|
Thailand’s climate is tropical with
three seasons:
Hot March to June
Rainy July to October
Cool November to February
Temperatures range from 20C – 35C. The North and mountain
areas are usually quite chilly in the Cool Season, while the
entire country is hot during the hot and rainy seasons.
Over 95% of the population is Buddhist,
with Muslim and Christian making up the other regions.
The national language is Thai, although
many speak local and Chinese dialects. English is widely spoken,
especially in large cities and resort areas.
GMT + 7 hours
Government offices work a five-day week.
Monday to Friday, 830am to 430pm
Business offices usually open and close half an hour later
than these time and some work Saturday mornings.
Banks open Monday to Friday 0900am to 330pm.
Shops open daily usually between 1000am to 900pm.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bangkok
Cha-Am
/ Hua Hin
Chiangmai /
Chiangrai
Koh Samui
Pattaya
Phuket
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
 |
 |
This
beautiful island off southeastern Thailand is covered
with coconut plantations and circled by (call us clich?d
but its true) palm fringed beaches. It was once an ‘untouched’
backpackers’ mecca, but its now well on its way to becoming
a fully-fledged tourist resort. Coconuts are still the
mainstay of the local economy, however, and up to two
million of them are shipped to Bangkok each month.
The most popular
beaches are Hat Chaweng and Hat Lamai: both have good
swimming and snorkeling but are getting a little crowded. |
For more peace and quiet, try Mae Nam. Bo Phut and Big
Buddha on the northern coast. The main town on the island
is Na Thon.
Most of the beaches have
plenty of rustic, thatched-roofed bungalows but accommodation
can still be hard to secure in the high seasons between
December and February and July and August. The best
time to visit is during the hot and dry season between
February and June. There are flights from Bangkok to
the island’s Don Sak Airport. Several ferry and jetboat
companies operate from Surat Thani: express boats take
two and a half hours and jet boats take one and a half
hours. Local transport comprises songthaews, though
several places hire motorcycles.
Koh Samui’s northern
neighbour, Koh Pha Ngan, is more tranquil, and has equally
good beaches and fine snorkeling. Its’ renowned beach
parties at Hat Bin are popular with backpackers, though
not with the local police. The island is a half-hour
boat ride from Koh Samui. |
|
 |
|
Located in the tropical
waters of the Indian Ocean, the island of Phuket is
the largest and the richest in the Kingdom, and is the
only island that has the status of a province.
The island is a constant
delight to the eye. It is a shimmering mass of greens
that form dense jungles and gentle pastoral landscape,
rubber plantations and thick mountain forests, greens
that are splashed with the vivid colors of orchids and
other flowering plants. Phuket is full of contrasts,
being both rural and industrialized. Phuket’s coastline
is magnificent. Many tiny inlets shelter secluded crescents
of white sand where perhaps the only sign of life is
the lone fisherman casting his net into rock pools.
|
Surin each has an exceptionally picturesque fishing
village of nipa-thatched houses. For most visitors to
Phuket, one of the highlights of the trip is to hire
a boat and go to see the beautiful bays of Phang-Nga
and Aoluk, which are located at the mouths of rivers
leading into the Gulf of Phuket from Phang-Nga Province.
Here fantastic limestone islands rise sheer from the
blue sea, some of them 300 meters tall and many containing
caves hung with stalactites. Do not miss seeing the
stilt-village of Pannyl Island, the prehistoric fresco
paintings of Khao Khian and the unique island of Khao
Phingkan. Another popular attraction is the islands
of Koh Phi Phi Don and Koh Phi Phi Le. The limestone
cliffs rise even more dramatically from the water and
there are idyllic little sunstruck beaches in hidden
caves. |
|
 |
It
is only a two and a half hour drive from the crowded
streets of Bangkok to the golden sands of Pattaya
Beach. As you drive along Sukhumvit Highway you
will begin to feel more and more relaxed as you
approach the palm-fringed coastline that stretches
for miles along the Gulf of Thailand.
Because
of its easy accessibility from Bangkok, and the
lure of its sparkling sun and sand, Pattaya has
become one of the more popular seaside resorts
in Thailand for local residents and visitors alike.
Pattaya’s main attractions
are it beaches and water sports: swimming, sailing,
water skiing, snorkeling and scuba diving. The
seafood is fresh and delicious and there is accommodation |
|
ranging
from comfortable to luxurious in hotels and bungalows.
Before
Pattaya was discovered by the tourist trade, it
was a sleepy village with fishing as the main
source of income. Today, tourism is the big baht-earner,
but Thai fishermen can still be seen – and photographed
– at sunset casting their nets into the seat.
|
|
|
 |
 |
It’s
worth putting up with the coronary-inducing traffic
jams, pollution, annual floods and sticky weather to
experience one of Asia’s most exciting cities. Bangkok
has dominated Thailand’s urban hierarchy |
|
 |
Cha-Am
Just 160 km from Bangkok
on the South of Petchburi province, Cha-Am is
one of the older, yet still expanding, beach resorts
on the western coast of the Gulf of Siam. It has
a 3-km-long; sandy, casuarinas-tree-lined beach
with a rather unremarkable collection of bungalow
complexes, beachfront hotels, motel, restaurants
and food stalls. But with the rise in tourism,
some first class hotels, with their own private
beaches have also sprung up. Some of them offer
every convenience imaginable. The Dusit Resort
Cha-Am even features a polo club.
|
|
Hua
Hin
Cha—Am’s next door neighbour,
200 kms from Bangkok by road, is Hua Hin, the
first and oldest of Thailand’s beach resorts.
It was established in the 1920s and quickly became
the favorite summer playground for the wealthy.
A royal palace was constructed on the beachfront
and an excellent 18-hole golf course drew the
Bangkok elite, many of whom built their own bungalows
along the beach. The State Railway of Thailand
built an enormous beach hotel with long open balconies,
which today is amongst the finest hotels in the
township.
|
|
 |
|
jChiang Mai is among
the most delightful and charming cities
in Asia. Chiang Mai’s appeal is not really
hard to explain. It has managed to absorb
the more desirable aspects of Western culture
without losing, along the way, its won distinctive
character. The local people always smile,
and the girls are graceful and soft spoken.
Chiang Mai has a number of other marginal
assets as a tourist centre. One of them
is the folk art for which the Northern part
of Thailand has long been famous. The various
kinds of craftsmen originally lived in separate
villages around the city, and while the
city has swallowed most of these villages
in its expansion over the years, each still
occupies a more or less definite area. Thus
there is a “silver street”, a “lacquer village,
and section occupied mostly by wood-carvers.
The towns of
|
Lamphun and Pa-sang, a short drive from
Chiang Mai, are celebrated for their silks
and cotton; and another village, on the
way to the town of Sankamphaeng, is dedicated
to the making of handsome paper umbrellas.
Chiang Mai is also known for its dark green
celadon stoneware. ‘Its embroidered cotton
shirts. Its delightful dolls dressed in
hilltribe costumes, and for spicy Northern
sausage called Naem that is sold wrapped
in banana leaves.
Another
of Chiang Mai’s assets is it climate. The
city is located on a fertile plain just
over 1,000 feet high and, except during
the hottest months of March to May, it is
considerably cooler than Bangkok.
Chiangmai,
the capital of Northern Thailand, is famous
for its charm and friendliness of its people,
as well as its beautiful mountainous landscape
and cooler weather. It takes one hour by
air from Bangkok to Chiangmai with lots
of services per day, or travel by highway
over a distance of 700 km. Comfortable train
services are also recommended. |
|
|
|
|
