Although travelling half-way round the world to go on holiday is commonplace these days it still pays to go well prepared. Thailand gets huge numbers of western tourists so you’ll find very little in the way of modern comforts that can’t be obtained easily but there are some things that are always best packed in your bag before you leave home.
The following is a list of just a few items that may be useful take with you and which may not already be on your list
A PEN FOR IMMIGRATION About an hour before you land in Bangkok you will be given your arrival card to fill in for presentation at Thai customs. If you've not got a pen handy you might have a job finding one as often most of the plane wants to borrow one. Save yourself a little bit of stress and keep one in your pocket. The details required on the card are straight forward name and address stuff but you will need to know your passport number so maybe write it down somewhere to save you rummaging through your bag.
A THAILAND GUIDE BOOK There are quite a number of english language guides to Thailand available but the original and still the best is the one produced by Lonely Planet. A long time ago it was aimed directly at the "backpacker" but it has over many years evolved into a bible for anyone visiting Thailand giving an amazing amount of useful information city-by-city throughout the country. Its got over 800 (lightweight) pages of maps, transport tips, advice on where to stay, cultural information, suggestions on places to visit and even useful phrases. As its updated frequently and much of the information is prone to change it really pays to buy the most recent version rather than a second-hand one as "wise travellers know that old directions can be worse than no directions".
CALLING CARD / PHONE CARD If you think you may want to phone home during your stay in Thailand its a good idea to buy a phone card before you leave. Visit a calling/phone card dealer ( ComFi.comhas the cheapest) and choose a card that offers the best rates from Thailand to your home country, buy it using your credit card and they’ll email you your PIN usually within 10 minutes (this may take longer for the first purchase). To use them, you just call a local number (they have them all over the world), type in your pin followed by the number you want to call and you can be talking to your family for next to nothing.
If your hotel charges for outgoing calls by the minute then it may pay to have the person in your home country use the card number to call you. If you can plan ahead to do this it would be better as you can buy the optimum card for calling TO rather than FROM Thailand. Even if you do not plan to phone home emergencies do happen and a 5 dollar card could be one of the best purchases you ever make !
VITAMINS & TRAVEL MEDICINE Thailand has an abundance of pharmacies but its often hard to be sure of what you are buying as many drugs that are prescription-only in western countries are sold very freely over the counter in Thailand with no english on the packaging. Unless you are a doctor or at least read thai, medicinal items are more safely purchased before you go on holiday.
Some things you may wish to take are : vitamins, immodium, headache pills, antacids (thai food is spicy!) and, especially if you plan on sea trips, make sure you add motion sickness pills to the list. A good example of why is: - on most dive boats everybody is offered "sea-sick" pills at the start of the day. They are big and incredibly effective but try asking the dive guides whats in them and they very likely won't be able to tell you - take your own!
Quality suntan lotion is available just about everywhere at very reasonable prices so its best to buy it when you get there. It'll save you money and a bit of precious weight in your luggage at the same time.
MOSQUITO REPELLANT This is one of the easiest things to find in thai shops but its a good idea to have some on you (literally on-your-skin) when you arrive in Bangkok as mosquitoes just love soft un-tanned skin for some reason which means your first day there could be the day you need it most. The repellant you use needs to contain DEET and the higher the percentage the more effective it is. 50% plus is what you want but unfortunately its not so easily found in places like Tescos and Safeways. Get the best you can find before you go and then hunt down some stronger stuff after you arrive.
TIP : Take particular care to check your room for mosquitoes before you sleep and NEVER sleep with an open window unless it is screened. You will sometimes see a very unfortunate tourist who has a huge number of red welts on their back or face. Attacks of this severity nearly always happen while sleeping and can be caused by one mosquito ! If you see any at all in your hotel room call reception and demand its sprayed - its a common request so the staff will happily oblige but often people visiting the country for the first time don't think of asking for this until its too late.
