Let’s dive into MrPaparazziWorld‘s own packing experience below. This isn’t another generic what to pack for Koh Samui checklist copied from a guidebook. This is what I actually make friends sort out before they fly over to visit me. I’ve packed a bag for a Samui flight more times than I can count. What I remember clearly, though, is every single time I’ve stood at immigration and watched someone scramble for airport wifi to fill out an arrival form they didn’t know existed, or dig through their suitcase mid-queue because they were missing one piece of paper. This is for the people who don’t want to be that person.
Documents — Don’t Get Held Up at the Border
A passport valid for at least six months
Sounds obvious, but every year I hear about someone getting turned away at check-in because their passport only had four or five months left. No exceptions, no negotiating at the counter. If your passport expires within the next six months, renew it before you book flights — don’t find out the hard way right before departure.
The Thailand Digital Arrival Card, or TDAC
This is the one that catches most people off guard, because they assume being visa-exempt means the job’s done. It isn’t. Since May 2025, Thailand has required every arriving traveller — visa-exempt or not — to complete the Thailand Digital Arrival Card before entry. There’s exactly one official site for this: tdac.immigration.go.th. File it within 72 hours of your arrival time, and it’s completely free. If a site is asking you to pay someone to fill it out for you, think twice — doing it yourself takes about five minutes. Once submitted, you’ll get a QR code by email; screenshot it or print it out to show at immigration. Kids need their own submission too, even travelling with parents — don’t skip them.
A return or onward ticket
Immigration officers can ask to see proof you’re leaving Thailand, no matter how many times you’ve done this before. Save your flight and hotel booking files to your phone in advance — don’t be the person digging through email with a queue building up behind you.
Proof of funds
You’re not always asked, but if you are, you’ll need cash or a bank statement on hand, plus an international card with available credit. Have it ready — it beats standing there explaining yourself.
Travel insurance
This is the bit I want to be precise about, because the information floating around online is a mess right now. As of when I’m writing this, travel insurance is not mandatory for short-stay tourists entering visa-exempt or on an ordinary tourist visa. That doesn’t mean skip it, though. Private hospitals in Samui and the bigger cities typically want payment upfront, and they don’t take foreign health insurance directly the way you might be used to at home. Thailand’s government is also reviewing a proposal to make health insurance mandatory for all visitors — more on that further down.
An international driving permit if you’re renting a bike
This is where I see people lose the most money for no good reason. Samui is an island, and almost everyone who visits ends up renting a scooter to loop around it at least once. If you don’t carry an International Driving Permit alongside your home licence and something goes wrong, insurance will refuse the claim on the spot. I’ve watched this happen more than once, and it’s always cost far more than the permit itself would have — something that only takes a few days and a small fee to sort out before you fly.
Photos of every document
Photograph your passport, your TDAC QR code, your flight tickets, your hotel booking, and save copies to both your phone and your email or cloud storage. Losing original documents abroad is one of the easiest disasters to avoid if you spend five minutes on this before you fly.
What to Pack for Koh Samui’s Climate
Samui is hot and humid year-round — there’s no real “cool season” here. Light, breathable, sweat-wicking clothing is priority one. Leave the heavy layers at home.
Do pack at least one modest outfit — shoulders and knees covered — in case you want to visit a temple. No one will chase you off if you’re underdressed, but you’ll be the only one standing there in shorts among a room of people dressed properly, and that feeling isn’t a good one.
High-SPF sunscreen is non-negotiable — the sun here is far harsher than most people expect, and plenty of travellers get caught out by that. Bring insect repellent, especially if you’re heading to quieter areas or the smaller islands nearby. A hat and sunglasses belong in the bag too.
If you’re travelling between roughly June and October, pack a light packable rain jacket or a compact umbrella — this is the wetter stretch of the year, though showers here tend to hit hard and pass rather than last all day. Choose shoes that dry quickly and don’t get slippery, since the roads get genuinely slick after rain, and a pair of flip-flops is more useful than closed shoes every time you duck into someone’s home or a temple — on and off in seconds.
For personal medication, bring something for diarrhoea, allergies, pain and fever, and motion sickness if you’re planning any speedboat trips out to the surrounding islands — the water here isn’t always calm. If you’re on regular prescription medication, bring enough for the whole trip and carry the prescription if you’re travelling with a large quantity, to avoid any unnecessary trouble at customs.
On electronics: Thailand commonly uses plug types A, B, C and O at 220V, close enough to Vietnam’s standard that most of your gear will plug straight in — but bring a universal adapter anyway in case an older hotel has something different. A power bank is close to essential if you’re planning to shoot photos and run maps all day, and a waterproof phone pouch is worth it if island-hopping or boat trips are on the itinerary.
Finally, carry some cash in Thai Baht. Plenty of street stalls, night markets, and honestly some of my own favourite places to eat here still don’t take cards — international cards work fine at hotels and malls, but don’t rely on them completely.
Services Worth Sorting Out Before You Fly
Buy a travel eSIM before you board and activate it the moment you land — don’t wait until you’re out of the airport hunting for free wifi like it’s your first trip abroad. If you’d rather have a physical SIM, AIS, dtac and TrueMove all have counters right at Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports.
Have Grab installed and your payment card linked before you arrive. Booking a ride through Grab here is far more transparent on price than flagging a taxi off the street, especially if your Thai is limited.
On travel insurance again, because it’s worth repeating — buy it before you leave, and choose a plan that covers emergency medical treatment, hospitalisation, and medical evacuation. Not because it’s currently required, but because private hospitals here genuinely expect payment upfront, and a mandatory insurance rule is under active review and could land at any point.
Because TDAC requires an accurate accommodation address, book a hotel with a confirmed reservation before you file your arrival card, rather than filling in a placeholder address just to get through the form.
Download the offline Thai language pack in Google Translate — genuinely useful once you’re outside the tourist strip and dealing with people who don’t speak English, especially when ordering at the small local places I actually go back to that don’t have an English menu.
Save Thailand’s Tourist Police number, 1155, along with the Vietnamese Embassy’s citizen protection hotline in Thailand, before you fly — not the moment you need it.
A Few Rules That Are Still Changing in 2026
I’m not fond of writing sections full of “might happen,” but skipping this one would make the rest of this article go stale fast — so read this bit closely before you book.
First: mandatory health insurance. Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health is reviewing a proposal that would require every foreign visitor, including those entering visa-exempt, to hold health insurance before entry, aimed at reducing the burden of unpaid medical bills from foreign tourists. The proposal is still pending Cabinet review, with no official start date as of when I’m writing this.
Second: the 300 Baht tourism fee. This one’s been proposed since 2023 and delayed repeatedly, with the most recent target being implementation around mid-2026.
Since both are still in flux, check the official site for Thailand’s Immigration Bureau or the Tourism Authority of Thailand within a week or two of your flight, for the most accurate picture — not a piece written months earlier, this one included.
The Full Checklist
| Category | Items |
|---|---|
| Documents |
|
| Packing |
|
| Services |
|
Sort out these three categories and most of the common headaches people run into in Thailand — getting held up at the border for a missing TDAC, scrambling for small cash, or turning up underdressed for a temple — disappear before you’ve even boarded the plane.
That’s the preparation side — the stuff anyone coming to Thailand needs to know, no local knowledge required. But knowing what to pack and knowing where to go are two completely different things. Which spots in Samui are actually worth your time, which restaurants only get by on reputation, which beaches are still quiet and haven’t been flagged all over social media yet — that’s not something I’m writing for free here.
