Packing for Thailand and Phuket - for women

A few friends are planning to go to Thailand and have asked the all important question: "What should I bring?" Before we left for our trip, I tried to Google a Thailand-specific packing list, but came up short. So, for all the ladies out there who are about to embark upon a Thailand excursion I've compiled a list of things to consider. I did not list obvious items such as underwear, socks, camera, etc. These are items that I used or wished I had during my trip.

Accessories/Sundries

• Sunglasses (bring a back up pair, just in case a monkey steals a pair or yours break/get lost)
  
• Hat
• Sunscreen (face/lip balm)
  
• Bug repellent (FYI-They use Tiger Balm in Thailand for bug bites, or you could bring whatever works for you)
  
• Hand Sanitizer/Hand wipes (some bathrooms do not have soap)
  
• Kleenex packets (some bathrooms do not have T.P.)
• Small/pocket-sized towel/handkerchief (a lot of bathrooms have a communal hand towel, if they have anything at all). Also works great as a "sweat rag" if you're a sweater. Personally, I glisten ;)
• Small Tide or detergent packets
  
• Refillable water bottle. I didn't bring one, but I saw others on our trip with them. The hotel would provide 2 free bottles ( but glass bottles - inconvenient to lug around) of water, and it would have been nice to have a container to fill and bring on day trips. Our tour group provided bottles of water throughout the day though.
• Underwater camera (for Phuket)
• Electric/plug converters (although, hotels also have them)
• Neck pillow for the airplane and long bus rides
• A few snacks/power bars. I get hungry fast, so I always have something with me. Also great for when you don't like the food (airline food) or if a tour goes longer than anticipated and lunch is later.
• iPod!!!!
  

Clothing

From owning a street wear and snowboarding shop, I know that the basic rule of thumb is "cotton kills." In other words, cotton absorbs moisture and does not dry quickly. For humid, tropical areas your best bet to staying cool (and not smelly) is to get materials that are a mixed blend with wicking or CoolMax features. These features wick moisture away from your body and dry quickly. Perfect if you also want to hand wash clothing at the end of the day because the items will dry fast.

Tops

• Tank tops. If you are a tank-top wearer then I would also pack one of the following:
  
  A lightweight button-up shirt. I brought a white one and just rolled up the sleeves. It was great to have to throw over tank tops and sun dresses when needed. Or you could bring a short-sleeve (cap sleeve), lightweight cardigan to put over tank tops. I would avoid see-through versions or shawls with minimal coverage.

• Short-sleeve shirts/tops. I brought my yoga/workout t-shirts that have the wick/dry feature.
  

Bottoms

• Long skirt. If you plan on visiting the Royal Palace there is a very strict dress code. Ladies must have their shoulders covered (short-sleeve blouse or t-shirt) AND must not show any leg (No shorts for men too). If you don't want to wear pants (it's too hot for pants) I would recommend bringing a light-weight, long skirt or maybe even a sarong that you could wear over shorts.

• Knee-length shirt. All temples will not allow you to wear shorts, but you could get away with skirts that are at or below the knee. If you want to pack extra light, just go with the sarong idea above to go over shorts.
  
  
• 3/4-length pants. Great for all around. A basic color like khaki or black would be ideal to wear during the day and at night.
  
  
• Sundresses. I think it's always nice to have at least one that you could dress up or down. I brought a couple, but in hindsight, I should have just packed one or two skirts to match up with some tops for more versatility.
  
  
• Jeans. I brought a pair but really did not need them. I even wore them in the evenings a couple of nights and they were too hot!
  
  
• Shorts. Yes!
  

Shoes

• Flip flops. Perfect for visits to temples because you have to remove your shoes. Bring a pair that you don't care about because there are warning signs at some temples that say "beware of shoes," meaning there are shoe thieves. Personally, I like the flip flops with arch support, like Reefs or Chacos. They're as comfy as shoes, especially since you will be standing/walking a lot.
  
  
• One pair of comfy sneakers that aren't too hot. I brought Salomon amphibians and noticed that others in our group had something similar. You could wear them with or without socks. If you are a Crocs or Keens sandal person, those would works too.

• I brought a pair of sandals (flat ones and just a basic pair) to dress up sundresses for dinners. Flip flops work everywhere unless you are planning to visit rooftop bars in Bangkok at some of the nicer hotels, then you'll need an alternative to flip flops.
  

