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Thailand with a suitcase - How impractical?
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crazyblonde-
chick
longtail driver
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I will be heading to thailand right after working for a professional company in china, so I will have a suitcase in tow.
How impractical is this seeing as I am planning to be a solo backpacker? Will I look like a total fool? Starting to wonder if its worth buying a cheap backpack when I get there and keeping the rest of my things & the suitcase in a storage locker until my flight home.
Any opinions would be great!
#1 Posted: 26/7/2011 - 22:32
Tilapia
under-employed
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Those bags with pull-out handles and wheels can be great, especially when you have one that meets airlines' carry-on size restrictions. But that convenience quickly evaporates when you are trying to negotiate the broken concrete and dog crap marked obstacle courses that are Thailand's sidewalks.
I wouldn't say that you'd look like a fool, but you may appear slightly out of place pulling one along behind you on a beach.
I'd get a small backpack and leave the case in your guest house. Most guest houses will store bags for you for free in a locked room.
#2 Posted: 26/7/2011 - 22:45
caseyprich
som tam seller
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I just traveled with my mom - and she brought one of those. I didn't like it in the smaller cities in western Yunnan. The pavement is just not even and you're hopping on and off curbs all the time. Backpack is much easier. I'd use the wheel bag for your trip to the airport and then ditch it in storage until you're done with the trip.
#3 Posted: 26/7/2011 - 23:00
MADMAC
mahout
Posts: 3999
Are you a hot blond chick? Because hot blond chicks out here are rare, and thus any foolishness in appearance would be thoroughly overlooked by any local inhabitants.
I prefer a backpack myself - for reasons cited above. But it doesn't make a big difference. You take the bag and put it in the taxi. Off load it into the hotel or guesthouse. When you move on, put it in the taxi. Put it in the bus. Off load it, put it in the taxi. Off load it put it in the guesthouse or hotel. It's not like you are going to be moving out at the point of a Japanese Bayonet to work on the Burma railway.
#4 Posted: 26/7/2011 - 23:26
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Victory in Pattani
SBE
mahout
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Unless you're planning to stay in really urban places like Samui or Chiang Mai, just buy a cheap backpack in Bangkok (the fake Alpine Lowe's are quite good) and leave your big wheeled suitcase in storage. It'll just make life a whole lot easier as well as helping you blend in.
It's not so much to do with looks as practicality. Sand on beaches is not designed for suitcases with wheels (and you may have to walk up and down the beach a bit looking for suitable accommodation).
It's easier to get on and off songthaews (cheap local open bus type transport) with a small/medium backpack than a great heavy suitcase with wheels. It's easier to fit backpacks into the limited storage on minibuses too.
On islands like Ko Tao or Ko Phagnan, the chances are you'll be using a motorbike taxi (if you don't rent a bike yourself). Motorbike taxi drivers are very skillful at carrying even large backpacks between their knees but large rigid suitcases are a bit more problematic on motorbikes.
It'll be lighter...you won't be lugging business clothes, shoes and other non useful things about.
Plus, you can use the backpack to carry any extra shopping home at the end. Lots of people find themselves having to buy an extra bag anyway.
#5 Posted: 27/7/2011 - 01:56
MADMAC
mahout
Posts: 3999
The best answer to this question is based on whether or not you plan on humping your luggage around. As SBE says, are you going urban or rural? Rural has fewer transport options and in many towns (vice cities) motorcycles or Songthaews (where did that spelling come from I wonder?) are your only option. In that case, a suitcase is really starting to get inconvenient. On the other hand, if that's not the plan, and you are going to stick the places with decent infrastructure, then it's not a big deal.
#6 Posted: 27/7/2011 - 15:37
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Victory in Pattani