BootsnAll Travel Community

hi all-- we are heading to southeast asia for the first time and are curious if any of you have experience with slightly older kids and travel there-- my daughter is 9 and is a great traveler but neither of us have been to asia before. an adventure!! wondering about kid friendly places, elephants, WWOOF/ organic farm folks, shots/ vaccinations, getting around. i am in the early stages of planning but was just wondering off the bat if anyone has must-tell advice for us! thanks very much!
cheers-- julia and juno

I don't really have any specific suggestions at all - just go and have fun!! We spent a lot of time traveling that area when our boys were younger and it's a great place. It'll be easy - and a lot of fun!

Don't hesitate to go to Thailand with your 9 yr old - she will LOVE IT. We used tio live in Thailand so know it well... and came back from a 3 week holiday with our baby daughter in July... Thailand is easy to get around, and nice and cheap. Everyone loves kids and will generally go out of their way to help you out. pretty much everywhere is child friendly.
Bangkok is a great place to start. There are amazing temples (Grand Palace, Wat Pho and Wat Arun) and a trip on the river is a great experience to see a different side of Bangkok. And the shopping is amazing too... LOTS of malls and markets to explore (make sure you are in BKK on a weekend to go to Chatuchak Weekend Market... a MUST SEE) Yoru daughter will love to bargainand see all the different ways of being around BKK.
An hour out of Bangkok is Ayuttaya, which is the old capital. It has stunning old temples and is really lovely to explore. I would recommend going on an overnight trip to take your time and see it properly rather than a 1 day rushed tour from BKK. It is easy to get there with a bus or a train.
Kanchanaburi is a great place too... Thre is lots to see and do there - it is where the Tiger Temple is, if you are interested in that. You can also take ekephant rides, waterfall excursions, all sorts of things. Plus WW2 history. It is also easy to go there ona bus for a 2/3 day trip.
Your daughter might like to do a Thai cooking course. That is always fun. You can do that in many places...
Chaing Mai is lovely as well and very different to Bangkok. There is a zoo which is good and a Night Safari as well. And there are lots of lovely temples there and the Night Marcket is really good. From Chaing Mai you can do hill tribe trekking as well.
There are many many amazing beaches... it is hard to narrow it down. Most will suit you. Phuket is nice and has a range of different options, you can do a lot of activities around Phuket. Plus it is easy to get to. On the other side of the Andaman sea we also liked Ko Lanta and Krabi. And Samui is good as well.
As for health, you won't have a problem. Thailand has great healthcare and the hospitals are good if there is a problem... make sure your vaccinations are up to date. You won't need to fuss with malaria pills. It is easy to find over the counter medications like paracetemol if you need it. Take your own 30+sunscreen though, that can be hard to find. make sure you are ALWAYS sunsafe and have a hat.
Drink lots of water and stay hydrated = it is easy to get dehydrated and possibly get sunstroke...

You will have a ball. And your daughter will never forget it! Let me know if you want more advice!

I can second all the above. It is possible to get an overnight boat back from Auytthaya, which I enjoyed, stopping at small villages along the way.

In Bangkok, I'd also recommend the Snake hospital if your daughter would be interested in seeing snakes being milked for venom (my kids would love this!) and taking a water taxi around the small canals away from the main river, to see the houses on stilts.

You can get an overnight train from Bangkok to chaing Mai, which is really fun as the seats convert into bunks.

wow!! thank you for the vibrant and enthusiastic replies! i would love to hear more about the boat trips, the tiger temple and the snake hospital-- we are requesting some funding from the rotary club here in oregon and looking for some interesting projects for my daughter to explore--she is all about animals and reptiles so the suggestions were right on! thank you all! i will be getting back to you with more questions as the research and excitement unfold....again thanks for taking the time to respond, it is much appreciated!
cheers
julia and juno

Travel blogger Pam Mandel traveled to Vietnam and Southeast Asia pretty recently; she doesn't have kids but is sensitive to their needs.

Nerd's Eye View blogs SE Asia. Here are her SE Asia posts.

Have a great time!

Hey again


More info: In Bkk it is great to take a boat trip on the Chao Phrays river. There are a few different options... the best and easiest way to get there is to take the Skytrain to Saphin Taksin (it is the last stop) it stops right at the ferry station. When you get down to road, there is a ferry stop as well as lots of options for boat trips with a guided tour. There is the Chao Phraya Express hop on hop off boat, the ordinary ferry, or you can book a tour with the longtail boat drivers which will take you to a few different places along the river - Wat Arun, floating market, snake farm, and a tour along the canals. We did this last time we were in BKK and it was a good day. Lots of see but DON'T FORGET TO BARGAIN!

The Tiger Temple is in Kanchanaburi. I have been a few times. It is pretty interesting to watch the monks interact with the tigers and you can touch them as well. You can get there as part of a usual day tour - all the guesthouses in Kanchanaburi can help you organise it... Yoru daughter will probably find it interesting... it doesn't look like a normal zoo though... it is still a working monastery.

Let me know if you need any other suggestions...

Not sure how long you have to explore the area, but if you in the region, then maybe you should also head to Cambodia and see Angkor Wat... in Siem Reap. You can fly there easily from BKK and it is astounding. Totally jaw dropping.

Oh, if you and your daughter like temples, besides seeing the temples in Bangkok and Ayuttaya, and around Chaing Mai, there is also Sukkothai which is another old capital of Thailand. It also has amazing temples and interesting history.

I think there is an elephant rehabilitation place you can go to and see the elephants that is in Chaing Mai. It is easy to find elephant related activities, rides, and I have also given elephants a bath and feeding them. (that was in Kanchanaburi). Look for a place that has happy well cared for elehants though, not all places are like that.

I went on the boat from Ayuthaya to BKK with my parents years ago. I think they booked it through Trailfinders in London, but I'm sure you can book it through other tour companies. we travelled one way by bus and returned by boat.

The snake farm is officially called the Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute and you can reach it by skytrain or subway - it's not far from Lumphini park. the public milkings are only at certain times of day, so check in advance.

without wishing to sound like an advert (!) i'd recommend buying the Lonely Planet guides to Thailand and Vietnam as they've got loads of info. and I find them helpful in planning which areas to visit etc.

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