Thailand Travel Facts & Tips - A few things you should know before your arrival
(This blog post may contain affiliate links. If you click on one of my affiliate links and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission for referring you. This comes at no additional cost to you. Please note I only offer resources that I have used and strongly recommend!)
Make sure to check out my previous post, "My Week in Thailand" here!
Facts + Tips
One reason why I love to travel so much is because no matter where you go, whether it is a different city in the country you are from or somewhere on the opposite side of the world, they will always have a different way of doing things. Some of those things make sense to you right off the bat, and other things are so bizarre that you have no idea what to think of them.
While I was in Thailand, I kept note of different facts that popped up that I knew would come in handy for others to know while planning their trip to Thailand. Here is a list of a few things that stood out to me (I will continue to add to this list as I think of more facts worth knowing, and if you have any questions feel free to ask me in the comments section at the end of this blog post):
You can't flush toilet paper down the toilet.
This was a bit of a shocker for both Jordyn and I when we first arrived to our Airbnb, but I have heard of other countries not allowing this as well. There was a laminated manual right next to the toilet on how to use it, including the highlighted, bold, and capitalized instruction to not throw toilet paper down the toilet. Restrooms commonly have a little wastebasket with a lid right next to the toilet for you to throw used toilet paper into, as well as a hose to clean in case that is needed in certain circumstances...
Washing hands isn't really a thing. Some bathrooms don't even have soap.
We first noticed this when we landed in Taipei for our layover. We stopped by the bathroom after landing to freshen up, and all of the women coming in to use the restroom would walk right out without washing their hands.
One bathroom we used while we were at the White Temple in Chiang Rai didn't even have soap... so bring some hand sanitizer. :)
The Skytrain is a great way for tourists to get around.
To be honest, if Mook wasn't with us I was most confident with getting around the city by using the Skytrain rather than taking a taxi everywhere. The public transit map was pretty simple to figure out, and the air conditioning in the train felt SO GOOD. The stops were very cool too - the ones that we saw had vendors that sold coffee and pastries, souvenirs, clothes, phone cases, jewelry, etc.
The way that tickets work for the skytrain (if you are a tourist) is that you have to go up to the stations booth and tell the ticket person what stop you were travelling to. They would tell you the price and give you a ticket to swipe in, as well as to swipe out so you never keep the ticket. That was kind of a bummer for me because I love to keep tickets and maps of everywhere I go to put in my travel sketchbook.
If you need to get somewhere that is an hour or so outside of the city, you can hire a driver for the day (no, it is not as expensive as you'd think).
You can either use Uber or Grab (which is also a taxi service app similar to Uber, but more popular in Bangkok) to schedule rides. Uber was pretty dodgy for me but that might have been because I turned my data off and was only using wifi for internet.
There were two days where we had one driver for the whole day - one being in Chiang Mai when we did a whole lot of activities in one day, and the other when we went to an Island off the coast of a Thai Navy base (you can read more about that here). It ended up being a whole lot easier rather than waiting around for a car to pick us up when we knew that it would take a while for them to get to where we were. I felt a little bad though, because while we were out and about doing touristy things, the driver would stay back and wait until we were done - but it turns out to be a common thing.
At the end of the day, it cost us around ฿3000 Baht (about $90 USD each) split between the three of us to have a driver for the entire day. Honestly, that is not bad at all and worth the money.
There is a ฿5000 Baht ($150 USD) fine for not wearing a seatbelt in the car.
So wear your seatbelt... the traffic in Bangkok is crazy. Like NYC on steroids crazy.
Taxi drivers are picky and sometimes refuse riders.
I am not sure exactly why taxi drivers are picky, but I think it is most likely to do with where the passengers are going. There were a few times when we wanted to hop into a cab but the driver told us to find another one.
A lot of taxi drivers will scam tourists by charging them a flat fee rather than turning on the meter.
You can read more about our experience here in my Thailand trip summary post. Whenever they tell you a flat fee rate before the trip, it is always a few hundred Bahts more than what the original cost will be. Make sure you tell the driver to turn on the meter, or you will find another taxi.
There are stray dogs and cats everywhere.
It broke my heart to see all of the strays in the street, especially when it was late at night, pouring rain, and/or extremely hot and humid outside. These strays would commonly be abandoned by their owners and left at a temple so the monks could feed them.
Yes, they are very cute but I would refrain from petting them because many strays we saw were very skittish or anxious. It is better to admire from afar rather than risk upsetting the stray and getting bitten.
