6.3.2 Songthaew

   A songthaew is a truck-based vehicle with a pair of bench seats in the back, one on either side. By far the most common type is based on a pick-up truck and has a roof and open sides. Larger types start life as small lorries, and may have windows, and an additional central bench; smaller types are converted micro-vans, with a front bench facing backwards and a rear bench facing forwards.

   Songthaews are operated extensively as local buses (generally the most economical way to travel shorter distances) and also as taxis; sometimes the same vehicle will be used for both. Be careful if asking a songthaew to take you to someplace if there is nobody in the back, the driver might charge you the taxi price. In this case, check the price of the ride before embarking.

6.3.3 Tuk-tuk

   The name tuk-tuk is used to describe a wide variety of small/lightweight vehicles. The vast majority have three wheels; some are entirely purpose-built (eg the ubiquitous Bangkok tuk-tuk), others are partially based on motorcycle components (primarily engines, steering, front suspension, fuel tank, drivers seat). A relatively recent development is the four wheeled tuk-tuk (basically a microvan-songthaew) as found in Phuket.

6.3.4 Taxi

   Metered taxis are ubiquitous in Bangkok, but rare elsewhere in the country. When available, they are an excellent means of transport - insist on the meter. Beware of taxis which idle around touristy areas and wait for people. They are looking for a tourist who will take their taxi without using a meter. Always use the meter!

6.3.5 Motorbike

   As is the case throughout virtually all of Asia, motorcycles (motosai) are the most common form of transport overall; the most popular type are the 100cc-125cc step-through models. These are very widely used as taxis, with fares starting from as low as 5 baht.

   Motorcycles can be rented without difficulty in many locations. Rates start at around 150 baht/day for recent 100-125cc semi-automatic (foot operated gearchange, automatic clutch) step-through models, 200 baht/day for fully automatic scooters; larger capacity models can also easily be found, although the rates reflect the risks - up to around 2500 baht/day for the very latest model high capacity sport bikes, such as the Honda CBR1000RR. In all cases, lower prices will apply if paying upfront for more than a week or so; in some cases, long-distance travel may be prohibited. Motorcycle rentals do not include insurance, and both motorcycling accidents and motorbike thefts are common.

   Many places will rent to you without requiring a license, but legally speaking you must have a valid Thai license or International Driver's Permit. Often a deposit will be required; sometimes a passport photocopy, or even the passport itself (don't do this!), will be requested. Helmets are normally included, but are usually ultra-basic models with very flimsy chin-strap fasteners - if you're intending to travel by motorcycle and have a good quality helmet at home, then bring it with you. If supplied a helmet with a chin-cup (many cheap rental helmets are), slide the cup up the strap out of the way and securely fasten the bare strap directly under the jaw, as this is much safer.

   Insurance is usually not included (or even available), so try to ensure in advance that the insurance you leave home with is going to cover you; alternatively, arrange cover with an insurance broker locally in Thailand. If you rent a vehicle without insurance and it's damaged or stolen, the bottom line is that you will be required to pay in full the cost of repairing or replacing it.

   Motorcyclists (including passengers) are required to wear crash helmets and to keep their headlights switched on at all times. Enforcement varies widely, but in tourist areas spot checks for helmets and/or licences are commonplace. While the fines are light (typically 200 baht) the inconvenience can be considerable as offender's vehicle is impounded until the fine is paid, and the queue at the police station can be lengthy.

   Some (but not all) border crossings allow motorcycles through. At those which do, documentation including proof of ownership must be produced (with the possible exception of day visits to Payathonzu, Myanmar via Three Pagodas Pass).

6.3.6 Rental car

   Driving your own car in Thailand is not for the faint-hearted, and many rental companies can supply drivers at a very reasonable price. Prices without insurance for a self-driven car start from around 800 baht/day for small cars, and from as little as 600 baht/day for open-top jeeps; cars with insurance start at just under 1000 baht/day, and come down to around 5600 baht/week or 18000 baht/month.

   Driving is (usually, but not always!) on the left hand side of the road. As of January 2006, fuel at large petrol stations is 24-27 baht/litre. Small kerbside vendors who pump by hand from drums and/or pour from bottles charge a few baht more.

   Cars can be rented without difficulty in many locations. It's worth paying a little more than the absolute minimum in order to use one of the international franchises (eg Avis, Budget, Hertz) to minimize the risk of hassles, and to ensure that any included insurance is actually worth something.

   More reputable agencies require that valid licences be produced: foreigners who do not have a Thai driving licence must carry a valid International Driving Permit. Even if you manage to rent a car without an IDP, not having one will invalidate the insurance and count against you in the event of an accident.

