 day in Railay beach area

This picture is not taken by me.

3. Ao Nang elephant Sanctuary

2500 Bhat ($80.25)

It doesn’t have to be this specific elephant sanctuary in Krabi. It could be in Phuket, Bangkok, or anywhere in Asia, you HAVE to go to an elephant sanctuary.

This one specific was really nice actually. They send a car to pick you up at your hostel, provide lunch and also drop you back off at your hostel.

Take an extra pair of clothes because you will be able to play with elephants in the water and you will have to take a shower after. (they have showers on-site, clean ones too)

4. Railay Beach

FREE

This is considered one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and I would not disagree.

I would really recommend going an hour or so before sunset and you will have the time of your life. Surprisingly, not a lot of people stay for the sunset which is good because the beach is not crowded like it is normally. There are a lot of small restaurants, so grab some food, bring it back to the beach and eat while you witness the sunset.

If you’re staying in the Ao Nang area, take a long tail boat from Ao Nang beach for about 200 Bhatt round trip.

6. Currency Exchange

You have 3 options, I recommend option 2 & 3: I normally don’t recommend carrying around cash but Asian countries are one place where I really recommend you carry some cash on you. small food stalls on the street side DO NOT take cards.

1) Open a prepaid card. This is the method I used and it had its ups and downs. I used Travelex Money Card that you can find here. It’s pretty much like a debit card. What you will have to do is, open the card for $10 and you will be able to link it to your bank account. Every time you feel like you want to convert some money onto your Travelex Money Card, you can use their app to say what currency you want to convert it in and within seconds, that money will be on your card and you can use it right away. It’s also contactless, so you can use it on public transportation and you can set a 4-digit pin so you’re safe as well. I did a lot of research when I went to open this card and I couldn’t find a better exchange rate than Travelex. So if you are planning on picking this option, you’ll get a good rate out of its competitors.

2) You can also carry around cash but I DO NOT recommend this option. When you’re exchanging cash, you won’t get a good exchange rate and there is change of it getting stolen or lost.

3) Open a credit card that has no foreign transaction fees. I recommend this option because when I left for my backpacking trip for the first time, I did not know such credit cards existed and so I never did my research. My personal favorite is United Explorer Visa Card that you can apply for here. I use this card pretty much anywhere I go abroad and since it’s a Visa card, it works almost everywhere. Another reason why I really like a credit card is because no one will give you a better exchange rate than a bank. It’s also very easy to use, simply use it as if you were to use it in the US and when prompted to choose between USD or BHAT, pick BHAT. It’s also contactless, no foreign transaction fees and you 2 lounge passes for United. So, if you’re in a place to open a credit card, I really recommend this option.

7. Food

Since it’s Thailand, I would say just keep eating Pad Thai but there is also one more thing I would like to add to it. I had green curry with sticky rice at one of the local restaurants and it was really good. I normally get that here in Chicago at Big Bowl but it was nothing similar. It was much better.

• Pad Thai
• Green Curry with Sticky Rice
  • Coconut cream-based curry. You can ask them to make it as spicy as you want
• Thai Pancakes & Iced Thai Coffee
  • I literally had it for breakfast every day I was in Krabi

Below are some of the pictures I took while I was visiting Krabi. Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @mrshutterup to follow my journey and for some more amazing pictures. Lastly, feel free to contact me if you have any additional questions!