Flights & Taxi to the Hotel:
Flights from Australia can be as cheap as
$977 return, from the UK to Phuket:
£509. Check out
sky scanner for some good deals. The flight is about 9 hours 30 minutes from Sydney and about 10 hours from London. Make sure you get a window seat as you fly into Phuket, the
scenery is
breath-taking!
You can easily get a
taxi from the airport when you land, walk out of the arrivals hall lower floor and immediately turn right – walk about 40-50 meters to very end of platform. You’ll see the
metered taxi stand straight ahead – with a big sign, it’s difficult to miss! They will charge you a
100 Baht “airport tax”.. this is a
legitimate fee. The ride should be about
400-500 Thai Baht, unless you are good at haggling!
Internet & Wifi:
The Internet has blown up all over the place and you can rarely go traveling anywhere these days and not be totally connected to the entire world (otherwise known as Facebook). Places like Cambodia and Vietnam like to give away free Internet access, Thailand – not so much. Usually you have to buy something, like a coffee for example, to get a code which lets you log on. But the Internet is everywhere in Thailand. The Surin offers
free Wifi, so on the day of the wedding you can take pictures and upload them to Facebook straight away, if that’s what you’re into. I recommend (if you are so lucky to have one) bringing an
iPad, as it’s the best traveling companion which will give you the ease of use you need whilst traveling, whilst not taking up much space in your backpack.
Thai Currency:
The Thai currency as stated before is the
Thai ‘Baht’ pronounced ‘Bart’ as in ‘Simpson’.
Currently at the time of writing this:
100 Baht = $3.00 or £2.00. A massage will cost you around
200-600 Baht. Anything more and you’ve been ripped off! Food will be considerably cheaper, I recommend the street food – it can be as cheap as
50 Baht for a small meal. Here is a handy way of looking at the money:
- 5,000 Baht = $155.00 / £100.00
- 1,000 Baht = $31.00 / £20.00
- 500 Baht = $15.00 / £10.00
but if you want to do your own calculations, there is a link up top which goes to
xe.com which is about as handy as it gets!
Vaccination Information:
Getting immunised for a trip anywhere other than in the Western World is always advised. Personally, I did not have any vaccinations for my trip to Thailand and was absolutely fine – but if you air more on the side of caution, it might be worth reading
this website.
But don’t let it scare you – staying to Thailand’s many tourist areas is easy, just follow the white faces & blonde hair!
Language Information:
Thai people speak Thai (d’uh!) Respect them by saying Thank you:
‘khob-kun-Ka’ if you are a woman and
‘khob-kun-Krub’ if you are a man. Generally just uttering ‘Kraab’ or ‘Kaab’ whilst smiling seems to work. Just be friendly, they are gentle people who are happy you are there. The literacy rate is high at about 94% and the average Thai local will usually have a good grasp of English – so feel confident that they’ll know what you mean. For a more detailed look at how to speak thai, please see
here
Thai Food:
Thailand’s food is stunning. It’s simple, cheap and spicy! But they will dull the flavours down for the tourists sometimes at your request. The food on the
street carts is best, local produce made by local people following
family recipes, you can’t beat that. They also have
expensive restaurants serving basically the same food but for inflated prices, we tended to avoid this. Many places around the world try to copy the Thai-style, but this is the genuine article! For more info see
here and
here.
Transport Information:
Transport between venues in always available,
Tuk Tuk drivers will be happy to pick you up and drop you off for a minimal fee. Taxi’s can also be arranged easily, sometimes through your hotel – or mainly just by grabbing one off the street. The roads can get quite busy but don’t let that put you off. Thailand’s bus system is really good and daily travels from Bangkok to Phuket, we paid only £2 to travel for 3 hours from Koh Lak down to Phuket. Great info found
here and good airport taxi info
here.
Your haggling skills may have to come into play – I found that the best way to haggle a good bargain is to approach them with a deal
60% less than they ask for originally, but with a
HUGE, genuine smile! They respond well to niceness and do not understand heated confrontation, so don’t get mad – get smart.
Thai People:
Thai people are
naturally friendly – a mix of constant sunshine and a simple life gives them reason to be happy all the time! Thailand for this reason is called ‘The Land of a thousand smiles’. The country has a population of about 59 million, with some 6.7 million of these people living in the Bangkok area. Approximately 75% of the citizenry are ethnic Thais, 14% are Chinese, and the remaining 11% are mostly Indian.
Thai people are very religious and mainly follow the Bhuddist faith. They generally will bow to you as they greet you, it’s customary to bow back but usually a big smile will do! Like I said before, Thai people are quite placid and do not respond at all to violence or confrontation – so keep a cool head around them, just be smart with how you conduct yourself and you’ll be ok.
Visa Information:
Traveling to Thailand does not require you to have a specific visa, this is taken care of during your flight and upon arriving in Thailand, so there is no reason to worry.
Visitors who arrive in Thailand without a visa will be granted a 30 day stay if they have proof of onward ticket and adequate funds.
Lady Boys:
It’s a common fact that these bizarre people roam the area. Especially around the Patong region. Are they male? Are they female? I doubt even
they know for sure anymore. But usually, it’s just harmless showmanship (or show woman-ship?) If you don’t want to get involved with thier crazy antics, ignore them, try not to make eye-contact and
don’t let them take you anywhere!
Besides, it’s mainly just for show, anyway.
Climate Information:
Thailand is famous for glorious weather and pretty much all year round you will be treated to
sunshine and heat. Perhaps this is why the Thai people are so happy all the time? But that’s up for debate! The
dry season in Phuket extends from
November to April. The
green season is between
May and October. While there can be frequent showers during the green season, they tend to be of short duration and are often followed by sunshine. Temperatures year-round range from
25°C to 35°C (70°F to 90°F). Water temperatures are always a pleasant
25°C to 28°C.
Religion / The King:
Thai people are 95% Buddhist – and they take it pretty seriously. Unlike most of the western world they love to celebrate their religion openly with loads of colourful decorations, ceremonies, statues and temples. Every house & shop has a large shrine of some sort dedicated to buddah. Respect this by not taking pictures of it.
Thai people also love
their king, they put pictures of him
everywhere so please try not to laugh at or make fun of him – they consider this a great offence!