Traveling to Thailand

Where in Thailand are you visiting? For how long? The beaches of Phuket or Koh Samui? The northern area of Chiang Mai, or big, bustling Bangkok? Any or all would make a great vacation, depending on what you want to do or see, and how much time you've got.

Unfortunately I don't think I will be able to swing more than 2 weeks off from work. I am thinking Bangkok currently, but plans can change. I dont think I will be able to get out to Chiang Mai.

And if anyone is wondering, I live in Houston. I have been looking at the weather in Bangkok the last few weeks and it has actually been mostly cooler there than here!

November or December is a good time to go. Two weeks is not a very long trip to Asia but you definitely have time to get out of Bangkok, and you should. Bangkok is great but two weeks there is too long in my opinion and there’s so much else. A week in Bangkok (with a day trip or two to places like Ayutthaya or Kanchanaburi, which can be easily arranged once you’re there) and a week in the north would be very good. Or Bangkok and one of the southern island places, but check climate data for these when planning as parts of the south can be pretty rainy then. And all else equal I would favor the north as it’s more culturally interesting and you can go to the beach at home. Or you could do all three (Bangkok, north, south) in two weeks if you were ok with a bit faster paced trip and a domestic flight or two. And another possibility would be Bangkok with a flight to a neighboring country for a few days, such as Siem Riep in Cambodia for the amazing Angkor Wat, or the lovely, laid back town of Luang Prabang in Laos. However as someone new to international travel with limited time your instinct to just stick to Thailand is probably good, as there’s plenty of great stuff to see and do there for two weeks.

And it makes a difference whether your two weeks includes the lengthy travel time to and from, or you can do two weeks actually in Thailand. Sounds like the former, in which case you still have sufficient time for Bangkok plus one other place, but probably not Bangkok plus two.

I am a “slow” traveler who enjoys spending days in one location, seeing everything of interest and taking day trips from one base.

That said, I found one week in Bangkok with day trips to Kanchanaburi and Ayutthaya, as suggested above, to be plenty of time. With two weeks, I would look into adding Chiang Mai. I happily spent 6 nights there - plenty of time for many sights.

The above suggestion of Siam Reap in Cambodia is another that I would consider.

My Chiang Mai and Siem Reap travels were in November. It is a good time for weather as Slate mentions.

Really fascinating places for a first trip abroad!

I think Slate has made some excellent suggestions. Chiang Mai is a good choice for a second location, and inexpensive, short, non stop flights are available from Bangkok.

Unfortunately the 2 weeks is looking like it will include the travel time! Most flights I was looking at had a layover in LA and HK, 2 to 4 hrs each. I will probably be asleep most of the flight time, so I can hit the ground running!
It sounds like I am going to try and do Bangkok and either Chiang Mai or something to the south.

Make sure to take into account the date line when making your arrangements. You lose a day flying west to Asia but get it back again returning. Meaning, for example, that if you left for Bangkok this morning, Sunday August 24, you would likely arrive late in the evening of Monday Aug 25, local time. But if you left Bangkok on Aug 24 local time, you would arrive back in the US and it would still be Aug 24. A couple on a Southeast Asia tour I did messed that up and lost a day of the tour because they had booked their return flight a day earlier than necessary and when they realized it it was too expensive to change it. Flight schedules tell you this as long as you pay attention to the posted date of arrival as well as just the hour.

You say this is your first international trip. I hope you are right that you will sleep most of the trip, but don't count on it. Planes are not very comfortable for sleeping, even in Business Class.

I have hesitated to weigh in on this thread, but wanted to add a few points. For perspective, I travel a fair amount, have for many decades, and since I have family there, I go to Thailand fairly often.

Thailand is wonderful, it has so much to offer any visitor. It is well set up for tourism (maybe too well set up...), tourism is a huge part of their economy, so it's a pretty easy place to visit - at least for an Asian country that's v-e-r-y different from what those of us who are from North America are used to.

That said, while I think Thailand is a great choice for those of us who have at least a few trips to Europe under our belts and are ready to break out from the more familiar, for one's very first trip outside the USA, I think a trip to Thailand is ambitious and could be more of a heavy left than expected.

For many of us, our first international trips are to places that are culturally, ethnically, politically, linguistically, and in a half dozen other ways, more familiar and better connected (even if via deep roots) to our own life experiences. Traveling anywhere - Canada, Mexico, even Boston or Orlando - takes us outside of the familiar, the known. Going to Europe, even to the "easier" places like the UK, challenges us initially. Many of us progress through visiting such places to increasingly "challenging" or more complex places to be, through the European continent going further south, further east. Each trip we learn skills and usually appreciation. Eventually many of us expand our horizons to Africa, South America, Asia.

