Thailand
Visitors Information
Food & Entertainment

Thai cuisine is rich and spicy, a true gourmet adventure. There is a huge variety of foods to discover, particularly seafood, with the national speciality being crabs, fish, lobsters and shrimps, all done in either spicy Thai style or to continental recipes. Bangkok has restaurants serving just about every national cuisine both East and West.

To match the variety of food is the choice of eating places. You can sample good food from kerbside stalls, dine in elegant surroundings in deluxe hotel dining rooms and restaurants, or take a dinner cruise on the river.

Outside Bangkok there are restaurants specialising in various national cuisines as well as the typical spicy northern delicacies. The best way to sample local fare in Chiang Mai is to order a Khantok dinner which features a variety of local dishes served with sticky rice.

On the east coast, Chanthaburi is renowned for its seafood, tropical fruit including durians, rambutans, custard apples and longans. Most resort hotels and islands have excellent seafood restaurants while most better class hotels and nightclubs offer live music.

No other city in Asia rivals Bangkok for its nightlife and evening entertainment. There are neon-lit bar districts, pubs and discos, cultural shows staged at various restaurants and spectacular live musical entertainment.

At Patong Beach and in Phuket town there are bars and nightclubs, while in Cha-am and Hua Hin there's evening entertainment in cocktail lounges and nightclubs. A night market in Hua Hin displays locally produced silk and cotton items, as well as the region's famed Thai sweets (kanom).  

Infrastructure
There is a large range of accommodation in all sorts of price categories. Choose from some of the best hotels in the world offering superb facilities in Bangkok, through to luxury and reasonable resort accommodation with simple comforts set amid beautiful natural surroundings at the beaches or on the islands.

There are also bungalows, guest-houses and more basic native-style hotels in many regions such as Chiang Mai.

In Bangkok local transport is inexpensive and convenient, but avoid peak periods for you could end up cooling your heels in a large traffic jam. Taxis have meters and tuk tuks, three-wheeled motorized vehicles, are abundant. Fares are generally less than those in other major capitals.  

There are also hotel limousines, motorbike taxis and mini-buses complete with driver and guide that can be hired for a minimum of three people and which take you anywhere in the kingdom for as long as you want.

There's a comprehensive public bus network, a train from the airport to central Bangkok, and trains and buses to other parts of the country. On the Chao Phraya River there are river taxis and regular shuttle services, or you can hire a private longtail boat and strike out on your own

Activities & Shopping

Not to be missed is the Muai Thai, a style of boxing unique to Thailand in which the combatants use their elbows, knees and bare feet as well as gloved fists. It's a martial art which is entrenched by long tradition and ritual. The fights are fierce and furious, though boxers display remarkable skills as well as great fitness. At the two boxing stadiums in Bangkok professional bouts are held almost every night of the week. 

Other sports include tennis and squash, snooker, darts and table tennis. At the seaside resorts you will find every imaginable water sport.

Golf courses abound with clubs, carts and caddies available for rent. Most have air-conditioned clubhouses with lockers, showers and restaurants. Some even have gymnasiums, swimming pools and condominium accommodation.

Thailand has many unique and beautiful handicrafts made from local materials to tempt the visitor. Traditional products such as silk, cotton, bronzeware, silverware and celadon ceramics remain their best exports. Added to these are clothes, ready-made and custom-tailored, leathergoods, gems and jewellery.

The country has, for many years, been a major source of rubies and sapphires, though gem cutting and  jewellery making has improved so much that all kinds of precious stones are now being imported, processed and set. However, the Tourism Authority of Thailand does warn visitors to avoid people who invite you to the gem shops or who offer you cheap special gem deals.

There's also traditional market stalls, antique and handicraft stores and street traders. Or perhaps you prefer to browse through Bangkok's famous Chatuchak Weekend Market where there are stalls selling everything from junk to treasures.

Getting There & Away
The bad news is that it can be quite expensive flying to Bangkok, depending on your point of departure; the good news is that once you're there you can shop around for an inexpensive return ticket. A host of international carriers land at Don Muang,  Bangkok's International Airport. Flights in and out of Thailand are often overbooked so it's imperative that you reconfirm ongoing flights as soon as you arrive. The departure tax on international flights is around US$13 but this is waived if you're in the country for less than 12 hours.

Overland travel from Malaysia is also popular and there are four border crossings between Thailand and Malaysia, two on the west coast, one in the centre and one on the east coast. It's not possible to buy through-fare tickets for rail journeys between Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur or Singapore, but the trip can be made on express trains via the Thai-Malaysia border at Pedang Besar. The journey usually requires an overnight stop in Butterworth (Malaysia) in order to comfortably make train connections.

The opulent Eastern & Oriental Express does run directly between Bangkok and Singapore, but expect to pay well over US$1000 for the privelege. There are plenty of crossing points between Thailand and Myanmar, Laos or Cambodia, but very few border crossings are made - officially, at least.

It's legal for non-Thai foreigners to cross the Mekong River by ferry between Thailand and Laos at several points along the river.

Getting Around
Thai International has a useful domestic flight network, although as of June 2000 that network decreased by one when Angel Airlines Co, Thailand's second national carrier, pulled all their planes off the airways while undergoing major company restructuring. Travellers tend to prefer Thailand's good bus and train transport anyway.

Buses are phenomenally (read hair-raisingly) fast, and they're also well serviced and air-conditioned. Trains are comfortable, frequent, punctual, moderately priced and rather slow. Cars, jeeps or vans can be rented in Bangkok and large provincial capitals. Motorcycles can be rented in major towns and tourist centres.

