I am having travel withdrawals. I keep looking through all of our pictures and I miss it so much. I skipped Australia and Bali for now, but since I know several people who are headed to Thailand this year, I thought I would share some tips from Thailand that might be useful to others, along with sharing some pictures. People always ask us how we get to travel so frequently but Thailand is more affordable and doable than people think. 

Are they not the cutest little boys ever?! We met a school of these boys and they had such big personalities and photo bombed a lot of our pictures. I loved them so much.

Planning Thailand

It’s easier to go to Thailand if you can be a bit flexible with your dates. I would recommend signing up for flight alerts on Trip advisor to start off with. I saw flights for around $500 give or take a bit which is significantly cheaper than many flights to Hawaii. Your main expense will definitely be your flight, but the alerts will help. Plan what you want to do most. We spent around 2 weeks in Thailand and I still have tons of things that I would love to do there. We decided on Bangkok, down by the islands ( Phuket or Krabi ) and finishing in Chiang Mai. I think Chiang Mai is one of the main places you have to go to. Make sure you are up to date on all your shots, have your passport ready and plan out if there are going to be any festivals occuring in Thailand while you are there. I have dreamed of being in Thailand for the Lantern Festival so we mapped our whole Fall trip around that. If you happen to be heading to Thailand in April, you will get to experience the country wide water fight. This trip we decided not to use a travel agent but we still used some tips she previously gave us. Make copies of your passport and leave them with someone you trust back home just in case. We always put our passports in the safe in our room instead of carrying them around all day. Instead you can carry around a copy of your passport. We were told its also nice to know the number of the American Embassy in each country in case of an emergency. Finally, I would highly recommend travel insurance on your flights to and from. When we were flying to Bali there was a lot of ash from a local volcano that made it so many flights could not get into the country which ruined a lot of vacations, but luckily we had no problem.

Transportation

Getting around in Thailand was so much easier than we thought it would be. Lyle had been stressing about it because neither of us spoke the language and we thought communication would be hard. We flew into Bangkok from Bali and then we took a taxi from the airport to where we were staying. After you get your luggage, you will think you need to stand in the HUGE line to wait for a taxi on the bottom level. It’s ridiculously long and most of the tourists just opt to stand in it. However, a kind man informed us we could head upstairs and get right in a taxi without waiting at all. It was so nice. Taxis are super cheap. I read an article about letting the meter run because it will always be cheaper than the price you negotiate. The problem with that is that every taxi but one that we rode in didn’t even have a meter. It depends on where you were going but I would say the average price was around $5-$10 dollars? It may be even cheaper. The currency they use in Thailand is baht which is dirt cheap compared to the American dollar. Make sure you have a conversion app on your phone for the first couple days. After that you will have the prices down.

We didn’t book any tours, but you can rent taxis for the whole day for less than $50. I say that because we can’t remember exactly, but it was super cheap. Each taxi driver will give you a different price, so don’t be afraid to say, “no, thank you” and keep walking until another taxi drives by. We did this once and were surprised at how different the prices were. I have never seen so many taxis in my life, so they will negotiate with you, but please keep in mind that you should be reasonable. I know Thailand is cheap, but some people are ridiculous in what they try to get away with. Anyway, the drivers have these picture sheets in the back with different options of places they can take you. Our driver took us all the way up to Ayutthaya (over an hour away) and didn’t charge us any extra. Most of the drivers speak very little English, so our conversations were always pretty funny, but you can point at pictures, or it’s best to know the correct Thai name for all of the temples. I would recommend having a driver wait for you while you go to the Grand Palace and other temples because taxis significantly overcharge in those areas because they know tourists have no other options. If you prebook a taxi to wait, you will save money. Another handy thing about hiring a driver for the day is they take you to places you didn’t know about. Near Ayutthaya our driver stopped at 3 extra temples without us asking him to. They were so cool and we would have never seen them without him stopping on his own. Plus, you can knock out pretty much everything in one day and you wont need to book a taxi for a whole day again in Bangkok. 

  We loved using the “train” in Bangkok. I say train like that because I don’t know what they specifically call it. In London its the tube, in D.C. its the metro and so on. Our hotel was right across from the train and Terminal 21 (a huge mall) which was super handy. The train was super easy to navigate but if you have any questions you can always ask the employees who work there. We were surprised at the amount of people who spoke English. Maybe we just kept getting lucky, but we always found people who were so helpful at the train station. It’s only a couple of dollars and can get you around the city.

Me with some of my new friends!