Misc.

• Light weight rain jacket or small umbrella.
• Swim suit
• Board shorts
• Extra small tote/beach bag -- great to carry your hotel pool towel to Phuket island/boating trips

Daily Pack

I had a messenger-style bag that fit the following for each day trip.

• A wallet with a copy of my passport, DL/ID card, money and one credit card. I would lock up my original passport and backup credit card in the hotel safe.
  
• Rain jacket (I would bring it on the tour bus, and leave it there during the day)
  
• Camera
• Kleenex, hand sanitizer, small towel, lip balm, small sunscreen
  
• Hat/sunglasses
• Small journal and pen
• iPod
  

Items I did not need:

• Small travel blow dryer. Some of our hotels in Europe didn't have one, so I thought to bring one this time. All the hotels had blowdryers.
• Jeans
• One too many books
• One too many shoes. Just one pair of flip flops, one pair of closed-toe/sneakers, and basic sandals will work.
  

I also brought:

• My laptop. However, almost all the hotels had business centers and there were Internet cafes everywhere. We would use my laptop to download photos every evening, update blogs, and check personal accounts, such as banking, etc.
• Extra copies of our passport, itinerary.
• Thailand travel book.

Also good to know:

• Tampons -- Few and far between at drug/convenience stores. Plan ahead and bring your own if you know you're going to need them.
• Bathrooms can be a "cultural experience" (see White Throne)
• Don't wear nice clothes when visiting the elephants. They will use their dirty, muddy trunks to sniff you in search for food.
• Monkey town. They will climb on you and steal what they can. While we were there they took an earring and a hat. They're also known to steal sunglasses and small items, like cameras. They are also brave enough to try and go into your pockets, especially if you have traces of food.
  
• Phuket boat trips. The rides can be bumpy, so if you are prone to motion sickness bring Dramamine. Dramamine would also work for the days when the tour bus trips take you on windy roads.
  
• Bangkok. The streets are dirty, so you will probably want to wear shoes and not flip flops, especially if it rains.
• If you plan on doing a lot of shopping, you might want to pack a small duffle bag that you can check in on your back. You can toss your dirty clothes in the duffle bag, and gifts/purchases in you original suitcase.
  
• Women are not allowed to touch monks.
• Watch your stuff when you are in crowded places, including temples.
• When you exchange your money, make sure to break up large bills into smaller ones, such as 20 and 50 baht. Also ask for coins. Some bathrooms cost 5 baht to use.
  
• You could eat and drink very well off of $40 a day.
• It's worth it to wake up super early to see local people make offerings to monks on the streets.
• For a cocktail coupled with a nice sunset or evening view, go to the rooftop bar at the Banyan Tree Hotel in Bangkok.
• Get lots of massages!
  

Thailand LOMO style

Before I left for Thailand I received my LOMO LC+A kit in the mail. I really didn't have much time to experiment with it, so I packed all of its contents in my suitcase and crossed my fingers for the best. In a nutshell, LOMO camera is an old school 35 mm film camera that originated in Russia. It's known to produce vivid pictures with lots of color saturation. If you've seen Fisheye pictures, the Fisheye camera is another version of the LOMO that makes all your pictures look like they were taken through a pinhole or peephole. I wanted a full format one, but I did get a tunnel vision lens, which is a wider-angled Fisheye. I didn't have a flash, so all my night shots were crap, and I forgot to adjust the focus lever so some of my pictures are blurry. I also got the "Krab" for it, which is a waterproof capsule and that's how we were able to take underwater shots. I'm happy the snorkeling pictures came out. I just ordered the ringflash and a tripod and hope to experiment more at my niece's birthday party next weekend.

Click below to see more pictures - the good, the bad and the blurry.

Thailand - LOMO

Thailand Unwritten

Here are some pictures from our last day in Phuket, Thailand, as well as some out of sequence images with captions for fun. Cheers!

And, by the way, we did sneak in one last massage the morning of our departure!

Our last Thai Iced Coffees.

And one last look at view from our resort pool.

And now for the unwritten part:

Dirty Beaches in Phuket:

Styrofoam, flip-flops, household trash...you know name it, it was washed up onto shore.

Sad sight.

The Road-Side Cafe

Serving daily: Organic, free-range, grain fed, fresh field mice and rat. According to Patty, this road-side cart is the happening place come happy hour.

