Living in Thailand: Practical Questions Answered

Reviewed by Greg Berryman, 7 September 2026

Some questions people don't think to ask until they're already here, or don't think to ask at all. This page covers the practical, slightly unglamorous stuff: water, food, mosquitoes, rainy season, tipping, getting around, shopping, and what happens if you or your partner dies or loses capacity here.

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Water Food safety Dengue fever Rainy season Tipping Getting around Shopping Death and capacity

Is tap water safe to drink in Thailand?

Tap water here is about the plumbing, not the water itself. It leaves the treatment plant to a reasonable standard, but older pipes and tanks along the way are inconsistent. Quality varies from one building to the next.

Brushing your teeth with it is completely normal. For drinking, bottled or filtered is just the standard habit, locals and expats alike.

It's cheap and everywhere. 1-baht refill stations sit outside most apartment buildings. 20-litre bottle delivery runs about 35 to 80 baht a bottle.

On the smaller islands, particularly Koh Samui, water sometimes comes from wells or a more limited local supply. Worth taking a little more seriously there than on the mainland.

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Is street food safe in Thailand?

Street food has a reputation it doesn't fully deserve. It's part of the experience here.

A quiet stall with food sitting around is worth skipping, there's usually a reason it's quiet. A busy one turning food over fast is generally the safer bet.

Ice is fine and not worth worrying about. It's factory-made and sold everywhere, including well outside these seven cities.

It's never happened to me or anyone I know here. If it ever does, a high fever, bloody stool, or not being able to keep water down for more than half a day is when to see a doctor rather than wait it out. Thailand's hospitals handle it well.

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Dengue fever in Thailand

Real, but it's not something long-term expats sit around discussing. Most people here would struggle to name someone they know who's actually had it.

It's mosquito-borne, spread by a species that bites during the day rather than at night. Cases climb through the rainy season.

Basic precautions:

  • DEET repellent
  • Screens or air conditioning
  • Clearing standing water near where you live

Symptoms are a sudden high fever, a severe headache, and joint pain bad enough that it's nicknamed breakbone fever. Worth getting checked if it happens, particularly with age or an existing health condition in the mix.

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When is the rainy season in Thailand?

Which rainy season you get depends on which coast you're near.

Swipe across to see all columns.

City Wet season Heaviest What it's like
Phuket May to Oct Sept, Oct Andaman coast, takes the brunt of it. Rough seas affect ferries and diving
Krabi May to Oct Sept, Oct Andaman coast, takes the brunt of it. Rough seas affect ferries and diving
Chiang Mai May to Oct – Short, intense downpours rather than all-day rain
Bangkok May to Oct – Short, intense downpours rather than all-day rain
Hua Hin May to Oct Sept, Oct Similar pattern, generally manageable
Pattaya May to Oct Sept, Oct Similar pattern, generally manageable
Koh Samui From Oct Nov Opposite cycle. Often driest exactly when the rest of the country is wettest

Rain can fall any time, often at night rather than the classic afternoon downpour. It stays warm through it, sometimes muggy, nothing like a wet season in Melbourne or London. Life carries on as normal.

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Do you tip in Thailand?

Not expected the way it is in the US, but appreciated.

  • Restaurants: often already add a 10% service charge, check the bill before adding more; if there's none, 5 to 10% is generous
  • Massage: 50 to 100 baht
  • Taxis and Grab: rounding up is normal, not required
  • Hotel housekeeping: 20 to 50 baht a day is a common gesture, not an obligation

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Getting around Thailand day to day

  • Grab: works everywhere on this list, and it's not just rides, GrabFood and GrabMart run through the same app for food and grocery delivery. Real coverage in Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Krabi, Pattaya, Hua Hin, and Koh Samui
  • Bolt: ride-hailing only, genuinely cheaper when available, but patchier, confirmed reliable in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, and Pattaya, thinner elsewhere
  • Lineman: started as a Bangkok food delivery app, now covers all 77 provinces, food, groceries, rides, and courier all in one app, often has small local restaurants that never made it onto Grab

Driving yourself needs an International Driving Permit or a Thai licence. Both are on the driving in Thailand page, along with what the fines are if you ride without one.

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Shopping and groceries in Thailand

Phuket and Pattaya both have proper designer retail, not just malls. Central Phuket Floresta carries Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Dior, and Chanel. Central Festival Pattaya carries Gucci and Louis Vuitton as well.

Bangkok is obviously the country's actual retail capital for this.

Chiang Mai, Krabi, Hua Hin, and Koh Samui lean toward mid-range international brands, Uniqlo, H&M, Zara, rather than luxury flagships. If a specific designer label matters to you, worth checking rather than assuming it's there.

What isn't in a physical store can usually be delivered anyway, and this matters for more than convenience. If mobility ever becomes more limited, home delivery is the difference between managing fine and struggling.

Lazada and iHerb both deliver nationwide, so imported goods and supplements aren't a Bangkok-only thing. For groceries, Lotus's delivers anywhere in the country and Tops offers countrywide delivery too. Both run proper stores in every city this site covers, not just the capital.

I use this regularly here on Phuket, through Lotus's, Makro, and Tops. I have also lived in Koh Samui, Krabi, Chiang Mai and Bangkok. Hua Hin and Pattaya are the two cities on this list I have not lived in.

It's a genuine, underrated advantage of choosing one of the larger hubs over a smaller town. Worth weighing more as you get older.

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What happens if you or your partner dies or loses capacity?

Thai law recognises a registered marriage. Cohabitation counts for nothing, whatever the length of the relationship. An unmarried partner has no right to inherit, to collect your body, or to act for you.

A will made at home does not reach your Thai assets on its own. Recognition here takes translation, legalisation and a Thai court.

An ordinary Thai power of attorney ends the moment the person who gave it loses capacity. There is no established durable equivalent. What replaces it is a court appointment, guardian or curator.

Only one original Thai death certificate is ever issued. It goes to whoever reports the death, who may not be the person who needs it.

The detail, including what your own embassy will and will not do, is on my other site, Affairs In Order Thailand.

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Something here not covered? Ask me.

Sources

Most of what's on this page comes from living it, not from research. Where a specific claim needed backing beyond personal experience, here's where it came from: