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What to Pack for Thailand: Our Handpicked Recommendations

Narmin Dhanani

For approximately $450 pp, we booked tickets without thinking twice and are now headed off to Bangkok, Koh Phangan and Chiang Mai in Thailand. A magical place (so, we’ve heard) for street food, endless outdoor markets and stunning views. Our itinerary is packed full; including a Thai cooking class, temple sight-seeing, Thai massages and hanging out with elephants in the jungle. As full as the itinerary may seem, it still came easier than creating a packing list for an 11-day trip to Asia.

Packing can be stressful, depending on how often you travel. We travel very often and typically last minute - thanks to the finance guru that is always looking for deals on thriftytraveler.com & momondo.com. With every trip, we come back with copious notes of what we’ll do better next time and packing is always on the top of the list. After going on several trips this year alone, we feel like we have a good handle on how to pack for different climates and situations.

Here’s a sneak peek into what goes into our osprey backpacks to help guide you on what to pack for Thailand for your own trip.

Vaccinations/Medical Supplies

Before you go on any international trip, check the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to see what vaccinations, medicines or advice they have for your travel destination. For this specific trip to Thailand we had to get three shots and a prescription for Malaria. Everything else we packed in our bags was in case we fell sick.

  • Typhoid Shot
  • Hep A Shot
  • Hep B Shot
  • Malaria oral prescription
  • Excedrin
  • Emergen C
  • First Aid

Mosquito Repellent

Mosquito repellent gets its own category. We are going to Thailand, a tropical climate, during the wet season. Dealing with mosquitoes is going to be a real challenge, especially since there is something in our blood that attracts them more than the average person. You would think we would be used to it living in Florida! Here are a few things we are packing for Thailand to keep those blood-suckers off!

Camera Gear / Electronics

Can we really call ourselves techy travelers if we don’t take some much-needed gear and tech? I think not! We typically try to consolidate all of our electronic gear, constantly asking…are we really going to use that? Is it just going to add weight to our bag?

Even after removing all unnecessary equipment, we are still taking quite a few things with us, including our new Sony a6000 mirrorless camera and our GoPro Hero4. This time we are leaving the iPad behind, which we rarely use in travel, and packing the following:

Essentials for your Backpack

After much deliberation and research, we recently purchased the Osprey Farpoint 55 Backpack and took it all through Europe. If you’re trekking on a long trip from city to city then this backpack (with some packing cubes) is really your best option. There are plenty of reviews out there that talk about its features including being waterproof and having a detachable day bag. If you are looking for a backpack for short weekend trips, this may be too big, however has plenty of room to fit the following:

Apps

Here are the most relevant travel apps for our trip to Thailand. Make sure to update all of our apps before you leave so that you don’t get stuck with an outdated version that’s nearly impossible to update on a slow mobile network.

  • Google Translate – download the full Thai offline option
  • Uber – or go by Tuk Tuk for a real adventure
  • Airbnb
  • SPG
  • Airline apps
  • Tripit
  • Priority Pass
  • USPS – while not an app, it is extremely helpful to have the post office hold your mail while you’re on vacation. This can be requested and completed online.

Makeup for Tropical Weather

Living in Florida for the last 4 years has given me a certain advantage on makeup for extremely hot and humid weather. I am constantly trying new products and I think I have a pretty good routine down for sub-tropical climates. 

Have you been to Thailand? What do you recommend to add to the packing list?

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