Gobalakrishnan Venkataraman

My Trip to Thailand In 2019, I had a small opportunity to go to Thailand for a small business trip as part of the company that I was working for. This was a company that specialised in tourism and they were a DMC for Thailand. This is was my first international trip. I can let you know all the things that occurred on the trip but those can be found on the internet. Instead, I’m going to give you three important tips if you’re going on your first international trip. 1. Airport Etiquette: The flight path I took for my trip was from my city Chennai to Bangkok the SUV airport with a layover through Sri Lanka. If all the documents are proper and you behave well everything would go smoothly. However, sometimes the immigration officers may have a bad day or they might be really conservative and might not tolerate your shenanigans. So always be on your best behaviour and when asked any questions just keep your answers simple and respectful. 2. Knowledge about Visa Since I was with a DMC I had an idea about a visa for the country that I was travelling to and how to get it without any hassle. When I was travelling the tourist visa for entry was free however there was a huge line to get the visa and move on to the tour. But if you have extra cash you can go to the express line and pay a small fee and get the visa early and go ahead with the tour. Without the knowledge, we would have been stuck in the airport for a little while. 3. The Travellers T-Shirt Since reaching our hotel and finding our driver at the airport was an easy task the traveller’s t-shirt didn’t play a role early on. However, once you have a plan to roam the street your best friend is the traveller's t-shirt. You can really explore any nook and corner with the belief that you can safely return to your hotel and you can have a conversation with the locals without any hiccups. Also know some key phrases in their language to always put them in a situation of ease which will always help you on the trip. There are plenty more of this but these are the main points, to begin with for your first trip to any international country of your choice.