Rest Stop #I stopped counting

While Mark was picking up a Slurpee and a bag a chips...

Patty and Nok were picking up dried and shredded pork particles.

She says, "Mmm, delicious! Especially over rice!"

Reclining, stretching, jumping Buddha.

Yep, they eat these four-legged guys too. Per Patty, she hears the black ones are tastier than the white ones.

The one behind Suzanne was after her ice cream.

Stopping to smell the flowers.

And taste the fresh bananas.

Hot from the humidity or the spiciness of the food?

Random tastes of Thailand

Alan Bond

Thursday, Sept. 25 –
James Bond Island - Canoe Cave tour

Our final day in Phuket before we depart tomorrow morning for a grueling plane ride. I met new friends today on our van ride over to the harbor. Selena, a 6-year-old Australian girl on holiday with her family, including her two older sisters. Today Selena and I took to the caves of Phuket via canoe boat. We were both excited and scared. The weather got a bit rough half way through when rain decided to visit us. After our first canoe/cave adventure, she turned to me and said with her cute Aussie accent, "Liza, were you scared on the canoe?" I replied "yes" and said, "especially in the dark."  She said, "I was scared too in the dark, but I was more scared when we had to go under the cave...I almost pee'd my pants." I thought that was too cute!

During our boat ride I got a chance to speak to the head dude, Alan. I asked him what happens to a boat during a Tsunami? Does it sink or sail? He says it rises. He told me that during the Tsunami he and a tour group had just entered through caves into a lagoon. Imagine a lagoon to be a hallowed-out volcano with water in the middle, and only one or two ways in or out during low tide. He was with a tour group inside the lagoon when the Tsunami hit. They were trapped inside for two hours with no way out. It was severe hardship for the town after the Tsunami. He said residents who were hit hard received money from supporting countries. For Alan, personally, the Tsunami challenged his home life. Because tourism was extremely low, he was out of work. He and the old wife went through some very trying times and in the end, she ended up leaving. Now he is a single dad with two students (children) at home, a daughter who I believe is 11 and a 9-year-old son. For him a typical day starts at 4:30 a.m. when we makes food for his students before he leaves for work. He leaves some spending money for his daughter and son, just in case they want to get a treat during the day. His daughter seems to understand the hardship. She compliments him on his cooking (before the mom did all the cooking), while his son still isn't in favor of it. When Alan returns from work, his daughter will often times still have the money he gave her that morning, whereas the son's allowance was spent by noon.

At the end of our boat trip I made sure to give Alan a tip, and I told him, "Alan, this is for your daughter, but not your son." He smiled and thanked me. It's people like Alan and Patty who really make a vacation trip come alive. Their stories, knowledge of the local people, history of the land and their personal stories are what makes Thailand such a beautiful country where everyone no matter how rich or poor is "Happy" (like Buddha as Patty would say)!

Our morning started off rough.  

We should have know it would end rough.

Super-soggy froggy.  It started to pour as soon as we got 

in this long boat to get us to an island.

Me, "Alan Bond 007," and Ritche.

That funny looking piece of rock is the James Bond island rock.

Lime stones.  I'd like to climb these bad boys.  Crack and arete on?

It cleared up for a bit while we were on the island.

My monkey friends would probably love to hang off of these babies!

I'm not sure about the rest of you, but when I've done kayak tours in Hawaii, I've never received more than a sandwich and granola bar.  Check out the spread that was included with our tour. Now that's service!!!

Later than evening, we revisited Baan Rim Pa for some cocktails, and then after a short restaurant chase, we finally settled at Baan Rim Pa's newer and hipper location, Hung Fat's. The ambiance was nice.  It's definitely set up for a lively music scene for hipsters, but because of the low season, we had to serenade ourselves.  The food was decent, but if you're looking for better food and a mellow ambiance, I would recommend Baan Rim Pa.  

The calm after the storm.

Ritche's best Gene Kelly impersonation.

Russ getting friendly with the ice sculpture. 

The bar at Baan Rim Pa.

Ritche's is a virgin.

My drink is almost empty.

Hurray to Hung Fat's for actually, really, truly being open.  (We went to 2 restaurants before based of a dine guide, one I actually made a 'reservation' for, both still under construction.)

Looks more like an airport hanger than a restaurant.