thailand
There was a period of time before I embarked on my Thailand adventure when everyone on my Facebook feed made going here seem just as casual as a spur of the moment trip from LA to Vegas, given the sheer volume of Thai vacation posts I was seeing.
Posts and photos told the story once they were there; what was missing was helpful trip planning tips, but please, no one cares to post about that…
Except for me :)
My approach to travel is the winning combo of common sense + affordability. Destinations can range from luxury to demanding a no-frills, pack-light approach, Thailand being on the no-frills end of the spectrum. Especially when you hop on a total of 7 flights during your Thailand trip, it’s best to pack light. Just you, your passport and some ratty clothes, baby.
TOP TIPS
EXCHANGING MONEY
Exchange Baht once you get to Thailand. There’s a million places to exchange (including the airport) and with the exchange rate being better in Thailand, you can always shop around and compare any two places nearby to where you’re staying. Thai hotels and airports will have a worse exchange rate, so try to exchange outside the airport or off hotel property.
If you decide to exchange currency on the US end, banks like Bank of America will waive the $7 shipping fee if you pull more than $1,000 in US dollars worth of foreign currency.
PHONE
Get a SIM card once you’re there. These kiosks are everywhere, especially in the major cities/tourist areas (and all airports). A SIM card allows you to keep your number and use Thailand cell towers rather than accidentally opening a text and incurring a huge fee with your US carrier. The SIM card kiosks will switch your SIM card for you so you don’t have to worry about being some sort of savvy cell technician. You can always add more data credit if you’re running out.
Verizon has a travel plan for $10/day which allows for all international calls and texts while abroad but after 10 days that’s $100. I got a SIM card for my 10 days in Thailand, all for under $10 total. You do the math.
If you decide to not get a SIM card, you can rely on wifi which is in most public places. The downside is if you’re doing something like trying to call a cab using the Grab taxi app (Asia’s version of Uber). It’s just best to have some kind of data at all times and not rely on wifi alone just in case you need to use Grab, look up where you are, where you need to be or Snapchat something very important while walking the street.
You may also want to download “Whats App” or “We Chat” so you can communicate internationally with your friends and family back home to make them all jealous and reassure them you’re still alive.
TIPPINg
If you go on any tours, set aside money for tipping.
BRING TOILET PAPER!
If you plan to visit any public restrooms then this could be a great thing for you. Most of the toilets in public bathrooms have a hose next to the toilet rather than a roll of toilet paper. There’s water all over the floor too. You can’t quite tell if it’s pee or someone hosing themselves off after a good bathroom break. If you do forget TP, many bathrooms will have tissues in baskets outside the bathroom, just be sure to leave a few coins.
TRANSPORTATION
If you plan on taking a cab anywhere, download “Grab Taxi” to your phone. It works like Uber, you’ll set your pick-up and drop-off location and it’ll give you a far estimate. An important thing to note – if your pick-up location is in a crowded area (like The Grand Palace, for example), your Grab driver can cancel the trip and YOU will still get charged! (dispute the charge with them if this happens). For instances like this, use the Grab app solely for giving you a pricing basis for how much you should pay a regular taxi once you flag them down (there will be a million driving around in major cities like Bangkok). Then, don’t actually get in the taxi and start going until you and the driver have verbally agreed on the fare price. We once had a creepy guy who wouldn’t roll down his window to discuss pricing but just wanted us to get in the backseat. Red flag right thurr.
Tweety toilet paper outside a bathroom at the Taling Chan floating market in Bangkok
cabs on the freeways in Bangkok
THINGS YOU DON’T NEED:
- Power adapter, if from the US (most hotel rooms, even hostels, have US plugs and if not, hotels usually have adapters at the front desk that you can borrow)
- If you do a speedboat or elephant tour, you don’t realllyyy need water shoes
is by far the best. THINGS I WAS SO HAPPY I BROUGHT: (items in bold are links)
- Chopsticks and/or individually wrapped utensils (you can get ahead of time from fast-food restaurants before you go)
- Anti-bacterial hand wipes for wiping utensils and hands
- Rolls of toilet paper (you can just use the ones from your hotel room, just remember to carry it in your bag whenever you’re on the go)
- Comfortable walking shoes (Sketchers is a good option)
- let’s you toggle between video and picture mode and is super easy to use. It's even gone down in price from when I bought it. It's such a no-brainer. 
with multiple zippered compartments (you’ll want to separate your money and passport, etc into different compartments. This one I bought had 4 separate, zippered compartments and 2 side pockets for water bottles, it was perfect. 
