Part 7: Now You Can Plan Your Trip to Thailand!

Now that you’ve read the travelogue, let’s talk about some of the prerequisites for a vacation to Thailand. Whether you’ve decided to visit Thailand or are planning a trip, this section will provide a breakdown of the necessary prerequisites:

Recommendations for books to read to learn more about the nation before traveling. To be honest, getting the last book (Architecture of Thailand) is challenging, even if I got an e-book edition of it. The main attraction of this book are the photographs and schematic details of a typical Thai temple in various regions of Thailand.

Before going to Thailand

  1. Do you want to go to Thailand?
    • Many prefer vacationing in Thailand. Having the determination to go to Thailand is important. Please go through the basic history of Thailand, its culture and architecture, and its royal monarchy. (I recommend you read for architecture (this one has a lot of photographs) “Architecture of Thailand: A Guide to Traditional and Contemporary Forms by N. Sthapitanonda and B. Mertens; for culture, “Culture Smart: The Essential Guide to Customs and Culture”; an for history and monarchy, “A Brief History of Thailand by Richard A. Ruth”. These three books have given me a lot of insight about this country, trust me!).
    • Usually tourists want to go to Thailand for its nightlife; it’s much more than that. For families bringing their kids to Thailand, it can be quite educational and fun-frolicking for them. I suggest you be aware of the ethics of going to certain animal sanctuaries, as their animals are often poorly treated.
  2. Planning your itinerary (applicable for touristic intentions):
    • A trip to Thailand might be combined with other South-East Asian countries, considering its ease of access and visa policies.
    • Tentative plans might include something like this (we had these in plan, by the way):
      • Bangkok + Ayutthaya + Kanchanaburi +/- Pattaya (7–10 days). I might consider adding Lopburi.
      • Phuket + Ko Samui + Ko Tao + Chumphon + Ko Pha-ngan + Ko Lipe + Krabi (14-30 days)
      • Chiang Mai + Phitsanulok + Sukhothai + Kamphaeng Phet (7-10 days). Might consider adding Lampang.
      • Chiang Mai + Mae Hong Son and Chiang Rai (7-10 days)
      • Do you have more time for the trip? You might want to visit Thailand’s key places: Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Ko Samui, Ko Tao, and Ko Pha-ngan.
    • For more about activities to pursue, the best time to visit (depends on regions), selecting beaches, local food, and a glossary of Thai-English words, I recommend “Lonely Planet – Thailand“.
  3. Linguistic issues:
    • Unless you are going with a tour guide or a tour operator, this shouldn’t be an issue. Also, if you’re going to main cities like Bangkok or Chiang Mai, you can manage in English.
    • However, for a better experience, you should learn the Thai language. The majority of people with whom I interacted in rural and urban Thailand (including Bangkok and Chiang Mai) aren’t proficient in English. Signboards and shop banners will have both Thai and English; however, price tags of items in supermarkets, restaurant menus (in provincial towns like Ayutthaya, etc.), and descriptions of paintings in Buddhist temples and museums have only Thai descriptions. I suggest you use Google Lens to translate this to English and point your camera across the Thai text you want to translate, provided there’s good network coverage.
    • It doesn’t hurt to say, “Sawatdee kha (for females)/Sawatdee khrap (for males)”. In fact, that increases your rapport with the Thai people. In my opinion, if you are planning to stay for a long time in Thailand, learn at least level 1 Thai. (I used Pimsleur Learning application and its methodology in teaching languages is fantastic!)
  4. Prepare your budget for the trip (Thailand is one of the budget-friendly countries in the world, with its cheap rates for buying food and staying).
    • For the hotel or apartment, allocate as per transportation to your residence by taxi, metro, bus/electro-bus/trolley-bus per day and buy groceries from supermarkets per day.
    • For restaurants (if you don’t obviously plan on making your own meals in your apartment.)
    • For buying tickets for museums, theaters, train travel, cruises, and audio-guides.
    • For ancillaries (like souvenirs such as stamps, T-shirts, and miniature statues).
  5. Book an apartment or a hotel in Thailand.
    • Like most countries in the world, you will be able to book a hotel with Expedia, Booking.com, or Agoda or an apartment or resort with AirBnB.
    • Make sure you book these in advance, as most of the “sought-after” houses and hotels are booked quickly. If you book an apartment, make sure you follow the rules of the host.
  6. Travel health insurance:
    • Please ensure that you get travel health insurance that covers your trip for that duration. Ensure that your insurance covers Thailand.
  7. Applying for the visa to Thailand:
    • Most countries around the world are granted visa-free access or visa-on-arrival. Check with the Thai embassy in your country to see if a visa is needed or not.
    • A tip: If you belong to a country with requirements for a ‘visa-on-arrival’, fill out the VoA forms beforehand. That saves the time of waiting in a long queue!
  8. Booking your transport (flight/rail) tickets to and within Thailand:
