Thailand Packing List: What To Pack For Thailand In 2020

A DSLR (Digital Single Lense Reflex Camera) is a great bit of kit to buy if you’re serious about upping your photography game. When brought together with a wide variety of different lenses, you have the ability to capture epic shots that are otherwise not possible on other devices.

Perhaps my favourite part about Thailand is it’s stunning natural vistas, and there is no better way to capture them than with a wide angle lense. We take ours with us now wherever we go and it forms a key part of our travel tech!

We use this camera almost everywhere we go when travelling. A lot of the time, when you are out and about on day trips in different parts of Thailand, you don’t want to be lugging a big DSLR camera around with you. Especially if you are on a moped. In that case, a handheld video camera like this is the best of both worlds as it allows you to capture some really high res photos, as well as great quality videos that can then be edited together.

I absolutely love our GoPro! And in Thailand, it is a must have in your packing list! Why? Well, because the coast of Thailand offers some of the world’s best snorkelling and diving spots. And if you are already spending all that money to travel Thailand and explore it’s underwater beauty, it’s worth having a great GoPro with you that’s able to capture those memories in stunning HD.

Full disclosure - We haven’t yet taken our drone to Thailand. Why? Simply because we haven't been there since owning one! Our first trip with the drone was to Sri Lanka a few months later and I instantly fell in love. A drone allows you to capture the most unbelievable photos and videos and we can’t wait to take ours on our next trip to Thailand. As always, whenever taking your drone travelling, be sure to do your research local laws and restrictions well ahead of time.

A smartphone is a key piece of kit in any Thailand packing list as it can be used for so many things! We use ours for dozens of tasks every single day, right through from navigation to picking up some cool photos to uploading stuff to social media. And the reason I recommend getting an unlocked smartphone is that you can then swap to a local sim when abroad. This is our approach everywhere in Asia, as local sims are cheap and allow you to stay connected wherever you go. Which is important if you’re out exploring on a moped for the day and suddenly need the internet to help you get home.

Our laptops come with us everywhere we travel, as we are full time digital nomads and like to keep the blog as up to date as possible when on the road. That being said, plenty of other travellers, not working, still take a laptop with them to stay in touch with family back home, for keeping up to date with Netflix and also editing photos and videos from their travels. Whatever you plan on using it for, I recommend getting a laptop that is as small and lightweight as possible. But don’t worry that doesn’t mean splashing out thousands for the latest Apple Macbook Air. Nowadays, you can get a lot more from your money from brands like Asus and HP.

If you’re planning on capturing lots of videos and images when away, like us, then having a hard drive can be a lifesaver! We use ours to back up all of our new content, just in case anything did go missing, so we don’t lose all of our hard work.

With so many different gadgets, you’re going to need plenty of good memory cards as well. Sandisk have always proved top notch for us; but think carefully before buying as not all memory cards are the same. For example, if you’re shooting in 2.7k or 4k on a drone, then you need a memory card powerful enough to handle such high quality footage. Also, an 8GB memory card will soon get filled, so you may want to consider 32GB and above.

We had actually been travelling for about a year before we thought to buy one of these! With so many memory cards floating around, it’s so easy for them to go missing or get damaged; which is gutting when you know they’re filled with so much great stuff! A hard case helps you to organise your memory cards and keep them safe and dry when not in use.

In Thailand, you’ll constantly find yourself out and about on epic day trips, discovering waterfalls, crazy rock formations, rice paddies and temples. A power bank is an essential thing to pack for Thailand so that you can be sure your devices never run out of charge halfway through the day. A solar-powered power bank is best as you can clip it to the front of your day bag and it can stay charged all day long, ready for when you need it.

If you want to up your photography game a little further, then a tripod is an invaluable piece of kit for Thailand. Allowing you to capture much better quality shots.

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a piece of software that allows us to maintain access to all of the websites that we would normally use back home in England. Thailand blocks a number of foreign sites, and a VPN allows you to mask your local IP and instead give you access to sites from any location in the world.