Thailand
Our Top Picks For Thailand
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1 Vegetarian Festival, 18 - 26 Oct
Bangkok, Trang and Krabi are festooned with yellow banners heralding vegetarian vendors. In Phuket Town the festival gets extreme, with entranced marchers turning themselves into human shish kebabs.
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2 Ko Tao
Be a small fish in a big tank while diving with mighty whale sharks from this coral-fringed island, stay a while, or choose another beach paradise
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3 Sangkhlaburi
Border outpost amid a misty lake and rugged karst mountains far from the tourist trail; the bus ride here from Kanchanaburi is one of Thailand's best scenic journeys
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4 Cooking classes in Chiang Mai
Learn about Thai culinary herbs and spices, tour a local market and prepare a feast - choose from loads of classes in Chiang Mai, which is also a top ecotourism spot
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5 Mae Hong Son Province
Remote crossroads with ethnic minorities, jungle trekking and the hippie retreat of Pai
Fast Facts about Thailand
- Pick-up joint: the world’s second-largest pick-up truck market after the US
- Border countries: Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma)
- Population: 65,493,296
- Guinness World Records: longest condom chain, most couples married underwater and most Mini Coopers in a convoy (444 cars parked to spell out ‘Long Live the King’)
- Karaoke culture: every major band or singer releases video CDs (VCD) specially formatted for karaoke-style singalongs
- Religion: 95% Buddhist
- Literacy: 92.6%, though reading anything other than the newspaper or comic books is regarded as an eccentric hobby
- Currency: what's the Thai baht worth today?
- Prime Minister: Abhisit Vejjajiva
- Number of 7-Elevens currently: 3912
- Highest point: Doi Inthanon 2565m
- Head of state: King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX)
Related Groups
Our favourite Thailand Blogs (beta)
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This Week In Travel Podcast & Thai Hilltribe Treks
Blog: GoBackpacking - 30 August 2009
Last weekend, I read “A Village, Or A Zoo?” the Washington Post travel section’s cover story about the author’s experience trekking through the hills of northern Thailand, visiting various ethnic tribes. The main draw was the same as it was for me and just about every other backpacker visiting Chiang Mai – the Karen Tribe [...] Related posts:Day 1 – Hill Tribe Trek
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Thailand 2: Rails Into History
Blog: Aerohaveno: A Travel Blog - 28 August 2009
Over the past few days I've been travelling with a group of travel writers through Thailand's Kanchanaburi province, northwest of the capital Bangkok, then to the resort town of Hua Hin on the Gulf of Thailand.As trains and railways have formed a big part of the experience, I thought I'd share some images with you here.
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The Weather For August 2009
Blog: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Koh Chang, Thailand - 26 August 2009
Koh Chang Weather Update - 18 August. Sunny days & calm seas. Koh Chang had a drier than normal start to the month, as in the past early August the weather tended to be pretty miserable. But there's been a week with no rain on the island, apart from a few showers during the 10 days of the month. Lots of sunshine in the middle of the month and calm seas
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Introducing Thailand
Thailand is often referred to as a golden land, not because there is precious metal buried underground but because the country gives off a certain lustre, be it the fertile rice fields of the central plains, white sandy beaches or the warm hospitality of its citizenry.
Although the rainy season (roughly July to October) gets a bad reputation, there are some bonuses: temperatures tend to be cooler, tourists are fewer and the landscape is lush and green.
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Tips & articles
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Let it rain: enjoying Southeast Asia’s wet season
27 July 2009
It’s the rainy season in Southeast Asia. Don’t worry, it probably won’t rain all the time...
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World’s ‘best’ cities? Hmm…
15 July 2009
What makes one city better than another? For some, it’s the culture. For others, the cuisine. Some...
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Bangkok airport, the ferret & the coconut
8 July 2009
Returning recently from a jaunt in Europe I was faced with a 12-hour stopover in Bangkok. Yes, it sounds...
Latest headlines for Thailand
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Notting Hill Carnival under way
30 August 2009 10:38AM
Revellers arrive in west London for the Notting Hill Carnival, which is expected to attract about 1.5m people over two days.
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Brothel murder accused in court
29 August 2009 8:42AM
A 27-year-old man from Bradford appears in court charged with murdering a Thai man in a brothel in the city.
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Man charged over brothel murder
28 August 2009 7:47PM
Police charge a 27-year-old man with the murder of a Thai man who was stabbed to death in a brothel in Bradford.
