Thailand Tourism - Travel to Thailand

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Quick Facts
Capital	Bangkok
Government	constitutional monarchy
Currency	baht (THB)
Area	total: 514,000 sq km water: 2,230 sq km land: 511,770 sq km
Population	62,354,402 (July 2002 est.)
Language	Thai, English (secondary language of the elite), ethnic and regional dialects
Religion	Buddhism 95%, Muslim 3.8%, Christianity 0.5%, Hinduism 0.1%, other 0.6% (1991)

Thailand is a country in Southeast Asia with coasts on the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand. It borders Myanmar to the northwest, Laos to the northeast, Cambodia to the west and Malaysia to the south.

With great food, a tropical climate, fascinating culture and, hey, great beaches, Thailand is a magnet for travelers the world over.

Regions in Thailand

Thailand is made up of 76 provinces, but may be conveniently divided into 8 geographic and cultural regions.

Bangkok -- where you will most likely begin- many people have an enjoyable holiday without ever leaving the Bangkok area.
The Central Plains -- highlands, historic Thailand.
The North -- Chiang Mai, hill tribes, and the Golden Triangle.
Isaan -- the great undeveloped Northeast- get off the beaten track.
The North Gulf Coast -- beaches, and islands within easy reach of Bangkok.
The South Coast and Islands -- more beaches, and Gulf of Thailand Islands.
The Southwest -- yet more beaches and Andaman Sea islands.
The Far South -- more beaches and Islamic culture.

Map of Thailand

Destinations

Understand Thailand Tourism

Know

A unified Thai kingdom was established in the mid-14th century. Known as Siam until 1939, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country never to have been taken over by a European power. A bloodless revolution in 1932 led to a constitutional monarchy. In alliance with Japan during World War II, Thailand became a US ally following the conflict.

Geography in Thailand

Climate: tropical; rainy, warm, cloudy southwest monsoon (mid-May to September); dry, cool northeast monsoon (November to mid-March); southern isthmus always hot and humid

Terrain: central plain; Khorat Plateau in the east; mountains elsewhere

Natural hazards: land subsidence in Bangkok area resulting from the depletion of the water table; droughts

People in Thailand

Nationality: noun: Thai (singular and plural)
adjective: Thai

Ethnic groups: Thai 75%, Chinese 14%, other 11%

Religions: Buddhism 95%, Muslim 3.8%, Christianity 0.5%, Hinduism 0.1%, other 0.6% (1991)

Government in Thailand

Government type: constitutional monarchy

Capital: Bangkok

Independence: 1238 (traditional founding date; never colonized)

National holiday: Birthday of King PHUMIPHON, 5 December (1927)

Get in/Get out

Ordinary passport holders of 39 countries including USA, EU, Australia, etc, do not need visa if their purpose of visit is tourism and if their stay in the Kingdom does not exceed 30 days. Visa-on-arrival is available at certain entry points for passport holders of 14 other nations, including India, China and Russian Federation. More details on visa can be got from website of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Thailand

Get around in Thailand

Travel to Thailand By Plane

Thailand's a large country and, if sitting in a bus for 11 hours is not your idea of a fun time, you may well want to consider domestic flights. Never terribly expensive to begin with (at least by Western standards), the deregulation of the industry has brought in a crop of new operators and an accompanying price war: you can now show up at Bangkok's Don Muang airport, book your ticket and fly pretty much anywhere in the country for less than 1000 baht ($20). Note that airport taxes (around 150 baht) must be added to any advertised price.

The largest player is flag carrier THAI Airways, which flies to 23 destinations throughout the country. The most reliable and frequent domestic airline, THAI also commands a price premium, although due to increased competition they've had to start discounting. At list prices, a fully flexible one-way ticket from Bangkok to Chiang Mai will cost around B2000 (plus tax), while a promotional non-flexible ticket will cost around B1500. Unusually, little to no discount is given for flying return. Travel agents can usually sell only THAI's tickets; you can also book e-tickets online, but you have to do it at least 72 hours in advance.

THAI is starting up its own budget brand Nok Air (Thai for "bird"), with easily identifiable planes thanks to a lurid purple paint scheme with a bird's beak painted on the nose. Schedules, routes and prices remain up in the air -- it should be flying by the end of 2004.

Probably the best deal at the moment (2004) is offered by Orient Thai's new lost-cost brand One-Two-GO, which has an admirably simple pricing scheme: all seats from Bangkok to Chiang Mai B999 and all seats from Bangkok to Chiang Rai, Had Yai or Phuket B1199, period. Do note that this is the walkup unreserved fare; reserving a seat in advance (by phone only, tel. 2267 2999) will cost an extra B100. One-Two-GO's ticketing counters at Bangkok are perennially congested (one-hour queues are not unusual), but if you just want to hop on the next flight, you can head to the express ticketing counter at check-in (at least 40 minutes before departure). Most flights are flown on 747 Jumbos, so there's usually room to spare. Two caveats: One-Two-GO's destinations only have 1-3 flights daily, so check the schedule first; and Orient Thai's on-time record is notoriously bad.

