Guides
Practical guides to Thailand
Some questions come up wherever you go in Thailand. These guides deal with those rather than with any one place — food, transport, money, beaches, children, and health.
Choose a guide
The things that decide whether a trip goes smoothly — food, transport, money, beaches, children, health.
Thai food
A Thai food guide: the regional differences that matter, the dishes worth seeking out, how to order, and how to handle the spice and the tap water.
Read the guideGetting around
How to get around Thailand: when to fly and when to take the train, how buses and minivans work, island ferries, and local transport in the cities.
Read the guideMoney
How money works in Thailand: the baht, when you need cash, ATM fees, cards, tipping, and the scams worth knowing about before you arrive.
Read the guideThe best beaches
How to choose a Thai beach: the Andaman coast versus the Gulf, why the month matters more than the beach, and which stretches suit families, quiet or nightlife.
Read the guideTravelling with children
Travelling in Thailand with children: where to base yourselves, dealing with heat and food, transport and car seats, and what to avoid.
Read the guideHealth and safety
Staying healthy and safe in Thailand: water and food, heat and sun, mosquitoes and vaccinations, why scooters are the real risk, and insurance that works.
Read the guideBangkok to Chiang Mai planning
Combine Bangkok and Chiang Mai with a practical travel-day plan: compare flight and train journeys, luggage, station or airport transfers and hotel nights.
Read the guideThailand rainy-day planning
Plan a Thailand trip with weather alternatives: city areas, indoor visits, island activity changes, flexible tickets and a buffer before onward travel.
Read the guideWhat these guides are for
The destination guides cover where to go and when. These cover the things that decide whether the trip goes smoothly once you are there, and they apply in Bangkok, on an island in the Andaman Sea and in a village in the far north alike.
Each one is written to answer the question you would actually ask a friend who had been, rather than to list everything that exists.
The four things people get wrong
Almost every avoidable problem on a Thai trip comes from one of these.
- Underestimating the heat and the sun. Days are built around early mornings and late afternoons for a reason, and the middle of the day is genuinely punishing.
- Underestimating the distances. Thailand is a long country; the north and the deep south are a flight apart, not a drive.
- Riding a scooter without experience. It is the single most common cause of serious injury to visitors, and it happens on the first day, on a hill, without a helmet.
- Assuming the whole country works like the tourist beach you landed on. It does not, and the differences are the interesting part.
Good to know
- Currency
- Thai baht (THB)
- Drives on
- The left
- Time zone
- UTC+7, no daylight saving
- Plugs
- 220V, types A / B / C
- Emergency
- 191 police, 1669 ambulance
Common questions
Do I need to speak Thai?
Is Thailand safe?
What should I book before I arrive?
City and island guides
Travel and transfer partners
TravelBox works with licensed taxi and transfer services in Israel for the ground legs of a trip.