Backpacking SE Asia: Thailand

Thailand travel tips & things we learned

1. Always ask the taxi driver to use their meter and don’t accept the fare they give you. Some will refuse to take you, so if you have the patience wait for another one. Uber works in bigger cities so either use the app directly or use it to estimate your fare.

2. Eat the street food! If you are tired of Thai food head over to a large grocery store and you can find anything you like!

3. Respect local culture and cover shoulders and knees when entering a religious site.

4. In Bangkok, use the Skytrain and BTS to get around — it’s the fastest way as there is always traffic.

5. Don’t try to understand the traffic rules and just trust the taxi drivers. For some reason there are no accidents, despite how crazy they drive.

6. Don’t arrive more than 2 hours before your departure at the Chiang Mai airport. The check-in gate won’t be open. And if you are like us and you don’t get on the plane hungry, then eat before going through security & immigration. Otherwise, you will end up like us and eating instant noodle bowls.

7. Explore the not so touristy islands if you want to relax. We went to Koh Kood and it was a paradise.

8. Visit a market and get a local souvenir to take home. Clothes are also very cheap, so don’t over pack.

9. You can spend weeks exploring Thailand. Based on what you are looking for, choose your destination and maximize the travel time. We went to Bangkok, Koh Kood and Chiang Mai. It was worth for us to fly between long distances — local flights are cheap.

10. Tipping in restaurants and taxis is not necessary — just round up. The only place we tipped was the massage places.