The Mid-Lifers
Things to do before departure to thailand
Within 72 hours before landing in your destination, be sure to complete the Thailand Digital Card.
Be sure to register your out of country travel with your Government. In Canada, this can be done at:
download at home for use in thailand
There are a number of helpful tools that you should download at home in preparation for your trip.
Airalo: This is an e-Sim for roaming. We activated it as soon as we landed. It was very inexpensive and worked flawlessly for all of us while travelling. https://www.airalo.com
Grab: Can be found in your App store. This is essentially the same as our Uber app. Recommended over taxi's
What's App: Also found in your App store. This is how to communicate with restaurants, hotels and tours.
Travel Insurance: Do not forget this! If you need it (and we have in the past) you won't regret it. I always use Manulife Cover Me. When Jim found the need for emergency surgery in Paris, they covered all expenses, the cost of new flights home and all of our hotels for the extra week stay. Really useful. http://www.coverme.com
vaccinations
I had a consult with a Shoppers Drug Mart Pharmacist. ($35 each versus over $200 for a private clinic. We reviewed all the highly recommended and suggested vaccinations for all areas of our travel. We landed on:
- Typhoid, Hep A/B, and Japanese Encephalitis, and brought malaria pills and traveler’s diarrhea antibiotics. The malaria pills felt like overkill once we were there—Jim lost his, the kids forgot most days, and I shared mine with Jim until we left Bangkok. We did use the traveler’s diarrhea antibiotics, but mostly because we had the flu!
hotel bookings
Koh Samui: SeaDance Resort https://www.seadanceresort.com/
AoNang Beach: Deevana Plaza Krabi www.booking.com or https://www.deevanahotels.com/deevanaplazakrabi/
Railay Beach: SandSea Resort www.booking.com or https://www.krabisandsea.com/
KhaoSok National Park:
The Boutique Hotel www.hotels.com
Panvaree Hotel directly at https://www.panvaree.com/
However, hotel accommodations can also be booked with the agency that reserves all KhaoSok National Park tours. https://www.khaosokdiscovery.com/
Bangkok: Eleven Hotel Bangkok www.booking.com or https://www.elevenbangkok.com/
tours
Koh Samui:
The AngThong tour was booked viaTripAdvisor https://www.tripadvisor.ca/ Our tour was "Mr. Tu's Day Trip to AngThong Marine Park by Speedboat".
Thai Muay Fights ticket were booked directly at https://www.samuithaiboxing.com/tickets
AoNang Beach:
The PhiPhi Islands tour via TripAdvisor https://www.tripadvisor.ca/. Our tour was the "Phi Phi Islands Early Bird Tour by Speedboat "offered by Krabi Ezy Trails.
KhaoSok National Park:
The Evening Jungle Trek, Elephant Care Experience and Traditional Bamboo Rafting were all booked with to https://www.khaosokdiscovery.com/
All tours at Panvaree Resort were booked by the resort.
Bangkok:
Book Best Eats Private Midnight Tuk Tuk Food Tour by Bangkok Food Tours directly at https://www.bangkokfoodtours.com/
restaurant reservations
Koh Samui:
Baitong Restaurant, BananaFan Resort, Chaweng Beach rsvr@bananafansea.com
The Fish House Restaurant, Kimpton Kitalay Resort, Choeng Mon Beach https://www.kimptonkitalaysamui.com/koh-samui-restaurants/fish-house-restaurant-and-bar/
Bangkok:
Burapa Eastern Thai Cuisine: burapa_reservation@sritrat.com
Sirroco by lebua: https://lebua.com/restaurants/sirocco/
transportation
Rome2Rio: used globally to research routes and options. Safe for reservations. www.rome2rio.com
12Go: very popular for travel reservations in Asia. I used to book the ferry and van from Koh Samui to Don Sak Pier on the mainland. www.12goasia.com
Khaosok Discovery will arrange private van transport within all locations in the Park and to the airport. https://www.khaosokdiscovery.com/
Bangkok Airways: we booked from Bangkok to Koh Samui. I would recommend booking attached to your original ticket into Thailand if possible. I booked this separately which meant lining up for immigration. This ended up not being an issue, especially as our flight to Koh Samui was significantly delayed.
Thai Air Asia: we flew with this airline from Surat Thani (The KhaoSok National Park) to Bangkok.
There are many different routes to travel from Canada to Thailand. We chose Toronto - Vancouver - Hong Kong - Bangkok - Koh Samui. We booked this as it was less expensive for our Christmas Day departure. But we would not do it again. We travelled for 40 hours to arrive in Koh Samui. To do again, we would fly Toronto - Bangkok - Koh Samui, or to fly Cathay Pacific again, Toronto - Hong Kong - Bangkok - Koh Samui.
I booked: Toronto - Vancouver www.aircanada.ca
Vancouver - Hong Kong - Bangkok www.cathaypacific.com