I highly suggest riding in a tuk tuk. They are small little scooter things. They looked a little different in each area of Thailand. They were usually cheaper than a taxi because they don’t have air conditioning. They also are smaller, so they can get you to places faster. The tuk tuk drivers drive like maniacs, but it’s so much fun. They don’t even really drive on the road. They are always on the side of the road, and it’s crazy. I think you should ride in one at least once for the experience.

Also, whenever we went to a different place in Thailand we flew. We found flights as low as $50 a person. I’m sure the prices vary depending on when you travel and the time of day as well. There was one airline that Lyle and I were obsessed with though. I think it was a little more expensive, but at one point we had to spend quite a few hours at the airport. They have the most amazing lounge ever at the Bangkok airport. They have lots of free food, wifi and nice chairs. If you have a long layover, that’s something to consider. 

Where to stay

In Bangkok, I highly suggest staying near one of the malls. After traveling more than 3 weeks prior to landing in Thailand, I was sick of all of the food. I just wanted a “normal” breakfast. Terminal 21 was amazing because the whole bottom floor had a bunch of options for breakfast. It had donuts, a crepery, fruit juices and more. We had a difficult time searching for places to eat initially, so it was nice to find a place with a bunch of options. We stayed at the Red Planet in Bangkok which was at the higher end of all the places we stayed at. It was $32 a night and very nice. You could find some hotels as low as $15! It just depends what your budget is or the things that matter to you. We didn’t book our hotels a long time in advance. In Bangkok, we booked our hostel for Krabi and in Krabi we booked it for Chiang Mai. There was always a ton of options. We booked our hotels/hostels on Expedia and never had a problem. Down by the islands, I wouldn’t suggest staying on the main road. It seemed to be a big party area and was pretty loud. In Chiang Mai, we stayed at a newer hotel and it was around $15 a night! Read the reviews when picking a place to stay. We usually do that and if something about safety or cleanliness is said we look into something else. At one hotel, someone commented about a rooster and we thought it wouldn’t be a big deal since we are rarely in our room, but that dang rooster was a nightmare!

Things to do:

In Bangkok, you can’t skimp out on the palaces and temples. In all honesty, they start to all look the same after you’ve seen three or four of them, but it’s still cool to see them all anyway. Look into when the different ones open, and go as early as you can. They are so crowded around noon or later that you can barely move. It also gets miserably hot. You have to wear a full skirt and have your shoulders covered (out of respect). I honestly remember the day in Bangkok where we visited all the temples as the most miserable day of my life haha. Nice memory, huh?, but I wasn’t feeling well and it was unbearably hot. If you wear long pants (no holes in the jeans) you won’t have to rent clothing. I’m pretty sure you get your money back when you return them, but it would be nice to skip the lines. You can buy a sarong out front of most of the temples for $2-$3USD. Carry it around in your bag and then wear it when you go in and out of the temples to save time. The malls are so fun to go to for amazing deals. Someone told me not to waste my time shopping at malls there when we have malls here, but I don’t think that person really knew me well… Also, the deals are out of this world. I would take a second suitcase just to bring everything back. Or better yet, buy a suitcase in Thailand (tons of places sell them for cheap) and then you don’t have to pay to get it out there. I got a pair of high top converse for half off, naked pallets for $12 and my favorite, the amazing nike swag. Now the naked pallets weren’t real, but they look the same and I wear them everyday and absolutely love them!! They sell tons of designer brand makeup, but be careful with buying foundations and things for your face. I got tons of Nike shirts for $3. Yet again, not real, but you can’t even tell. They had styles and prints I’ve never seen before; some of the cutest things ever.  Now that I am back home, I am constantly asked where I got them. They have tons of cute Nikes for way cheap, but due to the quality I would use them as fashion Nikes rather than running ones. The night markets were my absolute favorite!! Lyle got about 15 ties for $1.50 each, we got cute pouches to bring back as souvenirs and more. We went to about three different night markets and felt safe at every one of them. Just don’t head to any of the “Ping Pong” shows. It’s not people playing ping pong, much to Lyle’s dismay. MBK mall is known for its knockoffs for shoes and purses, so if thats what you’re into then head there.

