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Experienced and first-time travelers alike rely on Fodor's Gold Guides for rich, reliable coverage the world over. Smart travel tips and important contact info make planning your trip a breeze, and detailed coverage of sights, accommodations, and restaurants give you the info you need to make your experience enriching and hassle-free. If you only have room for one guide, this is the one for you. The best guide to Thailand, packed with essentials Palaces, museums, Buddhist wats, and Khmer ruins in Bangkok and the north National parks, treks to tribal villages, waterfalls, beaches Floating markets, night bazaars, and craft centers for leather and silk, aniques and amulets, silver and celadon Thai boxing, classical dance, pubs, bars, and discos Where to stay and eat, no matter what your budget Luxury towers, distinctive resorts, simple guest houses Elegant restaurants and garden cafes, canteens and watering holes for hot Thai fare and western food Fresh, thorough, practical -- off and on the beaten path Costs, hours, descriptions, and tips by the thousands All reviews based on visits by savvy writer-residents 15 pages of maps -- and dozens of great features Important contacts, smart travel tips Fodor's Choice What's Where Pleasures & Pastimes Festivals Background essays Complete index

On the Road with Fodor's
About Our Writers: Each year the Gold Guides are written and updated by more than 500 resident writers
Connections How to Use This Book: Describes organization, icons, and other key information
Don't Forget to Write: Tells you how to get in touch with our editors
The Gold Guide Smart Travel Tips A to Z: An easy-to-use section divided alphabetically by topic
Under each listing you'll find tips and information that will help you accomplish what you need to in Thailand
You'll also find addresses and telephone numbers of organizations and companies that offer destination-related services and detailed information and publications
Destination: Thailand: Helps get you in the mood for your trip
The Kaleidoscope What's Where: Gets you oriented
Pleasures and Pastimes: Describes the activities and sights that make Thailand unique
New and Noteworthy: Cues you in on trends and happenings
Fodor's Choice: Showcases our top picks from special restaurants and one-of-a-kind accommodations to out-of-the-ordinary sights and activities..
Let them inspire you! Great Itineraries: Provides a range of options, geared to the length of your stay, that help ensure that you get the most out of your visit
Festivals and Seasonal Events: Alerts you to special events you'll want to seek out
Bangkok Side Trips out of Bangkok Northern Thailand The Central Plains and I-san The Southern Beach Resorts Portrait of Thailand
Index
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

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This excerpt, from the Pleasures and Pastimes section, gives you a taste of what Thailand has to offer and the sights and scenes that make it a great place to visit.

Architecture

No country is an island free from external influence, and over its thousand-year history Thailand, though staving off modern colonial rule, has been the beneficiary of many architectural and artistic styles. It is graced with the leavings of the early Lanna culture and the Khmer empire, and with the classic Thai architecture of its Buddhist temples.

Beaches

Thailand's two shorelines, along the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea, lie slowly steaming below the Tropic of Cancer, a sun-worshiper's dream come true. The beaches come in every flavor: there are lively scenes with bars, discos, and jet skis; quiet coves with luxury hotels; islands with thatched bungalows; resorts for families; and stretches of sands with no footprints at all.

Dining

Food to the Thais is a consuming passion: they constantly eat and snack except when they're actually asleep. Throughout the day, a succession of corner food carts replaces one another, each vendor stirring up a different tasty morsel, depending on the time of day. The range of Thai cuisine is vast; no restaurant worth its salt has fewer than a hundred dishes on its menu. There are regional differences and specialties and, of course, seasonal delights. Thais know that eating out can be cheaper than eating in, and inexpensive restaurants often serve food as good as, and sometimes better than, the fare at fancy places. The best roast duck in Bangkok, for instance, comes from a tiny hole-in-the-wall and costs $1.10, rice included. And though some Thai food is as hot as the fires of hell, an equal number of dishes are mild -- and the hot ones can be tempered. Thai food can easily become your passion, too, if not second to none at least second to one.

Lodging

In no other country has the visitor such a range of accommodation. On one of the finest beaches in the world, a few dollars can get you a bed cocooned in a mosquito net, in a wood hut under a thatched roof. On another beach of equal perfection you can dwell in such luxury and beauty that five-star hotels on the French Riviera pale in comparison. Though you could become jaded, taking such luxury for granted, you'll not forget the smiling attentive service. In the "smaller" provincial capitals, a clean air-conditioned room with private bath should be your expectation. If you spend only $15--$20, you'll get a smaller room with flaking plaster, gurgling plumbing, and instead of air-conditioning a rhythmically wobbling fan.

Massage

Every visit to Thailand should include a massage or two -- and they come in many different varieties. Aside from those which promise lots of bubbles, soap, and full body contact, they range from gentle kneading of the muscles to joint-breaking pulls. The most famous place for a massage is Bangkok's Wat Po; you'll get the most expensive one at Bangkok's Oriental Hotel, the most gentle and soothing at Bangkok's Regent hotel. Those offered at the beach resorts tend to be a cross between soothing and traditional. The traditional massage aims to release blocked channels of energy and uses methods similar to Shiatsu and reflexology. Joint pains and headaches can be eased, but it's also invigorating.

Shopping

You can get hooked on shopping in Thailand -- everything is for sale and there are so many places to look. Bangkok has fancy shopping centers and department stores, antiques and crafts shops, markets and street vendors. There are watches with recently affixed "Rolex" or "Cartier" trademarks and T-shirts with a crocodile slightly askew. Negotiated prices are irresistibly low. In many large cities and resorts, visiting the Night Market is part of an evening's entertainment. Except for imported electronics and luxury goods, Thailand's prices, though not duty-free, are considerably lower than Singapore's or Hong Kong's.

Trekking

The forested hills north and west of Chiang Mai would make for good trekking just for their misty, rugged beauty. But here you can take treks of a day or longer to visit isolated villages that are home to the hill tribes, ethnic groups who migrated from Burma and China, and who have kept their traditions over the last two centuries.

Excerpted from Thailand: The Complete Guide to the Exotic Land: Bangkok, the Temples, Beaches and Resorts by Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc. Staff
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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Fodor's Thailand, 6th Edition

Fodor's Thailand, 6th Edition

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