Tips for your Thailand trip

Recommended to be read once you have a basic plan for your trip. If you have not yet planned your trip check the itinerary blog.

Below are some simple tips for your Thailand trip

Recommend to pre book, the airport can be confusing and most cab aggregators only pick you up from outside the airport. It led to us getting lost and walking 1-2 kms
For departures, you should be fine and the cabs will drop you to the right gate.
Currently there’s no visa for Indians - so you really need nothing when you get there, they can ask you about your return flights (has happened with few friends) but nothing more

You need an International Driving Permit (IDP) to drive in Thailand, there have been cases of police stopping vehicles and asking for fine (~1000 baht)
Download the taxi apps - Grab, InDrive, Bolt. I also read about Tada, but the app never seemed to work. We found Bolt to be the cheapest and easiest to use for all intra city travel. Grab was useful for intercity travel - Bolt drivers kept asking for more money over and above what was showing in the app.
Thailand has amazing big vans that you can book when travelling in group. Here is a great driver’s contact: Don +66 817975781. He has an amazing van and understands English well.
If you stay in happening places like Patong in Phuket or Ao Nang in Krabi then you can also just walk around.

Get an eSIM - it is way cheaper than the others and very convenient to use.
Check Klook / Agoda etc for best prices. We got one which had 10 days validity and 50 GB data for $8.

You will find many options in Thailand - main cuisines are Thai, Indian, Italian. We got vegetarian food too. If you want help you can download “Happy Cow” app
There is a 10% service charge and 7% government taxes generally over and above the cost of food.
You will find many Indian restaurants with staff that speaks Hindi. Amritsr in Patong had really amazing food.
Water is generally chargeable, definitely in all restaurants, sometimes even in hotels / resorts (after a fixed complimentary number of bottles).

Mostly cash heavy, so carry enough cash (we spent ~15000 baht in cash - 2 people, 7 days)
Generally card payments in small shops incur an additional 3% charge.
Taking cash from the ATM incurs a heavy fee (of course depends on the card)

There are many many of them and it is tough to choose. Would recommend something bought from Klook or someone known.
Ask well in advance on things to get for the tour, ask for any other additional charges (e.g. there are national park charges in Thailand)
If food is included ask for options (especially if you have vegetarian preference)

Check the reviews online - there are so many massage places in Thailand, best way to choose is rating 4.5+ and atleast 100 ratings.
I got a massage in 2-3 places. Sansabai near Bangla Street had the best massage techniques. There are other places like Cocoon Serenity which had cheaper massages which were not bad either.
Hot stone massage is definitely worth trying.
Skip massages in hotel it is much more expensive than the ones outside.

You can shop nearly anywhere, there are street vendors and markets in all the key touristy places. Generally the prices will be on the higher side, you should bargain.
Old Town was somewhat more expensive than any other place.
Krabi was cheaper than Phuket.
Shops in non-touristy areas (like the one we shopped at on our way from Krabi → Phuket, near a petrol pump) are generally 25-50% cheaper.
If you want to buy something different than normal clothes and magnets - look for coconut bowls (which are handmade but can not contain anything hot) and handmade notebooks.

Chhavi Gupta