Thailand travel guide

Thailand guide

Thailand is one vast holiday buffet, where visitors can gorge to their heart's content on culture, shopping, sun, sand and several other sybaritic recreations. Better still, the Kingdom is refreshingly affordable by any standards, making it a favourite for everyone from parents with children in tow to honeymooning couples to individuals with backpacks.

Travelling executives will usually find themselves in Bangkok, where the great majority of hotels blend the Thai tradition of gracious hospitality (served up with the smile that is a national marketing tool) with ultra-modern facilities. Indeed, with properties like the Sukhothai, Amanpuri and the Regent Chiang Mai to conjure with, Thailand can lay claim to hosting some of the world's most stunning hotels.

Shaped roughly like an elephant's head and trunk, the country's diverse offerings begin in the north with opportunities to trek in the jungles around Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai and take a first-hand look at the ethnic tribes who live in the region. Bangkok, known locally as Krung Thep, has been greatly liberated by the introduction of the Skytrain, which when combined with the ferry system is a superb way to get around the awesome temples, palaces, retail areas and restaurants – to say nothing of the nightlife. Pattaya, the resort closest to the capital, remains more attuned to the single male than anyone else. To the south, laid-back Hua Hin has a wealth of golf courses, while the more remote Krabi entices both those who want to scale its picturesque limestone karsts or simply admire them while basking on sugar sand beaches. The less-developed islands of Koh Samui and Koh Phangan draw the younger party crowd, and Phuket exercises a universal appeal with beaches, nightlife, sports and shopping. Families will welcome the news that children treatment by Thais, who happily drop whatever they are doing to coo over babies and natter to youngsters.

Wherever visitors end up, there will be no shortage of reactions and diversions on offer. The worldwide popularity of Thai cuisine has led many hotels to open their kitchens as cooking schools, taking guests into the markets in the morning, showing then how to prepare the food, and finishing off with a gourmet lunch or dinner. Water sports are given at beach resorts, and mountain biking and horse riding provide a new way of exploring the countryside. Massage is an ancient Thai art and most major hotels now sport a spa offering a variety of body scrubs, facials and other similarly rejuvenating treatments. It needs to be said that some independent establishments use 'massage' as cover for more adult-oriented activities and, while official efforts have been made to curb the more outrageous side of red-light areas in Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket and elsewhere, the sex industry continues to flourish. Personal indulgence remains a matter of choice, but AIDS is an acronym no one can afford to ignore.

Thailand's variable geography is mirrored by its three-season climate. The rainy season (June – October) hits Phuket and Krabi especially hard, but not Koh Samui, which faces its own monsoon between October and January. The cool season (November – February) is one of the best times to visit. And between March and May expect the temperature to rise to around 40C. Peak visitor periods (with corresponding accommodation prices) are Christmas and Lunar New Year.

The chance to take in one of Thailand's major festivals is real bonus; a free-for-all public water fight celebrates Songkran or Thai New Year in mid-April, an event that attracts particular fervour in Chiang Mai. December 31^st is also a signal for a wild party, and Loy Kratong in November is especially picturesque as couples and children launch candle-lit floats into waterways at night.

Two Thai words – 'sanuk' and 'sabai' – sum up the main reasons why so many foreigners return to Thailand time and again. Sanuk means having a good time and, whether on a beach holiday or trekking through mall or mountains, it is difficult not to have fun here. Similarly, Thailand emanates a very happy-go-lucky atmosphere. Whether you are lying prone beneath a masseur's fingertips, downing a beer in a plush bar or just watching the sun go down on a deserted beach 'sabai', or taking it easy, is the watchword.

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