©
Audrey Meisser
Thailand Travel Guide
©
Audrey Meisser
The country of smileshas never adopted any real policies of adjustment or accessibility for people with reduced mobility. The country is large and very diverse in terms of landscapes and life styles: overly big cities like Bangkok, mountainous villages or close-knit communities, accessibility is different according to the place. Contrary to what you may think, it's not in the big cities where access is the easiest.
In Bangkok, it would be very difficult to go around in a wheelchair as the pavements are so obstructed, in a bad state and very high. Actually, in Bangkok public streets are an entire living space for Thai people, as everywhere there are stalls and travelling salespeople monopolizing the pavements, sometimes making access difficult. The very high density of people is also a factor of inaccessibility. Go for the average size city like Chiang Mai or Pattaya which are less overcrowded and more comfortable to travel around.
However, Thai people will generally be very happy to help you, as with everything else, their likeable and helpful personalities won't fail in this type of situation.
A certain number of tourist sites are still accessible as they are step-free or have lifts. Wat Pho temple, where the famous and majestic Sleeping Buddha resides, as well as the Royal Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha are also partly accessible.
In Chiang Mai, the Wat Phrathat temple located 15 km from the city centre on the Doï Suthep hill is equipped with a lift reserved for disabled people, as it is necessary to climb around 300 steps to reach this magnificent temple which overlooks the Chiang Mai region.
Generally speaking, it will be necessary for you to favour the higher quality hotels, or hotel chains that will usually have some suitable rooms.
However, it isn't impossible to find accessible rooms in good value smaller hotels where the rooms are on the ground floor. A certain advantage to do with the showers in Thailand is that there are barely ever shower cabins, just a simple drain hole in the bathroom with a slightly sloped floor serves as a shower in the most basic hotels, which will make the installation of a seat for washing easier.
In Bangkok, the aerial metro 'BTS Sky Train' is accessible as it has lifts. It covers the city very well and will allow you to travel almost everywhere. Another adapted solution is a taxi, but of course avoid tuk-tuks which, as well as not being very safe, are not able to transport a wheelchair as well as one or two passengers.
Outside of the cities, a rental car or specialized organized trips will be best. To go from the North to the South, or between the main parts of the country, planes will no doubt be the most suitable form of transport; for internal flights, prices are quite low.