Chiang Mai to me was everything. We first fly into Chiang Rai and took a bus to Chiang Mai for the lantern festival. They had elephants, tigers, four wheeling, ziplining, long neck villages and really anything you could think of. I like to think of Chiang Mai as the real adventure capitol of the world. Tons of places had elephants with the chairs on their back but I wouldn’t recommend riding any of those, its very bad for the elephants. It broke my heart. Do your research before selecting an elephant sanctuary. We did but I still got really upset riding the elephant and insisted on getting off and walking the rest of the way. We went to the Tiger Kingdom as well and before anyone says anything negative, I feel better about that than any of the places for elephants. Much to what I have heard, the tigers looked very well fed and healthy. They were actually awake and walking around and playing with each other rather than sleeping like I have heard some people say. It seemed like a better environment than any zoo I have ever been too. I interrogated every tiger handler to the tee. One tiger handler said he had been working there for over 3 years, like most of the other trainers, they grow up with the tigers and establish a close bond. The tigers are fed a diet heavy on milk and chicken which helps to make them sleepier. When I asked them if they were drugged, he laughed, and said that would be even more dangerous, to throw a bunch of people in there with tigers unwilling or able to understand signals. He added that it was against the law as well. The handlers seemed to show great love and affection for the tigers as well. When we were in there playing with the babies, the baby went straight to the handler to play with him, it was adorable. We have a video of them playing a game with each other. They also have a list of rules to follow for not only your safety, but the tigers. You can’t touch ANYWHERE near their head or top half of the body. They are used to people because they grow up around them.

Lyle & I still get joke about that man ruining our picture…

With the larger tigers, we have videos of them jumping 5 or more feet in the air, showing amazing coordination for a supposedly drugged tiger. They didn’t have eyes that looked drugged either. I’m not trying to defend the Tiger Kingdom in any way, I’m not paid to do so, I’m just saying that from everything I saw, it looked like a perfectly respectable place where the tigers seemed happy and healthy. I absolutely love tigers and animals in general, so if I saw anything saying otherwise this would be a completely different review. It’s just a bunch of crazy people going into cages with tigers. Not too bright I would say but one of the coolest experiences of my life. Just because an article says its a bad place, doesn’t mean it is, but I know that a good article also doesn’t mean its good either.

Anyway there are butterfly parks, snake shows, alligator shows and a million more things to do right near the tiger kingdom. I’m not condoning any of these places, just telling you your options. One of my favorite things to do in Chiang Mai was riding a bamboo raft down the river. It was amazing. There was this clearing where we came upon some people bathing an elephant and in that moment I remember feeling like I was in a different world. It was one of the coolest moments. Another must do was visiting the long neck village. It was a village where they had tons of different tribes and they were all selling things. I love meeting the people and even though most of them spoke broken English if at all, it was one of my favorites. It is important to keep in mind though, that that is how these people make their money. Some people were walking around taking pictures of them and I only felt right doing so after I had purchased a souvenir from them and then asked if we could take a picture. They aren’t animals on display, they are opening their lives to us and its amazing.

Some of my favorite things we did or saw was the white temple in Chiang Mai, Island hopping in the Phi Phi Islands, exploring Railay beach, riding on the bamboo raft and riding in a longtail boat. Randomly one night we decided to see a movie together. We went and saw the new James Bond movie and it was such a cool experience. I guess we did the VIP movie experience and they delivered drinks and popcorn to us in the theater and we had recliner chairs and blankets. Before the movie we got to go to this lounge where they had finger foods and drinks. At the beginning of the movie they do this honoring of the King where you have to stand, so its definitely a difference experience.

Random Information

You must try the mango sticky rice and pad thai. Trying the food in every country was always my favorite part. I however, wasn’t brave enough to try any of the insects. There is such a thing as “Bangkok Belly” and I didn’t get that but there was 3 days or so where I actually couldn’t really eat. It was terrible, I needed to eat so I would try and just feel terrible. Lyle actually had to give me a blessing and then I felt better (the church is true). Be careful when trying any street food or even the water when you brush your teeth. Everyone says the street food is amazing but the conditions look so unsanitary and I was nervous about getting even more sick so we opted not to eat that. I would at least recommend giving your body a couple days to get used to the food and water in small doses.

Also, if you head to Thailand on the weekend, you MUST go to the weekend market. They have absolutely everything you can imagine. At the markets or even some of the malls (MBK) you can barter on prices. Before you buy, look around at other places because you will find the same things at many of the stores, and for cheaper too. If you start to walk away, 9 out of 10 times they will follow you and offer it cheaper. It’s kind of uncomfortable if you really don’t want it. Lyle told me not to touch or ask about anything unless I was truly interested because they literally won’t leave you alone.

Believe it or not I still have more pictures! If you have any questions about something I didn’t cover, comments or other thoughts I would love to hear them.

xo Cait