hello! I used to live in Bangkok for 6 years
I speak (although now probably rusty) and read Thai and have a lot of friends in Bangkok still.
We moved back home to the UK about 2 years ago and have since had a daughter who is now 18 months old. We’ve booked to return to Thailand for one month over January (husband works remotely), daughter will be 20 months old at this point and we’re super excited to come back home :)
We’ll be staying with friends in Bangkok for 10 days (feel super confident about this leg because I know the city so well!) and then have decided to spend the rest of the time in Phuket even though it’s a place we didn’t frequent much the 6 years we lived there. Our favourite places were smaller islands like Koh Talu etc. but obviously now our travels will looks different with a toddler in tow! I just can’t see island hopping like we used to being as care free anymore and I think Phuket is big enough to entertain a little one.
Any advice/recommendations for a family with a young toddler would be amazing! My parents will be joining us for two weeks which will obviously help massively.
I’d love for her to experience meeting an elephant. However I’ve always been against the camps that ride them. I’m also not interested in petting a tiger. I volunteered with the elephant nature park in Chiang Mai when I lived there briefly. Would love to know if there’s something similar in Phuket that can be trusted?
We’ve already booked a villa with a pool in Rawai for 5 nights as a starter with my parents.
We also intend to hire a car and hopefully a car seat (?!?) For the whole time.
My toddler is very easy going. She’s always just been happy to tag along with us. We live in rural Wales but make regular trips to London, we’ve also recently done a trip to NYC which she absolutely loved. She’s not particularly fussy with food. I cook a lot of Thai at home already. She loves animals. We do swimming lessons already, she loves the water but not at a level to swim on her own yet. Loves climbing, running, exploring. Loves a ball pit and a soft play.
My all time favourite thing to do in Thailand was snorkel days. Used to just pay a long tail driver a few thousand to take us out for the day. But I’m not sure this will be suitable now. Any day trips on boats that are kid friendly?
Thanks in advance! (Also please no comments about how this trip isn’t suitable for such a young child or whatever. This is a much needed trip to come back to a home and friends who we really miss & want to make it a yearly thing with our daughter)