   A common rental scam involves the owner taking a deposit, and  then later refusing to refund it in full on the basis that the customer is responsible for previous damage; the Tourist Police (dial 1155) may be able to help. Another common scam involves the owner having someone follow the rented vehicle and later "steal" it, using a set of spare keys. Always report thefts: a "stolen" vehicle may mysteriously turn up as soon as the police become involved.

6.4 By boat

   One of the Thais' many names for themselves is jao naam, the Water Lords, and from the river expresses of Bangkok to the fishing trawlers of Phuket, boats remain an indispensable way of getting around many parts of the country.

   Perhaps the most identifiably Thai boat is the long-tail boat (reua hang yao), a long, thin wooden boat with the propeller at the end of a long 'tail' stretching from the boat. This makes them supremely manouverable even in shallow waters, but they're a little underpowered for longer trips and you'll get wet if it's even a little choppy. Long-tails usually act as taxis that can be chartered, although prices vary widely - figure on 300-400 baht for a few hours' rental, or up to 1500 for a full day. In some locations like Krabi, long-tails run along set routes and charge fixed prices per passenger.

   Modern, air-conditioned speedboat services as well as slower, sometimes overnight ferries also run from the mainland to popular islands like Ko Samui and the Phi Phi Islands. Truly long-distance services (eg. Bangkok to any other major city) have, however, effectively ceased to exist as buses, planes and even trains are faster. Safety measures are rudimentary and ferries and speedboats do sink occasionally, so avoid overloaded ships in poor weather, and scope out the nearest life jackets when on board.

7. Do

   Thailand's a big enough country that you can find a place to practice almost any outdoor sport. Some selections:

   @ Golf - see the separate Golf in Thailand article

   @ Rock climbing - the cliffs of Rai Leh in Krabi are arguably among the best in the world

   @ Scuba diving - easily accessible Ko Tao (near Samui) draws the crowds, but also possible in Pattaya and Krabi, and the Similan Islands are worth the journey

   @ Trekking - very popular up north around Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai

8. Talk

   The official language of Thailand is, unsurprisingly, Thai. There are dozens of small language groups in the tribal areas of the north, and a small number of places where Thai speakers are few and far between. Thai is a tonal language (think about the difference in your voice when saying "yes." versus "yes?" - that's tonal) which can make it tricky for Westerners to learn quickly, but despite this, everyone will appreciate any attempt you do make so pick up a phrase book and give it a go.

   Thai script can look like complete gibberish, but many street signs and some shop signs have Roman transcriptions (using the "Western alphabet") as well. The upside is that when there is Roman script, it will usually be fairly phonetic - for example "Sawatdee" (meaning hello) is pronounced just as it reads: sa-wat-dee. The downside is that there's no universal agreement on how to transcribe Thai letters that don't have a Roman equivalent, so Khao San Road for example is also commonly spelt Kao Sarn, Kao Sahn, Khao San, Koh Saan, Khaosan, and many other variations. Maps with names in both Thai and Roman make it easier for locals to try and help you.

   Most "front desk" people in the travel industry speak at least enough English to communicate, and many are relatively fluent; some also speak one or more other languages popular with their clientele, such as Chinese, Japanese, German, etc.

   Many Thais have trouble pronouncing the consonants clusters of the English language. Common confusion comes from the fact that Thais often pronounce "twenty" as "TEH-wen-ty", making it sound like they're saying "seventy".

9. Buy

Weighty bahts :

   Is your new girlfriend asking for a one-baht gold ring? Watch out, as this isn't the cheap trinket it sounds like: for jewellers and goldsmiths, the baht is also a measure of weight, or 15.244 grams (around 0.5 oz) to be exact. At 2006 gold prices, one baht of gold would thus cost you well north of 10,000 baht in cash!

   The currency of Thailand is the baht (THB, ฿), written in Thai as Baht . There are six coins and six notes:

25 and 50 satang (cent, copper colour) coins - nearly worthless and only readily accepted (and handed out) by supermarkets and 7-11s

1, 2 and 5 (silver colour) and 10 baht (silver/gold) coins

10 (brown - now very rare), 20 (green), 50 (blue), 100 (red), 500 (purple) and 1000 (grey-brown) baht notes

The most useful bills tend to be 20s and 100s, as many small shops and stalls don't carry much change. Taxi drivers also like to pull the "no change" trick; if caught, hop into the nearest convenience store and make a small purchase (or ask them for exchange).

   ATMs can be found in all cities and large towns, and international withdrawals are not a problem. However, more remote areas (including smaller islands) don't have banks or ATMs, so cash or traveller's checks are essential. Many hotels and guest houses will change money for guests, but hefty commissions and poor rates may apply. US dollars in small bills (1s, 5s, and 20s) are invaluable for onward travel to neighbouring countries other than Malaysia, but are only useful in Thailand for exceptional purchases (eg paying visa fees for Cambodia).

