One of the biggest mistakes tourists make when visiting Thailand is spending to much of their holiday actually travelling from A to B. Thailand covers 514,000 square kms that is as big as Spain. From East to West at the widest point it is 780 kms and from North to South it is 1650 kms.
So many people tell the story after their holiday about how they wish they had either flown around the country or just visited key areas on the trip.
A good example from a friend of mines first trip. He spent 2 days in Bangkok, then took a bus to Pattaya for 4 days. He then took a taxi to Bangkok and an overnight train to Chaing Mai in the North. for 3 days. At this point he was already 11 days into his month trip. Trying to save money he took a train to the South travelling through Bangkok down to Surat Thani before getting a mini bus to Phuket. That journey took him 24 hours and he was exhausted on arriving in Phuket. He spent 3 days before again travelling by bus to Krabi and lastly a bus and then boat over to Koh Samui before heading back by train to Bangkok and then flew home. He wasted so much time travelling around the country and used slow transport that it spoiled his holiday.
Planning in advance will make your vacation so much better and I personally do not trust or like Thailand buses, mini buses, taxi drivers and slow trains. Driving in Thailand is relatively easy and rental cars are very cheap. But the best way to travel is on internal flights which are so cheap, you can fly with a bit of planning for less than £25 from nearly anywhere to anywhere in Thailand. If I had to visit the same places as my friend I would have landed in Bangkok then flown to Chaing Mai, flown to Koh Samui via Bangkok then boat to Surat Thani, rented a car and driven around the south, Krabi, Phuket. Dropped the car at Phuket, flown to Bangkok and then the rest of the holiday in Pattaya to finish off. However I still recommend you visit less places on a trip giving you more time to actually take in the wonderful land of smiles.
A nice video showing the roads around Phuket.
If you are planning a trip around Thailand one of the most important things you must get is travel insurance. People who have retired to Thailand have health insurance for good reasons, you just never know when you will need medical attention. The hospitals in Thailand are very good but if you are a tourist and have any form of accident or just need medical assistance your hospital bill can add up very quickly.
I suggest you shop around on the internet in your own country and make sure you get cover for everything you are planning for your trip, some policies will not cover extreme sports, motorcycle hire, jet ski rental, car hire and various other stuff. Policies start from as little as £20 but it is worth spending the extra to get comprehensive cover. The video below is about a friend of mine who did have insurance and you can see the costs involved for him.
And before I forget, travel insurance is a must on your vacation.
If you decide that you are going to hire a car or motorcycle in Thailand you will need an international drivers licence which you can get from your own country for as little as £10. In the UK I recommend the post office which is very quick and simple.
You will also need to have the correct licence for the vehicle you are hiring, cars are not so much of a problem but scooters and motorcycles are. Check your licence, it might say you can ride a 50cc scooter or even a 125cc scooter but BEWARE a lot of scooters in Thailand are 150cc, 200cc, 300cc and upwards. The Thai rental company will not care about your licence, they will just ask for a copy of your passport ( never leave your passport with anybody in Thailand).
If you don't check the scooter size and ride off into the distance you will not have any insurance because of your licence and then if you do have an accident it will get very costly for you, your travel insurance will probably not cover you either so please be careful when renting scooters.
This video says it all
When renting anything in Thailand, Photograph the car, bike, jet ski all around before you touch it. There are known scams sadly where the rental person will try and charge you for damage that you have not caused and this can get nasty and expensive.
Taxis
Lets talk about taxis in Thailand, there are thousand of them everywhere and various colours but they all have meters fitted and they should always put them on. You can hail a taxi in the street and they will pretty much take you anywhere, if it is a long trip, they will usually negotiate a price off the meter, quite often they will say no to the fare.
Compared to most countries the taxis are quite cheap and clean. However not all of the drivers are good and there are a lot of accidents involving crazy taxi drivers. If you get one and feel worried about there driving, tell them to stop, pay them and get out, find another one, don't get into an argument just pay and move on.
Hotels will always find you a taxi but quite often add a charge so I always recommend you walk 50 meters from hotel and hail your own taxi. This especially happens if you are going to the airport, there seems to be hotel mafia taxi drivers all back handing the hotel staff.
Don't be scared to ask a taxi for a price on a long trip, most drivers love the long journeys and they sometimes will give you a great price, if you choose this type of trip try and find a driver that speaks some English and also ask in the price for toilet stops and coffee breaks, they will be happy to offer you this service. If you find a good taxi driver get his number and again they will happily run you around for your whole trip.
If I did not have the choice of flying around the country then I would happily use a taxi if I could find a good driver rather than any other form of transport. I will not travel on buses, mini buses for very good reasons and experiences I have had with them.
Buses and Mini Vans
Buses are the cheapest form of transport in Thailand and most often you will have a choice of air con or non air con. There are bus stations everywhere in Thailand and they even travel to most villages in the middle of nowhere. However there are more bus accidents than any other form of public transport in the country. There are also luxury buses and coaches for the longer journeys for instance overnight buses from Bangkok to Phuket but again I feel they are so unsafe, the drivers sometimes are doing 18 hour shifts and fall asleep at the wheel. I will not travel on them ever but some people swear by them and love them.
Typical Minivan working Government routes
Mini vans, just talking about them make me cringe, they are usually a 8 or 12 seat van that cover the same routes as the bigger buses and are more expensive but still very cheap. I challenge you to take a mini van from Surat Thani to Krabi and then onto Phuket and afterwards I guarantee you will never step in one again. The drivers are insane and seem to want to race everybody. I have maybe travelled 50 times in minivans and never again. If you take tours from anywhere in Thailand you will probably be travelling in a minivan. You can always make a deal with a taxi driver to take you on the same tour which will give you a safer and better experience.
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