Bangkok is one of the most modern cosmopolitan metropolitan areas on
the planet.
Thailand offers some of the best beaches on the planet, "countless" remote
pristine islands, ancient archeological sites + the rural districts
offer an insight into a traditional Thai lifestyle of an era long past.
Thailand was known to the "west"
as Siam until 1939. Sayam, from which Siam came, was the name for Thailand in the the Szechwan dialect
of Chinese.
LIFE Magazine 1939:
"On June 24, 1939 the Government of Siam, the only
free nation in Southeast
Asia, changes its name to Thailand, which means 'Free Land' ".
(Thailand was the only non-European colony in SE Asia = Free
Land)
Thailand("ประเทศไทย")translates (actually transcription) to
Free Landin English.
Thailand is a place where the
Ancient Far East has selectively melded with the 21st Century West.
The best . fastest / hot rod .. long tail rides
(IMHO)
are on the relatively clean & calm Mekong. The Chao Praya
is congested / choppy & the Klongs stink.
Visiting Thailand is an exciting
mixture of unique cultural experience, undreamed visual images and exotic tropical recreation
..
Exotic sights, sounds, smells & tastes .. combining
to form lasting vivid technicolor memories!
The
Thai outgoing friendliness / happiness rubs off ..
you will find yourself greeting others with a
friendly smile after a few days
Thailand is located in the Geographic Region of Indochina
or Southeast Asia.
Thailand is part of the 21st
century Geo-Economic Region 'The Pacific Rim'
Thailand is located on 2
contiguous Peninsulas: the Indochina Peninsula & Malay Peninsula
Indochina Peninsula = Peninsula
between India & China.
Laos, Myanmar (Burma) & Cambodia are Thailand's neighbors on the Indochina
Peninsula
Malay Peninsula = Thin Peninsula shared by Singapore, Malaysia and the
south of Thailand.
The south region of
Thailand is located on the narrow Malay Peninsula, with the
Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) on it's west side & the Gulf of Thailand
(Pacific Ocean)
on it's east.
Malaysia & Singapore are Thailand's neighbor to the south on the Malay
Peninsula.
December 7, 2007:
Thailand's
SouthEast
Asian GamesWinning (& SEA Games record setting) Women's 4x400 relay tests
Gold Medals for
24k Thai gold.. using their best
MBK 24k Thai gold assay testing technique.
At the Golden Triangle Point .. where
Laos, Myanmar & Thailand meet on the Mekong River .. get it on!..
Haulin' ass in a canoe like vessel.. you are 'easy
chair reclined' on the bottom of the canoe like craft.. inches above the river ..
your bottom may be below the water line.
Oh, if haulin' ass offends you.. yah probably
wouldn't like the ride!
.. but .. if haulin' ass is something you have
an affinity for.. carry yo' self to the Golden Triangle.
Cross into Laos .. village on the other side of the Mekong several KM
down stream .. an unimproved Lao village .. the unfiltered third world ..
night & day difference from the Thai side.
"An exhilarating blast! Lub id tu mutt!",
Khun Tem
25/9 Sukhumvit Soi 26
(1 long block past the Emporium, take a right on to Soi
26, Tokyo Joes is on your left 1 block,
directly opposite the TARA Hotel)
IT'S BEAUTIFUL! ..check it
out Directions? 02
661-0359
give Big Jeff a "high
5 well done" (it's Jeff's voice on our videos)
The Mekong River
/ Golden Triangle is about 30 minutes
south of Mai Sai .. good two lane blacktop road.
There are luxury River boats with on-board casinos for longer
trips on the
Mekong.
& Yes, this is the
Mekong River that goes through Cambodia & Vietnam. A huge river that has a
length of over 3,000 miles. It begins in the glaciers of Tibet.
Where Thailand, Laos & Myanmar meet. A 'Golden
Triangle tourist community' has sprung up at that point.
From street cart vendors or on the beach or local Thai
neighborhood restaurants, or 'fine dining' 5 star restaurants & it's all
excellent..
in fact, "wonderful" is often my post
meal proclamation.
I have never resisted Thai Cart Cuisine & 'gastric events'
have NEVER followed.
The street cart food
vendors MAY ( ask ) have rice cooked in a section of 2" wide bamboo. Take the piece of
bamboo home & it is packed with delicious hot
rice. The bamboo section is used for both cooking & take out
packaging.
