- Summary
- Visa
- Population
- Crime
- ATMs - Cash is Needed
- Mobile Internet
- Taxis
- Food
- Bangkok
- Phuket
- Pattaya
A fast life strategy place. Lots of tattoos and marijuana coffee shops.
Has pretty much everything - great food, weather, beaches, affordability, bars & nightclubs, and accommodates every vice one can think of... 🙈
60% of tourists are return visitors and for good reason.
ThailandRedcat.com - excellent blog on all things Thailand for expats eg. best beaches, islands, nightlife, clubs etc.
Warning: if you suffer from any addictions - alcohol, drugs, women etc... do not go to Thailand - you can easily go off the rails with additions here.
Conversely, if you're a health & fitness foodie like me, Thailand is easily one of the best places in the entire world.
First world countries like the UK had free visa on arrival for 60 days after Covid to boost tourism but this has now been reduced to 30 days.
You need to apply for a visa if you plan on staying longer than 30 days.
“a number of foreign nationals have been arrested for a range of crimes in recent months, including UK citizens accused of drug smuggling” 1
I have personally met such British [immigrant] drug smugglers in Thailand. They've ruined it for the rest of us.
Immigration officials may also ask for:
- proof of outbound flight
- proof of funds for holiday (to ensure you're not going to work there)
Thailand's population is quite large at nearly 72 million people, of mostly natives (unlike the West).
Thais are surprisingly polite with hands together bowing, and they are generally happy to see foreigners coming and spending money in their country. If we were to apply the old saying "there is no greater flattery than immitation", then in travel there is no greater flattery than respectful tourism!
The Thai birthrate however has declined to similar to European levels:
Thailand's population has started to level off before the inevitable decline when the older generations age out:
Thailand is generally considered a low crime country, although it is not that low compared to Europe and the more developed countries of East Asia.
I would be more concerned with drunk expats out there than locals, although obviously look after your belongings to avoid petty theft too.
You will need cash, big time. Thailand is cheap but lots of places do not take cards.
The ATM machines are thieves and will charge you £5 to withdraw almost any amount of cash, so you may as well withdraw a larger sum so you get conned by them less often.
If they offer a conversion fee, decline, your bank may change you 3% but ATMs conversion fees are way higher.
I used True5G which has kiosks all over the airport.
You can get 30 days for around £27 or 180 days for around £30.
It worked out slightly more expensive than Airalo for 30 days but the 180 day deal is the best price for such a long duration that I saw and even beat the Airalo e-sim which I was using more at that time.
If you haven't already set up your card to prepay on the Grab app, you'll need cash.
- Grab - taxi app
Thai food is great - Pad Thai, Pad Ka Prow (more commonly called Chilli Holy & Basil in Thailand for some reason even though abroad they use its actual name - probably because they expect foreigners not to recognize the name), and Pineapple Rice are some classics to try.
Forget "juice smoothies", they're 10-20% juice, the rest is blended ice and sugar. If you ask for one without sugar you'll realize it tastes of nothing because it's so diluted. You're just drinking overpriced sugar water with a little fruit for colour. If you ask for one which is actually juice, they will ask for double the price. 🙄
The lesser juice culture is one of the very few points I would deduct from Thailand compared to somewhere like Dubai which is excellent for juices, as Thailand is more geared towards alcohol while Dubai is more geared towards alcohol alternatives like a wide range of fancy juices. Still, if you're willing to insist and pay extra, you can still get your fresh juices, they're just not the default.
Drinking coconuts may be a better stock option in Thailand, but don't have more than 1 per day otherwise you may need to run to the bathroom as they are a laxative!
Khao San road is the place to be.
It's buzzing even at midnight on a Sunday or Monday.
Plenty to eat and drink, with many foreigners partying.
Do not stay on Khao San itself or the noise will likely stop you sleeping as it is loud.
ChinaTown is another good area with many restaurants and street food, but mostly shuts down by midnight, and I found the hotel to be expensive at £50 per night.
Khao San road is best for travellers on a budget as it has more affordable hotels.
Mostly eat street food, it's way cheaper than restaurants which charge multiple times the prices.
- The Fat Cow Yaowarat - gourmet burger restaurant, the Fat Cow burger was good, fries were a small portion though. This is expensive for local standards at £8 for a burger and fries, that's 4x what you can eat street for for
This is the place to go in Thailand.
The 1980s and 1990s lives on here - live music of the greatest era in known existence. Take the person you love here.
I am never going back to the West after this.
You will need to fly to Phuket, even within Thailand.
Party central. Most people go here first.
