Insight Guides - Insight Guides: Thailand

How To Use This E-Book

Getting around the e-book

This Insight Guide e-book is designed to give you inspiration for your visit to Thailand, as well as comprehensive planning advice to make sure you have the best travel experience. The guide begins with our selection of Top Attractions, as well as our Editors Choice categories of activies and experiences. Detailed features on history, people and culture paint a vivid portrait of contemporary life in Thailand. The extensive Places chapters give a complete guide to all the sights and areas worth visiting. The Travel Tips provide full information on getting around, hotels, activities from to culture to shopping to sport, plus a wealth of practical information to help you plan your trip.

In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.

Maps

All key attractions and sights in Thailand are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.

Images

Youll find hundreds of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of Thailand. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.

About Insight Guides

Insight Guides have more than 40 years experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce 400 full-colour titles, in both print and digital form, covering more than 200 destinations across the globe, in a variety of formats to meet your different needs.

Insight Guides are written by local authors who use their on-the-ground experience to provide the very latest information; their local expertise is evident in the extensive historical and cultural background features. All the reviews in Insight Guides are independent; we strive to maintain an impartial view. Our reviews are carefully selected to guide to you the best places to stay and eat, so you can be confident that when we say a restaurant or hotel is special, we really mean it.

Like all Insight Guides , this e-book contains hundreds of beautiful photographs to inspire and inform your travel. We commission most of our own photography, and we strive to capture the essence of a destination using original images that you wont find anywhere else.

2013 Apa Publications (UK) Ltd

Introduction: The Kingdom of Thailand

Land of the free, land of smiles: the former is a pun on the name Thailand, while the latter is a promotional tourism slogan that is pleasingly truthful. Both define the Thai people and the welcoming nature of their land.

Beneath their graciousness, the Thais have a strong sense of self and tradition. It is this pride in themselves, and in their culture and monarchy, that underpins the Thai sense of identity and an ability to smile at the vicissitudes of life.

The Kingdom of Thailand is ruled by an elected government but retains the tradition of a ruling monarchy, which commands intense loyalty from the people. It has a population of over 66 million and is about the same size as France and twice that of Britain. Its climate is tropical, with three seasons: the hot season (MarMay), the wet monsoon season (JuneNov) and the cool season (DecFeb). The capital city of Bangkok, or Krung Thep in Thai, has at least 10 million people (estimates are, by definition, dubious).

Buddha image at Wat Pho, Bangkok.

Peter Stuckings/Apa Publications

Bangkok is the countrys international gateway, and its seat of government, business and the royal family. It is almost a city-state unto itself and bears little similarity to the rest of the nation. When a Thai says, Im heading upcountry tomorrow, she or he could mean anywhere outside of Bangkoks city limits. Anywhere is upcountry. Indeed, the second-largest city in Thailand (Udon Thani) has perhaps one-fortieth the population of Bangkok. Most of Thailand is rural, a patchwork of rice fields, villages, plantations and forests.

Thailand is commonly divided into four regions: the Central Plain, of which Bangkok is a part; the north, including Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai; the northeast, home to three of Thailands biggest cities, and bordering Laos and Cambodia; and the south, extending from Chumphon down to the Malaysian border. Each region has its own culture and appeal.

Young novice monks.

Marcus Wilson-Smith/Apa Publications

Since the East first encountered Siam a millennium ago and Westerners began trickling in during the 16th century, Thailand has been a powerful magnet for adventurers and entrepreneurs. An abundance of resources, a wealth of natural beauty, a stunning cultural tradition revealed in dazzling architecture and art, and a warm, hospitable people have proved irresistible lures.

The countrys traditional charms form only one side of the picture, of course. It is a nation in transition, evolving from a developing to a developed country in a rollercoaster of a ride. Since the millennium, economic fortunes have fluctuated, and recent years have seen a great deal of political turbulence. But true to the peoples spirit, consistent throughout the countrys history, Thailand has tended to recover quickly from any disruption.

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai.

David Henley/Apa Publications

Throughout its history, Thailand has shown a stubborn maverick streak and a sense of pragmatism, both of which have created a determination to chart its own course. The result is a country that has never been colonised by a foreign power and one that has intentionally held onto its past while moving ahead into the future.

It is hard to ignore the changes taking place, yet there is much that sets Thailand apart from nations on similar paths. The natural beauty is still there in superb beaches, seas of green rice, and forested hills, somewhat safeguarded now that logging is illegal (although it still happens). And even in the most modern towns, the past continues to shine through as temples and palaces are preserved. This uniqueness is not always apparent, especially in a chaotic city like Bangkok that pounds on the senses unceasingly. This is not the exotic Thailand I was promised, the visitor laments This is a nightmare. True, it is a city that is vibrantly alive, but it is also a repository of some of the worlds most exquisite architecture and historical artefacts.