By mixing & matching
cart vendors a multi course take home meal is possible.
Tourist areas have Thai restaurants
mixed with 'western fast food'. McDonalds, KFC, Pizza, Baskin
Robbins, ect.
And affordable is the understatement of
the millennium. ( Western food is western priced! )
Gourmet multi course meals for two in very
nice Thai restaurants for 300 BT, $7.
Quick 'Thai rice bowl' lunch, 2
for 100 BT, $2.25.
Skewers of Thai BBQ beef, pork or
chicken for 20 BT, 50 cents from the street hibachi stands.
Tropical mountains,
Southeastern Himalayan
foot hills, in the north. Chiang Mai & Mai Hong Song.
The train to Chiang Mai is highly
recommended.
In the Chiang Mai / Chiang Rai area some incredible Lanna Thai style
house are available for short term rental .. quite marvelous houses
built from 100% teak. Beautiful custom homes rent for a little
as 17, 000 Thb ( US$400, Euro 325 per month )
Even relaxing on a Thai beach can
become an incredible Technicolor memories.
During one twilight swim near Karon (
Phuket Island), a Thai elephant handler & 10 elephants came upon us on the
beach. No idea where they were going or why, but quite a memorable
sight. They were just traveling on the beach instead of the road.
We were 'alone' ( no one else visible in any direction ) &
here comes a guy with 10 elephants truckin' down the sand .. TIT!
KHAO LAK,
Phuket, Thailand (Reuters) -
Agitated elephants felt the tsunami coming, and their sensitivity saved
about a dozen foreign tourists from the fate of thousands killed by the
giant waves.
"I was surprised
because the elephants had never cried before," mahout Dang Salangam said
on Sunday on Khao Lak beach at the eight-elephant business offering rides
to tourists.
The elephants started trumpeting -- in
a way Dang, 36, and his wife Kulada, 24, said could only be described as
crying -- at first light, about the time an earthquake measured at a
magnitude of 9.0 cracked open the sea bed off Indonesia's Sumatra island.
I keep wondering if it was any of the same
elephants we saw that day who were heroes of the tsunami ..
TIT, "This
is Thailand", applies to so many things you will see & experience
in the Land of Smiles!
There are literally 1000s of
riverside restaurants in Thailand!
One of my favorite riverside restaurants
is on a ' side Soi' off Chaoen Nakhon Road in Central Bangkok.
Ban Klang-Nam 292-0175,
292-2037-8
Couldn't find it from the
street..( couldn't that one time anyway.. ) ..so .. hire a river taxi & pull up to the restaurant's
Chao Praya boat dock!
My friends & neighbors 'lub
it tu mutt' when we are greeted by the hostess as we pulled up to
the restaurants private dock.
The dramatic arrival +
the view of the Taksin Bridge & Chao Praya river traffic
is worth every THB.
Taxi home.
A
"Thailand Historical Site Tour / Vacation" is wonderful. Ancient
walled cities, huge ancient temples and well preserved historical sites are present in all areas of
Thailand.
A
ancient site tour is a reason to leave the crowded modern cities ( YES!!
for even a few hours )
& will be the most
remembered part of any vacation you have ever taken! FACT!
The guide
should have a 'full quiver' of narratives ( animated, please!
) on history / relevance and be able to present appropriate
options relevant to any issue at hand.
Days spent traveling
in a pick up truck on 'rural red dirt roads', where the third world can be
'felt & touched', can put life into a different perspective.
Buddhist Temples can be quite elaborate .. generously embellished ..
Crowded city beach fronts ( Pattaya & Patong Si
)
with every jet ski,
paraglide, boat ride & concession imaginable .. + some unimaginable!
Isolated pristine beaches with no one
else in sight. ( miles & miles of pristine beach south of Patong Si,
Phuket Island )
Beaches at the end of a steep jungle
trail w/ a fresh water stream for a shower & the dressing room
is behind a large bolder. ( Liam Sing north of Patong Si ).
Liam Sing is becoming more
& more popular, but still not THAT crowded. (
Nov, 2005
)
2004 Update, tourism is down
( worldwide ) & the beach is way less crowded.
Liam Sing can have a pretty
good surf break, body surfing.
