Thailand is an exotic, culturally rich and family-friendly destination. The distance and heat can be daunting but with some forward planning, these family travel hacks can create an unforgettable trip to Siam and the “Land of Smiles”. As a mom, former Southeast Asian Travel Guide, and US Peace Corps Volunteer this is my list of Do’s and Don’ts when planning a family trip to Thailand and could easily apply to all of Southeast Asia.
Here’s a link to my travelogue about our recent trip.https://travelswithparadise.com/thailand-coming-home/
This list assumes that you will arrive into Bangkok but you can easily adapt the ideas if you land in Chiang Mai or Phuket.
Kai, 9 years old, drives the long tail boat in Bangkok on our first day in Thailand.
Do
Prepare For Jetlag
If you are traveling to Thailand from the United States, you are looking at over twenty hours in the sky and a twelve-hour time difference. Prepare for it and even use it to your advantage. On day one, stay up as late as possible and do these four easy, gentle safe activities. 1) Visit Wat Pho which is less hectic than the Grand Palace but will still wake you up to the fact that you are now in the Kingdom of Siam. 2) Take a canal tour – you can rent a private boat at the pier (Tha Thien) behind Wat Pho for less than $30 for two hours, taking you along the canals of this “Venice of the East”. There just may be a floating saleswoman to sell you some snacks and the kids may be invited to drive the boat. 3) Get a foot massage near your hotel and 4) Grab some fruit at fruit stand and try some wonderful new fruit. There will be some you’ve never seen before. Some fruit sellers will cut it right on the spot. Fruit cutting is an art form here and is a mandatory subject in public schools. If you find your family up at odd hours, go out and enjoy the early morning. Look for the monks on their alms rounds. It still happens between 6-8am. (Please keep a respectful distance.) Or take a late night tuk-tuk ride. See below. Or explore mall life that doesn’t fade until 10pm. (See below) Don’t go out past 10pm with kids though – especially near Soi 21 or Patpong neighborhood where your kids may have a LOT of tough questions.
All of a sudden, I was the only one awake!
Splurge for a Pool
Thailand is hot and humid. Your body will need some time to acclimatize and end of the day swim can be the difference between happy campers and cranky kiddos. Many hotels or Airbnb’s have pools where your kids can cool down and meet some other kids. Make you’re sure your accommodations look kid-friendly to avoid the annoyed honeymooners. Or, if you don’t have a place with a pool, shower often. The locals usually shower morning and night.
Prepare for prickly heat
“Prickly heat” is a skin rash that commonly happens to foreigners arriving here usually in the first few days before they acclimatize to the heat and humidity. It’s a harmless but uncomfortable rash and kids are more susceptible. Again, get in the habit of showering often to help prevent this. I highly recommend buying some powder either before you leave or after you arrive. And even if you don’t get the rash, the powder is fantastic after a shower. Here’s a link to the best one. Prickly Heat Powder
Renting bikes in Ayuthaya. It was hot and the brakes were iffy, but it was by far the best way to tour the ruins.
Find activity outlets
My kids have a hard time calmly listening to a tour guide without being able to move. We enjoyed using bikes to explore. My kids on a bike in a city of 8 million, what?I thought the same thing, but the bike tours are usually on safe, back alleys and not in the center of the city. Many companies use tag-a-longs or child seats. We especially enjoyed Grasshopper Tour Company. Their Bangkok tours include a shadow puppet show and their bicycles and helmets are properly fitted and perfectly maintained. On a Grasshopper tour, your kids will learn a ton with lots of physical exercise in between. There are many independent cycle rentals at the ruins of Ayuthaya and Sukhothai but the maintenance may be dodgy at best.
Shopping is a cultural experience – embrace it
Thai people view shopping as something like a national sport. From local markets to megamalls, trade and commerce is alive and well here. If you know the numbers or like to use a calculator for translation, anyone outside of a mall appreciates and expects you to bargain. If you are in a modern mall with a price tag, it is fixed price. Our favorite shopping places are the weekend market, Chatuchuk, in the north of Bangkok, Terminal 21 (especially the food court on the top floor that has great a great vegan stall) on Soi 21 and EmQuartier on Soi 35. EmQuartier has 2.5 million square feet of retail space and a five story waterfall.
Here is a build-your-own flip-flop shop in EmQuartier. These mega malls will blow your mind and great for ‘tween travelers.
Embrace the Eating
One of the best reasons to visit Thailand is the food. On the well-worn tourist path, you can eat pizza and pasta for every meal. But I hope you don’t. Here are some local, kid-friendly options. First, try pad thai for real. It will probably taste different from the pad thai at home. Second, try mien kam. You’ve probably never seen this, but it’s super fun for adults and kids alike. You put little pieces of toasted coconut, shallot, ginger, dried shrimp on a broad leaf; top it with some sweet sauce, then bundle it up and pop it in your mouth. YUM. And the third must is khao niew ma muangor mangoes and sticky rice: mangoes ripen all year round now and I wouldn’t be bashful to buy these right off a street seller. And lastly, kanom krok: a coconut dessert that is cooked on the street in a massive skillet with small half-moon divots, like a smaller sized egg poacher. If you’re lucky, they will still hand it to you warm in a banana leaf. If you start looking, you will see these treats everywhere. (All of the above can easily be vegan and gluten-free.)