This fan saved us on many hot-flash occasions (The Grand Palace tour, when someone was cooking in the street and hot chili oil blew into our eyes, down in Phuket where the temperature is even hotter). 
These were all the rage and super convenient during anything remotely involving water - elephant tours and speedboat tours. Especially useful on our speedboat tour, everyone from Asia knew what was up and had one. The JOTO brand is BY FAR the best on Amazon with 4.5 stars and 23,498 customer reviews and counting. SHOTS
To get or not to get shots was a big dilemma for us and we mistakenly waited until the last minute to decide that maybe we should get some! To avoid any stress, plan this early, especially because the immunizations can take a couple of weeks or more to become effective. According to all my internet research and the CDC guidelines, here were my top priority shots:
- DTAP (Medi-cal covered this since you can get things like Tetanus here in the US. Most travel vaccines are NOT covered by insurance, as they see travel as a luxury, not a medical necessity) With the co-pay this could’ve potentially been around $25.
- Typhoid. I priced this out and it turns out Walgreens is the cheapest for the Typhoid injection (and doesn’t require a written doctor’s order for it which saves consultation/office visit fees). $100 a pop. Costco was second best at $150.28 but requires a doctor’s prescription. We used Walgreens for this shot.
- Hep A & B. My PCP did a blood test order to see if I was immune to both, luckily once again, my Medi-cal insurance coverage at the time covered these blood samples. I was still immunized from my childhood Hep A vaccination, which of the two, is the more important one to get. Unless you’re getting a tattoo or having sex with strangers in Thailand, Hep B is not as necessary. If you are about to do either of those, definitely get yourself some Hep B vaccine. Costco pricing, which is cheapest, is $75.29 part I, $69.87 part II (both parts are needed for effective immunization)
Here’s my shot pricing & notes (Los Angeles, December 2016)
- MPTF (The Actor’s Fund): Mandatory consultation/office visit: $168, Hep A: $279, Typhoid: $295 injection or $230 pill
- Wellness Mart: Mandatory travel consultation: $25, Hep A: 2 shot series, $110/shot - good for 20 yrs, Hep B: 3 shot series, $95/shot good for life
- Walgreens: Hep A: $113.99 shot, Typhoid: $99.99 injection
- Costco: Hep A: $75.29 part I, $69.87 part II, Hep B: $75.29 part I, $69.87 part II, Typhoid: $150.28 injection, $58.18 8 day pill, only lasts 2 years
*Careful, because all travel clinics, Costco, your doctor, etc, will try to charge you with a travel consultation fee (upwards of $25). Just let them know exactly which shots you need or they will suggest a laundry list of shots and you will rack up a big bill of shots that you may not need. Most places will require the travel consultation fee before administering shots. I say that’s a money-making ploy that you can avoid.
We knew we weren’t going into the deep jungle of any sort (we did an all-day Elephant Tour, but that was the extent of it) so we didn’t concern ourselves so much with Malaria pills. Many people I asked prior to going said they either didn’t take malaria pills or they brought their malaria pills there but didn’t end up taking them and all was okay. Others who actually did take it said it made them really depressed. Again, it’s your preference.
Important to Consider:
While I was in my PCP’s office debating on getting immunizations, the best thing he reminded me of is that you can’t put a price tag on your health. You could have a million dollars, but that couldn’t buy you a new body if something happened to yours. Just something to consider as you decide whether or not you will get shots. I do believe Americans heir on the side of caution more than the rest of the world, but hey, we live in better conditions and our bodies are not exposed to half the shit that people in other countries come across. All in all, my shots, even if purely for peace of mind, was a worthy expense.
AVOID FOOD POISONING!
Bring chopsticks and/or individually wrapped utensils (you can get ahead of time from fast-food restaurants before you go)
Bring wet ones or other sanitary wipes for hands before meals or to wipe off utensils
Bring tums and immodium (Bed Bath & Beyond)
Be careful of undercooked meat (especially ground meat - easier for bacteria to develop) and raw fruits and veggies (if not washed)
Be careful for who opens your beer bottle (bacteria on the bottle opener or someone’s hand can give you food poisoning)
For street food, make sure there is a lot of turnover at the food stalls you’re eating at and grab the freshest batch if you can. Avoid packaged food if you’re not sure how long it’s been sitting. Go for crowded vendors with lines and food that you clearly see coming right off the grill.
blue elephant tour (chiang mai)
The most incredible all-day tour if you seek a true local experience. We flew in to Chiang Mai from Bangkok the night before our all-day elephant tour. Our tour guide, Zen, picked us up from the airport in the evening then drove us to our accommodations.