    • Flight tickets: Most of the airlines you need to book your tickets with cater to destinations in Thailand. There are low-cost airline options you might consider, such as Thai AirAsia, Thai Lion Air, Nok Air, Kan Air, and Bangkok Airways, as well as standard options such as Thai Airways. It’s hassle-free: booking the tickets offline or online, opting for a flexible check-in policy, excess luggage weight for a fee, or pre-booked meal options. (If you are going by the low-cost option, ensure that your luggage weighs at most 7 kg; this is for Thai AirAsia; check the airline websites for more details on this.). The staff carries a portable weighing machine, checking the weight of the luggage. So if you are not planning to check in your luggage, ensure your cabin baggage is light.
      • The city of Bangkok has two airports: Suvarnabhumi Airport and Don Mueang Airport. The former caters to international destinations and is larger (does cater to domestic destinations such as Chiang Mai, Phuket, Pattaya, Chiang Rai, Hat Yai, Mae Sot, Udon Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Krabi, Khon Kaen, Surat Thani, Phitsanulok, Trang, and Ubon Ratchathani), while the latter primarily caters to domestic destinations (such as Chiang Mai, Phuket, Pattaya, Chiang Rai, Hat Yai, Mae Sot) and some international destinations (discussed in Part VI; destinations in South-East Asia such as Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Hanoi, Phnom Penh, and Yangon are also served from this airport). The former is located 30km east of Bangkok (connected to the city centre by the ARL—Airport Rail Link), while the latter is 25 km north of Bangkok (connected to the city centre by the SRT Dark Red Line).
    • Rail tickets: Getting to Thailand by train can be accomplished as follows:
      • From Laos: To Nong Khai from Vientiane through the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge over the Mekong River. The line continues as the Northeastern Line to Bangkok.
      • From Malaysia: to Padang Besar (there are two identical towns both in Thailand and Malaysia with the same name) from Butterworth in Malaysia (95 km south of the Thai-Malay border); in turn, Butterworth is connected to Kuala Lumpur and Penang.
      • From Cambodia: To Aranya Prathet from Poipet (continues to Bangkok as the Eastern Line).
      • (There are none from Myanmar).
      • Within Thailand, you can travel to important points of interest by train. Go to the DTicket website of the State Railways of Thailand. I suggest you make advance bookings for your intended date either online or at the train station. There’s also an option of emailing the SRT (passenger-ser@railway.co.th) at least 14 days prior to your journey, for which you will get an email confirming it. The payment can be made at the train station 1 hour prior to its departure.
      • There are various classes: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd class (depending on whether you are on an express, special express, rapid, or ordinary train; sleeper or non-sleeper), and sleeper berths cost extra.
      • The SRT Lines are as follows:
        • Northern Line (Bangkok (Krung Thep Aphiwat)-Chiang Mai)
        • Northeastern Line (Bangkok (Krung Thep Aphiwat) -Nong Khai/Nakhon Ratchasima)
        • Eastern Line (Bangkok (Hua Lamphong) – Aranyaprathet/Pattaya)
        • Southern Line (Bangkok (Krung Thep Aphiwat) – Padang Besar/Nam Tok)
        • Commuter Line (Bangkok (Hua Lamphong) – Lopburi/Kaeng Khoi Junction)
    • Bus: At all costs, avoid the ‘VIP buses’ scam and those buses operating directly from tourist centres. Use the BKS (Baw Khaw Saw) buses, as those are reliable and subsidized by the Thai government. Every city and town in Thailand has a BKS station.
    • There are options for travel by boat (if you happen to go by, try the long-tail boat—frequently seen in Bangkok rivers and canals) and bicycles or motorcycles for hire, but do remember that Thailand is one of the countries with high mortality rates from road traffic accidents, so insist on comprehensive coverage and insurance for the vehicles you’re hiring. Remember, Thais drive on the left-hand side of the road, and “right of way” is for the bigger vehicles first, pedestrians last.
    • For intra-city travel, I suggest you use metro (in Bangkok only—MRT and BTS), boats through the Chao Phraya river (in Bangkok only), and buses often (the bus schedules are posted on the bus stops and in the Google Maps application) more than tuk-tuks or song-thaews, as they are cheaper, more reliable, and contribute less carbon emissions. If you prefer taxis, use the Grab taxi option.
      • I suggest you download this map onto your mobile phone and use this “Bangkok Transit Map” — it gives the metro stations, Chao Phraya piers, and canal piers layout. (Credits to Oran Viriyincy; at least be aware of the MRT Blue Line, BTS Silom and Sukhumvit Line and N1-N10 piers in Chao Phraya River, as those are quite close to the tourist destinations in Bangkok.)
      • If you are planning to stay for a longer time in Bangkok, get the MRT Plus and BTS Rabbit cards. You need to pay a security deposit and show your passport as proof of identity.
  9. Must-have mobile applications:
    • Grab, an application for grocery deliveries and booking taxis, has come a long way. With regards to booking the cabs, it offers a reliable service with standard, uninflated prices, which you can use often, avoiding the higher prices asked by the song-thaew or the tuk-tuk drivers.
    • d-ticket: The official mobile application for SRT. You can use this to book, change, or cancel tickets.
    • Google Maps/Lens/Google Translate/Microsoft Translate: Important! Make sure you use them wisely. Lens for image-based translation, Translate for audio/text-based translation and Maps for GPS tracking, direction guiding and providing bus-schedules.
    • AirBnB/Booking.com: For communication with the host or hotel.
  10. Know where your country’s embassy is located, and if you are planning to bring certain items to Thailand duty-free, have a look at this customs department website of the Thai government.

