Travel with Children
Best Regions for Kids
Ko Samui & the Lower Gulf
Older children can strap on a mask and snorkel Ko Tao without worry. Ko Samui’s northern beaches are popular with pram-pushers and toddlers, while Chaweng appeals to older kids.
Phuket & the Northern Andaman Coast
As well as the beach, Phuket has amusements galore, but steer clear of the Patong party scene. There are at least a dozen islands along this coast where families can frolic in the sea.
Ko Chang & Eastern Seaboard
Families with children of all ages flock to Ko Chang. Shallow seas are kind to young swimmers and low evening tides make for good beachcombing. Older kids will like the interior jungle, elephant camp and mangrove kayaking.
Hua Hin & the Southern Gulf
Hua Hin attracts an international crowd and has a long sandy coastline for pint-sized marathons and hillside temples for monkey spotting. Phetchaburi’s cave temples often deliver a bat sighting. Ban Krut and Bang Saphan Yai are so casual you can wake up and play in the waves before you brush your teeth.
Thailand for Children
Thais are serious ‘cute’ connoisseurs and exotic-looking foreign children rank higher on their adorable meter than stuffed animals and fluffy dogs. Children are instant celebrities and attract almost paparazzi-like attention that eclipses the natural shyness of Thai people.
Babies do surprisingly well with their new-found stardom, soaking up adoration from gruff taxi drivers who transform into loving uncles wanting to play a game of peekaboo (called já ăir). If you’ve got a babe in arms, the food vendors will often offer to hold the child while you eat, taking the child for a brief stroll to visit the other vendors.
At a certain age, kids develop stranger anxiety, which doesn’t mix well with the Thai passion for children. For the preschool set, who are becoming self-conscious but still have major cute quotient, we recommend sticking to tourist centres instead of trotting off to far-flung places where foreigners, especially children, will attract too much attention.
To smooth out the usual road bumps of dragging children from place to place, check out Lonely Planet’s Travel with Children, which contains useful advice on how to cope with kids on the road, with a focus on travel in developing countries.
Children’s Highlights
Of the many destinations in Thailand, children will especially enjoy the beaches, as most are shallow, gentle bays good for beginner swimmers. The further south you go, the clearer the water and where there are near-shore reefs curious fish will swim by for a visit. Please, however, be aware of rip tides and take all sea-related warnings with the utmost seriousness. Many of the beach resorts, such as Phuket and Ko Chang, also have wildlife encounters, waterfall spotting and organised water sports ideal for children aged six years and older.
Bangkok is great fun for those in awe of construction sites: the city is filled with cranes, jackhammers and concrete-pouring trucks. Then there’s the above-ground Skytrain and shopping malls complete with escalators (a preschool favourite). The city’s immense shopping options will appeal to the tweens and teens.
Kids on a train kick might like an overnight journey. They can walk around on the train and they’re assigned the lower sleeping berths with views of the stations.
Even the temples can be engaging places for children. The climbs to the hilltop temples are a great way to expend energy and some of the forested hills have resident monkeys and cave shrines. Merit-making at a Buddhist temple is surprisingly kid-friendly – there’s the burning joss sticks, the bowing in front of the Buddha and the rubbing of gold leaf on the central image. It is a very active process that kids can be a part of. Most temples also have a fortune-telling area, where you shake a bamboo container until a numbered stick falls out. The number corresponds to a printed fortune. A variation on this is to make a donation into a pot (or in some cases an automated machine) corresponding to the day of the week you were born and retrieve the attached fortune.
Planning & Practicalities
Amenities specially geared towards young children – such as child-safety seats for cars, high chairs in restaurants or nappy-changing facilities in public restrooms – are virtually nonexistent in Thailand. Therefore parents will have to be extra resourceful in seeking out substitutes or just follow the example of Thai families (which means holding smaller children on their laps much of the time).
Eating With Kids
Dining with children, particularly with infants, in Thailand is a liberating experience as the Thais are so fond of kids. Take it for granted that your babies will be fawned over, played with, and more often than not, carried around, by restaurant wait staff. Regard this as a much-deserved break, not to mention a bit of free cultural exposure.
Because much of Thai food is so spicy, there is also an entire art devoted to ordering ‘safe’ dishes for children, and the vast majority of Thai kitchens are more than willing to oblige.
In general Thai children don’t start to eat spicy food until primary school. Before then they seemingly survive on kôw nĕe•o (sticky rice) and jelly snacks. Other kid-friendly meals include chicken in all of its nonspicy permutations – gài yâhng (grilled chicken), gài tôrt (fried chicken) and gài pàt mét má•môo•ang (chicken stir-fried with cashew nuts) – as well as kài jee•o (Thai-style omelette). A mild option includes kôw man gài, Hainanese chicken rice.
Baby formula and nappies (diapers) are available at minimarkets and 7-Elevens in the larger towns and cities, but the sizes are usually small, smaller and smallish. If your kid wears size 3 or larger, head to Tesco Lotus, Big C or Tops Market stores. Nappy rash cream is sold at the pharmacies.
Hauling around little ones can be a challenge. Thailand’s footpaths are often too crowded to push a pram, especially today’s full-size SUV versions. Instead opt for a compact umbrella stroller that can squeeze past the fire hydrant and the mango cart and that can be folded up and thrown in a túk-túk. A baby pack is also useful but make sure that the child’s head doesn’t sit higher than yours: there are lots of hanging obstacles poised at forehead level.
Health & Safety
For the most part parents needn’t worry too much about health concerns, although it pays to lay down a few ground rules (such as regular hand washing) to head off potential medical problems. Children should be warned not to play with animals as rabies is relatively common in Thailand and many dogs are better at barking and eating garbage than being pets.
Mosquito bites often leave big welts on children. If your child is bitten, there are a variety of locally produced balms that can reduce swelling and itching. All the usual health precautions apply (Click here).
Children familiar with urban environments will do well in Thailand’s cities, where traffic is chaotic and pedestrian paths are congested. Thai cities are very loud and can be a sensory overload for young children. Be sure that your child cooperates with your safety guidelines before heading out as it will be difficult for them to focus on your instructions amid all the street noise.