Backpacking Thailand

If you’ve never been backpacking before, it can be difficult to decide what exactly to pack. Although you have no doubt packed for holidays before, packing for backpacking needs a slightly different approach, as what you bring has to cater for your needs for a long period of time and yet be easily unpacked, repacked and carted around from destination to destination.

Creating a packing list can be a very subjective matter, and you will hear conflicting statements on what is essential to bring and what can be left at home. For what it’s worth, here’s what I would pack (as a bloke) for a two month trip to Thailand.

• Clothes
  Lightweight, quick-drying, moisture-wicking fabrics are the way to go for the tropical heat of Thailand, so leave your thick denim jeans at home. Laundry services out there are ten-a-penny and are cheap as you like – you can get a kilogram of washing laundered, dried and folded for as little as 30p (50 cents) – so be ruthless with your clothes packing: bring less and wash more. For Thailand I would generally bring the following in the way of clothes:
  • 4 t-shirts
  • 4 pairs of boxers
  • 2 pairs of socks
  • 1 pair of trousers (thin material, not jeans)
  • 1 pair of swimming shorts (to double up as normal shorts)
  • 1 long-sleeved shirt
  • 1 wide-brimmed hat to keep the sun off your noggin

  This tiny selection will cover you for the beach, the city, at temples (you need to cover arms, legs and feet completely to enter) and for most activities you decide to undertake.
  

• Footwear
  The best option is to bring one pair of comfy open-toed footwear (such as flip-flops, thongs, jandals or whatever you may know them by) as well as a sturdier pair of closed shoes (such as trainers/sneakers with a good grip) for when you need to look a bit smarter or are undertaking an activity that requires some exertion. To save your feet from blisters you might want to look into more high tech sandals that provide more support, such as those made by Teva or Merrell, rather than just going with a cheapy pair of rubber flip-flops.
  
  

• Washkit
  A small washbag or washkit is essential to bring; ideally one you can hang up in the shower. Pack it with your toothbrush and a comb, but other than that, consider leaving it empty until you arrive the other end in Thailand. Thailand is home to dozens of branches of international chains of chemists, including the British chemist Boots of which there are two stores on the Khao San Road alone! So take advantage of the cheaper prices of products in Thailand and buy your stuff there instead. Things you’ll want to buy in Thailand will be: travel size shampoo, travel size shower gel or soap, deodorant, toothpaste, mosquito repellent (look for one with 30% DEET), sunblock, aftersun, a pot of tiger balm (to treat bites, scrapes, burns and pretty much anything else – it’s magical stuff), condoms (good news – they sell Durex in Thailand).
  
  

• Travel Towel
  Travel towels are small, thin and ultra-absorbent pieces of material. They feel a bit odd at first when compared with your nice fluffy towels from back home, but as a space-saver in the pack they are a godsend. They also dry much, much quicker in the Thai heat than a traditional fluffy towel does.
  
  

• Electronics
  I travel with an old iPod (which helps eat into long bus journeys) and a cheap point-and-shoot Canon camera. Travelling with an expensive SLR camera and collection of lenses is just asking for trouble, as is bringing a laptop, video camera or anything else expensive and/or fragile. Keeping it simple means fewer headaches. Don’t forget to also pack the relevant leads/chargers for your camera/music player and an electrical adapter that will cater for the plugs in Thailand. You shouldn’t need a voltage converter; most chargers can handle the full range of voltages you will find abroad.
  
  

• First Aid Kit
  Thailand has first-class medical care on tap in the big cities, so you needn’t go overboard with sterile syringes and the like unless you are really considering to go massively off the beaten track, which is unlikely for a first visit. Instead, prepare a small package with paracetomol (for hangovers/sunstroke), anti-septic cream (you need to be judicious at treating any simple little scrapes and cuts as they can go septic pretty quickly in tropical heat), anti-diarrhoea tablets (not a cure in themselves for gutrot, but good for ‘blocking you up’ temporarily if you need to travel), rehydration sachets (for maintaining the electrolytic balance after diarrhoea), travel sickness tablets (for those winding bus journeys), plasters (for cuts/scrapes) and any other medications, such as anti-malarials or regular prescriptions you take. As with your washkit contents, you can leave the purchase of your First Aid Kit items until you reach Thailand and stock up at a branch of Watson’s or Boots.
  
  

• Sleeping Bag Liner
  If you are planning to stay in guesthouses and hostels, you do not need to bring a sleeping bag with you to Thailand; leave it at home. What I would suggest you bring, however, is a sleeping bag liner. Available in cotton and more luxurious silk, they are extremely handy at keeping a layer between you and any dodgy guesthouse mattresses you may find yourself laying your head on. I rarely use mine – perhaps only two or three times per trip – but every time I do I am glad to have it with me.
  
  

• Travel Umbrella
  A small travel umbrella tucked away in your pack will keep you dry from Thailand’s monsoon should you decide to visit in that season, or for any storms or showers out of season too for that matter. It’s much more preferable to a Goretex jacket, which is bulky to pack, you’ll hardly ever use, and when you eventually do will use it, it’ll make you feel clammy in the steamy heat.
  
  

• Passport and Wallet/Purse
  Not things you want to forget! You may consider buying a nice passport cover to house your passport; it’ll keep it from becoming dog-eared. Don’t bring anything in your wallet/purse you don’t need; leave the multiple credit cards at home and just bring one debit card, one credit card, some of your home currency as an emergency source of funds and perhaps a driving licence. If you drive/ride out in Thailand, strictly you’ll need an international driving licence to accompany your home licence (although enforcement of this is lax).

• Other Odds & Sods
  Other random bits you might consider housing in your backpack are: a small alarm clock for those morning starts (may they be few and far between); a sturdy, secure padlock for your guesthouse door (if you don’t trust the shoddy one already on there); a torch/flashlight to cope with powercuts; a guidebook; another good book for the journey; sunglasses; earplugs (to keep the outside noise outside).
  
  

• Backpack (no bigger than 60 litres; ideally closer to 40 litres)
  Your backpack is going to be your house for the duration of your trip, so it’s important to take your time when choosing one. I’ve left it until the end in this list because ideally you would first amass all the stuff you plan to bring with you in one big pile (estimating for the things you plan to buy on arrival, if any), and then choose a backpack just slightly larger than the volume of your stuff.

  On my trips I manage to fit all of the above in a backpack that’s just 38 litres in volume. The joy of this size is not only its light weight ((less than 6kg), but also that its dimensions qualify it for carry-on luggage, meaning I can choose not to check it in to the hold of the plane if I want. This size of pack comes into its own on bus and train journeys, as unlike an 80 litre monstrosity your pack is always by your side and never in a bus compartment potentially also housing a little Thai kid going through its contents for valuables (it has been known to happen). If that sounds impossible though, a realistic goal to aim for is 60 litres, as that is a manageable size of backpack for a first-time backpacker.