I've seen pics of 9' / 3m
waves there, I've never seen more than 4' / 1.5m.
Very similar to Makapu'u on
Oahu's east coast.
Dinner theater
with traditional Thai dance performed to soothing classical Thai music.
98% tourist events.
Pretty cool the first time.
Or
rowdy Muay Thai kick boxing.
If there is no Thai betting it is a
fixed tourist event.
Very cool every time!
http://www.muaythai.com/ Rajadamnern Stadium,
Bangkok, Thailand . 72 kg Muaythai extravaganza comprises 8 invincible
contenders all over the world.
The winner gets 1,000,000 Baht.
More detail ... lots of pics of Thai
Professional Muay Thai Boxers.
& discos packed with tourists, seekers & travelers from
all continents.
Bangkok has the most incredible mix
of 'international' types.
A totally intercontinental random
assortment mix, shaken well. :-)
& it seems most of whom are
overtly willing to lend assistance.
Persons from all 'corners of the
globe' trying to meld into the uniqueness that is Thailand.
Mountain vistas, dramatic coast
lines, rivers busy with commercial traffic as well as scenic &
serene river view points.
It is fairly easy for
Westerners coming from the "advanced western culture" in Europe & the U.S. to
become enamored with the wonderful friendliness that prevails in the Land of
Smiles!
The cultural differences between the Thai
and the Farang ( westerner ) are almost over whelming.
In my experience the people
of Thailand
are among the most friendly, accommodating and gracious in the world.
Near
universal incredible graciousness is exhibited by the
service personal, hotel & restaurant staff as well as
retail sales clerks.
After just a few visits to the
convenience store near my apartment in Bangkok I felt as though the employees
were friends.
I cannot help but smile
when
I am greeted with a seemingly ever present Thai smile.
The best part about shopping
in Thailand is the retail staffing. From the 7-11 to
Foodland to Robinson's to MBK to The Emporium incredible
'customer assistance & relation' staffing.
Thailand is relatively
crime free.
2007: The seedier part of Thailand
.. namely Pattaya .. is to be avoided .. organized gangs prey on
tourists.
the rest of Thailand is mainly
violent crime free.. Not scam free, but violent crime free.
Buying "rubies &
emeralds" from a street scam artist is NOT recommended. :-o).
Why
would a huge discount on legitimate goods be offered on a
sidewalk? "Duuuh UUH!!! DOH!"
Many
many tourists are stung by obvious scams. If it's
to good to be true it might be!
The Thai population
is mostly devout Buddhist.
The second largest religious group
is Muslim, mostly located in the southern region bordering on Malaysia.
There is a current, 2004, Muslim
Separatist movement in Southern Thailand.
The rural area of Thailand near the
border with Malaysia is currently under martial law.
A large aid package, March 2004, was
approved for the residents of this region during this difficult period.
This 'problem' does not affect any
other region of Thailand.
There's a representative
Christian community throughout Thailand.
Thailand is "some sort of democracy" with both an elected Parliament
and a Monarch that provides a stable and benevolent government.
His Majesty The King of Thailand, King Rama 9, is the world's
longest reigning monarch.
King Rama 9 & his entire family are sincerely loved & deeply
respected by the Thai people.
Thailand is so wonderful, one afternoon at the Silon
Square BTS station I was quite surprised to encounter the kings daughter &
her royal entourage getting on
the sky train ... putting their tickets into the toll machine like the rest of
us
Always be respectful of the Thai King!
The Thai Monarch is
mostly symbolic but is held to same level of esteem as a God (This is a remnant
of the Khmer / Hindu influence in Thai culture).
Money exchange.
The latest & greatest new currency from
your home country may be difficult to exchange in Thailand.
The newish ( big face ) US $100s & (
Oct, 2003 ) & US 'tie dyed peach bills' were often hard to exchange
through March, 2004.
I once took 'a bunch' of US $2.
bills to Cambodia, almost could not give them as a tip!
ATMs are everywhere & you get a
good exchange rate.
"bank cards" often have a daily cash
limit, you might want to address that before you leave home!
Banks will take credit cards for
larger cash exchanges.
Hotel currency exchange is not
suggested, ATMs & banks will give the most THB per $.
Bangkok is Shopping Paradise! 
well done"
(it's Jeff's voice on our videos)
