Thailand with toddler?

[trrk]

We used to travel a lot pre-baby including to Thailand at all budget levels and always used to think we'd be one of those people who would contnue to travel widely post-baby. Now that our baby is here I find myself feeling so much more risk averse and questioning the safety of trips I would have seen as perfectly safe before.

My parents who live in the Southern Hemisphere have suggested a family holiday half-way between our homes in Thailand, something we have done once before pre-baby. Would probably be a resort holiday but hopefully somewhere near lots of other food options so we can still enjoy a bit more of a local experience rather than AI style. Our baby would be 1.5 years at the time of the trip and I can't decide if this is too young for this type of trip. My main concerns are:

Lack of car seats (or even seat belts) and local transport like Tuk Tuks and songthaew not really being safe. No problem with any form of transport in Thailand when it was just the two of us but feel guilty about putting DD at risk - we wouldn't travel without a car seat at home and the rate of road traffic accidents is higher in Thailand.
DD getting sick from food or water. Have had the odd bout of travellers diarrhea in Thailand myself and know it could be more serious for a young child plus I wouldn't just pick up antibiotics from a pharmacy when it's a child, like I have done on a couple of occasions when it was really bad.
General concerns about travelling with a child in the tropics - too much sun, mosquitos (dengue - probably rare so not worth worrying?) etc

I can't decide if my concerns are justified or I'm just being an anxious FTM? Would you take a toddler to Thailand? We could wait a few years until she's a bit bigger but the car seat issue is a problem for a long time and seems one area where travelling with a small child is more complicated than before.

Would also be keen to hear people's experiences taking a toddler to Thailand, might put my mind at rest.

I took DS to Phuket and Khao Lak at 18m, we had a great time. I took a joie forward facing car seat with us and we didn’t use tuktuks or songthews but I did take him in Ubers and black cabs in London with no car seat so not sure it’s that different.

we used a child friendly insect repellent and DS didn’t get bitten.

all in one sun suits and plenty of factor 50.

We didn’t race about doing loads of sightseeing, I don’t think that would have worked well. But it was a fantastic trip and we loved doing something different.

DS didn’t get sick at all but Thailand has very good healthcare so as long as you have good travel insurance you’re fine.

Personally I wouldn’t go to a very remote place/island with a toddler, but Khao Lak is in easy reach of excellent medical facilities should you need it.

We took ours to Thailand a couple of times when they were little, the first time when the youngest had just turned 2. This was a decade ago so bit out of date but we found it worked really well. We hired a car with car seats (possibly we took them the first year) from Phuket airport. The roads were quiet in the areas we were in. We mainly stayed in small resorts with villas although also hotels with adjoining rooms. The villas were great because we had separate bedroom for children to sleep/nap and a kitchen if we needed it but also usual resort facilities and you could get food delivered to the villa if toddler too tired/jet lagged to go out. That could work especially well if you are a big family group. Places we stayed included: www.kantiang.se and kohjumbeachvillas.com (this last one was on an island and you do need to be careful with choice of villa as some have private pool with no fence/barrier).