Thailand Travel Tips From My Father-In-Law

My father-in-law is a seasoned world traveller having visited more than 50 countries! He has previously been an expat and has travelled for business and pleasure to different countries and an extraordinary number of cities.

We were lucky enough to have him and my mother-in-law visit us in Thailand during our seven continent journey around the world! Since he lived in Thailand for a few years as an expat, I was able to learn a number of Thailand travel tips from him during our holiday together. Many of these tips also translate well to other areas of the world!

Below are our favourite tips we learned from my father-in-law during our time together in Thailand.

When asking for directions, ask multiple people

If you ask for directions in Asia, the person may point you in the wrong direction as a way to “save face”. If they don’t know the answer to your question, they will try to cover by giving you wrong directions or making something up. When asking multiple people, you are more likely to get the correct directions.

Ask other tourists what they paid

If, like us, you are on a budget, you will want to shop around for the best price! And who better to ask than other tourists? As a bonus, you can ask them if the experience was worth it, what they enjoyed, and if they have any tips. If you ask other tourists for the price, you have a baseline of what the service costs and you can negotiate from there.

Look for busy restaurants and look at the patrons’ faces

When looking for a restaurant, our go-to strategy is looking for a busy place. If it’s busy, it must be good right? However, my father-in-law has a strategy of looking at the customers’ faces and assessing their enjoyment level. Not all busy restaurants have good food! If the customers look unhappy, move on!

Use local phrases to break the ice

Learning a few local phrases beyond “hello” and “thank you” goes a long way in negotiating. Little expressions such as “lower price” will usually impress the salesperson and work in your favour.

Lean in to create a connection

When I asked my father-in-law why he always leans in towards someone sitting at a desk, he assured me that it helps create a connection. I think he’s on to something, as lower prices and extra perks seemed to always come our way after a “lean in” conversation.

Hand money over during a negotiation

If you are haggling with a vendor in a touristy area, simply handing the amount of money you want to spend to the salesperson works wonders. Once they have the physical money in their hand, they will often agree to your price.

Go to main roads when hailing a taxi

In Asia, the roads can often be quite convoluted in certain areas, causing the traffic to become a nightmare! When hailing a taxi, it is always best to walk a few minutes to a main road. You’ll be more likely to catch one and you won’t pay extra money for the time it takes to navigate out of the traffic jam.

Bonus tip: Check the price with Grab (South East Asia’s version of Uber) first. This way, you get a better idea of what the approximate cost is and can negotiate a fair price with the taxi driver if he won’t turn on the meter. Taxis in Thailand are almost always cheaper than Grab!

So those are just some highlights of the many travel tips we learned from my father-in-law in Thailand. I can’t wait to travel with him again to soak in some more wisdom from his many years of experience!