20 Travel Hacks for Thailand
Get a Wise card before you fly, grab an Airalo eSIM, always pay in Thai baht, pre-book your airport transfer, and use 12Go Asia for every journey inside Thailand. These five alone cover the biggest traps most travellers fall into.
If you have ever landed somewhere exhausted, got stung by a hidden fee, or spent twenty minutes at an ATM trying to work out why your card is not working, this post is for you. I have picked up these hacks across years of travelling and every single one has saved me either money, time or stress at some point.
I am still very much on my own travel journey with plenty of places still on my list and so much more to discover, but what I do know is that these tips genuinely work. I hope they help you as much as they have helped me.
💳 Money Hacks
1. Get a Wise card, this one alone could save you hundreds
If you only do one thing from this entire list, make it this. Wise is a free multi-currency debit card that lets you hold money in over 40 currencies, spend abroad at the real exchange rate and withdraw from ATMs worldwide without getting hammered by hidden fees. I have used mine across Southeast Asia, Europe and beyond and the savings are genuinely significant. Thai ATMs in particular will try to charge you extortionate fees if you are using a standard bank card and Wise cuts through all of that completely.
2. Get a Revolut card as your backup
I never travel with just one card. Revolut is my backup and it has saved me more times than I can count when I needed flexibility on spending limits or just a different card for a particular payment. Travel with both and you will never be caught out.
3. Always pay in local currency
This one costs travellers so much money and most people do not even realise it is happening. When a card machine abroad asks whether you want to pay in your home currency or the local currency, always choose local. Dynamic Currency Conversion can quietly add anywhere between 3 and 15 percent on top of every single transaction and that adds up fast over a two-week holiday.
📱 Tech and Connectivity Hacks
4. Get an eSIM before you land
Stop paying roaming charges. An eSIM means you are connected the moment your plane lands without needing to find a local SIM card or rely on airport wifi. I use Airalo for short trips as it is the most widely available eSIM provider and works brilliantly across Thailand and the rest of Asia.
11. Get a VPN if you are working remotely
If you are working from Thailand or anywhere abroad and need to access region-locked websites, banking apps or streaming services then a VPN is essential. NordVPN is my pick for reliability and Surfshark is great value for monthly plans.
18. Use AI as your personal tour guide
This has completely changed how I experience new places. When I visit a temple, museum or historical site I open ChatGPT or Claude and take a photo and ask it to tell me the history and stories behind what I am looking at. It turns any sightseeing into a conversation rather than a one-line caption on a sign.
19. Photograph the menu and let AI help you order
This is particularly useful in Thailand where menus are often in Thai or have very minimal English descriptions. Take a photo of the menu, ask AI to explain each dish, flag anything that might contain allergens and recommend the best options based on your preferences. Works brilliantly for wine lists too.
✈️ Flight Hacks
13. If your flight gets delayed then claim your compensation
If you have had a delayed or cancelled flight in the past few years you could genuinely be owed money and most people never claim it. Both Compensair and AirHelp work on a no win no fee basis so you have nothing to lose by trying.
14. Book morning flights whenever you can
The earlier the flight the less likely it is to be delayed. By afternoon and evening planes have already completed multiple legs and small delays compound on top of each other. This is especially true in Asia during wet season so book early and save yourself hours of sitting in an airport going nowhere.
15. Track your flight before you leave for the airport
Before you leave for the airport, go to FlightRadar24, type in your flight number and it will show you exactly where your plane currently is and whether it has even landed at your departure airport yet. This has saved me from sitting at a gate for hours more times than I care to admit.
16. Download your airline app
Every airline has their own app and in Asia especially, a lot of budget carriers are fully app-based now. Check in, choose your seat, track your bag and get real-time gate change notifications all without ever queuing at a desk.
17. The middle seat trick for travelling as a pair
If you are travelling as two people in economy, book the window seat and the aisle seat in the same row and leave the middle empty. The middle is always the last seat to fill. Worst case someone sits there and they will happily swap for a window or aisle. Best case you get three seats between two of you for the entire flight.
🏨 Booking and Planning Hacks
5. Get travel insurance, please do not skip this one
You need travel insurance. Full stop. For long-term travellers and digital nomads I recommend SafetyWing as it is affordable, genuinely covers you globally and I use it myself. For single trip cover, Visitors Coverage is worth checking.
6. Download GetYourGuide and use my discount code
I am genuinely obsessed with GetYourGuide for booking tours and experiences. From Phi Phi Islands day trips to elephant sanctuaries, Muay Thai evenings and James Bond Island you can find and book everything instantly, usually cheaper than booking at the gate. Use code ALLCHECKEDIN5 for 5% off all tours worldwide.
7. Book flights and boats in Thailand through 12Go Asia
For anything within Thailand including ferries to the islands, domestic flights, buses and trains, 12Go Asia is the only booking platform you need. I use it for everything from Phuket to Krabi and Bangkok to Chiang Mai. It shows all your travel options in one search and you know exactly what you are getting.
8. Pre-book your airport transfer
Nothing kills the holiday vibe faster than landing exhausted after a long-haul flight and getting into a battle with a taxi driver over the price. Pre-book your transfer before you travel and you will arrive feeling calm and in control.
9. Always book accommodation on the app, not the website
Hotels.com, Trip.com and Expedia regularly offer app-exclusive discounts that are not available on the desktop site. The apps have lower marketing costs so they pass the savings on and this can save you 10 percent or more per stay, which adds up significantly over a longer trip.
10. Use Klook for Asia-Pacific tours and attraction tickets
Klook is brilliant for experiences across Asia and is often the better option for attraction tickets and local activities in countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Japan. Worth having alongside GetYourGuide so you can compare prices before you book.
12. Use Wanderlog to plan and organise your entire trip
Wanderlog is the travel planning app I wish I had known about sooner. It is completely free and lets you build your full trip itinerary in one place. Flights, hotels, restaurants, activities and things to do, all mapped out day by day. You can forward your booking confirmation emails straight into it and it pulls all the details in automatically. It also has a map view so you can see everything plotted visually, which makes it so much easier to plan your days without backtracking across a city.
🗺️ On-the-Ground Hacks
20. Heart everything on Google Maps before you go
I saw this on a TikTok a few years ago and it is absolute genius. As you research a destination, heart every restaurant, cafe, bar, beach, market and attraction that looks interesting on Google Maps. Once you have enough saved you will start to see patterns about where the best areas cluster and where makes sense to base yourself. Wherever you end up you will never be far from something brilliant.
I hope these help you as much as they have helped me.
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Planning a trip to Thailand or already on the ground? Come and join the free Solo Travel Thailand community at Skool. Real travellers sharing tips, itineraries, and honest advice.
Happy Travels! ✈️🇹🇭