Southeast Asian adventure: 12 days in Thailand
Thailand was awesome and we barely scratched the surface. In 12 days we were able to visit Chiang Mai in the north, a few islands, and of course Bangkok.
Visas
U.S. citizens do not need a visa to go to Thailand. Just make sure your passport is valid for 6 months from the date you’re going!
Packing
Our time in Thailand was a mix between cities and beaches, and while Chiang Mai was relatively mild, Bangkok was hot and humid (and polluted af). We were there in November which isn’t rainy season, but look up what season you’re in so that you can plan accordingly because the rain can be crazy. For our entire month-long trip (which also included Cambodia and Vietnam), the TLDR of what I packed is a whole lot of athleisure (workout shorts & tanks & tees), a few long flowy dresses, and some beach attire, all in my carry-on sized Away suitcase. Full packing list coming soon!
Traveling between cities
Traveling domestically was pretty easy, whether it was flying or by ferry. Just make sure to have the proper amount of baggage purchased before heading to the airport! We ended up checking our carry-on bags every time because most airlines only allow 7kg, and they will weigh them at the check-in desk.
A note on getting to & from the airport: Luckily Thailand is cheap, so don’t be a cheapo. Take the extra step (and maybe pay a few extra Thai Baht) to arrange taxi pickup from the airport ahead of time. The convenience of having a prepaid car waiting for you to take you to your hotel is so worth it.
Cash money
A lot of places in Thailand favors cash, other than your hotel or some larger businesses. Even restaurants in the airport were sometimes cash only. ATMs were easy to find everywhere we were, and we’d take out like 3000 THB ($88 USD) at a time, which would get us very far. You’ll almost always get screwed with the conversion rate, but it helps to have a debit card that refunds you your ATM fees so that you don’t have to worry about how often you’re hitting up an ATM in these cash cities (I love Charles Schwab for this). It’s worth bringing a few hundred dollars of USD to have too, for bigger purchases that favor cash.
The Grab app
Grab is Southeast Asia’s version of Uber (which also includes a moped option, where you can hop on the back of a strangers moped. Yay!). I recommend downloading & creating your account before you get there.
The water
Don’t drink the water. But don’t be all uptight wondering if the street food is washed in filtered water. It probably isn’t, but we survived. Take some probiotics leading up to the trip & enjoy the food.
Safety
Never, literally not once, did I feel unsafe or even uncomfortable while traveling around Thailand. I was traveling with Ryan, but there were a few things we did separately, and even walking around at night as a woman, I always felt safe. Obviously I practiced all of my usual precautions, but this is among the safest I’ve ever felt while traveling.
Cell phone plan
I used my AT&T International Passport, which is $10/day to keep the same phone plan at home so that, in theory, I had unlimited data. But the cell phone service wasn’t great in Thailand. Most places had Wifi and were more than happy to share their password when I needed it.
Let’s get to the good stuff
Of course there are SO many places to go in Thailand, and lots of different ways to do it. Here’s what our itinerary ended up looking like. Click on the links for individual reviews and recs of the places we visited!