Local transport includes taxis, tuk-tuks (motorised rickshaws), samlors (bicycle rickshaws) and songthaews (small pick-ups). Taxis are (mostly) metered in Bangkok and songthaews tend to run regular routes, but samlors, tuk-tuks and taxis outside Bangkok require bargaining and agreement on a fare before departure. A unique feature of Thai public transport is the women-only buses that revived up in June 2000 - an attempt by the government to protect female passengers from crime and sexual harrasment.

When to go
The best overall time for visiting most of Thailand vis a vis climate is between November and February - during these months it rains least and is not too hot. The south is best visited when the rest of Thailand is miserably hot (March to May), and the north is best from mid-November to early December or when it starts warming up again in February. If you're spending time in Bangkok, be prepared to roast in April and do some wading in October - probably the worst two months, weather-wise, in the capital. The peak tourist months are December and August, and the least crowded months are May, June and September. See also next weeks weather forcast for Bangkok.

Money & Costs
If you're travelling on a budget, you should be able to fairly easily get by on around US$15-25 a day anywhere in Thailand. Visitors staying in comfortable hotels and eating at restaurants should budget on around US$20-30 a day outside Bangkok and around double this amount when in the capital. If money is no object, then you can spend to your heart's content while in Bangkok, since the capital has several of the world's most sumptuous hotels. Your spending levels will be curtailed by the scarcity of luxury accommodation and quality restaurants if you get off the beaten track.

Banks or legal moneychangers offer the best rates. For buying baht, US dollars are the most readily acceptable currency, though travellers' cheques get a better rate than cash. Credit cards are becoming increasingly acceptable in quality shops, hotels and restaurants. Visa is the most useful, followed by MasterCard. ATMs which accept Visa and other credit cards are easily found in the larger cities, and many exchange booths will give you a cash advance on your credit card.

Tipping is not customary in Thailand, although Thais are getting used to the idea in upmarket hotels. Bargaining is common practice in markets and tourist shops, and when catching non-metered taxis. Treat it as a form of social discourse rather than a matter of life and death.

Meals
  • Budget: US$2-4
  • Mid-range: US$4-7
  • Top-end: US$7 and upwards
Factsheet
  • Climate: Seasons vary from far north to far south. Essentially there are three seasons - March to May is hot with temperatures reaching 40 degrees celcius, the wet season is from June to October and the cool season is from November to February with temperatures at 27 degrees celcius.
  • Clothing: Emphasis on casual with top hotel restaurants demanding jacket and tie. Outside the resorts, skimpy and/or scruffy clothes attract disapproval and are forbidden in religious places.
  • Electricity: 220 volts, two pin plugs.
  • Time Zone: AEST less 3 hours; GMT plus 6 hours.
  • Currency: The Tahi Baht, divided into 100 Stang.
  • Tipping: A service charge is include in most bills, so only tip when you have had special service. Porters expect about 10 baht a piece of luggage. (Remember a 1 baht tip is considered offensive.)
  • Departure tax: Departure tax 200 baht; 20 baht if leaving on domestic flights.
  • Visas: A valid passport. Visas not needed by Australians is they stay 30 days or less and have confirmed onward ticket. Other nationalities should check visa requirements.  
  • Medical Requirements: - If travelling to northern villages or trekking, you may need anti-malarial medication
  • Holidays & Festivals: Many festivals are linked to Buddhist or Brahman rituals and follow a lunar calendar. New Year, Songkran, is celebrated in mid-April by 'bathing' Buddha images, paying respects to monks and elders by sprinkling water over their hands, and generally tossing a lot of the H2O in the air for fun. Expect to be soaked unless you want to party-poop in your room. The sowing and harvesting of rice has given rise to a cycle of festivals. To kick off the official rice-planting season in early May, the king participates in an ancient Brahman ritual in a large field in central Bangkok. A Rocket Festival is held in May in the country's north-east, using a volatile mixture of bamboo and gunpowder to convince the sky to send rain for the new rice season. The rice harvest from September through to May leads to joyous local celebrations throughout Thailand. The Vegetarian Festival in Phuket and Trang, during which devout Chinese Buddhists eat only vegetarian food, runs for nine days from late-September to early-October. Merit-making processions are the most visible expression of this festival, but there are also ceremonies at Chinese temples. The Elephant Roundup in Surin in November is an elephantine festival popular with the kind of people who enjoy watching pachyderms play soccer.

    • Feb - Traditional Thai Games and Sports Festival (Bangkok)

    • Feb - Flower Festival (Chiang Mai)

    • Feb 21 - Magha Puja (Buddhist holy day)

    • Mar - Thao Suranari Fair (Nakhon Ratchasima)

    • Apr 6 - Chakri Memorial Day

    • Apr 12 - Songkran Festival

    • Apr 13-14 - Coronation Day

    • May 20 - Wisakha Puja Day

    • June - Phi Ta Khon Festival (Loei)

    • July 19 - Asalha Puja

    • July 20 - Buddhist Lent Day

    • Aug 12 - H.H. The Queen's Birthday  

    • Sep 20 - Chinese Lunar Festival (Songkhla)

    • Sep 22-24 - Festival of the 10th Lunar month (Nakhon Si Thammarat)

    • Oct - Lanna Boat Races (Nan)

    • Oct - Buffalo Racing Festival (Chonburi)

    • Oct (9 days) - Vegetarian Festival (Phuket)

    • Oct 23 - Chulongkorn Day

    • Nov - Thailand Food Festival (Bangkok)

    • Nov 4-5 - Thailand International Swan Boat Races (Ayutthaya)

    • Nov 4-6 - Loy Krathong

    • Nov 26 - Chinese Banquet for Monkeys (Lop Buri)

    • Nov 26-Dec 6 - Silk Fair (Khon Kaen)

    • Dec 3 - Trooping of the Colour (Bangkok)

    • Dec 5 - The King's Birthday

    • Dec 10 - Constitution Day