How to travel to Thailand with children: plans to enjoy to the fullest

Thailand has stolen our hearts several times traveling as a couple, for many reasons, but its beauty and the fact that the budget needed to get to know it is more than acceptable, are two of the main ones.

So when the children arrived we said to each other: “We would have to go back to Thailand with them, right?”

And there are already two trips (hopefully the first of a long list) to this beautiful country with our two children.

If you are planning a family trip to this exotic destination in Southeast Asia, here are some practical tips and a list of places you should visit.

More information

Thailand for beginners

Something that always works, regardless of the destination of the trip, is to talk to the little ones about the country we are going to visit.

We try to introduce them to their culture, teach them what the typical food is there and what places they are going to visit.

This makes the children live the preparations for the trip with enthusiasm, and Thailand has a culture so different from ours that it gives for many hours of talk.

security and transportation

Without a doubt, traveling to this country with small children is completely safe.

Thailand is a country in which it is not necessary to take extreme precautions more than if we were to travel to any European country.

When it comes to moving between cities or even within them, there are many transport options, although it must be borne in mind that the same road safety measures are not applied as in Spain.

Children's car seats are often conspicuous by their absence.

abound ,

which do not have an Isofix anchor system (mandatory in Spain) or anything similar.

The authors of the blog Mola Travel with their two children aboard a Thai 'tuk-tuk'.

As in any trip abroad, especially outside of Europe, it is essential to take out good insurance with powerful health coverage.

With regard to vaccinations, if you have any questions, it is best to go to the International Vaccination Center in your city, bring your vaccination card and discuss with them the exact itinerary of your trip.

They will then tell you whether or not you need extra vaccinations to travel safely to any of the destinations you have in mind.

Children and Thai food

Thailand is a street food paradise

Eating at a street stall in Thailand is really cheap (around one euro or less) and generally safe (it's very busy).

The food is very tasty and is usually based on rice.

Chicken is another of its strengths, and you will also find fish from the area.

The

, based on noodles with vegetables, meat, fish or vegetables, is one of the most famous dishes in the country.

Both in restaurants and in the numerous street stalls (where you will also see insects, cooked or not), international cuisine options such as pizza are not usually lacking.

If you don't like spicy, ask if the food is

(mild),

(spicy) or

(very spicy).

As anywhere in the world, you will find supermarkets with all kinds of options.

Local fruits such as mangosteen, rambutan or lychees are delicious.

Drinking coconut milk at a street food stall in Bangkok.

The funniest visits

Bangkok is the gateway to the country, where almost all international flights arrive.

On the banks of the Chao Phraya River there are temples, stupas and golden Buddhas.

The most spectacular is the Wat Phra Kaew or Grand Royal Palace, a complex with a hundred buildings spread over 95 hectares, including the temple of the Emerald Buddha.

Not far from there is Wat Pho, with a huge golden reclining Buddha 46 meters long and 15 meters high.

Take a boat ride through its canals, climb one of the rooftops of its skyscrapers

To see the immensity of the city, taking a walk through one of its most characteristic neighborhoods, such as Chinatown, or getting lost in the many markets in the city are also good plans.

Now, how to do it?

The distances are sometimes long and the points are not always well connected by metro, so an alternative is a tour with a

(it is important to negotiate the price beforehand) or hire a guided tour of the most important points of the city (There are several companies that offer routes in Spanish).

Outside the capital, and summarizing a lot (our map of Thailand can help you a bit), we can divide the country into two, the north and the southern beaches.

The first has the cities of Ayutthaya, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, the area of ​​the famous bridge over the River Kwai and even the mighty Mekong River and many more interesting places that lead to a complete route through the country touring its temples and its culture. .

The roads are not exactly highways, so if you go with children (especially if they are easily dizzy) it may be worth hiring transport between cities and specific tours in each of them.

Visit to the Elephant Sanctuary in northern Thailand.

This part of Thailand, too, is rife with promotion of parks that promise to see elephants up close in the wild.

We recommend that, with this, you be careful and if you are interested, find out if they really are the elephant sanctuaries that they claim to be and in which responsible tourism with animals is practiced, or a simple tourist attraction where they are mistreated.

everyone to the beach

The other great attraction that attracts millions of tourists to Thailand are its beaches, in the south, both for their crystal clear waters and for the possibilities of diving at a very good price.

Of course, it will depend on the age and circumstances of each child and family in general to do this type of activity.

There are several very famous beach areas in Thailand.

Pukhet is the most touristy and crowded.

If you want something more calm, Krabi can be a good alternative, like Ko Tao or Ko Samui.

You can also hire a boat trip to the nearby islands.

More information in our Thailand video guide.

Adrián Rodríguez and Gosi Bendrat

have been authors of the blog Mola Viajar since 2008. Both on their blog and on their YouTube channel they tell how they travel the world in the company of their children, Daniela and Oliver.

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