After coming to Thailand:

If you have planned a tour guide or tour package for your Thai trip, most of these may have already been arranged by your Thai host or tour operator.

  1. Get a SIM card.
    • Depending on your days of stay, you can purchase a SIM card accordingly. AIS, DTac, and TrueMove provide tourist-friendly packages. You need to show your passport as proof of identity.
    • With the SIM cards, you also get contacts for essential and emergency services. Remember, the tourist police extension number is 1155.
  2. Get your currency exchanged.
    • The basic unit of Thai currency is the baht.
      • In my opinion, the rates at airports are not that great. You might consider exchanging them in popular areas such as malls or metro stations. (For example, the rates at SuperRich currency exchange stand out from others.).
  3. Get a BTS Rabbit and MRT Plus Card from a nearby metro station in Bangkok if you plan to stay for more than a week.
  4. If possible, for items you are purchasing (not in department stores or upscale malls), you can try to bargain.
  5. Don’t fall prey to any scams you might encounter, for example: (Be careful of touts, agents masquerading as TAT officers—someone claiming to be a TAT agent with his fake badge met me for selling a bus ticket to Pattaya.)
    • Gem-stone scam: where the tourist is told a Buddhist temple is closed for monks praying, “Buddha-day,” etc., and he is led on a time-wasting trip to a jeweler selling gems that are not worth their claimed value.
    • Bird seed scam — a random person gives you a bag of seeds to feed the birds unknowingly and demands money for it.
    • Bar scam — where the tout claims to sell drinks at a bar for lower prices and you realised later that the bill is inflated for a few drinks.
    • Damaged jet ski scam — where the renters of the jet skis claim you have caused some damage to the jet ski and demands compensation.
    • Taxi scam: where taxis don’t operate with a meter, and if you are gullible, you’re charged extra.
    • Khlong scam: When tourists want to explore canals and waterways, they may be tricked by a Khlong boat driver who takes them to places they do not know about, like eateries, shops, or vendors (who give him/her a commission) and then asks for more money than was originally requested.
    • Tailor scam — where tailors claim they use high-quality materials, when in reality, you are given a faulty dress. Avoid these by going to certain tailors of repute, such as Raja’s Fashions, July Tailors and Duly Tailors. (And it takes time to get them done, at least a week).
    • In general, I urge every tourist out there to be alert and not be gullible.
  6. Keep your passports and visas safe with you at all times.

Before leaving Thailand, remember that certain items purchased, excluding food or accommodation, may have VAT (value-added tax) added (7%, 10%, or 17%). If you have items purchased and need a VAT refund, go to this website for more information (Revenue Department of Thailand).

I hope you have understood the basics of planning a trip to Thailand. Don’t hesitate to visit other websites for more details (especially the Tourism Authority of Thailand website, which has a lot more information) on certain aspects I might not have discussed in detail. Have a good trip!

Dein Thang Doy Sawasdee! เดินทางโดยสวัสดิภาพ!

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