If you do get bitten then any pharmacy will immediately hand over the standard ointment to help you stop scratching. You may want to get some strong anti-itch ointment before you go (containing Hydrocortisone) as the thai antidote does not seem to be very effective possibly because thais seem to be pretty much immune to the problem.
HOTEL MAPIf you are staying at one of the small hotels it pays to keep a map from the hotel's brochure or website on you at all times so you can show it to the taxi driver who may not speak a word of english or simply has never heard of it. Failing this, keep the hotel phone number handy as the cabbies will happily ring them for directions. Taking the time to do this will ensure you are relaxing after your long journey in the quickest possible time.
DRIVERS LICENSE In Thailand you are supposed to carry ID on you at all times. Its unlikely that you will ever have to show it but its still best to carry something and a photo driver's license would be the next best thing to your passport.
PLUG ADAPTOR Thailand's power supply is 220 volts at 50 hertz. If your electrical devices can't accept this then you will need a voltage convertor. You will quite likely also need a plug adaptor to cater for the two types of electrical outlet : two horizontally-opposed round pins or two horizontally-opposed flat pins. Plug adaptors are very easy to come by in the main tourist towns and cost around 50 cents but it would still be worth buying at least one adaptor before you leave home to keep you going until you find a thai shop that sells them.
CLOTHING FOR A HOT CLIMATE Light cotton clothing such as t-shirts and shorts are ideal but you probably won't need to take much as this sort of clothing is for sale all over the country at prices that most visitors find irresistable. Its a good idea to pack at least one pair of trousers as wearing shorts to some areas in the evening can be a great invitation to mosquitoes. It is also considered respectful to wear these when entering temples but the thais are usually quite tolerant towards tourists in this area (it largely depends on which temple you are entering). If you are heading to the north of Thailand (eg Chiang Mai) it would also be wise to take a warm top or lighweight jacket as it can actually get just a little chilly at nighttime.
INFLATABLE PILLOW By the time you decide that it would be a good idea to have one of these you’ll probably either already be suffering on a plane or in an airport. Airport shops must love these things judging by the prices they manage to sell them at. Get one before you go to avoid being fleeced by the airport retailers. To get to Thailand you'll probably have to spend at least 10 hours flying and if so, you'll find one of these pillows that are shaped to fit around your neck can can really improve your chances of getting a decent sleep.
READ ABOUT THE COUNTRY Thailand is far more than just good food and nice beaches. It is without doubt one of the most interesting and unique countries in the world. Reading a little background information before you go will help you to fully appreciate what you find when you get there and make the experience even more memorable as a result. It may even help you make new friends as the thai people are always pleased to meet foreigners who have taken the time to learn about their country (sadly it is not that common). So, instead of reading yet another novel on the plane, why not take the opportunity to read up on some of the places you intend to visit? To get you started there's a good selection of popular books covering a range of topics including history, language, culture, travel guides and expat stories here.
EXTRA LUGGAGEMany people like to shop when on holiday and go prepared with extra room in their bags. However, Thailand is such a paradise for cheap clothing that you're probably going to need a lot of extra space - like maybe a couple of extra suitcases worth of it !! In the tourist centres it seems like every second shop sells suitcases (also at good prices) which bears testimony to the large number of people that underestimate their requirements. The quality varies quite a bit so if you do buy luggage from the market traders make sure you examine the zips, locks and general construction of it carefully.
ENGLISH-THAI DICTIONARY In the main tourist areas of Thailand you can easily get by without knowing a word of Thai as most Thais in these areas have at least a limited command of english. However, its likely that you will make friends with some Thai people and a dictionary can be a great help when communication breaks down. Thai is very contextual so it would pay to choose one that has a good selection of stock phrases as well as straight word translations. There are quite a few to choose from in the book store . TIP : take care to buy one that is designed for english speakers which will have the phonetic pronunciation of thai words rather than just the word in thai script which would be useless to you.