Your Guide to Getting Around Thailand

Photo courtesy of Tourism Authority of Thailand

Hello from Thailand!

My husband and I are in Thailand for the next few weeks on our honeymoon, and have been busy exploring the country.

When planning our trip to Thailand, my first question was how do we get around from places like Bangkok to Phuket?

As a road tripper, we would generally rent a car and go exploring. Even in Costa Rica we rented a car and drove around the country. Thailand is a little different. We’ve never driven on the left side of the road before, nor have we ever dealt with traffic like in Bangkok. When vacationing in places like Thailand, we prefer to enjoy the scenery and let someone else do the driving.

It’s really only taken us a few days of exploring to figure out how things work in Thailand. The first leg of our journey was spent in Bangkok; luckily our hotel was in China Town right near the water. We used the longtail water taxis to get around Bangkok and explore the various palaces and temples along the water. The water taxi costs about $0.50 to ride, and if you’re looking for an inexpensive way to see Bangkok, just ride the water taxi from the first to the last pier.

Palaces and temples you’ll find near the water: The Grand Palace, Wat Pho – temple of the reclining Buddha, Wat Arun, Wat Phrakawe - the Emerald Buddha and China Town.

Getting from Bangkok to Phuket:

We chose to fly down to Phuket with Bangkok Airways, it cost $180 and was just over an hour. You can also take an air-conditioned mini bus, but that will take about 10 hours.

Getting to Phi Phi Island

We’re heading there next week and opted to take the Phuket ferry over. It costs around $12-15 per person, and takes around 1-3 hours, depending on which sailing you choose. You can also rent a speedboat that gets you there faster, but that costs anywhere from $40-60.

Getting around:

Motorcycles are a popular means of transportation in Thailand. With so much traffic in places like Bangkok, many people opt to ride motorcycles as you can weave in and out of traffic easier. It’s also a cheaper means of getting out and exploring, rather than paying for a taxi. I’m not a big fan of motorcycles, especially in such a busy city, so we’ve opted to ride tuk tuks around the cities. Tuk tuks are similar to three-wheel motorcycles, but with a driver, and they’re a lot of fun! Tuk tuks generally cost around $6-7, depending on where you are going. We’ve used them several times to take us to various temples around Bangkok and Phuket.

We also choose to walk to many attractions. It’s a great way to get out and see the city.

Have you been to Thailand before? Leave a comment below and let us know what cities you visited, and how you got around town.