More than just red currys and pad thai! (Thailand)

Member Name: Pablo_Sevilla

Product:	Thailand
Date:	09/06/09 (83 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Probably the best food in the world? Fairly cheap, diverse.

Disadvantages: Overdeveloped in many places, minor scams and hassle in tourist areas.,

It's not hard to see why Thailand has become such a popular tourist destination over the past couple of decades.

The country does seem to have something for everyone, with the green mountains in the north west around Chiang Mai to the infamous beaches strung along the southern regions towards Malaysia. It manages to cater to all budgets, from backpacker guesthouses and bungalows to 4 or 5 Star hotels in Bangkok and beach resorts in Phuket.

Then of course there are the Thai people themselves, who are generally friendly and hospitable people, and last but not least is the food; It is unquestionably one of the finest cuisines in the world with a vast array of endlessly subtle flavours.

From a budget point of view it's still possible to live off about £10 a day (about 500 baht), but prices in Thailand have risen steadily over the past six or seven years. Many places in the south of Thailand along the coast are now pricing out the true shoestring budget backpackers. It's getting hard to find bungalows for less than 300 baht a night in many places, and in high season it's virtually impossible to spend less than 500 baht just on beach bungalow accomodation.
Even in Bangkok's infamous Khao San Road and surrounding districts (Rambutri Road etc) that were once built around the backpacker scene have now begun pricing out those who like to travel on a budget; Places for 150 baht a night (£3) still exist but are extremely hard to find and are generally poor value relative to what you'd pay elsewhere in South-East Asia.

Thai people are generally very welcoming and friendly outside of the mega-touristy places like those mentioned above. However, there are petty scams and annoyances ("hello you want tuk tuk?") like persistent touts, but compared to many other parts of the region they are fairly tame and nothing like you'd encounter in Cambodia where people are generally less open to foreigners and the hassle (aggressive moto and tuk tuk drivers, drug pushers etc) and annoyance factor (as well as crime) is much much higher.

The infrastructure in Thailand is generally very good for a country with this GDP. Roads are in good condition and motorways stretch through most the countries. The train system is good value for money and the sleeper trains are comfortable if not very punctual. It's definitely worth taking at least a couple of sleeper trains in Thailand if you have the time. The 2nd Class sleeper births on trains are good quality and comfortable. They may cost a little more than a bus ticket but the extra baht is usually worth it as you are gauranteed a nights sleep unless you are a very fussy or light sleeper! The births are small in 2nd class and are in rows of 2 on both sides of the carridge. In the day time they are fastened up and the bottom bunk turned into seats so people can sit, but by the evening staff come around and make up the bunk for you and it turns into 2 bunks, upper and lower. It's always very clean and staff are helpful. It makes for fun and comfortable experience.
Air Asia, the regions budget airline, now operate domestic flights to the south's big tourist destinations like Phuket and Phi Phi. There is also a regular cheap flight connecting Bangkok with Kuala Lumpur. Regular flights operate with other regional capitals (Vietnam, Bali etc) and Thai Airways fly to destinations like Siem Reap (Angkor) in Cambodia. Lao Airlines fly Bangkok to Luang Prabang and Vientiane if you want to fly to Laos.
Bangkok is also a big transit hub so you can find some very cheap flights from London and Europe if you hunt around.

The main attractions:

Bangkok - Thailand's sprawling capital is the starting point for most visitors. Bangkok has some great nightlife, great resturants (for any budget, though the street vendors sell some of the best and cheapest food, some meals like pad thai only cost 30p), buzzing markets, a sky-train, the infamous gold reclining Buddha, the Royal Palace, Lumpini Park, some decent shopping (MBK shopping centre) and Khao San road the old backpacker haunt where you can pick up an array of often high-quality counterfit goods, clothes and books!
Bangkok is a buzzing and hectic city with a fair amount of pollution and crazy amounts of traffic that clog the city's streets come rushhour, and it certainly isn't the most glamourous city and thus not to everyones taste. But those who like some fun and the exotic will be in their element because Bangkok has both without ever being too intimidating.
A couple of hours north of Bangkok is Ayattaya, the ancient capital. It's well worth a visit here (despite the crowds) as the temples and buildings are classic Thai architecture at it's finest.

