Which camera and lenses to bring to Bangkok - and how to keep them alive

Phone, action camera or mirrorless?

A current phone covers daylight street scenes, food and social posts, and survives Songkran in a pouch. An action camera (GoPro, DJI Osmo Action, Insta360) wins for boats, scooters, water and vlogging. A mirrorless camera is the right tool if you want night photographs, portraits with background blur, temples at dawn and prints. Most visitors who regret their choice brought a large DSLR with three zooms and used one.

The two-lens Bangkok kit

A compact body plus a 24-70 mm equivalent zoom for daylight and a 35 mm f/1.8 prime for everything after dark. That is it. A 16-24 mm wide zoom is the only common third lens worth its weight, for the Grand Palace, rooftops and river views. Long telephotos are rarely used in the city; leave them unless you are also visiting parks or the coast.

Bag and carrying

A small sling or messenger that opens towards your body is better than a backpack in markets and on the BTS. Keep the camera on a strap, not in your hand, on busy pavements. Hotel safes are fine for spare lenses and chargers.

Power, cards, backup

Heat drains batteries about a third faster than at home: two batteries per body, charged every night. Two medium cards beat one huge card. Back up to a phone or laptop every evening; cameras get wet, dropped and occasionally stolen, and the pictures are the part you cannot replace.

Humidity is the real enemy

Bangkok runs at 60-90 % relative humidity most of the year. Fungus grows inside lenses that stay damp in a closed bag for weeks. Air the kit in the hotel room, keep a few silica gel packs in the bag and swap them when they stop rattling, and never pack a wet camera into a sealed case. Our guide https://sellyourgadget.asia/guides/lens-fungus-humidity-bangkok explains how to check a lens and what fungus does to its value.

Rain, sweat and sunscreen

A simple rain cover or a bag over the camera handles the daily downpour. Sweat and sunscreen corrode grips and rubber over time - wipe the body at night. Do not change lenses in the open during rain or dust; find a cafe.

Theft and loss

Camera theft in Bangkok is rare but not unknown: do not leave gear on cafe tables or in tuk-tuks, photograph your serial numbers before the trip (you will also need them to sell the camera later) and keep the receipt or box photo on your phone.

What resells well in Thailand

Recent Sony, Canon RF, Fujifilm X and Nikon Z bodies, fast primes, GoPro and DJI action cameras and DJI Mini drones keep their value best here; older DSLRs and kit zooms fetch little. If you plan to sell at the end of the trip, keep the box, charger and strap - each one adds to the quote - and avoid personalising the camera with stickers or engravings. Prices for the models we buy are shown online after a quick check; see https://sellyourgadget.asia/guides/what-decides-used-camera-price for how the number is built.