Country Facts
Thailand is a country in Southeastern Asia; it is a constitutional monarchy bordering Myanmar ( Burma )
on the west, Laos and Cambodia on the east, and Malaysia on the south.
The climate of Thailand is tropical : hot and very humid, more clouds and rains from May to September
and less from November to May. The temperatures don't really depend on the seasons and remain 25-35C
( ~ 75-95F ) all year long. Only in the northern part of the country the temperature may drop to
15-16C ( ~ 60F ) in the coldest season which is December-January. The open Indian Ocean bounds Thailand
on the west ( what sometimes results to catastrophic storms and even tsunami on the west coast ), while
Gulf of Thailand and especially cozy Bight of Bangkok bound the south coast of the country protecting
it from natural disasters.
The area of Thailand is about 514000 sq km, what is comparable with the area or France or Spain, and more than
the area of state of California while less than the area of Texas.
The population of Thailand is about 65 million inhabitants, what is slightly more than the population of such
countries as France or Spain and is equal to almost half of population of Russia. The majority of people
in Thailand are Buddhists, almost 95%. Other 5% are Muslims ( more than 4% ) and Christians. The Muslims
are mostly concentrated in the southernmost part of the country in the areas bordering Malaysia. Some people
in that region claim creation of independent Islamic state what sometimes results into riot and
terrorist attacks.
The relief of central and southern Thailand is mostly flat while the western and northern parts are
mountain areas.
Having a beautiful nature, climate and good geographic location, Thailand however suffers from air pollution
because of vehicle emissions and water pollution because of organic and factory wastes.
Thailand is better developed than most other southeast Asian countries; the infrastructure allows convenient
transport by plane, bus or train; western facilities are available in all major destinations although
even basic English is frequently not understood.
Being for a long while mostly agricultural country and the source of natural resources ( mainly tin ),
Thailand now exports a wide variety of goods, such as garment, textiles, fish products, rice, tapioca,
jewelry, electrical appliances, furniture, plastics and some kinds of integrated circuits.
A unified Thai kingdom was established in the mid-14th century. Known as Siam until 1939, Thailand is the
only southeast Asian country never to have been taken over by a European power.
The King of Thailand, Rama IX, is the World's Longest Serving Monarch : more than 60 years passed since
his coronation ( more details are here ).
The King is the most honorable person in Thailand. His portraits are everywhere on streets, roads and private
buildings. The Thais call him "our beloved King". Everybody ( including foreigners ) is supposed to say
nothing wrong about the King as well as do nothing that could be considered as a disrespect to the King. Thus,
maltreating the money or stepping on the money bearing King's face will likely result into the problems with
Police or local people. One more important thing to outline is that any hardcore drug trafficking, possessing
and producing is punishable to death.
The literacy in Thailand is about 90-95%, while the young generation is actually totally literate.
However, a very few people in Thailand speaks English. It still remains the language of the elite.
Despite the majority of population look poor, there is nobody begging for money on the streets
and there are a very few homeless people seen.
Thailand Voltage standard is 220V/50Hz, like in European countries. The plugs meet European standard.
The Thailand currency is Baht; 40Bahts ~ 1USD.
Driving in Thailand is on the left side.
Thailand has a single Time Zone.
The time difference between Thailand time and UT is +7hours.
The time difference between Thailand time and EST is +12hours.
Tourism Facts
Being for a long period closed for affection of western culture, now Thailand is widely open for the tourism
which is important part of its national income.
Thailand is a major tourist destination in the region, offering innumerable cultural sites ( temples,
pagodas etc...), as well as a vibrant nightlife in popular towns. One of the features of the nightlife
is the sex-tourism that dominates parts of Bangkok, Pattaya or Phuket, but also other places are not
untouched by this business. However, one can avoid these districts or travel as a couple.
One specific Thailand thing that we never encountered in other counties is so-called
"Tourist Police." This structure pretends to be a special Police department helping the foreigners
who got into a difficult situation, while from our impression they seem mostly investigating the goals
and intentions the tourists and other foreigners are visiting the country with.
Regarding overall safety situation, it has always been good, when it comes to violence or robbery though
some sad accidents happen to the tourists, so care about the safety is never a waste. Regarding personally
us, we didn't encounter any safety problems. Definitely, there are certainly more dangerous places in
the USA, Russia or Europe. When it comes to fraud, lying and stealing, especially Bangkok has quite a
bad reputation nowadays. The best is to stay away from jewelers and similar businesses and not to trust
any strangers.
