Tips from anyone who’s travelled from Thailand to Latin America (Central/South America)?

[falangUK]

2 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

I have done it although I think it was 2006 so not the most up to date advice, but routes are still valid.

I flew to Brasil via London. Bangkok to Heathrow, approx 12 hours on Eva air. Couple of hours change to stretch legs and have a couple of beers, then around 12 hours on Varig to Sao Paolo. A stop in Sao Paolo then a 2-3 hour flight to Iguazu. However the Varig flight was late, it was a horrible old plane, the cargo doors wouldn't open and it took several hours to get our bags so we missed our connection.

The London route is definitely viable as it breaks the journey in to two equal halves. But it was best for me as I could stop off in the UK for a few days on the way back. If I was doing it today I would probably just go with Emirates via Dubai.

I spent about three weeks in Brasil during carnival time, traveling to 5 different cities, and a day hop over the border to Argentina at Iguazu. Best time of my life, highly recommend Brasil as a place to visit. Beautiful country, beautiful people, fun loving people.

 

 

No vaccines. No visa required as a UK citizen. Took some cash and cards, no different than going anywhere else. 

 

 

Winged it. Was easy to get by, and also easy to pick up a few words. And that was before Google translate or anything. 

 

Not really. The culture was just FUN. Be friendly to people and get heaps of friendliness in return. The only thing is we heard so many horror stories (mostly from people who have never been) that when we landed in Rio we thought there was a decent chance of being robbed, so hid cash in one sock, cards in another with just small money in our pockets. Didn't even take a camera out the first couple of days, so I didn't get any photos from up at Christ the Redeemer or anywhere else we went the first couple of days. Then we realised we were being stupid and paranoid so behaved normally after that.

I did get pickpocketed in Salavdor though during the carnival but I was extremely drunk so was an easy target.

In short I would highly recommend it to anyone, I would love to go back one day.

Really appreciate the detailed reply. Sounds like an epic trip, even with the Varig mess. Good to know the London route worked well for you. I'm considering something similar with a stopover in the UK or Europe.
 

Brazil during carnival must have been insane. I keep hearing great things about the vibe there. Also good to hear you managed fine without knowing much Spanish or Portuguese.
 

Can totally relate to the paranoia at first. I’d probably do the same with hiding cash and skipping the camera for a few days. Shame about the pickpocketing, but sounds like it didn’t take away from the experience. Definitely moving Brazil higher up the list after this.
 

[hydraides]

I would recommend travelling to US First and then Down To South America depending on Budget.......I think both routes would roughly work out at the same price with maybe E to W a bit more expensive

 

Its faster to travel west to east .......but to be fair it is also way worse for jet lag from what ive found ......so positives and negatives to consider

 

-Its about 20k baht to travel single ticket Los Angeles from either phuket or bangkok

 

-Take a connecting flight and spend a few days in miami (Go to disneyworld, the new Epic Universal Park which just opened, watch lionel messi play lol) for 3-5k baht etc

 

-Then many Airlines flight dirt cheap to South American from Miami Airports, you could fly to Cusco, Peru (Macchu picchu etc) for around 8k baht one way If I remember correctly 

 

-Check out tinki village near Ausungate mountain, near cusco, amazing hot springs and you can rent a room and drink beer in hot springs whilst looking at the milky way 

 

 

 

[falangUK]

3 minutes ago, hydraides said:

I would recommend travelling to US First and then Down To South America depending on Budget.......

 

Its faster to travel west to east but to be fair it is way worse for jet lag from what ive found ......so positives and negatives

 

-Its about 20k baht to travel single ticket Los Angeles from either phuket or bangkok

 

-Take a connecting flight and spend a few days in miami (Go to disneyworld, the new Epic Universal Park which just opened, watch lionel messi play lol) for 3-5k baht etc

 

-Then many Airlines flight dirt cheap to South American from Miami Airports, you could fly to Cusco, Peru (Macchu picchu etc) for around 8k baht one way If I remember correctly 

 

 

 

Thank you. That was actually my original plan, but then I started worrying about possible issues with US immigration, even with my British passport. So I began leaning towards spending a few days back home in London and flying out from there instead. Might rethink the US option though after what you said.
 

[hydraides]

Just now, falangUK said:

Thank you. That was actually my original plan, but then I started worrying about possible issues with US immigration, even with my British passport. So I began leaning towards spending a few days back home in London and flying out from there instead. Might rethink the US option though after what you said.
 

No issues atoll with US immigration.... Unless you have a criminal record

 

All you do is fill out an ESTA , which takes 5 minutes similar to Thai entry now.........and you are good to visit USA for 2 years with it

[it is what it is]

traveled through central america twice and south america once, amazing countries, culture, history, food... keep your wits about you and you'll be fine. very little english spoken i had to rely on my school boy spanish 😁

[josephbloggs]

3 minutes ago, falangUK said:

Really appreciate the detailed reply. Sounds like an epic trip, even with the Varig mess. Good to know the London route worked well for you. I'm considering something similar with a stopover in the UK or Europe.
 

Brazil during carnival must have been insane. I keep hearing great things about the vibe there. Also good to hear you managed fine without knowing much Spanish or Portuguese.
 

Can totally relate to the paranoia at first. I’d probably do the same with hiding cash and skipping the camera for a few days. Shame about the pickpocketing, but sounds like it didn’t take away from the experience. Definitely moving Brazil higher up the list after this.
 

Yeah, definitely didn't take away from the experience. An amazing vibe, great people, great fun. The money I lost wasn't a big deal but I did lose a pocket camera so the worst thing was losing the photos. Of course these days it wouldn't be an issue as most people save their phone pictures in the cloud. And like I said I was extremely drunk so I kind of made myself an obvious target.

If it does go up your list and you seriously consider it just PM me or start a new thread and I'd be happy to share recommendations on places to go. I only knew Rio like most people but the rest of my itinerary was based on the recommendation of someone who had experience and it made all the difference. No way would I have known to go to Iguasu or the places up in the north east. I mean now there are a million YouTubers but not 18/19 years ago.

[falangUK]

5 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

Yeah, definitely didn't take away from the experience. An amazing vibe, great people, great fun. The money I lost wasn't a big deal but I did lose a pocket camera so the worst thing was losing the photos. Of course these days it wouldn't be an issue as most people save their phone pictures in the cloud. And like I said I was extremely drunk so I kind of made myself an obvious target.

If it does go up your list and you seriously consider it just PM me or start a new thread and I'd be happy to share recommendations on places to go. I only knew Rio like most people but the rest of my itinerary was based on the recommendation of someone who had experience and it made all the difference. No way would I have known to go to Iguasu or the places up in the north east. I mean now there are a million YouTubers but not 18/19 years ago.

 

Thanks, that’s really kind of you. I’m definitely planning to go, just working out the timing and route. Good to know you had such a great experience. I might reach out later once things firm up a bit.
 

[Espanol]

On 5/31/2025 at 4:42 PM, StayinThailand2much said:

 

Makes sense to me; probably a good number of flights to different destinations in South America.

 

 

There are. For obvious reasons, there are numerous flights from Spain to Latin America: Argentina, Cuba, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, etc.