The next day he picked us up from our hostel, we went to eat breakfast at a local market and while we were there he bought a huge variety of dishes that would later be our lunch (customized to what we said we wanted to eat – coconuts, fruit, dumplings, etc). We then drove an hour into the mountains while Zen taught us key phrases in Thai so that we could give the elephants verbal cues (“bon” for “up”, “didi” for “good boy/good girl”)
On our private tour we fed the elephants, rode them bare back, went through a forest, and bathed with them. Zen took so many photos of us on our phones, we have so many well-captured memories. Both of us were accompanied by an elephant keeper while we rode our elephants, just to make sure we were safe. Everyone was hospitable and catering. (Our personal tour included just the two of us, plus two adult elephants that we rode, one baby elephant, our tour guide Zen and the two elephant keepers).
Click HERE to watch a video from our All-Day Elephant Tour.
Our accommodations in Chiang Mai was Top Garden. It came out to about $12 USD for the night. Voted Best on Trip Advisor. The owners were very nice and it was the perfect accommodations for such a short overnight stay. I only wanted to book at places that didn’t require an advanced reservation deposit. (*update April 2018: it looks like Top Garden has closed).
The other place I was going to book at if Top Garden wasn’t available was 9 Resident. This place also didn’t require an advanced reservation deposit.
Airlines
There are many domestic airlines operating in Thailand. Bangkok Airways is one of the premier and more reputable ones. It has a lounge (with coffee and food) for any airline ticket holder and on both flights between Bangkok and Chiang Mai (a 1-hour flight), you’re served a full-on meal.
Round-trip tickets between Bangkok and Chiang Mai was $124 each when we went in early December 2016.
TALING CHAN FLOATING MARKET (BANGKOK)
Open on the weekends (not all floating markets are)! Taling Chan also offers a longboat tour. Tours embark every hour, the closer to the start of the longboat tour, the cheaper the tickets. We did an hour tour which takes us through the river lined with houses, we pass by a temple and then have time to get out and walk around the exterior and interior of yet another temple. Be warned - there’s a lot of fish in the river, with no telling how clean the water is. Towards the end of the tour, they may stop and let passengers chum the water with bread. We experienced a fish feeding frenzy complete with lots of splashing, fish going out of control in and out of the water and river water totally splashing into my mouth (I was lucky I didn’t get sick!)
Back at the market there are food vendors lined up everywhere, not just on boats in the water. Sprinkled between the food stalls are craft items and other souvenirs to purchase (Muy Thai shorts, clothes, jewelry, trinkets, etc)
LADY BOY SHOW - Simon Cabaret (PHUKET)
I had no idea what to expect going into this lady boy show. I was under the impression that it would be a raunchy, Vegas-style Cirque du Soleil meets strip club but it’s actually quite classy and much more burlesque meets Broadway. Inside is standard theatre seating and the experience is complete with van transportation to and from your hotel. I was surprised to see that people from literally all walks of life seemed to be in attendance; Middle Eastern women in burqa, old Asian grandparents to young children.
As the show ends, they do warn you that if you take pictures with the lady boys you will have to tip them. The lady boys all line up outside after the show and as soon as you make eye contact with them while you exit, it’s over. They will trap you into taking a photo with them by waving/enticing you over. First, you can’t believe how tall some of them are up close. Then, it’s completely confusing and mesmerizing that they look like beautiful women yet are speaking in high pitched male voices. You have to tip EACH one that ended up in your picture 100 baht (they will demand if from you). If you’re not in the mood to tip that night, as soon as you exit the theatre, keep your eyes low and make a beeline for the vans.
the grand palace (Bangkok)
It could be helpful to be part of a tour group here so you can navigate your way around the palace and surrounding temples while having someone explaining the history and other facts.
