Is it easy to travel around Thailand with suitcases while visiting Phuket, Krabi, Chiang Mai, and Koh Samui, and is it worth renting a car?

1 suitcase and 1 backpack if you like to put your clothes in a suitcase and laptop in a backpack with other personal items.

Children make it a difficult call to make. If your children are content riding in the back of trucks, waiting in line for bus tickets, etc. Public transportation will do. Otherwise, renting a car seems like a good idea.

I have traveled by train a couple of times, I would do it again.

Honestly you should be fine and tourists do it all the time (just get the larger SUV option for grab) but I do agree there's really no need to pack a lot of things. As for driving, I've been living/driving in thailand for 6 years now and I really wouldn't recommend it. 😕

I would say no on suitcases if you want to travel all over. Switch to backpacks. A million times easier. Each person can get their own backpack. Pack light and enjoy the trip so much better. Don’t need a ton of clothes easy to wash clothes everywhere.

“Grab” app is great. I live in chaing mai it’s 100-150 baht to get around the city and use the app. Cheaper compared to TUK TUK. I get tons of groceries every 2 weeks load up their car they are always friendly. I tip them well becuase I waste 5 minutes loading and unloading stuff.

If you want to rent a car Booking .com has good rates for cars. I rented a car for a week it was a lot of fun. I smashed the car into a pole and didn’t have insurance. 3 panels needed to be sanded down and painted. A local small body shop did it for 2000 baht in a small village. Took a few hours. Looked brand new. So saved a lot of money. If returned it damaged they may have charged me a lot more.

Chiang mai has some really cool mountains so maybe worth renting a car if you want to see 100 waterfalls. Elephant tours just pick you up from the hotel.

Depends on which mode of transport you’re meaning and how many suitcases you have.

Many taxis have converted to gas, so have a gas tank in their boot. Possibly able to get one suitcase in there but no more. Bus or train no issue. Plane you may have to pay extra - sometimes as much as the actual ticket price.

Pavements / Sidewalks in many places are not wheel friendly.

Yes