I touched on food safety in my last post Thailand: Food, Vegetarianism, and Allergies, and if you’re traveling to Thailand, that’s good information to have as well. This post is more specific to physical safety and well-being while traveling to Thailand.
Overall my experience with Thailand was that it’s very safe – or at least safer than I expected. I’ve traveled to Western Europe, Mexico, Costa Rica, and encountered more actually or potentially dangerous situations there than in Thailand. I had no issues with or threats of petty theft or violence or sexual impropriety, and rarely did I feel like I was in a potentially dangerous situation. Of course, that’s not to be naive and deny that things happen. A couple of weeks before I went to Thailand, there was political unrest in some of the tourist towns, including one that I went to. That put me a little more on guard while I was there but no more than I’m on guard around the United States with all of the gun violence there. I don’t mean to be political here but rather to point out that there are potential dangers everywhere. As someone with an anxiety disorder, there are times when that realization can put me on the brink of a panic attack; however, my philosophy has always been to make the most out of life and experiences since there are no guarantees of your safety even if you just sat at home. Anyway…
Let me start by acknowledging how little I blended into Thai culture. In addition to being blue-eyed and pale (thanks to living in the PNW), I had the brilliant idea of cutting my hair short and dyeing it platinum blonde just before my trip. I came to refer to it as “Kpop blonde,” but all jokes aside, I stuck out like a sore thumb. Typically this isn’t the best practice, and in some places, this can even be dangerous. Perhaps it was a little bit of a rookie mistake, but fortunately the attention I got was more related to amazement/amusement at the small, white, American girl with short bright yellow hair than actual targeting for crime, etc.
Blending or not, I did use a number of precautions, especially as a backpacker. I wore one of those “under the clothes” security belts almost every day; in my past travels, I regarded them as super dorky and unnecessary, and maybe both of those things are still true, but I was glad to have mine. I wore leggings and a big shirt most days (see: Packing Pros and Cons) and without pockets, needed the storage. It was also nice to have the most important things close to me, especially with a backpack out of sight behind me. I’ll concede that maybe it was a bit much – a couple of times, a store or hostel owner chuckled at how secure I was while pulling my passport or money out of the belt. It could be that it was totally unnecessary but not having to be overly anxious about getting my valuables stolen was worth it. I also locked (with TSA-approved locks, of course) the zippers on my backpack as much as possible, though this is admittedly more difficult on a backpack (especially the model I had) than on a suitcase. Either way, the most important thing is to not leave the more valuable items within reach of the outer pockets or on your back at all; if someone stole the water bottle out of my backpack, sure I’d be bummed, but I could replace a Nalgene much more easily than a passport or phone. Even if you don’t plan to lock your zippers, it’s a good idea to bring at least one padlock if you’re staying in hostels; many times they’ll offer lockers for each bed in a dorm room, and even though I’ve never had problems with fellow hostelers, again, the peace of mind is huge. Often it’s just deciding where your belongings are safer; I rarely brought my passport around with me because I had a secure place in a hostel room to leave it instead. Or, if I was in a situation where I wasn’t totally confident with where my bags were, I would leave it on my person. Keep in mind that most hostels and hotels ask for your passport when you check-in so it’s good to have it handy (See Thailand: Lodging). If I was going down to the beach, I took nothing of value; I tied hostel keys onto my bathing suit and took clothes and shoes that wouldn’t be the worst to lose (cheap flip-flops over Tevas) or just wore them in the ocean. Bonus points for me: I did find someone else’s long-lost pair of Ray Bans in the ocean so honestly, I made out pretty well in the scheme of things haha
Now, I didn’t buy it for this trip and really only used it twice, but I did have a cable lock that I used to secure the backpacks to each other and then to a railing; really, the only thing that prevented was someone being able to walk off with the entire backpack. If they really wanted to get something out of it, they could, but we made it more difficult with the locks and rain covers. I only ever left my backpack unattended like that in a hostel (before check-in time); we took our most valuables in daypacks down to the beach with us and secured our big backpacks as well as possible. Was it too much? Maybe. I have been accused of being a little neurotic haha but I keep coming back to it: I can’t enjoy what I’m doing and seeing if I’m constantly nervous about how safe I or my belongings are; if I can take a few extra steps for a little more security and less anxiety, it’s worth it.
The biggest pointer I can give is to, like in any big city or foreign place, be aware and to be street smart. I’m not an overly confident person, and half the time I was straight up lost in Thailand, but I walked around like I knew what I was doing and made a point to be aware of my surroundings. Possibly creepy dude following me? I’m going to turn around and make direct eye contact with him so he knows I see him. Carrying a daypack with my most important documents, money, and belongings? I’m going to carry it on my front so I can see it. Taking money out of an ATM? I’m going to put some in my shoe, some in my bra, and some in my backpack. As much as it pained me, I didn’t take pictures of a lot of things I wanted to because I gauged that the risk of taking my phone out and being distracted wasn’t worth it; that being said, I still took plenty of pictures and plenty of dorky selfies (see above…and below…and other posts). Honestly, I’m 5’3″ and probably zero percent intimidating to anyone over the age of 8, but I do what I can to be savvy and protect myself and my belongings. It probably also helped that I was traveling with a New Yorker who, despite her lack of size, is actually really intimidating in that “Don’t mess with me” way.
I have done solo travel but never abroad and won’t pretend to have too much advice to give to international solo travelers (except like kudos, you’re awesome, and blog about it so I can learn your ways). I think the gist is the same to make sure someone knows where you’re going and when you’ll be back. Even traveling with someone, we’d let each other know if we separated at any point. In the hostels I saw plenty of women traveling solo pair off with other solo travelers just to walk around town at night or get in big groups to stick together with at bars or clubs; there seems to be a culture of looking out for each other in indie and solo travel. And although there wasn’t much to be done from the East Coast of the United States, I sent detailed information to my parents about our plans for each day, our lodging, etc. so if, God forbid, something did happen, they at least had an idea of where in the entire country of Thailand we were.
I can’t speak on anyone else’s experience in Thailand; I was in predominantly touristy areas and didn’t go exploring too far off of main roads, especially not late at night. However, my encounters with Thai people were more in the realm of them actively looking out for my safety and that of my belongings rather than being threatening. Once I took a taxi from Kata Beach to Phuket Town, stopping at Big Buddha along the way; we were nervous about leaving all of our belongings with the tuktuk driver while we were walking around the site. However, he assured us that “bags safe in tuktuk” and stayed true to his word. Most of those in the tourist industry in Thailand seem to go out of their way to make your experience a relatively stress-free and positive one, and for that, I would truly recommend traveling to Thailand.
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