Pack Light
What do you need to pack for Thailand. Not much, really! You can get almost any toiletry you need there. Where? 7 Eleven. They have more 7 Elevens than you can imagine! And they have everything at a reasonable price. And, most things are available in smaller quantities than we’re used to in the States. A tiny makeup sample will last two weeks, easily!
What you won’t find cheap or easily.
Tampons.
Now’s a great time to switch to the menstrual cup. You won’t be able to flush your tampon anywhere and you probably won’t find tampons on any shelf. If they do, there will be one maybe two options. Maybe. The bum gun is great for a midday refresh whatever method you choose.
Sunscreen.
Ok, they do have it. It’s relatively expensive, more like US prices which will be shocking. You won’t find reef-safe or sensitive skin or your favorite brand. They’ll have something like Banana Boat and that’s it. I like the spray stuff for easy beach reapplying and full back coverage and I prefer Coola brand. It’s reef-safe, great on sensitive skin, and comes in spray or lotion. Even the sport is good on faces!
Skin care…
…without bleach. Even deodorant often has bleach in it. Kojic acid is one whitening ingredient to look out for. Another hidden ingredient is mercury! Even recognizable brands like Nivea and Olay have whitening products on the shelves as well as local brands with things like Snail White. Avoid products without ingredient labels in English and avoid Kojic Acid, Hydroquinone, Calomel, and any variation of the word mercury (mercurio, mercurio chloride). Even my favorite Thai vegan cosmetics store (Beauty Cottage) had whitening products! That being said, the tinted face care available is much more affordable than similar UV protection in the States. I love the tinted Pond’s Magic Powder with UV protection for midday touch ups.
Things to buy when you get there*:
- Mentholated baby powder
- Tiger balm or menthol oil, for bug bites and sore muscles
- Local bug spray
- Umbrella or poncho
- Fan – handheld paper fan
- Sarong and/or elephant pants!
Day Pack*
My typical day pack that would cover beach, waterfall, wat, or night market like a girl scout:
- Phone: waterproof bag
- Camera: with plastic baggie, extra battery, lens cloth (use a beer cozy to protect extra lenses)
- Water bottle .75L for in town , add 2L bottle for excursions – if you insist on icy cold water, make sure it’s double walled or it’ll sweat like crazy
- Umbrella
- Fan
- Small face sunscreen 3oz and spray
- Bug spray 3oz
- Tiger balm or menthol oil
- Tissue pack
- Hand sanitizer
- Hanky – great for drying things or getting wet and tying around your neck to cool off
- Baby powder
- Cash, credit card, ID, copy of passport, list of emergency numbers**
- Pink bismuth pills – aka Pepto Bismal, generic is fine***
- Quick dry towel and/or sarong
- Light long sleeve top and/or UV sleeves
- Usual purse things: Chapstick with SPF, flossers, eye drops
*If you haven’t already, read the Culture post, Beat the Heat, Stay Dry and Shopping for more about these items or why I carried them around!
**Leave your passport in your hotel room safe or very well hidden. Keep a copy on you and some other form of ID like your driver’s license. Write down your emergency contacts and any medical conditions. Also put those in your phone. Most hotels have a business card with Thai and English, keep that with you and take a picture to keep in your phone. Thai tourist police is 1155 but only works if you have a local sim card. If you have a medical condition, use Google translate to print that out before you leave home, in Thai and English!
***Read Stay Healthy post for more info.
What to pack for 1-2 weeks or more.
You can play the color game if you want. Thai Buddhists have a color for every day of the week – on Tuesdays they wear pink. Natural fibers are best like light cotton, silk, and linen. Skip the black as it’s reserved for funerals and gets hot in the sun. (You may notice a lot of black in my photos, I was there during the year of mourning for the King’s passing. As teachers, ie government employees, we were required to wear black, or white on special occasions.) Beaches are super casual but still modest. Big cities like Bangkok and Chiang Mai are more metropolitan, even in the heat- think New York or San Francisco for a slightly more upscale style. However, you will still want to dress for the heat and wet!
Clothes.
- My long plane ride outfit – soft pants with pockets, comfy tee, light sweater, long socks, sneakers, extra tee and underwear in carry-on
- 2 pairs shorts or skirts (2″ above knee or longer, light fabric not jeans)
- 2 pairs yoga capris or pants (1 pair could also be travel pants) #
- 1 modest sundress
- 1-2 airy open-knit lightweight sweater (carry-on plane) and light long sleeve button up (chambray is great)
- 2-3 sweat-wicking tops or modest tank tops#
- 2-3 modest lightweight t-shirts or blouses
- 2 bras, no underwire!#
- 10 pairs underwear!#
- 3-5 pairs of socks, depends on your shoes#
- 3 pairs of shoes – cute but comfy flip flops, adventure sandals/shoes, slip-on closed toe shoe
- 1 modest bikini, 1 swimsuit, no cover-up (use workout gear until you buy a sarong there)
Pro tip: # Indicates all things I could wash in a bathroom sink if needed that would actually dry. There are small packs of detergent available at most stores, watch out for those containing bleach! You can usually tell if the images of clothes are colorful vs all white on the pack.
Pro tip: If your slip-on shoes do not accommodate even the tiny ped socks, you may want to invest in the travel size spray bottle of Lysol to spray your shoes with. It’s great for killing that stinky foot smell, especially when/if those shoes get wet.
Doing laundry is what turns this packing list from 1 week into more.
Location tip: You can also pay to have laundry done but it takes a full day turnaround at least – there aren’t dryers anywhere really! Make sure to ask for “no iron” otherwise you may end up with melted sportswear. It happened to me. I usually paid for laundry service a couple days before leaving one town for another, you get everything back folded neatly which makes re-packing a breeze!
What to pack it IN
Do I bring a wheeled suitcase or backpack?
Great question! It depends where you’re going and how often you’re going to move around. I had a small 23 L backpack that was fine for up to 5 days (my clothes are small!), in addition to a medium size messenger bag (which could carry all the Day Pack items above!). You may arrive to an island in the water. They will help you with a small suitcase but laugh at/with you for a larger one. It may be raining as you drag your wheeled suitcase around on unpaved roads, or backpack for that matter (yay umbrellas!). I found it easier to maneuver with a backpack – it kept my hands free and was easier on rough terrain, which was common. And it’s way easier to hop on the back of a scooter with a backpack than a suitcase! That being said, we stayed in budget accomodations and took budget methods of transportation to get there. The backpack did get hot on my back even with good ventilation, and I prefered wearing t-shirts over tank tops because of the straps rubbing on my shoulders. The backpack does mark you as a budget tourist immediately. However, a roller suitcase is totally doable, as you can see below. I saw them everywhere in every context, just make sure it’s no larger than carry-on size, that’s where it gets complicated!
Final answer? Bougie or budget, depends how you’re going to roll and how lightly you can actually pack. I like the small roller suitcase and small/medium backpack combo, personally.
Leave room to expand, because next I’m going to cover SHOPPING!