   Credit cards are widely accepted in the tourist industry, but beware of cloning, where copies of your card are made surreptitiously. Try not to let your card out of your sight.

9.1 Costs

   In a word, Thailand is cheap, and excellent value to boot : the combination of a weak currency, low labor costs and plenty of visitors means that everything a tourist could possibly want is both available and affordable. 800 baht will get a backpacker a dorm bed or cheap room, three square meals a day and leave enough for transport and sightseeing. Doubling that budget will let you stay in decent 3-star hotels, and if you're willing to fork out 4000 baht per day or more you can live like a king. Bangkok requires a more generous budget than upcountry destinations, but also offers by far the most competitive prices for shoppers who shop around. The most popular tourism islands such as Phuket and Ko Samui tend to have higher prices in general.

9.2 Shopping

   Thailand is a shopper's paradise and many visitors to Bangkok in particular end up spending much of their time in the countless markets and malls. Particularly good buys are clothing, both cheap locally produced streetwear and fancy Thai silk, and all sorts of handicrafts. Electronics and computer gear are also widely available, but prices are higher than in Singapore, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur.

   A Thai speciality are the night markets found in almost every town, the largest and best-known of which include Suan Lum Night Bazaar in Bangkok and the Night Bazaar in Chiang Mai. Here a variety of vendors from designers to handicraft sellers have stalls selling goods which cannot normally be found in malls and day markets. Most night markets also have large open air food courts attached.

   You can also find marvelously tacky modern clothing accessories. Witness pink sandals with clear plastic platform heels filled with fake flowers. Night markets along the main roads and Maboonkrong (MBK) Mall, near the Siam sky train stop, are particularly good sources.

10. Sleep

   Thailand has a plethora of accommodation in every price bracket. Always take a look at the room (or better still several rooms) before agreeing a price.

   Guesthouses are usually the cheapest option, costing under 200 baht per night (or less for a dorm bed). This gets you a room with a fan, a squat toilet (often shared) and not much else.

   Thai hotels start around 200 baht and go up to around 800 baht. The upper end of this range will be air-conditioned, the lower end will not. The primary difference is that with a hotel room, your bathroom should be private, bed linen and towels should be provided, and there may be a hot shower.

   Tourist hotels are generally around 1000 baht and offer the basics for a beach vacation: swimming pool, room service and colour TV.

   Business and luxury hotels, 2000 baht and up, offer every modern amenity you can think of and are largely indistinguishable from hotels anywhere else in the world. Some, notably Bangkok's The Oriental and The Peninsula are among the world's best hotels. The most luxurious resorts also fall in this price category, with some of the very best and most private adding a zero to the price.

11. Learn

Cooking

Massage

Thai Language

Teaching Certification in ESL (English as a Second Language)

Gemology

12. Work

   The two main opportunities for work for foreigners are teaching English and dive instruction, but both are very competitive and divemasters in particular are paid a pittance. Finding any other kind of work in Thailand can be difficult, as wages are poor and a large number of occupations are legally off limits to non-Thais.

   An excellent way to get to know and understand more of the country is to do some voluntary work. There are several organisaitons such as Travel to Teach that arrange work for international volunteers in Thailand and other countries in the region.

13. Eat

   The food alone is really reason enough for a trip to Thailand. Curries, fruit shakes, stir fries, fresh fish made a zillion ways - and that's just the beginning. Food in Thailand can be as cheap and easy as 20 baht phat thai (Thai fried noodles) cooked at a street stall or as expensive and complicated as a $100 ten-course meal by a royal chef served in one of Bangkok's 5 star hotels.

   Since most backpackers will be sticking closer to the first than the second, one of the great things about Thailand is that food from stalls and tiny sidewalk restaurants is usually quite safe. Unlike some Asian countries, travellers should worry more about overeating or too much curry spice than about unclean kitchens and bad food. In fact, street restaurants, where you can see what you'll get and everything is cooked on the spot (usually in a pool of germ- and diet-killing vegetable oil) can be the safest option.

13.1 Etiquette

   Thai food is most commonly eaten with fork and spoon. Hold the spoon in your right hand and use it to eat, and reserve the fork for piling stuff into your spoon. Chopsticks are only employed for noodle soups and Chinese-style dishes. At home, eating by hand is also common but this is rarely done in restaurants.

   Thai food is meant for sharing. Everybody gets their own plate of rice and tiny soup bowl, but all the other dishes are laid out in the center of the table and you're free to eat what you wish. Though some people believe that taking the last piece from a shared plate is considered slightly unlucky, and you may hear people make wishes for others to compensate for their own misfortune — a popular wish is that "may my girl/boyfriend be beautiful"!

