6 of the 7 Continents For The Budget Traveler: Thailand The Budget Traveler's Paradise

Sometimes I like to travel solo, other times with friends, in February of 2015 I was glad to have experience Thailand with a group of friends. A lot of my friends had been to Thailand already, you obviously fly into Bangkok and the overwhelming majority of advice I got going into the trip, was don't spend too much time in Bangkok. My advice is going to be the complete opposite:

SPEND A LOT OF TIME IN BANGKOK

The Thai beaches are beautiful, the scuba diving, the moon parties, the entertainers, etc. But to get a real feel of what Thailand is about, you also need to see the capital. As I read more and more on Thailand, and talked with other travelers both in person and on forums, it became clear that there was a lot to see and do in Bangkok, and merely using it as a stopover for the beach cities or Chang Mai was not going to be an option.

So first and foremost, my must see and do's for Bangkok and the areas around:

Take tuk tuk taxi's, there are constant signs warning tourists of the dangers of taking the tuk tuk's, but you are a budget traveler, the tuk tuk's are cheap, and danger is your middle name... especially if you have a few Singha beers on board.
Your trip is going to be almost free.... compared to cost of things in first world countries, and compared to what you would be spending at home, Thailand is pretty much about just booking your flight.
The elephant bath is my top recommendation for your nature experience, we used Tour With Tong who has infinite good reviews on the net and a great value.
Ayutthaya is a great day trip from Bangkok, rather than pay for a tour 100 to 300 usd each, take public transport there and hire a tuk tuk driver for the day to tour you around for around 50 bucks for the group. The temples are incredible and so is the elephant ride.

Lopburi, aka the monkey city is a great excursion too less travelers hit, the downtown of the city is pretty much occupied by monkey's. Beware, they are not afraid of you, one actually climbed up on me and stole my shades.
We ventured into the tiger temple which is now closed. I don't know enough about animal rights to comment on what happened, but I will say it was epic while I was there.

Take a river cruise, the floating market is great, but if you really wanna see it check ahead for schedules as it's not there every day.
Be sure to hit up a roof top lounge bar around sunset to see the skyline, Octave Roof Top was definitely our favorite.
Heading to the beaches....
Check out local kick boxing gyms or rent a moped for some island experiences, but make sure you know how to drive it! A rental is 6 bucks for 24 hours, but the scratches etc are super expensive if you nick it!
Check ahead of time if you want to do the full moon or half moon parties as they are only twice a month.
And finally just when we thought it was over, on your way out of the country have dinner or lunch at Koh Lanta Suvarnbhumi Restaurant, literally right next to the airport it's a recreated little Thai village to give yourself one last feel of this beautiful country.