Motion Sickness in Thailand
Summary
Unfortunately, around 1 in 3 of us in the world are highly sensitive to motion sickness, with as many as 50% of backpackers alone suffering. While vomiting only affects around 2%, the symptoms that appear before are, in my opinion, even worse. Today we are going to dive deeper into one of the worst countries for inducing motion sickness, Thailand.
Itinerary Overview
Transport
Common Routes
Personal Motion Sickness Rating
Taxi/Car
Anywhere
6/10
Minivans
Khao Sok, Pai, Mae Hong Son, Krabi
9/10
Buses
Connecting cities and towns, national parks, Phuket
7/10
Trains
Anywhere between Chiang Mai and Malaysian border on the east coast
1/10
Ferries
Chumphon - Surat Thani stopping at all islands on the way. Krabi and Phuket to basically anywhere in the Andaman Sea
5/10
Top Tips
- Take Cinnarizine or Dramamine
- Sit in the front of the vehicle
- Buy pressure point wristbands (they help)
- Buy a menthol inhaler tub from 7-Eleven
- On overnight transport, take a G'nite tablet also found in 7-Eleven, made with chamomile
- Avoid minivans unless absolutely necessary, as the drivers will quickly make you green
- Take morning ferries and sit at the back at the bottom
- Keep your feet firmly on the floor, head stabilised against the seat, and keep watching the horizon
- Choose buses with onboard toilets (they operate on most routes). Make sure to check the description on 12Go
Transport
Every traveller has their own least and most motion-sickness-inducing transport, but personally, I really struggle on buses and minivans. Maybe because of the lack of toilets? or the claustrophobic seating layout? Who knows? But sometimes even knowing I have to get on a bus or minivan makes my stomach churn, and I know I am not alone. The best thing I can suggest when buses are inevitable is to follow the tips above and watch the horizon carefully. We always pay a tiny bit more for an onboard toilet because it almost instantly relieves my anxiety, so if you are like me, opt for the VIP or Express buses. The trains have a much steadier feeling and go faster than the buses, they also will always have an onboard toilet located at the end of each carriage and the passenger ferries always have a toilet located downstairs at the back. In my opinion, if you are incredibly worried about a specific route making you sick, the taxis here are cheap enough to book for complete peace of mind. Make sure to tell them before you book that you get motion sick, and they will usually drive slowly, pull over whenever you want and let you sit in the front. With many things I have seen online about the minivans, in my experience, it is not about the route but about the driver. You can get on one with a whacky driver and feel sick immediately, or you can get lucky and have a slow driver and feel fine. It is the constant roller coaster feeling when they go fast, so if they go slow, you are in luck. The minivans, however, do not care if you feel sick, are going to wet yourself or have food poisoning; they will not stop, as they have a very strict schedule. So decide if you are willing to risk it and be prepared if you are. An important thing to note about the minivans is that due to their growing popularity, they are usually more expensive than the buses and trains. Sometimes, they could be as much as double the price! For that reason, always make sure to compare transport methods before you assume the minivans on 12Go are the best.
Infamous Routes
We have completed nearly all of the infamous carsick/seasick routes across Thailand, including Erawan National Park, Khao Sok National Park, Koh Tao to Chumphon, Phuket to Phi Phi and, yep, the Pai road. I was okay from Kanchanaburi to Erawan, despite being right at the back, yuck, because they use open-air buses, so the constant air was enough. Make sure to use the public bus, which takes 1 hour 45 minutes, NOT the minivans. Khao Sok: I was so dosed up on motion sickness tablets I barely remember it, but I do remember the minivan feeling and some mountain curves. They are quite steep, so drivers cannot go very fast anyway, but I imagine it is worse coming back down this road. This took about 2 hours and 40 minutes from Phang Nga. The ferry on the way to Koh Tao (from Samui) was honestly really stable and completely fine. It took 2 hours; I used all my tips for the trip, and despite feeling ill because I would later come down with a nasty stomach virus, I was okay. Koh Tao to Chumphon was bumpy. Within 30 minutes, we would hit a rainstorm that generated waves, and I was still recovering from my virus, so I felt really rough. Luckily there were only about 10 people on our boat, so I could keep going outside without disturbing people to get some air. If we had done an early morning departure, I would have had a much smoother journey. Phuket to Phi Phi was done on a fun dive day. It was bumpy when we got into the sea, but because it was a big dive boat, it absorbed the waves well, and two and a half hours later, I still had no issues. I did, however, vouch on this day that I would never make this trip in a speedboat, because a speedboat whipped past us and was getting airtime from the waves. Albeit they do make the trip in half the time.
The Pai Road (1095)
If you are backpacking Thailand or have been researching motion sickness-prone routes in Southeast Asia, you will almost certainly have heard of the infamous Pai road. It makes up half of route 1095 to Mae Hong Son, which, in total, has over 2,000 hairpin bends in 6 hours. Pai is the halfway point; making the trip to here will take 3.5 hours, and you will experience 762 of these hairpin bends. Ouch! On the day I am writing this, we made the return trip to Chiang Mai in a taxi. Broken down, because we couldn’t actually find a lot of information about this route except the bends, we will speak about cost, transport, and the actual road, and, finally, I will rate the route. There is only one road in and out of Pai, so if you want to go, you will have to endure it. Almost everyone will go from Chiang Mai, as it is the biggest hub for transport to Pai. Your options are minivans (most commonly Prempracha/KG) or taxis. Despite what you read online, there are NO buses to Pai; they stopped in 2017 due to low demand because they took 5 hours. This used to be the golden ticket for those with motion sickness, as they had to slow down for every bend, but now, you only have 2 options. Minivans will cost around 300-500 baht; taxis are usually 2,000 baht. The minivans make one scheduled rest stop at the OKmart about halfway (1.5 hours in). Of all the people we spoke to, they said they fill up quickly, do not slow down on the bends, and people argue over shotgun, and most people told us they felt fine in the first half but struggled during the second half. The first half is highway for 1 hour and then curves for 30 minutes. The second half are immediate hairpin curves all the way to Pai. We found a bargain with a lovely woman from a taxi company called Nannies for 1,800. She let me sit up front, drove slowly, stopped 3 times on the way, and 2 on the way back and gave me her menthol oil when I started feeling sick. I came down with a bug in Pai and had to cancel our return at short notice; later that night she offered to bring me medicine, messaged saying she was staying the night in Pai, and kept checking on me when we drove back a day later than planned. I would recommend her to anyone. Her number is +66 91 863 9084 if you feel more comfortable in a taxi. Despite what you see online, the reality of this road is that with the right precautions, it is no worse than British mountain roads. I felt it was quite comparable to the Grampian mountain road (with a load more ups and downs). In my opinion, it is harder on the way back because most of the drive is spent descending into the valley, so naturally cars go faster. The road is also known for landslides during monsoon season, so it will sometimes shut for a few days if the rain is particularly heavy, but they are apparently quick to reopen it. Finally, if you are lucky enough, post on the Facebook group Our Pai Family that you are looking for a ride to or from Pai, and if someone is heading your way, they are usually happy to take you for a small petrol pitch-in. We weren’t lucky when we went. Altogether, I would rate the road a 6/10 on the way and a 9/10 on the way back for inducing motion sickness. Good luck and enjoy the ‘Pai-hole’ when you get there; it truly is amazing!
Hopefully someone reading this will get some clarity about the routes in Thailand. We could not find a lot online about motion sickness other than about Pai, so if we have helped you in any way prepare or settle some anxiety, let us know! We are on TikTok, or you can email us. We love to see photos and hear opinions from different people!