Thailand Travel Health

With Thailand Travel Plan you can build your own Thailand trip using our bite-sized Thailand tours or ready-made Thailand holidays.

Before you travel, it's important to be aware of any potential health risks you may be exposed to during your travels. Here, you'll find some suggestions for preventative measures that you can take.

Thailand Travel Plan has taken the greatest care to ensure that the contents of these pages are accurate. However, we advise customers to talk to their GP for the latest information before leaving on their trip.

Thailand Travel Health: Before leaving the UK

Prescription Medicines and Eye-wear

If you are currently taking prescription medicines, take the instruction leaflet with you, and some spare medicine so that on your Thailand holiday, there is (a) no doubt that you are not a drug abuser and (b) if you were unfortunate enough to lose your medication. It makes life a lot easier when you're in a Thai pharmacy, trying to explain exactly which medicine it was and what it was for, because the marketing name may vary from country to country but the chemist will understand the written chemical contents.

If you wear glasses or use contact lenses, take a copy of the optician’s written results of your last examination, extra glasses or spare lenses with you on your Thailand holiday. Prescription diving masks are available for purchase or hire in most dive shops and diving schools.

Thailand Travel Health - Beautiful beaches

Thailand Travel Health - Your own Thailand adventure

Vaccinations

Contact a medical centre specialising in tropical diseases before you leave (e.g. a hospital or specialist advice centre in larger cities). A ‘last minute’ Thailand holiday should provide no problem to an already healthy person provided that your departure airport has a ‘walk in’ medical facility. Always carry your vaccinations booklet with you. It is very important that the medical centre providing the vaccination has regular contact with the NHS advisors on Tropical Diseases.
Below are recommended websites with information about vaccinations.
www.fitfortravel
www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk
www.tripprep.com
The summary of information below is aimed at the traveller who is healthy, not pregnant, and plans to stay in Thailand less than a month. Make sure that you get up-to-date Thailand travel health information for your personal circumstances before you embark on your Thailand tour.

Malaria

Malaria occurs in Thailand, principally in the northern border areas and on the islands of Ko Chang and Ko Samet. Malaria is generally not a big problem in Thailand, however the few malaria parasites there are, are resistant to the normal anti-malaria (prophylactics) medicines. It makes sense then to reduce the risk by taking preventive measures without swallowing malaria prophylactics.

Measures such as covering your arms, legs and feet in the evening, and spreading an anti-mosquito cream (containing DEET) on exposed areas of skin and sleeping under a mosquito net. You can also impregnate the mosquito net with an insecticide. Make sure that you always have something to hand to suspend your mosquito net from. If despite all measures, you find yourself with flu-like symptoms lasting longer than two days, seek the advice of a medical doctor to rule out malaria. This also applies for the first two months after your return to the UK from your Thailand trip.

Thailand Travel Health - Bathing elephants

Thailand Travel Health - Sailing on rivers

DTP, Hepatitis A and B

Vaccinations against DTP (diphtheria, tetanus and polio; valid for about 10 years) and hepatitis B are advised. Most people had a DTP vaccination as a child. You can safely travel with a booster in this case. The normal injection with hepatitis A anti-body has a limited effective period, and therefore it makes good sense to have this vaccination just before your Thailand holiday begins.

If you travel frequently to a country where hepatitis A is present, or plan to stay longer in tropical countries, you should opt for a vaccination with a longer effective period. Keep in mind that long-term vaccinations are more expensive and still require a booster after six months. Vaccination against enteric fever is advised if you plan to stay in Thailand longer than three months. Vaccination against yellow fever is only advised if you have been in an infected area prior to travelling to Thailand.

Dengue fever and Japanese B encephalitis

Both of these diseases are carried by mosquitoes, so you can take the same preventative measures as for malaria. These mosquitoes bite during the daytime and under artificial light. For more information about these diseases, and the status of any epidemics, you're advised to seek the advice of the NHS or suitable medical institution before you leave on your Thailand tour.

