Traveling in Thailand - 6 months

Spider4329

Hi Everyone,

Going to Thailand in September for 6/7 months by myself - wondering about a suitable backpack (size, brand)?

Also will be spending most of the time in the North Chiang Mai - any recommendations on cloths? any must haves for traveling?

All suggestions would be great?! (Where I should visit)?

Using this for the first time and would really appreciate any and all help!!

Thank you so much.

Meathlass

Bring a small backpack - you really won't need that much stuff in that type of climate and you can pick up anything else you need over there.

Make sure you see what vaccaniations you need, if any.

These are my reccommendations for essentials for travelling. It's not an exhaustive list but over 17 years backpacking it's finely tuned at this stage.

>Painkillers - just a few panadol as there's nothing worse than feeling sick and not able to get to a shop and explain what you need.
>A torch - absolutely essential. If you don't mind looking like an idiot one that's goes on your head is good.
>Plug adaptors
>Padlock - for locking the drawer under your bunkbed, locking your backpack etc
>Flip Flops - particularly good for hostels and shower areas
>A pillow case - both to put on over the often icky hostel pillows and to have something familar with you.
>Diary - even if you're not the type to write alot, just jot down some thoughts every now and again on the people, country and culture.

Bring the bare essentials in toiletres and stock up as you need over there. My last trip my rucksack was 7kg!

Personally the only gadget I bring is my camera and mp3 player. I've never travelled with a mobile, ipad, laptop etc. I think it makes it difficult to switch off from home and family which can be difficult if you're travelling solo and lonely. It can also make it difficult to interact with other travellers if everyone is tapping away on their laptop all day.

Bring some cheap paperbacks and exchange them in hostels as you go.

rain on

I'm just back from Thailand and brought way too many clothes with me, most of them I didn't end up wearing because the stuff I bought over there was more comfortable. I picked up a few pairs of light trousers, vests and dresses when I got there and lived in them.
I was glad I brought the following:

-a good quality light rain jacket - though I think the rainy season will be over by the time you get there
-a small towel for swimming - you can get towels over there of course but I find most towels need to be 'broken in' before they dry you properly
-good walking shoes - I just wore them on the flight over to avoid carrying them. Trekking in the hills north of Chiang Mai is amazing and was probably my favourite part of the entire trip.
-Antibiotics for if you get an upset stomach - I didn't need them this time luckily but if you needed them you'd be very glad of them. You can get them over the counter easily there but the easiest way to get things in pharmacies there is to show them the packaging of what you were taking. Same for antihistamines if you tend to attract mosquitoes.

Everything mentioned above is good too. I got flip flops for 1.50 in Penneys before I went over and they served me perfectly. I brought my camera and mp3 player and also my phone - they don't have 3G over there so I wasn't stuck to my phone constantly like I am here, but it was handy to be able to check emails and so on using hotel wifi.

KenHy

rain on wrote: »

-Antibiotics for if you get an upset stomach - I didn't need them this time luckily but if you needed them you'd be very glad of them. You can get them over the counter easily there but the easiest way to get things in pharmacies there is to show them the packaging of what you were taking. Same for antihistamines if you tend to attract mosquitoes.

If your going to bring medication make sure you know how to use them. Antibiotics are unlikely to help if you have an upset stomach. Motilium would be a good bet there.

To the OP - as others said, less is more. Remember you can buy/wash clothes so you only need a few days worth at most. Good footwear, camera and rain gear would be my must haves. You should be able to get everything you need into a 40L backpack for a warm clmite like that. I always bring a smaller day pack too so I don't need to bring the full backpack around with me all the time.

rain on

Motilium did SFA for me when I was doing terrible things to a South American hotel bathroom tbh - I had TMB-prescribed antibiotics with me which I was reluctant to take but I rang the chemist at home and they told me to take them straight away, and I did and it cleared up. Any doctor here will be able to prescribe the right ones, and you'll be seriously glad of them if you do get sick.

killbillvol2

rain on wrote: »

I'm just back from Thailand and brought way too many clothes with me, most of them I didn't end up wearing because the stuff I bought over there was more comfortable. I picked up a few pairs of light trousers, vests and dresses when I got there and lived in them.
I was glad I brought the following:

-a good quality light rain jacket - though I think the rainy season will be over by the time you get there
-a small towel for swimming - you can get towels over there of course but I find most towels need to be 'broken in' before they dry you properly
-good walking shoes - I just wore them on the flight over to avoid carrying them. Trekking in the hills north of Chiang Mai is amazing and was probably my favourite part of the entire trip.
-Antibiotics for if you get an upset stomach - I didn't need them this time luckily but if you needed them you'd be very glad of them. You can get them over the counter easily there but the easiest way to get things in pharmacies there is to show them the packaging of what you were taking. Same for antihistamines if you tend to attract mosquitoes.

Everything mentioned above is good too. I got flip flops for 1.50 in Penneys before I went over and they served me perfectly. I brought my camera and mp3 player and also my phone - they don't have 3G over there so I wasn't stuck to my phone constantly like I am here, but it was handy to be able to check emails and so on using hotel wifi.

They do have 3G over there.
You can also buy antibiotics and practically all other common western medicines over the counter at a fraction of the price you'd pay here. Pharmacists almost always speak English and will know what to give you.

I'm with Meathlass on the packing - 7kg does me too!

rain on

killbillvol2 wrote: »

They do have 3G over there.

Welp - my mistake -couldn't get it on my phone and preferred it that way tbh! It's pretty new over there as far as I understand.

killbillvol2

rain on wrote: »

Welp - my mistake -couldn't get it on my phone and preferred it that way tbh! It's pretty new over there as far as I understand.

Not really. You could get it in major cities 4 years ago. It's expanded hugely in the last 18 months and you'll get good, fast coverage even in remote areas with True. DTAC is also widespread but not as reliable.