Thailand Travel Video Guide

Thailand Travel Itinerary

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With over six million foreigners flying into the country each year, Thailand has become Asia's primary holiday destination and is a useful and popular first stop on any overland journey through Southeast Asia. The influx of tourist cash has played a significant part in the country's recent development, yet Thailand's cultural integrity remains largely undamaged. In this country of fifty-three million people, over ninety percent are practising Theravada Buddhists, and King Bhumibol is a revered figure across his nation. Tiered temple rooftops and saffron-robed monks dominate every vista, and, though some cities and beach resorts are characterized by high-rises and neon lights, the typical Thai community is the traditional farming village: ninety percent of Thais still earn their living from the land.

Most journeys start in Bangkok . Thailand's huge, noisy, polluted capital can be an overwhelming introduction to Southeast Asia, but there are traveller-oriented guesthouses aplenty here, and heaps of spectacular temples to visit. It's also the best place for arranging onward travel and visas for neighbouring countries. A popular side-trip from the city takes in the raft houses of Kanchanaburi, the infamous site of the Bridge over the River Kwai. After Bangkok, most travellers head north, sometimes via the ancient capitals of Ayutthaya and Sukhothai , to the enjoyably laid-back city of Chiang Mai , where they organize treks to nearby hilltribe villages. There's tranquil countryside in bucketloads up in the northern highlands around Mae Hong Son and along the Mekong River in Thailand's northeast (Isaan), where you can stay in village guesthouses and hop across the border into Laos. The northeast is the least visited area of Thailand, but holds two fine ancient Khmer ruins at Phimai and Phanom Rung, and the country's most popular national park, Khao Yai .

After trekking and rural relaxation, most visitors want to head for the beach - and Thailand's eastern and southern coasts are lined with gorgeous white-sand shores, aquamarine seas and kaleidoscopic reefs. The most popular of these are the east coast backpackers' resorts of Ko Samet and Ko Chang, the Gulf Coast islands of Ko Samui, Ko Pha Ngan and Ko Tao, and the Andaman coast idylls of Laem Phra Nang, Ko Phi Phi, Ko Lanta and Ko Tarutao. The southern island of Phuket and the east coast resort of Pattaya are more expensive, package-tour oriented spots. In the deep south, Thailand merges almost seamlessly with Malaysia, and there are plenty of border crossing points here; the city of Hat Yai in particular offers convenient long-distance bus and rail links to many Malaysian towns. Getting into Cambodia overland is not so easy, but there are two crossings currently open, Poipet and Trat.

The climate of most of Thailand is governed by three seasons: rainy (roughly June to October), caused by the southwest monsoon; cool (November to February); and hot (March to May). The cool season is the pleasantest time to visit and the most popular. Christmas is peak season, when accommodation gets booked way ahead and prices rise significantly. In the hot season,

temperatures can rise to 40°C. The rainy season hits the Andaman coast (Phuket, Krabi, Phi Phi) harder than anywhere else in the country - heavy rainfall usually starts in May and persists at the same level until October. The Gulf coast (Ko Samui, Ko Pha Ngan and Ko Tao) gets hardly any rain between June and September, but is hit by the northeast monsoon, which brings rain between October and January. This area also suffers less from the southwest monsoon, getting a relatively small amount of rain.

Your Tips For Thailand

land of

rochel says "thailand is famous of what"

I ll be there

joe+ping says "I love thailand"

Say no to cheap tuk-tuks

Davo says "When travelling around Bangkok you will no doubt be hassled by tuk-tuk drivers offering you discounted taxi rides. Your first answer should be 'no shopping!' as many drivers work with local boutiques or jewellers and will take you via many shops before reaching your destination.

"Tao Li" translates roughly as how much and is useful for ascertaining the cost of a journey."

• East coast Thailand Travel Videos
  Thailand Travel Itinerary
  Thailand's east coast is a five-hundred-kilometre string of predominantly dull, grey beaches blotched with expensive, over-packaged family resorts, the largest and most notorious of which is Pattaya . - Thailand
  

• Southern Thailand- The Andaman Coast Travel Videos
  Thailand Travel Itinerary
  The landscape along the Andaman coast is lushly tropical and spiked with dramatic limestone crags, best appreciated by staying in the lovely Khao Sok National Park or taking a boat trip around the bizarre Ao Phang Nga Bay. - Thailand
  

• Deep south Thailand Travel Videos
  Thailand Travel Itinerary
  As Thailand drops down to meet Malaysia, the cultures of the two countries begin to merge. - Thailand
  

• North Thailand Travel Videos
  Thailand Travel Itinerary
  Beyond the northern plains, the climate becomes more temperate, nurturing the fertile land which gave the old kingdom of the north the name of Lanna , "the land of a million rice fields". - Thailand
  

• Bangkok Thailand Travel Videos
  Thailand Travel Itinerary
  The headlong pace and flawed modernity of BANGKOK (called "Krung Thep" in Thai) match few people's visions of the capital of exotic Siam. - Thailand
  

• Central plains Thailand Travel Videos
  Thailand Travel Itinerary
  North and west of the capital, the unwieldy urban mass of Greater Bangkok peters out into the vast, well-watered central plains , a region that for centuries has grown the bulk of the nation's food and been a tantalizing temptation for neighbouring power-mongers. - Thailand
  

• Southern Thailand- The Gulf Coast Travel Videos
  Thailand Travel Itinerary
  Southern Thailand's Gulf coast is famous chiefly for its three fine islands of the Samui archipelago: the large and increasingly upmarket Ko Samui , the laid-back Ko Pha Ngan , site of monthly full-moon parties, and the tiny Ko Tao , which is encircled by some of Thailand's best dive sites. - Thailand
  

• Northeast- Isaan Thailand Travel Videos
  Thailand Travel Itinerary
  Bordered by Laos and Cambodia on three sides, the tableland of northeast Thailand, known as Isaan , is the least-visited region of the kingdom and the poorest, but also its most traditional. - Thailand