I visited dozens of Thai cities (Ranong, Hua Hin, Samut Songkhram, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and more) during my motorbike trip, met people, immersed myself in the culture, and this experience changed me — my outlook on life and even my approach to work.
Adventure tourism is on the rise — traveling to places where regular tourists usually don’t go, for a richer, more unique cultural experience and adventure. In 2024, the adventure tourism market was valued at USD 406.12 billion. By 2030, it’s expected to reach USD 1,009.63 billion.
Here are my takeaways from my Thailand adventure tour:
(if you don't want to read watch the video)
Motorbike trip shows you the real country
Instead of only seeing the top-10 attractions, a motorbike trip allows you to stop anywhere — by a rice field, a border river with Myanmar — and often discover places “that aren’t on the map.
You meet people, experience thai culture, and realize that sticking only to tourist destinations gives you a distorted picture of a country.
You start to question how conditional your own traditions and values really are
What’s considered a value in one culture may mean the opposite in another.
For example, in Thailand there’s the cultural concept of “fear of losing face” — the fear of looking awkward or being publicly embarrassed. Thais avoid conflicts, hide emotions, and rarely admit mistakes openly to keep others’ respect. Very often they simply withdraw from communication to avoid tension.
From my perspective, this feels like avoiding problems. A Thai person might feel satisfied that they’ve “saved face,” but in my eyes, it leaves an impression of unprofessionalism. This was one of my strongest moments of Thai culture shock.
This tradition raises many questions — for instance, why isn’t reckless driving on Thai roads considered a loss of face? To me, it feels contradictory.
Knowing all this makes you look differently at your own culture too — you begin questioning which values are really yours, and which ones you just inherited. It makes you more conscious, more free in your choices, and more open to other cultures.
Multiculturalism has a positive impact
Take Phuket as an example. The province is full of tourists, plus workers from all over Thailand, plus many migrants from Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos. This multicultural environment pushes people to be more open and creative — and that’s why Phuket develops faster. But for the same reason, Phuket is not the “real Thailand.”
The trip showed me the other side of Thailand
Even after years of living here, I was still in my “bubble” — surrounded by tech, startups, and people talking about robots and AI. But my motorbike trip revealed that huge parts of the country live in a completely different reality, almost like decades ago. And that’s sobering.
For me, this kind of riding travel is not just about kilometers and destinations — it’s about perspective. A motorbike trip lets you see more, question more, and feel more connected to the world.
The continuation with vivid moments and a detailed budget breakdown is in the pictures.