Driving
Shocking in the first hours because of plenty of cars closely ( almost bump-to-bump ) approaching
each other, absolutely irregular structure of the cities, traffic signs and posters written mostly in Thai
language as well as swarms of bikers maneuvering amongst the moving cars as amongst still objects, driving
in Thailand appears not too bad after getting the experience of day or two. In spite of chaotic structure
of city streets, bikers that seem coming from everywhere including the opposite direction, lack of road
information in English and a few people able to answer questions asked in English, the streets and roads
are mostly well paved and maintained, and the detailed bilingual road maps are available from the stores
( mostly from 7/11 shops that just flood the country ). Despite the drivers tend to approach each other
and you very close, press in the delays and follow you very close to make you change the lane on the
highway, they themselves accept and obey the same "rules of game", and never do unexpected things
as well as avoid doing what can really result into to an accident. Actually, the main thing is getting
of the feeling of this "threshold of permissible and necessary pressing" what will allow you to avoid
being a "traffic derelict" whose behavior can easily become the reason of the accident.
As soon as you become a part of the traffic on Thai roads, you will be pleasantly surprised that rules
are mostly obeyed and even on the highways the traffic goes below the speed limit. Thus, the highway speed
limit for cars is 120km/hour ( for trucks it is lower ), but the car drivers rarely exceed it and usually
drive at speed of 90-100km/hour. The traffic lights counting the seconds remaining to change the light
will be another pleasant surprise making the driving more convenient.
The specific thing that features Bangkok can be called "two level road system". The first ( low, or ground )
level presents the regular ( in some parts historic ) city streets with intersections, traffic lights, etc...
The second ( high ) level presents the system of elevated motorways. Frequently, the motorways follow
the regular streets repeating their turns and bends. However, these two systems exist as in "parallel Worlds",
so few connections are between them. In some places you can drive kilometers
underneath the motorway that covers the street as a massive concrete roof preventing GPS and other receivers
from working.
Actually, the basic rule we revealed is that the ascending sections of the streets could likely be the
gates to motorways as descending sections direct to the maze of downtown. So, if you would like to enter
a motorway, or remain on the motorway, or avoid getting to the downtown labyrinth : keep up, and you'll
eventually get to the motorway ! Conversely, if you would like to exit a motorway and get to the system
of regular city streets : keep down !
Regarding the habits of Thai Police, they will unlikely follow you to make you stop as the Police do
in the USA. The Thai Police prefer to arrange mobile checkpoints on the roads and stop the drivers
checking the id.
Another thing that will definitely draw your attention on Thai roads is the variety of smells. If you keep
the windows of your car open, the strong smells changing one another will accompany you everywhere. It will
be the smells from nice cooking scents to nasty odors coming from leaking sewer. But they will be always
strong and unexpected being the part of your adventure.
Regarding the situation with bilingual road signs and posters, the lack of English information certainly
impedes the orienting while the situation is still incomparable to the situation in such countries as
Russia where out of main cities all road information is provided in national language only what
makes to feel that the foreign driver is an unwelcome person on the road.
The gas prices in Thailand are relatively low ( slightly higher than in the USA ) while since the most
popular car brands are Japanese compact and economy ones, the cost of one unit of distance is
approximately the same as in the USA. Some roads in Thailand ( especially motorways in capital area )
are toll roads. The charges usually vary from 20 to 50 Bahts ( ~ from half to one USD ). The important
thing to remember driving in Thailand is that all gas station close at 10PM !
Filling the tank is what the driver is never supposed to do him- or herself. At any gas station there
is always a group of "helpers" who immediately surround the car and do everything themselves : from opening
the tank and filling it with the gas to washing the windshield and accepting the money. These people
expect 20-30Bahts tips while avoiding their "help" will definitely offend them and may result to
a conflict. Giving coins as the tips is also offending. Only banknotes are expected as the tips.
Service, Dining, Accommodation
Our overall impression of Thai service is that is slightly cheaper but notably worse than the service
in the USA.
There are a lot of places to stay in Thailand : from luxurious 5* hotels to ugly rooms for rent
which frequently are not equipped even with fridge and air conditioner what hard to imagine in tropical
climate. The prices vary appropriately, but the rule is that they are slightly less than they would be
for the same facilities in the USA.
The similar situation is with the food. There are a lot of places to eat : from luxurious restaurants, to
common street cafes, and to ugly and nasty smelling places. The prices are comparable to the prices
in the USA. The good dinner in a common restaurant is 15-20USD for person. Tipping in Thailand is usually
accepted and appreciated : about 20% are expected after a good meal. Like everywhere in Thailand, giving
coins as the tips is offending. Only banknotes are expected as the tips.
Regarding the food and accommodation, the general rule is very simple : just believe your eyes and
nose. What looks nice is actually nice ( you will unlikely get any problems because of staying and/or
eating there ), but what looks and smells ugly is actually ugly ( avoid such places ).
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