If you DIY the Grand Palace like we did, the sightseeing is still spectacular. (Do be prepared that English speaking locals are harder to find in the surrounding area here). The palace itself is so detailed - from every jewel encasing on the palace exteriors, to the statues and all the vibrant colors. The Grand Palace is very hot and very crowded, stick close to your group or your travel partner(s)!
mbk (Bangkok)
MBK is one of the major malls in Bangkok with cheap prices (and of course, the acceptance of haggling, since it is, after all, Thailand). MBK is eight stories high, packed with a million different stores and kiosks that could swallow you up alive. There’s a lot of brand knock-offs like Nike, Adidas, Gucci, North Face, etc and you can literally find anything you are looking for (clothes, purses, watches, luggage, wallets, cosmetics, electronics, you name it). I was almost too overwhelmed to actually buy anything at MBK, but I was proud of myself for haggling a good price on a really nice men’s leather Versace wallet. After my haggling and the Baht to USD conversion, I dropped $11 on the wallet.
ping pong show (phuket)
If you’re in Patong Beach and hit up Bangla Road, this will not be hard to find. Immediately upon stepping out of your taxi you’ll be bombarded with hustlers waving the ping-pong show menu in your face. As soon as you agree to see the show, you will be eagerly escorted to a ping pong bar/club. The show is free, you will just pay three times the normal price for drinks in order to stay and watch. The drink girls will try to beg you for tip and the actual performers also may go around asking for tips between acts. The ping-pong show menu is not really a menu, but more of a “program” of all the things you will be witnessing. We stayed an hour and saw it all. Be ready for all of it.
massages for days
Ranging from $7 - $8 per hour. Parlors are open late, you can even walk into one around 9 or 10 pm and get a massage. We found that a 1.5 hour massage is perfect (your masseuse actually gets to spend more time on your back with the extra half hour). The nice thing is they don’t use oil or lotion so it’s not like those crappy Swedish massages where they lightly glide their hands on your body with minimal pressure. Most places will give you garments to change into. In the US it’s common to undress almost completely but take and wear the garments; it will come in handy once they stretch you in various positions (legs up in the air, chest towards the sky, etc). Do tip.
photo courtesy of Tiger Kingdom, Phuket
Tiger Kingdom (Phuket)
I had food poisoning when some people in my tour group did this. At the Tiger Kingdom in Phuket you pay a disproportionate amount of money to be in the cage with the tigers for a mere 10 minutes. You can choose to pose with tigers of different sizes (which come at varying prices). The funny thing was the brochure FAQ page that said “do not assume that we drug our tigers”. So they don’t exactly deny it??
Muy Thai Fights (Phuket)
Fun to go with a rowdy group! Pop open a Chang Beer, watch the rounds and even place match bets with the locals (don’t place high bets, they will somehow finagle it so they keep winning).
Click HERE to watch a video of our time at the fights!
SPEEDBOAT TOUR
We did our speedboat tour with Phuket Sail Tours. This company, along with Simba Sea Trips are the two most reputable companies in Phuket and don’t overcrowd their boats. The tour group size is small and you get much more personalized attention from your tour guide. There was drinks and snacks all day. Before the tour as they are explaining the day there is coffee, juice, sandwiches and fruit. On the boat we had endless water bottles, fruit, fried chicken, chocolate wafer bars, sodas, juice and iced coffee. A huge lunch is served halfway through the tour (on our tour, we ate a delicious southern-Thai feast at the floating village). These two companies are more expensive ($112/person compared to some companies being around $80) but you definitely get what you pay for. DO tip at the end. (links)
Be careful of sea lice! That’s something I didn’t read anywhere online before I went! It’s these little bugs that’ll bite you in the water (particularly if you are swimming in an area with lots of shade and vegetation like we did on our Krabi/Phang Nga tour). It feels a bit stingy but quickly goes away if you hose off with fresh water (there’s a hose onboard).
Our tour guide, Joky, was very good at educating us on the different areas that we toured across the Andaman Sea and she took pictures of us at many different stops and scenic points. I chose the Phang Nga Bay tour because the tour also included visiting the province of Krabi (in addition to kayaking, floating village, walking through caves and many opportunities to snorkel).
TUK TUK RIDES
If you are in Patong Beach and on Bangla Road, do not expect to talk these guys down on the price of the ride. They have pretty much all made a pact to charge 250 baht minimum for a short ride back to your hotel. Since this is the case, pick a fun driver and the tuk tuk that lights up and has the disco party lights inside. Our driver played Nelly for us when we told him “make it fun”.
OTHER THINGS TO KNOW
Water bottles are cheap at 7-11 and most markets. It’s ~14 baht for a 16 fl oz bottle. Stock up, stay hydrated. Do NOT drink the tap water from ANYWHERE.
Hotels and even hostels (some, not all) will have a safe where you can store extra money, your important electronics, etc. Use it!
Bring an extra colored printed copy of your passport (50 cents to copy at UPS before you go) and put it in a different area of your traveling bag than your actual passport. Just in case your passport gets lost or stolen, a colored copy is your next best chance to help the process of getting out of the country.
You can get away with food costs about $11/day (depending on what and how much you eat, of course)
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