Budget-friendly tour of Thailand: Exploring the sights and flavors with Lee Jae-hwang

The Light and Shadow of Real Bangkok and Night Market Scenes

The first part, "How They Live: Real Bangkok," airing November 2, begins the journey in Bangkok, a city that attracts the most tourists in the world. Traveling along the Chao Phraya River, Wat Saket appears on a high hill. While climbing the stairs, visitors encounter eagle sculptures and skulls, where they learn about the city's painful history from Bangkok citizens. Approximately 200 years ago, during a cholera outbreak that claimed hundreds of lives daily, bodies brought from the city were gathered here, and those that could not be processed became prey for the eagles.

In the alleys of Talat Noi, Bangkok, the traditional Thai perfume Nam Op Thai is discovered. This fragrance is manufactured using a "nine-times steaming and nine-times drying" method, where water infused with fragrant chalood bark is placed in jars and smoked nine times with various aromatics. This perfume accompanies the joys and sorrows of Thai people, from the Songkran Festival to births, coming-of-age ceremonies, and funerals. Khlong Toei, Bangkok's largest traditional market, is known as the "Kitchen of Bangkok" because it stocks everything from cheap, sweet tropical fruits to bird's eye chilies. The program tastes spicy food, such as meatballs (luk chin) dipped in a popular red chili sauce trending on social media. At King Power Mahanakhon, the second-tallest building in Thailand, visitors experience a thrilling attraction that tilts up to 65 degrees over the open air, relying on a single net. At the Talat Phlu night market, which is crowded with locals, the show introduces a budget-friendly local market experience where one can purchase insect snacks like larvae, grasshoppers, and crickets, as well as fried shrimp heads, pork trotters over rice, som tam, and watermelon juice for 5,600 won. At dawn, a mackerel processing factory is visited, where Platu—which is smaller than Korean mackerel—is placed in bamboo baskets, had its head broken, and boiled in salt water before being loaded onto boats.

The History and Generosity of Isan, the Home of Gastronomy

The second part, "The Taste of Living: Isan," airing November 3, travels to Isan, the gastronomic heart of northeastern Thailand. In Nakhon Ratchasima, the gateway to the Isan region, there is the Thao Suranari Monument honoring the grandmother who protected the people against a past invasion from Laos, as well as the Chumphon Gate, a gate of victory. Following delicious aromas to a street stall, visitors taste Sai Kruk Isan, a unique Isan sausage made of pork and rice fermented at room temperature. In Buriram, which means "joyful city," merchants are met carrying baskets on bamboo poles called Maikan, enduring weights of over 50kg as they head to the Buriram Station Five-Minute Market carrying various foods and vegetables. As the whistle signaling the five-minute time limit blows, the scene shows merchants dispersing while sharing warmth with a grandmother. Visiting Udon Thani along the Mekong River, which overlooks Laos, the show finds a som tam specialty restaurant selected by the MICHELIN Guide and visits a traditional Khao Pong workshop where rice dough is dried in the sun and grilled over charcoal. As a herd of water buffalo heads toward the river to eat aquatic plants, a couple harvests lotus stems by boat and shows great hospitality by inviting guests home to serve a warm meal, such as Pad Sai Bua, made with the freshly picked lotus stems.

SNS Hotspots and Small Cities in Central Thailand

The third part, "Didn't Know This Place? Thailand SNS Hotspots," airing November 4, visits Nonthaburi, located 30 minutes from Bangkok. At Wat Saphan Sung, visitors encounter Buddhist culture where gold leaf is applied to everything except the eyes so as not to cover the eyes of wise monks, and taste Thai home-cooked meals at a restaurant full of antiques. At a soy sauce factory that has been passed down through three generations, visitors taste soy sauce ice cream and soy sauce lattes made from a viscous, syrup-like soy sauce produced by boiling and fermenting beans in jars in the courtyard and aging them over charcoal. In Suphan Buri, a grilled fish restaurant is visited where snakehead fish are skewered on metal rods and grilled over burning rice straw. In Nakhon Pathom, south of Suphan Buri, there is a stall where one can order Khanom chin, a Thai curry-sauce rice noodle dish, and for an additional 20 baht, enjoy unlimited vegetables. At a family business with over 100 years of tradition, visitors taste freshly fried tofu made by hand using yellow turmeric-dyed tofu.

The Diverse Charms and Unique Scenery of Chiang Mai

The fourth part, "The Chiang Mai I Loved," airing November 5, visits Tha Phae Gate and Wat Chedi Luang, the largest stupa of the Lan Na Kingdom from the mid-15th century, in northern Chiang Mai. The show tastes Kuaitiao, a Thai rice noodle dish, at a regular restaurant frequented eight years ago, and visits Ban Ho Market, which offers a glimpse of Islamic culture in Thailand, to see foods resembling Korean cheonggukjang and kimchi, as well as Sarapao, a Thai steamed bread derived from Chinese dumplings. At a coffee plantation located 1,200m above sea level and an accommodation on a mountain, visitors taste Mukata, a Thai BBQ dish, amidst bad weather. After enjoying rich cocoa made from 100% cacao and croissants at the Nana Jungle Bakery in the forest, the journey continues to Doi Pui Hmong Village, where visitors see a woman performing traditional Hmong embroidery while watching an AI drama, tour gardens around a waterfall, and taste freshly fried fish at a table in the middle of a valley.

The "World Theme Travel: Everywhere Budget-Friendly Tour, Thailand" edition will be broadcast daily at 8:40 PM on EBS1 from Monday, November 2, 2026, to Thursday, November 5, 2026.

Read the original (Korean)