I'm going to Thailand next week. Looking for advice on clothing.
I'm very excited to be taking a trip to Thailand with my wife for our honeymoon.
I'm going to do some clothes shopping this week and keen to take advice from those who live in or have travelled to SEA or specifically Thailand before.
I'm going for a minimal approach, so I'll be taking as few clothes as possible and having them laundered whilst I'm there.
For underwear, I'm settled on stocking up on Uniqlo's airism boxers as they're already the most comfortable I've ever owned and I'm certain they'll hold up well to the tropics.
In that vein, I'm not sure if I should also go for the airism t-shirts, or if there's an obviously better choice. I hear lots of mixed opinions on cotton vs merino vs synthetics. I sweat too much for cotton, and have never got on that well with merino (outside of jumpers/sweaters). Given I'll only be there for a couple of weaks, I'm feeling that synthetics are the way to go. But I'm happy to be convinced otherwise.
For footwear I'm going to wear my Altra Escalantes. I'm currently training for a marathon and will have to do at least a few runs while I'm out there, so these will serve as my running shoes and for anywhere I might appreciate plain black shoes (or something more supportive than sandals). Otherwise, I'll be living in my Birkenstock arizonas.
I'll be packing two linen shirts, one linen trousers and then a couple of very lightweight shorts. Again, I'm avoiding cotton with the shorts. I have some ABC WovenAir pull-on shorts from Lululemon that I think will be very comfortable, but I'd be keen for recommendation for another pair or two. I've been told the pacebreakers from Lululemon are great, but not sure if an order from there will arrive on time.
I'm based in the UK, so any recommendations would ideally before for shops we have here, or international brands like Decathlon, Uniqlo, H&M etc.
I understand this is all very personal, but I like hearing different preferences.
There’s also Uniqlo, H&M and decathlon in Bangkok.
I’m spending a lot of time in Thailand, could give more detailed advice especially for koh phangan.
As for clothes, there’s a very slim chance you need long pants except for visiting temples. Not sure how it is in the north or why your route is but you’ll be sweating a ton. I would recommend a few shorts, so you always have something while washing the others. There’s laundry services all around, you either pay per load and hang dry yourself or you just hand your clothes in and get them back the next day (or that evening)
I mostly wear Hawaiian shirts because any t shirt I wear becomes drenched within minutes outside
I would not wear synthetic clothes because from my experience they make me sweat too much.
Wearing shoes and having a pair of sandals/flip flops is the best way to go for sure
You could go the classic route and buy a super lightweight elephant pants only for your temple visits. Saves you some space. People like to make fun of them, but tbh there really aren’t many people walking around with them anymore. Mostly Thais, because these pants are so airy and comfy lol
I haven’t worn anything longer than a t shirt since I’ve been here. The only exception would maybe be a sweater if you ride a scooter. I haven’t worn anything longer than a t shirt except for when riding a scooter with a super thin Uniqlo sweater
And somehow, I didn't stop to consider I could actually buy some clothes out there. Honestly though, I'd rather avoid going shopping whilst we're there. I don't like shopping at the best of times, let alone whilst on holiday! But this is very handy to know.
This is the only reason I'm packing my linen trousers.
Great to know. I've been told it's very difficult to dry clothes for the next day, thanks to the humidity, so planning to do the overnight service where available.
I will sweat horrendously either way. If I wear cotton, the clothes will just remain sweat soaked, where the synthetics will dry out at least. I would vastly prefer to wear organic materials, but I think it will be a disaster.
I really appreciate the advice.
Clothes will dry in an hour or two if you hang them in the sun though, so if you have two sets of clothes you'll be fine in that regard.
I have been living in Thailand for most of the last year and the comments by ali and loopdriver are spot on. I'll ad some following things, and forgive me if I ramble than more about clothes:
Sizes here in Thailand are very small. I wear an XLT in the US and wear a 4XL or 5XL here, when it even fits. Long sleeves are impossible, nothing is long enough. That's ok, because I haven't worn long sleeves or long pants in almost a year, it is simply never cold enough outside. Inside can be another matter, it can get COLD in some air conditioned environments, so the scarf Loopdriver mentioned can be nice. One should do as an emergency blanket for you both.
Thailand is, surprisingly to most westerners, a conservative country when it comes to clothing, PDAs and so on. Swimwear is only ok at the beach or pool, and having a coverup (especially for your bride-to-be) when leaving the pool is also a good idea.
Drugs (including cannabis), vapes (even tobacco), porn, sexual aids and anything else that is questionable are a no-no for bringing into Thailand. Some types of medications (opiates, amphetamines, benzodiazepines, etc) are seriously restricted. Leave anything that you're worried about at home or buy it here, the danger is customs and immigration finding it.
