Write for Bangkok John

If you’ve had a Thailand experience worth writing about – a hotel stay, an activity, a day trip, an off-the-beaten-path discovery – I’d be happy to publish it on the site. I run bangkokjohn.com solo and I’m always glad to hear from other travelers who’ve put in the time on the ground.

This page is the submission guide. Read it before you email me. If your pitch fits, I’ll usually respond within a few days.

What I’m looking for

• A first-person story about either a hotel stay or an activity in Thailand. Day trips, tours, meals, cultural experiences, off-the-radar towns all count.
• 800 to 1,500 words. Specifics over generalities. The room number you stayed in, the chef’s name, the price you paid, the exact corner where you turned the wrong way.
• At least 5 photos you took yourself. No stock, no AI, no images pulled from the hotel’s website.
• A caption for every photo. One sentence each. Where it was taken, what’s in the frame, anything a reader would want to know.
• One outbound link is allowed in the body of the piece. To the hotel, the tour operator, your own site, your Instagram – your choice. Just one.
• An honest opinion – what was great, what wasn’t, what surprised you. Press-trip cheerleading gets rejected.

I edit lightly for clarity and to match the house style (no em-dashes, mostly plain sentences, bullet lists for navigation), but your voice stays yours. If I want to cut something substantive, I’ll ask you first.

How to submit

Email me at hello@bangkokjohn.com with:

• Subject line: “Submission – [topic]” (e.g. “Submission – Conrad Koh Samui review”)
• The story as a Google Doc, plain markdown file, or plain text. Whichever’s easiest for you.
• 5+ photos attached, or a downloadable link (Dropbox, Google Drive, WeTransfer all work). Captions written into the doc next to the place each photo should appear.
• A short bio – one or two sentences for the byline. Where you’re from, why you were in Thailand, anything you’d want a reader to know.
• Your social or website so I can credit and link you.

If I’d like to publish your piece, I’ll reply with edits and a publish date. If it isn’t a fit, I’ll still write back and tell you why. Either way you’ll hear from me.

What I won’t publish

• AI-generated content. It reads like AI-generated content. I’ll spot it.
• Press-trip writeups that sound like the hotel’s brochure. If you got the stay comped, that’s fine – just disclose it at the top of the piece in plain language.
• Pieces being pitched to other sites at the same time. First refusal please.
• Affiliate-roundup style. “Top 10 luxury hotels in Phuket” articles where you’ve stayed at one of them. I want first-person stories with skin in the game.
• Things that don’t pass the friend test. If you wouldn’t tell this story to a friend at dinner, don’t send it to me.

Just photos

If you’ve got great Thailand photos you’d like to contribute to an existing story – a hotel I’ve reviewed where you got a better shot of the room, a beach where your sunrise photo is better than mine, a temple at an angle I didn’t capture – that works too.

Email me with:

• Which article on the site the photos would fit
• The photos themselves
• A caption per photo
• Your name and a single link (your website, Instagram, portfolio) for the credit

If I add any to a story, you get a visible credit next to the photo: Photo: Your Name. No payment but a real backlink and a real audience.

Pay

I don’t pay for guest stories – the site doesn’t earn enough yet to make that work fairly. What you get instead is a byline on a site that travelers actually read when they’re planning a Thailand trip, a do-follow backlink to your site or social, and the kind of long-tail Google traffic that a personal travel page rarely sees.

If the site grows to the point where I can pay, I’ll let everyone who’s contributed know first.

Anything else?

If you’re not sure whether your idea is a fit, just send me a one-paragraph pitch. Hotel name or activity, why you think it’s worth writing about, what your angle is. I’ll tell you yes or no within a few days.

Email: hello@bangkokjohn.com