Grab
Grab Taxi is the Thai version of Uber. This is the safest and best possible way of travelling around if your not familiar with the area or your just shit at haggling like Antonio. Grab is very convenient, you can download the app that gives you a set price for your journey and will even get rewards for being a loyal customer. It even allows you to rate your driver and give a review. You can also pre-book your airport transfer but your better of booking it on the spot which worked out cheaper for us. Just bare in mind you will have to pay extra for the toll fees, this will not be included in your quote! Grab offers a wide rang of services from moped pick ups to taxis and food deliveries!
Taxi Meter
Getting into a normal taxi on the side of the road is not the safest way to get around nor the cheapest and can leave you vulnerable! But if you are going to get into a normal taxi for a short journey, get the driver to put the meter on so he cannot scam you into paying more than you should. Meter taxis are not ideal for long journeys, after the experience we had the driver charged us an extra 50TBH on top of the meter price. You can check out our first day in Bangkok getting scammed by the taxi driver. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pivaz_b97DU&t=1s
Tuk-Tuk Taxi
Tuk-tuks offer a fun and authentic travel experience. Its a must, when in Thailand you just have to experience this open three wheel taxi. Its one of the most popular ways of travailing short distances in Thailand. If you didn’t travel on a Tuk-tuk did you really go to Thailand? Set the price before you get in, HAGGLING is key or they will try to charge you more than a normal taxi.
Renting a Moped/Scooter
Renting a moped is by far one of the best ways we travelled around. It was cheaper than catching a taxi and easy to explore the islands and northern part of Thailand, giving us the freedom to hop on and off at the famous landmarks. It cost us 250TBH a day which was only £6.34 and had to return the moped with a full tank of petrol for 60TBH which was £1.52. When renting out a moped we did this through our hotels, you will be asked for your passport in case of any damages to the bike. We simple refused to give up our passports and asked if we can leave a deposit. Both times we were asked for a big deposit of 2000TBH. This is better than handing over your passports, right? Always take a video with the person who is renting out the moped to you and point out any dents and scratches. This is to be on the safe side and to get your deposit back! The mopeds are kept in the hotels car parks, this is where you will return it to. Driving a moped pass the limestone cliffs through the islands with the cool breeze through your hair and the wind in your eyes (FYI where sunglasses) was our favourite way to travel around.
Transport in Thailand
Water Taxi/Long Tail Boat
You are going to need to get on a water taxi in Bangkok if your doing the whole temple hopping thing and floating markets. Catching a ferry from island to island is easy and convenient. We did this by a long tail boat , there are no other ways of accessing the smaller islands such as Railay Beach, Hong Island and Pak Bia Island. Its cheap, easy and fast. The best part about travelling on a long tail boat is that you have the option of renting the whole thing out to yourselves. I can’t express enough to you guy you need to HAGGLE HAGGLE HAGGLE!
Renting A Car
We wanted to get a feel of what it could be like if we lived in Thailand so we rented out a car an headed down the smooth long roads into the sunset. (Thailands roads are much nicer than to drive on than ours) Renting a car was easy, we did this with Avis through Booking.com. We picked up the car from Surat Thani airport and drove 1hr 45mins to Khao Sok National Park for a few days, then 2hrs 20mins to Ao Nang and finally 2hrs 40mins to Phuket. Driving throughout Khao Sok and Ao Nang was fun and easy, driving through Patong in Phuket was a nightmare. Trying to find parking is impossible, its busy and congested. I enjoyed driving everywhere else but Patong and I highly advise you not to drive in Bangkok, because if you think Patong is bad then you should see the traffic in Bangkok.
Flights
Travelling from city to city and to the islands can easily be done by flights, which we did for half of our itinerary. We booked our flights through Skyscanner via Opodo which is the worst company to book with as one of our flights were cancelled, and they have still not refunded us our money back. (Do Not Book With Opodo) Our flights were very cheap costing us £20 per flight, per person and a 7kg hand luggage allowance was included. Each flight lasted around 1 hour. We flew with Nokair and AirAsia. This was quick and easy!
Tips
If your renting out any vehicle in Thailand you will need to get your International Driving Permit. This permit is valid for 1 year. All you need to do is take your full valid UK drivers licence and passport photos to the Post Office and pay a fee of £5.50. Its as simple and cheap as that! Otherwise you will be paying the Thai officers a little bribe, double or even triple the cost of the licence and if you hesitate this could lead to trip to the station. And yes we did get pulled over, lucky we were prepared!
