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Last fall I traveled to Thailand and visited Bangkok, Phuket, and Chiang Mai. Check out this video to see even more of my adventures. After the trip of a lifetime, I have a handful of tips to share. I did copious amounts of research about traveling to Thailand before this trip and got recommendations from friends, which made a huge difference. Hopefully I can share a few nuggets of wisdom to make your trip smoother!
Flights
We flew China Airlines to and from Bangkok. Although we live closer to the San Jose airport, we flew out of San Francisco because they offered more flight options. We chose a red eye (departing at 1AM on a Thursday). Our first flight was roughly 13 hours and landed in Taipei. We connected with a 3 hour flight to Bangkok. We ultimately landed at 9:45AM on Friday. Our first flight was cramped but we were so tired (and took melatonin) so we were able to sleep off and on. Luckily I’d upgraded our seats on our second flight ($30/ticket) and we were in premium economy – we had a lot more leg room (I could fully extend my legs!). Our seats were more spacious, and we were given nice headphones. 100% worth it!
Within Thailand, we flew between cities. Buses usually take way too long. All our domestic flights were under $50/ticket and were quick (~one hour each). Our Phuket and Chiang Mai hotels were close to the airport (15 minutes or less) so we still had time left for exploring on our travel days.
In Flight Essentials
There were a few items that made our trip much more comfortable. I did some research on long flight necessities and picked up some great stuff on Amazon before our trip. I always bring a neck pillow on long flights. I love my memory foam travel pillow with a silk case. This was my first time wearing compression socks and they are a game changer. I’ll definitely be wearing these for any 5+ hour flight in the future! I also picked up this leg sling that others have raved about. Joe and I were maybe too tall for it but I can see how helpful it could be. I also enjoy having moisturizer, lotion, eye balm, and lip balm on deck to bring some hydration back to my skin. Finally bring your eye mask – any sleep is the best thing you can do for yourself.
SHOP IN FLIGHT ESSENTIALS
Currency
Thailand uses baht (THB), which is roughly equivalent to 30 THB per $1 USD. We were told it was helpful to come in with THB and that major banks should have it. What we didn’t know was that banks typically don’t have it in branches because it’s considered “exotic currency” (not as common as Euros or something similar). You have to order it 3-5 business days in advance. Occasionally they’ll have it in already if someone returns it. We called six branches near us and couldn’t find any with THB in stock so we went to an exchange place in the mall. We got $400 USD. This did cause us to lose a little going this route and they charged us a $5 fee but it was worth it for my peace of mind. I’m sure it wouldn’t be too hard to get cash when you arrive. I just recommend taking out more at once because most banks charge a fee for international transactions.
Helpful Phrases
- Hi: S̄wạs̄dī (“sah-wah-dee-ka”)
- Thank You: K̄hx k̄hxbkhuṇ (“kob-kun-ka”)
Pro Tip
I recommend getting an international phone plan, if your provider offers something reasonable. We have AT&T and could choose from a $10/day plan with unlimited text, talk and data OR $60/month for unlimited text, 1 GHB of data and $.035/minute calls. Ultimately, we selected the monthly plan, which saved us $30. We mainly needed data for the Grab app, Google maps and occasionally searching something on Google. Otherwise we could do everything else over WiFi at the hotel (social media, WiFi calling, etc). We found that having this more limited plan also helped us stay off our phones and focus on the beautiful country we were in!
What I’d Do Differently
Even though the trip went well, I would have given myself half a day or so to “recover” from the travel by spending time at the hotel, sleeping, etc. We jumped into a full day of activities in Bangkok, which was really fun, but we weren’t acclimated to the weather and were dehydrated from our flights. I would have enjoyed doing one activity and relaxing the rest of the day.
I would have also booked our flights closer to check in/check out time for our hotels. Luckily our Bangkok and Phuket hotels had rooms ready early but it would have been miserable waiting until 3PM to shower after traveling across the world. We also had to check out of our Phuket hotel by noon and our flight was at 7PM. We made the most of our time (lunch by the beach, massage and afternoon tea) but we would have preferred to fly to Chiang Mai earlier and explore there!
For more tips on traveling to Thailand, check out my posts on Bangkok, Phuket, and Chiang Mai.
