For a lot of families we work with, Thailand is the first stamp in a new passport. It makes sense. The flight from Kathmandu to Bangkok is just over three hours, the food is familiar enough in its rice-and-spice logic to feel safe, there are temples everywhere, and the sea is the real thing, which for a landlocked country is no small matter. We have watched grown adults from Pokhara stand at the edge of the Andaman Sea in Krabi and simply not say anything for a while.
This post is the conversation we usually have across the desk in Thamel before someone books. Paperwork first, because that is where trips go wrong.
Step one: the visa (read this carefully)
Nepali passport holders need a Thai visa arranged before travel. Thailand’s entry rules have changed several times in the past couple of years, and Nepal is not on the visa-exempt list. Do not count on getting a visa at the airport in Bangkok, and do not trust a cousin’s advice from 2023.
How it currently works from Kathmandu:
- You apply online through Thailand’s official e-Visa portal (thaievisa.go.th), choosing the Royal Thai Embassy in Kathmandu.
- Payment is made by manager’s cheque from a designated bank in the Kathmandu Valley and submitted to the embassy. The embassy asks for a minimum of seven working days after that to process.
- Expect to upload a passport valid for at least six months, a recent photo, bank statements, a letter from your employer or business documents, your return flight and hotel bookings.
- Separately, every foreigner entering Thailand must fill in the free Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) online in the three days before arrival. It is not a visa. Ignore websites that try to charge you for it.
Our honest advice: apply at least three weeks before your flight, longer around Dashain and Tihar when half of Kathmandu seems to be heading to Bangkok. Rules and fees change, so please confirm the current requirements with the Thai embassy or with us before you pay for anything non-refundable. We help our guests with the paperwork as part of the trip, and we check it every season.
Step two: money
Thailand runs on the baht. Carry some US dollars from Nepal (exchanged legally against your passport and ticket at a bank or licensed money changer, within the current allowance) and change them in Thailand, where rates are usually better than at the airport. The small exchange booths in town, like SuperRich in Bangkok, tend to beat the airport counters.
Thai ATMs charge a flat fee of a couple of hundred baht on every foreign card withdrawal, so take out larger amounts less often. Street food, markets, tuk-tuks and boat taxis are cash. Hotels and malls take cards. A dollar card from a Nepali bank works well if you set it up before you leave.
And a small thing: always ask the price before you get into a tuk-tuk, and in Bangkok insist on the meter in taxis, or use a ride-hailing app.
Step three: choose your Thailand
Thailand is big, and trying to see all of it in one week is the most common mistake first-timers make. Pick two places. Here is how the main four feel.
Bangkok
Loud, hot, enormous, and much easier than it looks once you discover the river boats and the Skytrain. Wat Pho and the reclining Buddha, the Grand Palace (shoulders and knees covered, they do check), Wat Arun across the river at sunset. Chinatown at night for food. Two or three days is plenty for most people, and the mall shoppers in the family will want one of those days for themselves.
Phuket
The easiest beach. Plenty of Indian restaurants, everything organised, island boat trips to Phi Phi and Phang Nga Bay. Patong is the busy, late-night part; families usually prefer Kata or Karon. Our Bangkok and Phuket beach escape pairs the two and is the trip we suggest most often for a first time abroad.
Krabi and Ao Nang
Quieter than Phuket and, to our eyes, more beautiful. Limestone towers rise straight out of green water. Longtail boats take you to Railay, which you can only reach by sea, and to the islands for snorkelling. This is the place for couples and anyone who prefers a sunset to a nightclub. See the Krabi and Ao Nang trip.
Chiang Mai
In the hills of the north, cooler, slower, full of temples and night markets, and the place most Nepali travellers say felt most like home. Doi Suthep temple above the city, the old walled town, cooking classes, khao soi for breakfast. It is also where you will find the elephant sanctuaries, which need their own section.
Elephants: how to choose a sanctuary you can feel good about
Many places in Thailand that call themselves sanctuaries are not. The test is simple:
- No riding, ever. Not on a seat, not bareback “because it is natural.”
- No shows, painting or tricks. An elephant that paints has been trained with pain.
- Small groups, and the elephants decide. At a good place you mostly watch them walk, graze and bathe themselves, with feeding at set times.
- Be wary of bathing sessions where dozens of tourists splash one elephant for photos. The better sanctuaries have moved away from this.
It is less of an adrenaline experience than people expect. It is also, most guests tell us afterwards, more moving. When we book the sanctuary day on our Chiang Mai cultural and elephant sanctuary tour, these are the rules we hold it to.
Food, for the cautious and the brave
If someone in your group only eats dal bhat, they will survive. Fried rice, chicken with basil, grilled skewers and mango sticky rice are everywhere, and there are Indian restaurants in every tourist area. Vegetarians should learn the words jay (strictly vegetarian, no fish sauce) and mai sai nam pla (no fish sauce). Thai “a little spicy” is roughly Nepali “very spicy.” Ask for mai phet if you want none.
The adventurous should eat at the night markets. Cheap, fresh, cooked in front of you. 7-Eleven toasties at midnight are an unofficial national dish.
When to go, and what will disappoint you
November to February is the best time for the beaches and the most comfortable for Bangkok. March to May is very hot. From roughly May to October the Andaman coast (Phuket and Krabi) gets the southwest monsoon, with rough seas and some boat trips cancelled, though prices drop.
The honest disappointments: Phi Phi is crowded, Patong is not what the photos suggest, and Bangkok traffic can eat an afternoon. Plan around them and you will be fine.
If you are planning your first trip abroad and want someone to walk through the visa forms with you, call or WhatsApp us on +977 9851141663, or email peacejourneytravel@gmail.com. We are happy to answer questions even if you are not ready to book.