Speaking anything against the monarchy or king is punishable by very long prison sentences. Just don't.
Negative reviews online are treated as a combination of defamation and cyber-crime, and punishable by large fines, deportation and sometimes jail time. Truth is not a defense to the defamation charge. Take your lumps and don't give in to the temptation to post a negative review. You will only see a negative review left by a foreigner AFTER they left Thailand and never plan to return. When you view places in Google Maps, know that you're only getting half the story.
Do not go to the southern provinces of Thailand (Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat). I'd avoid the border provinces with Cambodia too, just in case the fighting starts again.
When are you coming? We're just leaving the "dry and not-as-hot" season and going into the "dry and hot" season, but "dry" is only in comparison to the "rainy" (read monsoon) season that starts in June. The worst of the air quality issues are probably past us, but having a couple of KN95 type masks on hand until you can buy more is a good idea.
Please warn your bride that most face cosmetics and moisturizers here in Thailand are skin bleaching, and to bring her favorites from home. Everything else is readily available, with the exception of high quality stick deodorant (at least from my US perspective).
Credit cards are accepted in tourist places but not in most smaller, local shops - you will want to have cash. The best way is to use your ATM card and withdraw the maximum amount (20000-30000 THB), as you'll pay the same 250 THB fee no matter how much you withdraw. The Krungsri (yellow ATMs) and Kasikorn Banks (green ATMs) are some of the higher limit ones and are very common.
Finally, welcome and congratulations to you both! Many happy years and smiles.
Thanks. A lot of your advice here is the first time I've come across much of it. Particularly the part about speaking against the monarchy and negative reviews. The latter could have really caught me out!
Today!
Just, what? This has prompted further research. I didn't know that was a thing.
Thank you!
I'm not going to talk too much about the different brands you could find in Thailand but as Ali pointed out Uniqlo, H&M and decathlon can be easily found. As far as i know Uniqlo and H&M are present in the main malls of Bangkok (and most likely outside too... i guess).
Anyway... talking about how to dress. Dress lightly because you will sweat a lot, expecially because we're going to the hottest period of the year.
A t-shirt and short pants are more than ok for everywhere you go. A pair of confortable sneakers because you will walk a lot and the state of the streets is ok but not everywhere...
If you're planning to visit some temples remember to use a t-shirt and not a tank top because you should cover your shoulders inside. For your wife, that day, could be better to wear a skirt that arrives to her knees. Usually if you dress less than that you could be not allow to get inside the temple or they will provide you something to cover you up... but the problem is that most of those things (skirts, scarves, etc...) are made with synthetic materials and you'll sweat more than ever.
If you're in Bangkok there is a nice difference between the hot and humid air outside everything... and the inside of everything where the air is cold and dry.
Take a light scarf with you, in particular if you're planning to use the BTS (a.k.a. skytrain). It's kind of useful if don't want to catch a cold... in thailand... during your honeymoon :)
Take a small backpack with you with some water.
...have fun :) !
A scarf is something I'd never have considered. Thank you!
Whatever you do make sure to get tropical mosquito repellent. I caught dengue in koh phangan and I don’t recommend it. Make sure you have good travel insurance (safety wing absolutely sucks, ask me how I know) because hospital bills can get expensive (around 800–1000 usd/day)
I would not bring birkenstocks. I would bring water-proof sandals with support like Tevas, which is what I brought.
I lived in Thailand for nearly 7 years. When I was off I usually wore a short sleeve button-up shirt and chinos, and when going to work I wore light suite pants and a shirt and tie, but usually no jacket. If you don't mind the dry cleaning bill, getting some nice silk short sleeve shirts (e.g. from Jim Thompson), that could be a nice option to be a bit stylish on your honey moon.
Mostly when I lived there a took a run outside in the morning to get a good sweat on, so that the rest of the day I would sweat mostly water so it just evaporates and doesn't get smelly.
For shoes I mostly wore Hush Puppy brand loafers when going to work, or their "Roman" style sandals without socks otherwise. They have them in the department store of any mall. I used those to the beach too as I find flip-flops kill my feet. I would skip socks and stick with sandals if I were you and only there for vacation, unless you're planning to go to western-style "fine dining" restaurants.
At the beach I also wore short sleeve shirts and so called "fisherman's pants" or "geng le", which you can buy at any market. I also get a dozen or so of those any time I go back, as they are also my lounge wear and pajamas at home.
A non-clothes related tip is that Thai is a very forgiving language for beginners, in that the grammar is quite minimal for simple sentences, so you can get quite far in every-day situations with only a few hundred words or so. Getting a phrase book and learning how how to greet people politely and so on will pay off.