Here is Mien Kham! Put the pieces you want into a leaf, bundle it up and pop it into your mouth. Kids love it and a great way to eat healthy food!
Visit a Thai temple like a pro (link coming soon!)
Take an overnight train
The best ones go from Bangkok to Chiang Mai or Bangkok to Trang in the South. They are safe, clean and a great experience. Definitely bring eye shades as they don’t turn the lights off and the top bunk can be intense. You can buy tickets online from these two reputable ticket sellers. www.asia-discovery.com or www.thailandtrainticket.com. You can book ahead, and they will deliver your tickets to you in BKK. Definitely a highlight for my kids.
Plan down time
Thailand is a sensory experience and some planned down time will help your little ones digest all that they have seen and experienced. If you are at the beach or up in the mountains, you can just spend a day swimming, writing in journals, reading a book and eating great food. Down days can include trying some Thai massage. You should always be in an open room, fully clothed for traditional Thai massage. It’s fun and kid-friendly.
Seek out alternatives to the packaged tours
This can be hard without someone who speaks the language, but you will see a more gentle, more authentic side of Thailand if you forego the packaged tours. Find a boat driver and ask him to take you to some islands or find a private guide. Maybe your hotel can help arrange it. Thai people are their least charming on large packaged tours.
Our long tail boat to Railay and snorkel Chicken Island in Krabi. We paid under $100 for a …three hour tour.
Ride a tuk-tuk at night
Your kids will be begging you to ride a tuk-tuk and you should; they’re fun. But stuck in traffic on a hot day, they are not fun. Try doing this later at night when a good driver will make this better than any ride at Disneyland. Be warned: there are no seat belts, nor helmets and kids should be on the inside, with parents on the outside of the tuktuk. Do this at your own risk, but if you’re up for an adventure, I highly recommend you do it.
Count spirit houses as a way to pass the drive time
It can be a challenge to help kids with their boredom in a long car ride. And with their nose in a book there is so much they are missing outside their window. I started asking them to count spirit houses and it turned into a great game; one that the whole family could get into from both sides of the car / taxi. Once you know what to look for, spirit houses are everywhere. You may even pass spirit house stores and need to use some estimating skills as you zoom by. Thai people erect spirit houses just outside their homes as a way to keep wandering ghosts from entering their homes. They are made to look enticing and always have fresh water, flowers and food. This is not a Buddhist tradition but one that predates Thai Buddhism.
This is a Bangkok spirit house with fresh offerings.
Don’t
Don’t plan lots of outdoor activity for the middle of the day
You and your kids will enjoy more of Thailand in the morning or evening. Mid-day is hot and sweaty. Plan your day around it. Do like the locals and use your umbrella to make your own personal shade.
Don’t try to drive a car
Driving is the most dangerous thing you will do in Thailand. Accidents happen. Download the app, Grab. It’s a Thai Uber. We took one all the way to Ayuthaya, an hour and a half from Bangkok for slightly more money than the train. Take a taxi, train, skytrain, or fly. Try to avoid the white van ridesand don’t drive yourself. Outside of the beaten path, signage will only be in Thai.
Don’t ride and elephant or pet a tiger
Read Lorna’s blog post. Elephants perform because they are forced to perform. Wild elephants don’t paint pictures with their friends in the forest and tigers don’t like to be pet like kitties. Ask yourself if this seems like normal behavior for a wild animal before deciding to visit such places. Do some searching on Youtube. There are plenty of sanctuaries where you can enjoy and help the animals of Thailand at the same time.
Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai will let you get up close and personal to rehabilitating elephants. Kids will love to care for them and won’t miss the ride.
Don’t be scared of the Monsoon
School holidays will align with Thailand’s rainy season or “monsoon”. In the past few years the season’s timing is less reliable, and you may miss it entirely. Some link this variability to climate change, but who knows. Bring umbrellas (or buy them there) and plan to get wet. It’s less crowded in monsoon. It’s also cooler, more exotic and you can watch the ways in which this corner of the world adapts to lots and lots of water. Typically, the rain happens in the afternoon so plan your flights for the morning. It won’t rain solidly, I promise.
Here is Lorna and OckPopTok in Luang Prabang. In two days and with the help of her private instructor, she made silk place mats on this authentic loom.
Favorite spots in Thailand
Bangkok – the best big city in the world!
Ride bikes Ayuthaya or Sukhothai
Krabi: find the boat pier and ask for your own three island long tail ride that includes Chicken Island
Trang Islands
Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai
Mae Hong Son
Nong Kai
Ockpoptok in Luang Prabang (actually that’s Laos but PLEASE include it in your itinerary) You can catch a flight from Chiang Mai, BKK or Phuket, OR take the slow boat from Chiang Rai.
And finish in BKK on the weekend to buy your final souvenirs at the Chatuchuk weekend market and visit the vegetarian restaurant there run by the Buddhist community, Santi Asoke, just ask around. We gave the kids each $20 to buy some fun stuff. You can buy nearly everything you see around Thailand at -some say – this largest market in Asia… Lots of blogs our there written about it.
