How to Vacation in Thailand – The Land of Smiles

Thailand, covering a huge swath of Southeast Asia – with a land mass approximately the size of France’s – is boredered by several Asian countries. It is aptly called “The Land of Smiles” because of its friendly and peace-loving people. Although very few people speak English fluently, Thais are warm and very accommodating.

Anyone from the United States or Europe will be overwhelmed by the affordability of merchandise and even services in Thailand. Their food is one of the best in the world, and even if millions of tourists are willing to ‘pay the price’ to sample its now world-famous cuisine, the food in this country, even when served at their high-end restaurants, still is cheap.

Day tours in Thailand

Within a 3- to 4-day vacation, you’ll be able to get around with a small budget to have a feel of this exotic country once known as Siam. You can spend a relaxing time at the Pattaya beach or take a day tour and shop till you drop. A day tour can take you from Bangkok, the nation’s bustling capital, to the suburbs where you can view crocodiles or ride an elephant.

If you select a package tour with a travel agent, you’ll be able to go to several places in a day, which is especially useful if you don’t want to rent a car or drive through the notorious Bangkok traffic.

A morning ferry boat ride through the floating market lets you experience purchasing food items and even dry goods from vendors who carry their wares in small boats, as you ride a boat yourself. The transactions are simple; you choose from among what their selling by pointing to it, and the vendors punch out a few numbers on a calculator to state the price.

If you want to haggle (which is S.O.P. in Thailand), you can punch in your own price and show it to the merchant. Thais are generally courteous, but remember to always haggle with a smile. You can alight and have a bowl of noodle soup while taking in the sights. At the market, they sell a wide range of stuff from fruits to silk robes.

If you want to munch on some tropical fruits such as mangoes, pineapples, lychees, or bananas, they’ll even give you a strange dip – a combination of salt, sugar, and some chili powder. Thais always make use of this combination in their cooking, and some dishes taste heavenly because of it.

By mid-morning, you can visit Royal Thai Handicrafts – a shop famous for its teak carvings. Teak is a beautiful hardwood with a rich golden brown sheen and which has always been used to build Class A cruise ships and yachts, as well as ordinary workboats.

Here you’ll find intricately carved chairs, opium tables, dividers, decorative frames, and “root furniture” – that is, pieces used for the garden, carved out of real teak tree roots. No two pieces will look exactly alike because the carvers adapt their design to how the roots are formed. Teak is an all-weather type of wood and the furniture you’ll purchase here will surely last for years. Some have been carved several months to years, but are all very reasonably priced.

In the afternoon, you can visit the Samphran Elephant Ground and Zoo, where you get to ride a real live elephant through an easy trail with tropical landscaping and mini-waterfalls. Even kids will appreciate the experience of commandeering an animal of this size. Your ride ends at the show venue, where you can watch a show featuring these animals playing soccer (entitled “Elephant World Cup”). You can also experience feeding them with sugarcane sticks supplied by assistants.

Tours usually include buffet lunches, where you can get your fill of Thai cuisine. The spread usually consists of fresh seafoods, noodles, soup, meat, chicken, and a salad with Thai vinaigrette. Many dishes are spicy but tolerable. The sweet, salty, sour, and spicy mix will weave its magic on your palate and you’ll be yearning for these flavors long after you’ve left Thailand.

Don’t worry about accidentally eating exotic foods, such as snake meat, locusts, silkworm larvae, or bugs, in these tourist restaurants – you can always venture on your own for this fare when touring the streets of the city.

There are also scheduled visits to snake and crocodile zoos, if you’re not phobic of reptiles. Here you’ll witness trainers perform daring feats that put their bravery to the test.

Shopping in Thailand

Thailand is a haven for shopaholics who can’t help but fill their luggage to the brim when touring this shopping mecca. The Chatuchak Weekend Market will make your eyes pop at the unbelievably low-priced merchandise, from home decor to clothes. If you’re not too keen on sweating out, the capital also has major malls crammed into it, so take your pick.

If you want variety and great bargains, there’s MBK Mall. Central World, on the other hand, is the largest and is a favorite among the trendy crowd. In fact, six floors of this mall are devoted to the funky shop Zen which claims to be the “biggest lifestyle trend megastore” in the country. The Emporium is where you’ll find classy merchandise and discriminating shoppers, while Siam Paragon treats you to the ultimate high-end shopping experience.

On the streets and in some small shops, knockoffs of signature goods abound and may be quite tempting to buy, but you must know that there are some airposts which have strict laws on bringing in fake leather goods and pirated CDs and DVDs.

Nightlife in Thailand

Like Hong Kong, Bangkok also comes alive in certain parts come nightfall. Khao San Road and Patpong are just two of the places where night owls spend their bahts. Both are lined with tarpaulin-covered bargain stalls and bars. Patpong is not to be missed, so get ready for the show of a lifetime once you enter any of the bars here.

After a long and tiring day, don’t forget to have a Thai full body massage. It’s one of the best massages in the world, and the price will make you sleep even better.