Last Updated on May 22, 2020 by PowersToTravel
I’ve written an in-depth page on all travel challenges for type 1 diabetics regardless of the continent. Click here to read it. It is my intention to supplement that page with specifics for each country I’ve visited, specifics based on my own experience.
While there is much to say about Thailand for each of these categories, don’t let the volume of words scare you. The excitement, colors and extraordinary sights far outweigh the travel challenges.
- Flying Challenges
- So much more activity than usual
- Keeping my insulin cold while traveling
- Eating unusual foods
- Avoiding the water
- Protecting my insulin and supplies from theft
- Coping with diarrhea and vomiting
- Avoiding the mosquitoes
- If it bleeds – antibiotic!
- Travel insurance
- Keep more than an adequate stash of insulin and supplies with you at all times
- Other!
Flying challenges
Our flight from Boston to Bangkok was one of most challenging flight experiences so far. I purposely divided the time into two flights – Boston to Doha, Qatar, then Doha, Qatar to Thailand. Being sedentary and trapped in a plane for 12 hours is difficult for anyone. Since I had my pump, snacks and everything I needed at my fingertips in the plane, the trip there and back was no more difficult for me as a diabetic than anyone else.
So much more activity than usual
Thailand is definitely a place where you are out and about and walking a lot. I don’t have a category for protecting yourself from the heat, but the level of activity coupled with the high heat was extremely exhausting for me. Hydration, hydration, hydration. See my article Finding serenity at the Pattara Resort and Spa for a description of my condition before and as I adapted to the first several days of our trip.
Keeping my insulin cold while traveling
I’ve written an entire article about the challenges of keeping my insulin completely refrigerated during the 48 hour transit to Bangkok (24 hours plane + 12 hours before + 12 hours after)
Eating unusual foods
Actually I didn’t eat much that was unusual in Thailand. I just LOVE Pad Thai and everywhere we went I wanted to sample their version. Sadly I have to say that my local Thai restaurant, Siam Square, in Middletown, RI, had tastier pad thai than any of the places we went in Thailand. Pad thai packs a wallop of carbs, which is actually what I needed a lot of due to the amount of activity I engaged in.
Avoiding the water
Definitely Thailand is a place where you have to be very careful about the water. I was very happy that I had no digestive issues during my entire 24 days in Thailand! I drank bottled water, avoided all appearance of salad – no salad itself, no fresh veggies on the plate, just ate the fully cooked foods.
You need to be especially vigilant with tour operators that provide you water for free. Make sure that when you open the water it makes that nice “click” as the plastic breaks. I had one experience, on a Khlongs Tour in Bangkok with Mit Chao Phraya Co. Ltd. They graciously gave me a bottle of water. I was waiting on the pier for our boat, opened the water, don’t remember hearing any click, was distracted and drank a swig. Then I saw that the bottle cap was blue and the ring was pink!!!! Oh, I panic’d. Greg gave me some of his Diet Dr. Pepper to drink (not that that would solve any problems, but it was tasty nonetheless.) The water must have been good because I didn’t suffer any ill effects, but I was very angry and worried for the next half day because of it.
Protecting my insulin and supplies from theft
I carry a purse, that is, I wear a purse that is a cross-body style. It seems to expand infinitely depending on the situation. I always made sure that I had a full 24 hours of insulin in my pump, and carried a spare infusion set with me at all times. I did not carry my insulin with me due to the heat, but kept it refrigerated, as described in my article How to keep insulin cold while traveling for 48 hours and 1 month That meant that during the day my insulin and supplies were generally in the car / cooler which was protected by our driver. During the evening, it was in our room with us. While we wandered Bangkok, and in Southern Thailand, I would trust the security of our lodgings and we were never concerned.
Coping with the diarrhea and vomiting
I never had any issues in Thailand. However, I’ve written a very complete article which certainly pertains to Thailand since it is a country with non-potable water. Traveler’s Diarrhea and Diabetes – how do I stop it and quickly?
Avoiding the mosquitos
I’d read horror stories of Dengue fever and that was my biggest fear of the trip. Most of the stories were from non-diabetic travelers and my imagination just took flight when I thought of having “breakbone fever” and being a type 1 diabetic.
I specifically timed the entire 65-day trip to occur during the dry season. I would not have considered cutting costs and traveling in the wet season. My health is more important than that particular cost savings. I feel for the people of the region who have to live with the risk all year.
I avoided mosquitos like the plague. I carried DEET and put it on when I would be in the slightest suspicious of a location. I wore it every evening, even when going out to dinner very close to our room.
In spite of all my efforts, I got a couple of mosquito bites during the trip but luckily had no adverse affects.
If it bleeds – antibiotic
In the humid tropics of Southeast Asia antibiotics are every so important. I kept an eye and topical antibiotic on every little scratch or cut. At one point, in southern Thailand, I injured my foot very badly. I tore a 2-inch long very deep cut in the side of my big toe through a rope accident while climbing on a swimming platform. I treated it very generously with antibiotic, actually covered the end of my foot with a blue surgical glove for days afterwards. (I never leave home without them anymore) I took oral Azithromycin as well. I spent some long hours weighing the risks of going to the hospital versus the need for stitches. Steri-strips were not available in pharmacies in southern Thailand. (I now carry them in my first aid kit everywhere.)
I ended up not going to the hospital as I was less than two weeks from the end of the trip and trusted my azithromycin. My azithromycin proved to be trust-worthy and I had no adverse affects from the wound which ended up healing well (I’ve got a nice scar there to remember it by!)
Travel Insurance
Definitely for Thailand. As fine as the hospitals in Bangkok are, there are many wonderful areas to go to throughout Thailand which are far from Bangkok. Additionally, the adventure activities in Thailand are definitely not as safe as activities in the US. Getting injured is a real possibility. You want to be sure you can be evacuated if necessary.
Keep more than an adequate stash of insulin and supplies with you at all times
I introduced this topic due to a risky situation that developed in Iceland. For Thailand, you have to balance the heat risks to your insulin with the risk that you won’t make it back to your lodgings that night. I always chose to leave my insulin in a cooler in my room.
Other topics
Socks on! It was such a pleasure to visit temples in Thailand where they let me keep my socks on. Contrast that with Myanmar, where having socks on would be the most serious of offenses.
Buying insulin – word has it that you can buy insulin in pharmacies near the hospitals, but that you need a local doctor’s prescription to do so. I didn’t have to test this assumption.