- Bangla Walking Street - the centre of Patong - full of both bars and GoGo bars (Thailand's version of strip clubs where anything goes and you can take the girls home). Don't waste your time on the Russian strip clubs, drinks are twice the price of the Thai GoGo bars and you aren't taking the girls home unless you want them to demand your whole wallet like you're a simp. Quiet during the daytime, have a lazy afternoon drink after the beach, starts to pick up more around 6pm onwards until around 3am
- Banzaan Fresh Market - late afternoon to around 11pm this is the best place to eat in Patong, if not all of Phuket. Cheap street food, Thai food, Steaks sliced, Skewers, Sushi, Dumplings, Coconut ice cream in a half coconut with toppings like fruits is so good I started getting it every day
- Malin Plaza - the second best streetfood market, and best open at lunchtime, I get lunch here every day
- Bangla Night Market - the third best street food place in Patong, more expensive than the other two
- Fat Mama - burger restaurant when you need a break from all the amazing Thai food
- Pizzeria Da Moreno Patong - good pizza restaurant
- Kangaroo - bar with wifi where you can sit facing the road
- Harem - the best GoGo bar in Patong, likely all of Phuket. Take your friend here when you want to corrupt him, or your girlfriend if you want to test her
- Soi Seadragon - U-shaped road of wall-to-wall GoGo bars (strip clubs) with regular bars in the middle
- Patong Beer Complex - bunch of outdoor bars, it's not actually closed like Google Maps says
- Thanon Prachanukhro - more bars between here and the beach but less busy, more locals
- Big C - probably the best Hypermarket to restock your supplies
- Jungceylon) - mall, nothing to write home about, but if you need it, or just a reprieve from the sun
- Bangla Boxing Stadium / Patong Boxing Stadium - the first one, Bangla, is more central opposite my favourite Banzan Night Market and you can hear the ring announcer from across the street - definitely an experience to have while in Thailand. It's full of foreigners because £50 for a ticket is outrageous by local standards and one of the things you'll spend the most money on in Thailand
Peaceful beach with a night market with good food, fresh fruits and drinks.
Mostly Russian tourists.
- Kata Night Market - I eat here almost every day for lunch or dinner, good food, good prices
- Sugar Shack - good food, reasonable prices, a little higher than the food market across the road but very reasonable by Thai restaurant standards, busy, friendly accommodating staff
- The Pizza Company - good deep pan pizza when you need a break from Thai food, has wifi, open until 3am
- Pimwilai - bar with live music, free pool, comfy couches and wifi,
open late until 2am
- there is a bunch of bars next to it too if you prefer but I think this is one of the better ones in terms of location and setup
Busier bars than Kata, and similarly Russian tourists.
- The Garage - my favourite bar in Karon, very popular, with wifi and reasonable drink prices - I love the 1980s legendary American music they sing - it's even better than listening to Spotify due to the seriously heavy banging base from the band
- Sutin Bar - busy bar with live music with wifi
- Mama Jin - good food, prices and service
- Kiri Burger - burger bar with reasonable prices and drinks, closes early at 10pm for some weird reason, despite having prime seating on the Karon roundabout, with last order at 9:30pm
- Capri Noi - restaurant with steak when you need a change
- Wat Karon - Tue / Friday bi-weekly market of clothes and foods - time catching this it's great
Beach town that is virtually a brothel. Do not go.
But if you insist...
Getting to Pattaya from Bangkok will cost you 1500-2000BHT or you can just taxi to the bus station for 100-20BHT and then take a coach for 131 BHT, but annoyingly they'll charge you an extra 40BHT for a large suitcase, and 20BHT for a small hand luggage sized suitcase at boarding time.
- Tree Town Night Market - best street food place in Pattaya, good prices, my usual lunch stop, it's not only for nights
- Pattaya Walking Street - the main high street at the end of the beach, full of bars and GoGo bars (Thai strip clubs)
- Muzzik Cafe - live music bar
- Russo Touristo - Russian bar & restaurant with a dance floor
- Jalwa Club - best club in Pattaya along with Jannaat
- Jannaat Club - banging popular nightclub - weirdly these two Indian clubs are the most banging in Pattaya - I would never have believed it until I saw it as it's not like that in the West
- Boss Club - big nightclub, also Indian, 3rd best
- Club Panda - Chinese entry only, how racist!!
- Soi Buakhao - the main bar strip in Tree Town - you will get catcalled by Thai women from the afternoon onwards. The worst thing about this area is it's full of rough old English yobs. If one's only experience of English people was from here... then I'd expect Thais to hate the English
- Albatross Coffee Roasters - overpriced coffee shop with wifi
- Central Pattaya Mall - mall with wifi
- Terminal 21 - good mall with a good street food market outside