You can get a Thai massage for about $10 USD (except the good ones cost closer to $40 USD).
Thai massages are definitely a popular thing. Whenever we walked down the street in Bangkok, we would always pass a few spas that advertised Thai massages (for cheap). We were originally planning on stopping by one of the spas early on in our trip but never got the chance to. We ended up getting massages when we were in Chiang Mai at the resort we stayed at, which was one of the best decisions we made, because...
It. Was. Phenomenal.
Even though it was the first massage I've ever gotten, I knew that the bar was set high. Massages like that would easily cost $200-$300 back in the states.
If you are a tourist, people claiming to be information guides may approach you and offer to take you all over the city. These are most likely scams.
This happened to Jordyn and I literally right after we landed in Bangkok and got through customs. As we were heading out to grab a taxi to our Airbnb, a man from the information booth approached us and asked where we were heading to. We showed him where our apartment complex was, knowing that it was going to cost somewhere around ฿300 Baht ($9 USD) according to Mook. He told us that he could get us a car for a flat rate of ฿1000 Baht ($30 USD) including the charges for tolls, so we said no and headed outside.
At Suvarnabhumi Airport, the way you grab a cab is by taking a ticket from this machine that is outside and it will give you a number to tell you which cab to go to. There is also a sign that says you will be charged a ฿50 Baht ($1.50 USD) surcharge, plus the amount that is measured on the meter. Great, so with that in mind, we went to our cab and got into the car. After seeing where we needed to go, he called the Airbnb that we were staying at - I think to make sure we were legitimate and had a reservation (it was kind of weird). After that was settled, he told us the flat rate of ฿600 or ฿700 Baht ($18-$22 USD), to which we responded by pointing to the meter that was covered by a cloth and asked him to turn it on (he thought he was so clever...). He then started negotiating prices with us, which made it obvious that he was definitely trying to scam us. Eventually, he turned on the meter and we were on our way. So if that ever happens to you, make sure the cab drivers turn the meter on, otherwise find a different cab. It may sound like a big fuss considering that cab rides are much cheaper than ones you would take in Chicago or NYC, but it is bad for Thai tourism and it is just not right to be scammed in general no matter what the cost is.
Food
There was A TON of food that I tried, and with Mook being a local, there were some things that she bought and made us try without telling us what it was. My suggestion is to do just that! Just be careful with the type of food you eat. Luckily, I did not end up getting sick; when I went to get my vaccinations, the doctor told me to avoid foods with uncooked vegetables, lettuce, fruit with a thin skin (apples, grapes, etc. Probably also mangoes but I had them everyday because they were the best mangoes I have ever had in my life) and DO NOT DRINK THE TAP WATER (however I brushed my teeth with it and I was fine).
Here are some of the foods that we had:
There is street food everywhere you go (so you don't have to worry about starving)
Thipsamai (Restaurant): They are known for their Traditional Pad Thai and makes some of the best in the city (even Mook said that it was the best she's ever tried). Also order their orange juice that comes in a bottle. I have never tasted orange juice that was so fresh.
Fresh mango and sticky rice - We bought some from a street vendor in Chinatown
Coconut ice cream served in a coconut from a street vendor
MOS Burger (Fast food joint): Japanese style fast food burger (patty, cheese, special sauce that tastes like marinara, tomato). We went to the one that is in Siam Shopping Center.
Art Bar (I'm not sure if this is the correct name, I'm having trouble finding it online): Thom yum goong (shrimp), tom kha (coconut curry), Thai basil stir fry.
Khao Soi - This is a traditional northern dish that we had when we were up north in Chiang Mai.
Sweet snack (little tortilla shells with sweet plum and something else (maybe a vegetable?) that is shredded)
Thai Phrases
Note that this is my interpretation of how these phrases sound vs. how they are actually spelled. The majority of restaurants we ate at or stores we shopped at, the people who worked there would say 'thank you' to us in English, but we would say 'thank you' in Thai and you could tell that they really appreciated that. Personally, languages are not my strongest subjects so it took a while for me to say it right and with confidence... Mook would always yell and me to say thank you in Thai. (lol)
Cob-poon-ka : Thank you
Sa-wad-de-ka : Hello/Hi
Chai-ka : Yes
Mai-chai-ka : No
Suai-jung-ka : You're pretty
Rak-nak-joob-joob! : Love you, kiss kiss!
Kaw-toad-na-ka : Excuse me/Sorry
Aroon-sawat : Good morning