How to travel in Thailand - More than 10 Transport Options
Thailand is one of the most popular exotic destinations, a wonderful country, with places worth visiting.
Once you gethere, you will most likely not stop in one place and will try to make an itinerary through which you can discover as many beautiful locations in the country as possible.
In this article I come to your aid with a series of tips related to how to move around Thailand, both across the country and locally, within a resort or island.
And if you want to know more about Thailand, I invite you to read this article: Beginner's Guide to Thailand - Everything You Need to Know Before Going to Thailand.
Transportation to Thailand is usually the most expensive purchase of your entire vacation here. From Europe, the road is long, there are many hours of flight, and plane tickets are quite expensive, so if you come this far, I would recommend you to stay here at least for two weeks.
If you want to find out how we organized our two-week vacation in Thailand, go here: 14 Days in Thai Paradise - The Perfect Itinerary for Your First Visit to Thailand.
From Europe there are several airlines that fly to Thailand, with suitable stopovers, and in most cases, the capital Bangkok is the entry point to the country.
If you want to search for plane tickets on your own, here are some airlines: Turkish Airlines, Qatar, KLM, Lufthansa or Air France.
The price of a plane ticket differs depending on the period chosen, the offers found or how early you start your search. You can try different flight options, until you find the right one for you, but expect an average price of the plane ticket of 1000 euros, round trip.
After landing in Bangkok, it will be quite easy for you to reach any corner of Thailand with domestic transport. There are many domestic flights, and the prices are affordable, starting from 50 euros/flight.
How to travel in Thailand
I. How to get around in Thailand
If you come to Thailand, you will definitely want to reach several locations, so it is good to know what possibilities you have to get from one destination to another. In Thailand, the good part is that it is easy to be flexible and decide today for tomorrow that you will want to change your location. You don't always need to plan your trips long in advance, in general you will find means of transport easily, regardless of whether it is a domestic plane, ferry or bus.
1. By domestic plane in Thailand
Domestic planes are one of the most used means of transport to move from one location to another in Thailand.
Whether you are leaving Bangkok for the north of the country, or you want to come from Phuket to Bangkok, the domestic plane is the fastest way to cross the country. There are numerous daily flights, with different airlines, and the prices are quite affordable, around 50 euros/segment, with luggage included.
Some airlines to look for if you want to fly domestically would be: Thai Airways, Bangkok Airways, AirAsia or Vietjet Air.
2. By ferry in Thailand
A way of traveling that many tourists practice in Thailand is the so-called "island hopping", or going from one island to another. For this, the most used means of transport is the boat or ferry.
There are two options here, that of traveling with a ferry, a passenger ship, with enough space, which goes quite slowly, but smoothly, or with a high-speed boat, with which you arrive faster, but the road is not as pleasant. I would not recommend the speed boat to people with seasickness.
3. By night trains and buses in Thailand
Other means of transport that can be used in Thailand, to get for example from Bangkok to Chiang Mai or Phuket, are the trains or night buses.
These are generally cheaper than plane tickets, but you will spend much more time on the road.
You can search for transport options and tickets on 12go.asia.
4. By taxi or vans
On shorter distances, such as between Phuket and Krabi, you can also use taxis or mini vans.
Look for transport options and prices on 12go.asia.
II. Frequented routes in Thailand
Next, I will present you some of the most frequented routes by tourists, so that you too know how you can easily get from one point to another:
- Domestic flight - there are many daily flights between the two locations, operated by several airlines (Thai Airways, Bangkok Airways or Vietjet Air), and the flight lasts approximately 1.5 hours
- Bus - the journey takes around 12 hours..
- Domestic flight – Thai Airways, Bangkok Airways or Vietjet Air
- Bus
- Minibus or taxi - the trip takes about 3 hours
- Ferry - about 2 hours, and the price is 600 baht/person, with transfer from the accommodation included
- Speedboat – about 1 hour
- Ferry - approximately 1.5 hours, and the price is 450 baht/person
- Speedboat – about 1 hour
- Ferry – about 2 hours
- Domestic flight with Bangkok Air
- Domestic flight with Bangkok Air, Vietjet or AirAsia
- Night train
- Bus
- Domestic flight with Thai Airways, Vietjet or AirAsia
- Bus
III. Local transport in Thailand
Transport in Thailand is very well developed, organized and accessible. You have many means of getting around locally, which I will detail below.
1. By scooter in Thailand
I would say that the scooter is the most convenient means of transport in such an exotic destination. It's fast, you have the opportunity to reach places on your own that are difficult to reach by car or taxi and you're quite flexible.
At the same time, driving a scooter is not recommended for everyone. There are certain risks that scooter drivers take, the traffic is chaotic, there are many other tourists who also rent scooters and are inexperienced, and the traffic is carried out in the British style, on the left side.
In practice, you do not need an international permit, if the police catch you without a permit you will have to pay a fine of 1000 THB. On the other hand, in case of an accident, you will not be insured in any way if you do not have an international permit, neither medical nor material.
2. By taxi
The taxi is the classic way to move in cities, wherever you go. I advise you here to go with the device on, or to fix the amount of the trip in advance, so as not to have unpleasant surprises at the end.
3. With ride-sharing applications – Bolt/Grab
The most frequently used transport option chosen by us was with the Bolt or Grab ride-sharing applications.
We always found cars, quickly, and the prices were transparent and decent.
Bolt seemed cheaper than Grab, but in some locations we could only find Grab cars. Anyway, it is the simplest and easiest way to travel within a city or between resorts in Thailand.
4. Tuk tuk
The nicest way to travel, and authentic for an Asian country, is by tuk tuk. In Thailand it has become more of a means used by tourists, for the experience itself, and in Bangkok, for example, it is very popular.
It is usually more expensive than the taxi or Bolt/Grab. Also, be careful how you negotiate the price of a trip with the driver. I advise you to establish the price before getting into the tuk tuk.
5. Songthaew
Songthaew is a passenger vehicle in Thailand, a means of public transport, and it is quite cheap, a trip costs 30-50 baht.
6. With long-tail boat
Some places in Thailand are not accessible by land, such as Railay Beach in Krabi or various beaches on Phi Phi Don Island, so the only way to get there is by boat.
You can use in this case the longtail boats, as public transport.
7. Day trips
I would like to add something to the trips chapter. If you are going on an organized trip, it is good to know that pick up from the accommodation will be provided. A minivan will come after you to take you to the meeting point, and at the end of the trip you will be brought back to your accommodation. Pick up from the hotel and back is included in the price of the trip.
I hope that the information provided here will help you in organizing your vacation in Thailand, and in case you think I forgot something and you want to complete it with other means of transport, please leave a comment below.
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