Thailand Tourism – What to know

1. Currency is the Baht. And the conversion to USD is crazy! Keep memory of some simple transfer amounts for ease when bartering, or ordering. We gauged a lot by 150 and 300 baht, which is almost $5 and $10 USD, respectively.
2. Transfer a small amount of money in the airport, to get you into the city, but then transfer the rest of your cash locally. And always transfer money back to USD (or home currency) within that country. We made this mistake and ended up getting a laughable conversion amount, losing lots of money.
3. Most of the big cities take credit card, but expect to use cash at all temples, village locations and taxis/tuk-tuks.
4. Don’t talk about the King – you can get jailed for anything considered disrespecting him, so better to just not. You’ll see photos of him EVERYWHERE.
5. Do not drink the water. Even the locals don’t. Get bottled everywhere. Pro tip: find local markets at each city stop. You can get large bottles for $0.25 vs paying at every establishment.
6. On par with the note above, if you tend to get sick abroad, you’ll want to go to a Passport Health (or the like) near you for shots and scripts. We may have gone overboard with our medical prep, but Krista gets sick easily, so we received Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Tetanus and scripts for Malaria, Typhoid and “Bangkok Belly”. Luckily, we only got small bouts of Bangkok Belly on the way home, and very mild – so it all seemed to work!
7. Negotiate prices before you get into any transportation, and be firm about where you are headed. Scams are common there, and easy to spot if you know about them ahead of time, and have a plan for where you’re headed. If they tell you a location is closed, and offer to bring you elsewhere, do not go.
8. Be prepared to not see toilet paper in some public spots, or anything resembling a toilet. We carried a small tissue bag with us everywhere.
9. Most things won’t have prices on them that are fixed. Bartering is expected, but read your audience!
10. Remove your shoes anywhere you already see them laid out (temples, mostly, but common in massage parlors too).
11. Women must cover knees and shoulders in temples. I carried a scarf with me at all times just in I needed to use it as a shawl, or a skirt.
12. You can likely get by with just knowing “thank you” – this is a small bow with your hands in prayer form at your chest, and “Kup Cum Kha” (for women) or “Kup Cum Kup” (for men). Most people we encountered, especially in high tourist areas, know enough English to figure out what you need, and the respect goes a long way.
13. Do you research on elephant camps. Most are not humane. None are perfect because the elephants are in danger and can’t be TOTALLY “free”, but use your judgement. Our pick is here.
14. Same goes for all other animal parks, where you’re getting up close and personal with large, jungle animals. It’s said that most of these places drug the animals so that you can get close to them for pictures. Ugh!
15. Get comfortable with the uncomfortable – for us, that was (what feels like) unsafe transportation. Riding on the back of a “red truck” and inside a “tuk-tuk” are very common.