Chiang Mai- The country's second city located in the mountainous north. It's much more chilled out than Bangkok and about 1/5 of the size. There are no towering skyscrapers or traffic clogging the streets and the atmosphere is chilled out and laid back.
Much of the old city remains from ancient times, some of the old city wall and the moats still surround the city centre where traffic flow is kept to a minimum.
There are tonnes of bars and resturants throughout the city, many geared to tourists. This is a tourist hotspot and guesthouses are found throughout the city. The choice of food here is excellent, Chiang Mai has a unique cusine utilising produce from the jungle (one dish even contains growthworm!).
There are also dozens of yoga and meditation centres and Chiang Mai does attract the kind of 'spiritual-tourists' you'd find in countries like India as well as the party goers, gap-year students, trekkers (treks are arranged here for treks into the surrounding region, but suffer greatly from being overdeveloped and over touristed) and the inevitable sex tourists. I suppose it's this mix that makes Chiang Mai such a fascinating and alluring mix of old meets new.

River Kwai- This is the site where during World War II thousands of Allied POWs were forced to build a railway track linking Thailand with Burma over the River Kwai by the Japanese occupation force. Thousands died from exhaustion, disease (malaria, dissentry) and starvation and the memorials to the dead can be visited here.

The South:

Ko Tao - This is a bit of a diving mecca. It is one of the best dive spots in the world and has excellent dive centres run by westerners and Thai's. The PADI Open Water courses are very reasonable here and of high quality. But you may get bored easily on the island if you are not diving as there is very little else to do.

Ko Samui/Ko Phan Ngang: These two islands are to the south of Ko Tao in the gulf of Thailand. In the past few years they have priced out backpackers but are still extremely popular destinations for young people and still have a reputation for being party islands.

Phuket: This has become mid-range budget and upwards only! Great for people with bigger budgets as it's very developed and even has an airport so you could fly via Bangkok. Very touristy and more for the holiday makers not for backpackers looking to lose the crowds.

Phi Phi: Again this is going upmarket but you can still get a bungalow for 500 baht. Not as crowded as Phuket and in places it's still possible to lose the crowds and find a decent white sand beach to yourself.

Ko Lanta: The beaches here aren't true white sand beaches but are still beautiful and the atmosphere here is much more chilled out. It's a great destination for couples as the party/nightlife scene isn't as rampant as on other Thai islands or beaches and it's easy to find deserted beaches if you make the effort. It's less crowded in general than most other Thai beaches.

So to sum up Thailand?

Don't come with expectations of the country being any kind of real challenge or life changing experience! These days it's very easy to get around and hard (but not impossible) to get off the beaten trail. Most of the islands and beach destinations are now overdeveloped and crowded, but it's still possible to find quiet places if you make the effort (there are far better deserted white sand beaches in neighbouring countries, i.e Indonesia), if you don't mind the gap year students and party-seeker type.

For some, the fact Thailand offers no real challenge is a blessing, but people who have travelled from neighbouring countries may find it a tad sterile and overdeveloped at first...I confess I felt this way on my first visit where I came directly from India. But I have now transited through the country dozens of times and have grown to quite like it. The thing with Thailand you see is that it's never been colonised by western countries like neighbouring countries in Indochina (the French), Burma (the British), Malaysia and Indonesia (the Dutch), so it's got a unique culture, a strong national identity. Even Thailand's form of Therevada Buddhism has unique beliefs and a special 'Thai' spin on it.
And the Thai's are fanatical about their King and he often intervenes and prevents the country falling apart due to political corruption and militray coups. They are very nationalistic and proud but are generally very welcoming.

It's worth a trip to Thailand just to experience the only country in the region that is untainted and uninfluenced by a colonial past...

But you'll come to see that that is just a small part of what makes Thailand unique...

Summary: Not as backpacker friendly a sit used to be, but still well worth a visit!