The third option is upstart Air Asia, the Malaysian version of Ryanair, which offers ridiculously cheap tickets if booked well in advance (some sell for less than 10 baht!), but prices rise steadily as planes fill up, topping out at B1500 for the ever-popular Bangkok to Chiang Mai flight. Booking can easily be done online.

A smattering of small airlines -- Bangkok Airways, Phuket Air, Air Andaman and PB Air -- cover mainly destinations outside the THAI network and compete on convenience, not price. Bangkok Airways in particular positions itself as "Asia's Boutique Airline", with monopoly service to its own airports on Koh Samui (3000B+) and Sukhothai (~2000B).

Travel to Thailand By Train

State Railways of Thailand has a network covering most of the country, from Chiang Mai in the north all the way to Had Yai and the Malaysian border in the south. Trains are slow but reasonably comfortable and very cheap.

Travel to Thailand By Bus

Buses travel throughout the country. Cheapest are the government-run ordinary buses, which are cramped, stop frequently and have no air-con; considerably better are the so-called VIP buses, with only 24 seats, no extra stops and air con at around three times the price. Private operators run all sorts of services in between the two extreme.

Thailand Talk

The official language of Thailand is, unsurprisingly, Thai. There are dozens of small language groups in the tribal areas of the north, and a couple of places where Thai speakers are few and far between. Just about anyone involved in the travel industry will speak English-- and likely German, French, Italian, and Chinese as well. Thai is a tonal language (think about the difference in your voice when saying "yes." versus "yes?" -- that's tonal.) which can make it tricky for Westerners to learn quickly. Despite this, everyone will appreciate any attempt you do make so pick up a phrase book and give it a go.

Thai script will look like complete gibberish, but most street signs and some shop signs will have roman transliteration (aka "western alphabet") as well. The up side is that, when there is roman script, it will usually be fairly phonetic. For example "Sawadee", or "hello", is pronounced just like it looks: sa-wa-dee. The downside is that no one can really agree on how to transcribe some Thai letters that just don't have a roman equivalent. So Kao Sarn Road might be written as Kao Sahn or Kao San. Make sure to get a map with both Thai and roman lettering. This will help locals help you

Respect

Dress

It is best to play it safe with wats and other sacred sites in Thailand. Open-toe shoes, shorts, and sleeveless shirts are definitely not allowed. The rules are even more strict for foreign visitors, so even if you see a local in sandals or shorts it's not OK for everyone. Usually exceptions are made simply because some Thais cannot afford any other clothing. You won't see any Thai men in Bangkok wearing shorts or sarongs unless they are very poor. Your best bet is to just wear the sarong on the beach.

Spend

The Thai currency is the baht, which trades around 40 baht to the dollar or euro. Baht comes in coins and bills ranging from 1 - 1000 baht; the 25 and 50 satang coins are rare. The most useful bills are 20s and 100s as many small shops and stalls do not have a lot of change.

ATMs can be found all over large cities such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Phuket, but many areas-- including smaller islands-- won't have a bank you can withdraw money from, so traveler's checks are essential. Many hotels and guest houses will change money if you are staying there, but expect a hefty commission and unfavorable rate. US dollars in small bills (1s, 5s, and 20s) are great to have if you will be continuing on to other countries such as Laos or Vietnam. Almost anyone in Thailand will take dollars in an emergency.

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Eat - Travel to Thailand

The food alone is really reason enough for a trip to Thailand. Curries, fruit shakes, stir fries, fresh fish made a zillion ways-- and that's just the beginning. Food in Thailand can be as cheap and easy as 20 baht phad thai (Thai fried noodles) cooked at a street stall or as expensive and complicated as a $100 ten-course meal by a royal chef served in one of Bangkok's 5 star hotels.

Since most backpackers will be sticking closer to the first than the second, one of the great things about Thailand that food from stalls and tiny sidewalk restaurants is usually quite safe. Unlike some Asian countries, travelers should worry more about overeating or too much curry spice than about unclean kitchens and bad food. In fact, street restaurants, where you can see what you'll get and everything is cooked on the spot (usually in a pool of germ- and diet-killing vegetable oil) can be the safest option.

Note that tap water is usually not drinkable in Thailand. Bottled water is cheap and ubiquitous (5-10 baht a bottle), and drinking water served in restaurants is always at least boiled (naam tom). Ice in Thailand usually comes packaged straight from the factory and is safe, there is only reason to worry if you are served hand-cut ice.

Thai cuisine

Thai cuisine is characterized by strong spices, especially lime juice, lemon grass and fresh coriander, the combination of which gives Thai food its distinctive taste. In addition, Thai food has a deserved reputation for being spicy, with hot little torpedo-shaped chillies called phrik phii nuu (lit. "mouse shit chillies") making their way into many a dish. Thais are well aware that these can be more than Westerners can handle and will often ask if you like it hot; answer "yes" at your own risk!

Thai dishes can be roughly categorized into central Thai food (around Bangkok), northeastern Thai food (from the Isaan region) and southern Thai food (with heavy influences from Malaysia). The following list covers some better-known central dishes; see Isaan for Isaan food, which is widely available throughout the country.

