Thai Travel Tips

A brief word on Thai words and Thai language: If you use simple English a lot of people can understand. Don't use negative questions or double negatives. Don't raise your tone at the end of a sentence to make a question, e.g. "This is yours ?", make sure to use a question word, e.g. "Is this yours ?". Use all good question words, how, where, when, who, etc. Don't use "OK" (more about this later).

• The Thai currency is called BAHT. Never "Bath" or "Bhat". In English we don't have a way to make a vowel longer or shorter. Baht should really be written "Bat" but we would pronounce it like the nocturnal flying animal instead of with a long A. Therefore we write "ah" for a long A and come up with "Baht".
• The island of Phuket is pronounced "Poo-get".
• The 3 wheeled taxi is pronounced "Doog-doog" not "Tuck-Tuck"; don't pronounce the g strongly and say it quickly. It's an onomatopaeic word, just think of the sound of it's 2 stroke engine when you say it.

These are my tips specific to travelling in and around Thailand. I won't claim to be an expert but this is my understanding of how things are and what the Thai way is.

• Don't stop to look at things at a market if you aren't going to buy. If you don't stop and still get the hard sell, just continue walking and say "No, thank you".
  • The more time you spend explaining why you're not interested is more chance to get distracted by some sales pitch and it looks like you are interested.
  • English people don't understand that if you're not going to buy something it is OK (and polite) to walk off. Flash a smile to be extra polite.
• Haggling is meant to be friendly, not aggressive. So chat with a smile and expect to come up from your starting price.
  • If they ask for 100 you are never going to get it for 20. They are thinking of a minimum of 80. If you insist on 20 you will start to annoy them because it is unreasonable.
  • If you are not happy with the final price then give up and buy from somewhere else.
  • Remember that if your price is too low no one will accept it because it won't be worth their time.
• You are meant to haggle, don't pay top dollar all the time. Any street price is open to some variation. If you don't haggle you are making other visitors to Thailand look stupid.
  • In my opinion haggling, or trying to, then agreeing on a price shows contentment. If you don't haggle, pay, then walk off in a huff then it's your own fault and the vendor gets little satisfaction. Remember, they are human too and prefer to see happy customers.
  • One vendor tried to get me to buy by saying I had "lucky money". I replied that she was right and my "lucky" 100 Baht was worth 200 Baht.
• Give money to beggars but not too much. A few coins are fine but if you give too much then you need to think about what they will do with that extra money. Get drunk, fall asleep on the road and get run over ?
• Ask pertinent questions to overly friendly people. For example, if someone says "Are you from London ?" you should ask "Have you been to England ?" Firstly, it's polite. Secondly, if they are dodgy then pretty quickly you can tell that all their questions are flattering and have no depth. If they are genuine, they will appreciate your interest.
  • One time I was approached by an extremely dodgy guy outside the Grand Palace, right next to a large sign that warned about overly friendly local people trying to scam tourists. He had big smile and said "Are you a student ?", I said "No. Which university do you study at ?"; he immediately walked off, but must have run in a circle because I came across him again.
  • As I was crossing the road near Pratunam in the centre of Bangkok, a guy who claimed to be a lawyer tried to strike up a conversation; he even shook my hand! He must have been a lawyer!
  • Wherever you go, some local person will come up to you and tell you that "you don't want to go to (insert planned destination), if you want cheap (insert goods name) you should go to (insert directions)". Rarely is it worthwhile going to this different location.
• Smile and talk to people but it's OK to wander on. Don't be cold but you are on holiday or travelling around and you have to be prudent how you spend your limited time.
  • I was approached by an old man in Chiang Mai who started asking me how much my shoes cost, told me the temple on the next street was the oldest in town, then demanded 60 Baht for the bus home! I gave him 10 Baht because he did seem genuinely poor; he said "mai bhen rai" (never mind) and thanked me.
• Tuk tuk drivers hassle you because they don't understand why you'd walk anywhere in the boiling hot weather. Seeing that you are a western tourist then naturally you must be able to afford it...
• Temples rarely close, if you get to a temple and hear that then it's worth checking out for yourself. Some tuk tuk drivers will say anything and often tell you a temple is closed but they can take you to one that is open.
  • Yeah, via that scam gem shop or clothes store he gets a kick back from.
• Thai people do go to the local places even if they seem touristy, not all the time of course.
• If it's too good to be true... it probably is. Also if it sounds dodgy... it is. Don't break the law even if "everyone else is".
• Respect the culture, holding hands (or more) in public is not the done thing. Despite the tabloid-istic reporting we often hear about Thailand, much of the country is practically Victorian in terms of public shows of affection.
• Thai people use talcum powder to reduce sweating and roll on anti mosquito balm all the time.
• Take long clothes for the night time. Wear thin layers.
• Eat often and light. Thai people seem to spend most of the time thinking about their next meal, although this could just be a snack or fruit.
• Supervise things. When you go to a hotel, restaurant or shop that has some kind of service then often you need to explain how it is you want something done. For example, if you find a hair in your noodles then ask for a new dish but don't let them take the old dish away (unless you want them to fish out the hair and bring the plate back to you...) Although there are a lot of well educated people you can easily find the waiter who will take a short cut.
• If you know how to wai then wai people of higher status than you before they wai you. If you know how to rab wai then rab wai when someone wais you. Respect works both ways. The old adage of "bow if you're bowed to" type of thing is wrong.
• Don't say "OK". OK does not mean OK. In English OK means many things: good, bad, medium, acceptable, I agree, yes/no?, etc etc depending on tone. In Thai, different tones are used for different words, not interpretation. In Thai OK only means "I heard you" or "errr".