Welcome
Travelling
Thailand
Bangkok
North Thailand
South Thailand
China
Cambodia
Laos
Colombia
Links
About diving in Thailand (in Danish)
Fall-Winter 1999
Travellers in Asia will sooner or later drop by this beautiful country. A very good starting or ending point of your journey in Asia. The people of Thailand are extremely friendly. All over Thailand you are met by smiles and laughs. The Thai people lives according to the Thai words, Sabaidii and Sanuk, it means "everything is okay" and "having fun". Thai people are in no rush, everything will work out, if not today then at least tommorow. With this philosophy of life, it is possible to get in touch with people living in Thailand, if you are open minded. I have been in Thailand twice; the first time was in 1998, when I visited the country as a backpacker. The second time was as an exchange student at Thammasat University at the Faculty of Economics in Bangkok. Living in Thailand, gave me an experience you won´t get as a traveller. It is an experience I will never forget! The language is really simple but difficult in many ways. A good start to learn Thai might be to check out this web page Thai language.
What make the language difficult is the pronunciation and the construction of sentences.
Thai language has 5 tones, low, mid, high, rising and falling. Be aware of this, the same word means different things when the tone changes, an example, close and fare. Further more, Thai language operates with another alphabet. In general, this is not a problem for visitors, because all signs and other kinds of script is shown by transcription.
Travelling in Thailand is very easy and convenient either you choose bus or train. People are friendly and you feel safe where ever you go. The country is touristy but still charming.
In my opinion the north part of Thailand is not as unspoiled, as it is said. People tend to say that you find the culture in the north and the beaches in the south. If you want to experience the more untouched civilization then you should go to the surrounding countries of Cambodia or Laos.
Thailand is in several ways a developed country, especially Bangkok, though it is very Asian and special.
The royal family is highly respected; so do not say anything bad about the royal family in public. Nobody, even not your embassy, can help you if you offend the royal family. Before a movie starts in the cinema you are to stand up and show respect to the king every single time, watching a movie. Ayuttaya
King Ramathibodi founded the city in 1350 . It was the centre of the Siam Empire for more than 400 years. Ayuttaya is the old capital. It is located about 2 hours by train, north of Bangkok.
Today the city is really cosy with lots of ruins to visit. Many of the surviving ruins are classified as World Heritage's.
As a backpacker, a daily spending around 15-20 $ is sufficient to survive.