Tom yam kung is the quintessential Thai dish, a sour soup with prawns and lemongrass. The real thing is quite spicy, but toned-down versions are often available on request.
Tom kha kai is the Thai version of chicken soup in a rich galangal-flavored coconut stock, with mushrooms and not a few chillies.
Kaeng daeng (red curry) and kaeng khio-waan (green curry) are coconut-based curries with strong accents of lemongrass and kaffir lime. Red curry can be fiery, the green version is usually milder.
Phat thai, literally "fried Thai", means thin rice noodles fried in a tamarind-based sauce. Ubiquitous, cheap and often excellent.
Yam som-oh is an unusual salad made from pomelo (a mutant version of grapefruit) and anything else on hand, often including chicken or dried shrimp.

Vegetarian food

Vegetarians won't have too many problems surviving in Thailand, with one significant exception: fish sauce (naam plaa) is to Thai cuisine what soy sauce is to Chinese food, and keeping it out of soups, curries and stir-fries will be a challenge.

That said, Thailand is a Buddhist country and vegetarianism is a fairly well-understood concept, especially among Chinese Thais (many of whom eat only vegetarian food during several festivals). Tofu is a traditional Thai ingredient and they aren't afraid to mix it up in some non traditional dishes such as omelettes (with or without eggs), submarine sandwiches, and burritos. Since Thai dishes are usually made to order, it's easy to ask for anything on the menu to be made without meat or fish. Bangkok features several fantastic veggie and vegan restaurants, but outside of big cities make sure to check that your idea of "veggie" matches the chef's.

Some key phrases for vegetarians:

phom kin jeh (m) / di-chan kin jeh (f) "I eat only vegetarian food"
karunaa mai sai naam plaa "Please don't use fish sauce"

Restaurant chains

Thailand has a large number of indigenous restaurant chains offering much the same fare as your average street stall, but with the added advantages of air conditioning, printed menus (often in English) and some semblance of hygiene. All the chains are heavily concentrated in Bangkok, but larger cities and popular tourist spots may have an outlet or two.

MK and Coca are near-ubiquitous chains specializing in what the Thais call suki, perhaps better known as "hotpot" or "steamboat". A cauldron boils in the middle of your table, you buy ingredients (10-30B a pop) and brew your own soup. The longer you spend, the better it tastes, and the bigger the group you're with, the more fun this is!

S&P outlets are a bakery, a cafe and a restaurant all rolled into one, but their menu's a lot larger than you'd expect: it has all the Thai mainstays you can think of and then some, and most all of it is good. Portions are generally rather small, with prices mostly in the 50-100B range.

Yum Saap (signs in Thai; look for the big yellow smiley logo) is known for their Thai-style salads (yum), but they offer all the usual suspects as well. Quite cheap with mains around 50B.

Kuaytiaw * (signs in Thai; look for the hungry rat logo) does dirt-cheap noodles with prices starting at 20B. Portions aren't too generous, but at that price you can get two! No concessions to English speakers in menu or taste, so point & choose from the pictures and watch out for the spicier soups.

Fuji and Zen specialize in surprisingly passable Japanese food at very cheap prices (at least compared to Japanese restaurants almost anywhere else); rice/noodle mains are less than 100B, and you can stuff yourself full of sushi for less than 500B.

Black Canyon Coffee is Thailand's home-brewed Starbucks, but while coffee is their mainstay they also offer a limited meal menu. Try the chaa yen (lurid orange Thai iced tea with milk).

And yes, you can find the usual McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut etc if you insist. If you do end up at McD's, at least try the un-Maclike fried chicken with McSomTam (green papaya salad).

Stay safe - Thailand Tourism

More a nuisance than a danger, a common scam by taxi and tuk tuk drivers in Thailand is to wait by important monuments and temples and waylay Western travelers, telling them that the site is closed for a "Buddhist holiday". The helpful driver will then offer to take the traveler to another site, such as a market or store. Travelers who accept these offers will often end up at out-of-the-way markets with outrageous prices -- and no way to get back to the center of town where they came from. Always check at the front gate of the site you're visiting to make sure it's really closed.

Thailand has extremely strict drug laws and your foreign passport is not enough to get you out of legal hot water. Possession and trafficking offenses that would merit traffic-ticket misdemeanors in other countries can result in years-long (or life-long) imprisonment in Thailand.

Contact

Internet cafes are big business in any tourist town or city on the mainland. Large islands like Ko Samui and Ko Phi Phi will have plenty of options too. Smaller islands usually have one or two computers near the main ferry docking or in a larger hotel. Price in Bangkok can be as cheap as $0.5 (around 20 baht) for an hour. The smaller the island or the more remote the town, the more expensive, slow, or intermittent the connection.

If you need to place an international call, you need a prepaid card and a Lenso phone. The cards are available for 300 baht at many convenience stores and guesthouses. The bright yellow Lenso phones are on the street and in many of the places frequented by travellers. You should rarely have trouble finding one unless you are really out in the countryside.