Why Thailand this Black Friday 2024

If you've traveled with EF Ultimate Break before, you are part of our travel community. Actually, our travel family, judging by how many new friendships, relationships and connections our travelers report making on tour.

And if you signed up for Black Friday Early Access, you’ve probably seen our new 13-trip Thailand collection launching November 11. I wanted to give you an insider’s perspective on why we're launching so many new trips to one country.

Thailand is a place where a lot of Americans want to go—but not many actually do. The country checks a lot of boxes: the people are warm and welcoming, it's safe, and it's affordable. With its buzzing capital city of Bangkok, stunning beaches, lush jungle, temples, and elephants, Thailand has just has so much to offer. At least, that's what our travelers have told us when you booked a trip and we asked, "Why did you choose Thailand?"

Our travelers have also told us something very special about Thailand in their own words—it's approachable and real. The combination of affordability and the positive vibes you'll get from almost everyone you meet is palpable and energizing.

As travelers to another country, it's sometimes hard to escape feeling like a tourist, but on an EF Ultimate Break trip to Thailand, we try to keep the “walls low,” meaning you won't be tucked away in some resort that could just as easily be in the Caribbean or the Maldives. You'll be side by side with locals at the same temples and shrines, shopping at the same night markets, buying food from the same street vendors, and traveling on the same trains and boats. These things are built into everyday life in Thailand. And not surprisingly, more than 30% of our travelers told us it was the people and the vibrancy of the local culture that was the most memorable part of their trip to Thailand.

Our Bangkok team—Racha, Nan, Molly, Alex, and Ha—have also been doing amazing work across Southeast Asia expanding our reach and offerings. They are our team on the ground, handling all the details, scouting, planning.

Recently, I was in Bangkok, and we all jumped at the chance to get together to discuss our future plans over lunch near our EF office. It was the kind of work lunch worth describing, set in a lush garden, with a fishpond, and big, airy dining spaces.

I'll spare you all the details, but let's just say the slow cooked beef green curry was a taste revelation. A single conversation in Bangkok across a table with colleagues is worth a thousand emails and chat messages flying across time zones.

I mentioned “keeping the walls low” when it comes to experiencing life in Thailand by making sure our new tours were both affordable and would deliver the life changing experiences and cultural moments our trips are already known for. We also set to work scoping out responsible and sustainable experiences we could include on our new itineraries.

Our plans came together, and Team Bangkok has delivered in a big way for our November 11 Ultimate Black Friday launch. They've built up our roster of experiences, expanding from our core immersions like home hosted dinners, monk chats, floating markets, and ethical elephant-sanctuary visits, to now including festivals like Yi Peng and Loy Krathong, organic farm to table meals, sustainable electric boats in Bangkok, visits to local communities like Ban Nai Nang, and my personal favorite (and huge wall-dropper) overnight trains on select itineraries.

If you've been to Thailand with Ultimate Break in the past, a huge thank you. Check out our new trips and you'll see many reasons to come back and experience something different in Thailand. If you're new to Ultimate Break or considering Thailand, it absolutely belongs in your plans.

Throughout the month, aside from trip deals up to 35% off, we'll be live from the road in Thailand with Ultimate Break staff, influencers, and Brand Ambassadors sharing content and telling stories about what visiting the country means for them.

So, another big thank you to our teams in Bangkok and Boston that have worked to create these travel opportunities and lower those walls. And of course, thanks to you. Hope to see you all in Thailand.