If you've never been abroad before, and your first trip is to someplace very different from the world you have grown up in and lived your whole life - someplace very "exotic" - the differences you experience at every level are going to be a much more dramatic. It's going to be, well, intense. For some folks that may be easy and just more intensely enjoyable. But what the OP is planning may at some point be more than they were expecting.

I've been to Thailand many times. When I'm there I am very lucky to be surrounded by family who, as locals, take pride in acting as more than just my personal tour guide - they try to do everything for me, and are always nearby to eliminate any confusion and smooth things for me. I am quite comfortable there (as you can imagine!) but I still bump up against things that don't make any sense to me, confuse the heck out of me or are initially challenging, occasionally frustrating.

The OP will have to "work" harder at lots of basic things, I hope they don't underestimate that and are prepared for the learning curve. Fortunately, "the land of smiles" is extremely welcoming, most people are helpful and sincere in their goodwill towards visitors, and the country is very used to managing confused foreigners. But it is also a very different place.

Based on the OP's comment that they are expecting to sleep the whole way on their flights, I wonder if they are being realistic and are prepared for realities of, and the basic physical demands of, such a long trip. Many people do not sleep at all in a cramped coach seat on long flights (I'm one of them, and flying to Thailand in coach the first few times left me physically sick after the first leg of my flight; in a lay-flat business class seat, it is much better and I sleep well). I hope they can manage better than most.

I'm also not so sure it's a great idea to go all the way for such a short trip. I know, nobody wants to hear that. But for me, a trip to Thailand needs to be longer than the ≈10 days the OP will have there. Flying half-way around the planet, plus all the stress of pre- and actual travel, can just kick your butt and you need some time to recover from the displacement trauma. On such a short trip, they won't have much chance to do that.

In any case, I wish the OP well and hope they are up for all the challenges and have a great trip. Chok dee!  (good luck).

"If you've never been abroad before, and your first trip is to someplace very different from the world you have grown up in..."

The OP hasn't given any indication (or I missed it) of how old he is. I've known young(er) people, both when I was young, and others since, that could jump into that without (much of) a problem. For different reasons. :)

No doubt there are older people that can do it as well. When I finally did Travel I had much of what David is saying.

Two weeks in Bangkok is far too long, a few days is plenty. Go and explore other parts of the country, Chiang Mai is a good recommendation along with one of the islands such as Krabi.

There will be plenty of Western tourists in the major destinations and those areas are completely geared up for tourism, English will be widely spoken and whilst it will be widely different to Texas there will still be some degree of familiarity.

Forget looking solely at temperatures when comparing different climates. Bangkok is a hot, humid, tropical city, completely different to anywhere in Texas. You will sweat........lots!

Houston, although not technically in the tropics, is also a hot, humid, tropical city, in the summer. Climatically it is a lot like Bangkok, and similarly is flat, sprawling and rather chaotic with thousands of convenience stores and often gridlocked traffic, ameliorated by hundreds of shopping malls that are ferociously air conditioned, and lots of Thai restaurants. The OP will feel right at home there.

What we did with about two weeks (+/-) is this: Arrived Bangkok and spent the night at a small, local accommodation near the airport. Next day flew to Siem Reap (amazing Angkor Wat!) for three days. Then, flew to Luang Prabang (our favorite) for several days. Next, we went to Chiang Mai for a few days. Finally, we finished up with multiple days in Bangkok before flying home. It was a great trip. If we were to do it again, we would skip Chiang Mai…but that is just us. The point is that you can, independently, do as much or as little as you wish. No need to restrict yourself to Bangkok.

Happy planning!

Thailand is awesome and I have been there more than 5 times. The food is amazing and there are hotels that cater to all budgets. However, there are some tips to follow:

1. Do not drink tap water. Thais buy bottled water for consumption at home. Do not eat fruits that are not cut open by yourself.
2. Street food can be delicious, but check the vendor's level of hygiene. Some hawkers don't clean the flatware and plates thoroughly.
3. Watch out for pickpockets, just like everywhere else. Don't bring valuables.
4. Thais and expats are friendly. But, do not eat food or drink beverages of any kind when offered to you by strangers, esp. for free.
   Wacky things do happen.

I think you can visit Bangkok plus one other city. Going to Cambodia takes too much time and this place is far less safe than Thailand.

Have fun and report back.