A great place for budget travellers. I usually travel on the cheaper side for my accommodations and food so that I can spend more money on my excursions. Whenever I went to a standard restaurant I paid about 100-150 baht for a pad thai dish with chicken or shrimp. Yum! There are 7Eleven convenience stores everywhere so if you need any toiletries, bottled water, snacks or alcohol you can find it all there. I stayed in 3-star accommodations with a mixture of hostels and hotels. There was nothing too fancy about them but they were clean and had everything I needed with western style washroom facilities. Public transport is easy to use and cheap especially in Bangkok. If you decide to take a tuk-tuk or taxi, you’ll pay more.

Clothing to take. In Thailand, you can dress however you please in public places. If you want to wear those short shorts go for it! You won’t want to wear anything too heavy anyway as it can get pretty hot during the day. If you decide to go into any jungle or forest areas, you may want to consider long pants to help prevent you from getting bitten alive by mosquitos. A good pair of sneakers will be good for walking excursions as the roads can sometimes be quite uneven.

Safety. Thailand is a very safe country. I probably felt safer in Thailand than I do back home in some Canadian cities. Locals are very friendly and tend to respect the space of tourists. You can take taxis and an auto rickshaw ride but make sure they are the standard colours that most of them are. A lot of taxis in Bangkok are pink and auto rickshaws are green and yellow. When you go out at night be aware of your surroundings and if you are not too familiar with the location take a buddy with you when you venture out in the evening on the town.

Transport around the country. If you are planning on going to various regions in Thailand, Bangkok will likely be your central starting point. If you want to get there within a shorter amount of time, there are direct flights to Chang Mai and in the South such as Koh Samui and Krabi from Suvarnabhumi Airport. If you are a little more adventurous you can take the overnight trains. On the overnight train, your seat will turn into a bed. I slept the entire duration from Bangkok to Surat Thani which was about 10 hours departing around 9 pm and arriving around 7 am. Take some snacks and refreshments with you as there are limited choices while onboard.

Health concerns. There are certain areas of Thailand that have known cases of malaria and Japanese encephalitis. You’ll want to talk with your physician or a travel clinic before you go to make sure if you are entering into these areas you are prepared in advance versus falling ill once there or when you return home.