There is no vaccine against dengue, however, there is for Japanese B encephalitis, which is advised, if you are going to be in Asia for longer than six months.

You can assemble your own tropical first aid kit or buy a ready-made kit. We advise you to obtain a book on how to stay healthy in the tropics, which will contain information about contents of a first aid kit before you embark on your Thailand holiday. Sites like travelhealth.co.uk point you in the right direction.

Thailand Travel Health: On Location

Jet Lag

"Jet lag" is when your biological clock is confused (primarily your sleeping and waking rhythms) caused by flying through time zones. The body has to adjust to the new biorhythm for the first few days after your flight; during which time you can feel tired and irritable.

Overcoming jetlag: We advise that during the flight you drink very limited amounts of coffee or alcohol, and, upon arrival don't demand too much of your body for the first couple of days on your Thailand tour. It's also handy to get into the new sleeping rhythm as quickly as possible. We recommend an hours sleep after arrival, and then stay awake until you go to bed (but have an early night). Another good method of combating jet lag is to take a Thai massage. We recommend the School of Massage at Wat Po.

Diarrhoea

When on your Thailand holiday only consume water and soft drinks from properly closed and sealed tins or bottles, or drink boiled water; such as tea or coffee. Ice is trustworthy in the form of machine-produced ice cubes. Fruit juice is safe, provided no water has been added.

Food, particularly meat and fish, must be well cooked. Generally it is safe to eat from street stalls, even though you would expect the opposite. Eat where it's busy, the time between food preparation and consumption is therefore the shortest, which is good for the hygiene. Take note of how the plates, glasses and cutlery are washed. There is often no running water and only a bucket with soap in it, baking in the sun. If that is the case, it's sensible to find somewhere else to eat.

Restaurants where you can see how clean it is are recommended. With regards to street stalls, it’s probably smart not to eat meat at the end of the day; the meat can sometimes have been lying around all day un-refrigerated. A tried and trusted housewife's remedy to prevent dehydration during diarrhoea is to drink cola and bouillon (not at the same time). Cola can be bought everywhere and you can bring stock cubes and a single-cup beverage with you from the UK.

Thailand Travel Health - Visit floating markets

Thailand Travel Health - Trek the jungle

Skin Care

Take all cuts, scratches etc in the tropics seriously: keep a close eye on them, clean them with disinfectant and keep them covered with a plaster during the day. Don't scratch mosquito bites.

You can avoid attracting biting insects on your trip to Thailand, by not wearing brightly coloured or black clothing, strong perfume or deodorant or aftershave (try to avoid resembling a flower). It you’re prone to skin irritations, wear cotton or linen clothing. You can help avoid prickly heat by using talcum powder on your body after your morning shower.

During the dry season, in the woods, there’s a slight chance that a tick may land on you. Check your body for these bugs in the morning and evening; especially behind the knees and in the crotch. Should you find one, don't try to just pull it out, use tick pincers (obtainable from chemists) or seek medical attention. If, after being in the woods, you find a bloody circular skin wound, slowly increasing in size, seek professional medical attention.

Sunstroke

Sunstroke can be prevented by wearing a hat, and sunglasses. Always keep a bottle of water with you, especially if you're in the wilderness and unlikely to come across drinking water. If you suspect sunstroke (feeling light-headed, headaches), you can prevent it from getting worse by drinking water and finding somewhere in the shade to sit and stay there, if possible.

Always use a high factor sunscreen cream on exposed skin, even if your Thailand holiday is in the rainy season. Snorkelling with a T-shirt and shorts is not unusual (we do it all the time as a matter of course). The sun is super strong at the equator, even if it's cloudy.

Thailand Travel Health - Protect yourself from the sun

Thailand Travel Health - Meet local children

Thailand Travel Health: Upon return

If, upon your return from a trip to Thailand (and this can also be months later), you contract influenza, stomach problems, or experience some other unusual symptoms; contact your GP, and let them know where and when you were last in Thailand, and what you did there.

If you have a lot of close contact with the local population it's sensible to take a TB test.