13.2 Thai cuisine

   Thai cuisine is characterized by strong flavors, especially lime juice, lemon grass and fresh coriander, the combination of which gives Thai food its distinctive taste. In addition, Thai food has a deserved reputation for being spicy, with hot little torpedo-shaped chillies called phrik khii nuu( lit. "mouse shit chillies") making their way into many a dish. Thais are well aware that these can be more than Westerners can handle and will often ask if you like it hot (เผ็ด phet); answer "yes" at your own risk!

   Thai dishes can be roughly categorized into central Thai food (around Bangkok), northern Thai food (from the northern region around Chiang Mai, with Burmese and Chinese influence), north-eastern Thai food (from the Isaan region bordering with Laos) and southern Thai food (with heavy influences from Malaysia). The following list covers some better-known dishes; see Isaan for Isaan food, which is widely available throughout the country.

@ Rice

The Thai staple is rice (khao), so much so that in Thai eating a meal, kin khao, literally means "eat rice".

   Khao suai  or "beautiful rice" is the plain white steamed rice that serves as the base of almost every meal.

   Khao phat  is simple fried rice, usually with some pork (muu) or chicken (kai) mixed in.

   Khao tom  is a salty and watery rice porridge served with condiments, quite popular at breakfast.

   Khao nio  or "sticky rice" is glutinous rice - usually eaten dry, traditionally by hand, with grilled/fried pork or chicken or beef.

@ Noodles

   Thais are great noodle eaters. The most common kind is rice noodles, served angel-hair ( sen mii), small ( sen lek), large ( sen yai) and giant ( kuay tio), but egg noodles ( ba mii), Chinese-style stuffed wonton ravioli ( kio) and glass noodles made from mung beans ( wun sen) are also popular.

   Unlike other Thai foods, noodles are usually eaten with chopsticks. They are also usually served with a rack of four condiments, namely dried red chillies , fish sauce, vinegar and sugar which diners can add to their own taste.

   Phat thai , literally "fried Thai", means thin rice noodles fried in a tamarind-based sauce. Ubiquitous, cheap and often excellent - and as an added bonus, it's usually chili-free!

   Ba mii muu daeng  is egg noodles with slices of Chinese-style barbecued pork.

   Kuai tio ruea  is a rice noodle soup with a fiery pork blood stock and an assortment of offal. An acquired taste, but an addictive one.

@ Soups and curries

   The line between soups ( tom, literally just "boiled") and curries (kaeng) is a little fuzzy, and many dishes the Thais call curries would be soups to an Indian. A plate of rice with a ladleful of a curry or two on top, known as khao kaeng is a very popular quick meal if eating alone.

    Tom yam kung  is the quintessential Thai dish, a sour soup with prawns, lemongrass and galangal. The real thing is quite spicy, but toned-down versions are often available on request.

   Tom kha kai  is the Thai version of chicken soup in a rich galangal-flavored coconut stock, with mushrooms and not a few chillies.

   Kaeng daeng ( "red curry") and kaeng phet ( "hot curry") are the same dish and, as you might guess, this coconut-based dish can be spicy. Red curry with roast duck (kaeng pet yaang) is particularly popular.

   Kaeng khio-waan , sweet green curry, is a coconut-based curry with strong accents of lemongrass and kaffir lime. Usually milder than the red variety.

   Kaeng som, orange curry, is more like tamarind soup than curry, usually served with pieces of herb omelette in the soup.

@ Mains

   Thais like their mains fried (thot or phat) or grilled (yaang). Fish, in particular, is often deep-fried until the meat turns brown and crispy.

   Ka-phrao kai , literally "basil chicken" is a simple but intensely fragrant stirfry made from peppery holy basil leaves, chillies and chicken.

@ Salads

   About the only thing Thai salads (yam) have in common with the Western variety is that they are both based on raw vegetables. A uniquely Thai flavor is achieved by drowning the ingredients in fish sauce, lime juice and chillies - the end result can be very spicy indeed!

   Yam ponlamai  is Thai-style fruit salad, meaning that instead of canned maraschino cherries it has fresh fruit topped with oodles of fish sauce and chillies.

   Yam som-o  is an unusual salad made from pomelo (a mutant version of grapefruit) and anything else on hand, often including chicken or dried shrimp.

   Yam wunsen  is perhaps the most common yam, with glass noodles and shrimp.

@ Dessert

   Thais don't usually eat "dessert" in the Western after-meal sense, although you may get a few slices of fresh fruit ( ponlamai) for free at fancier places, but they certainly have a finely honed sweet tooth.

   Khanom covers a vast range of cookies, biscuits, chips and anything else snackable, and piles of the stuff can be found in any Thai office after lunch. One common variety called khanom khrok is worth a special mention: these are little lens-shaped pancakes of rice and coconut, freshly cooked and served by street vendors everywhere.

   Khao nio ma-muang means "sticky rice with mango", and that's what you get, with some coconut milk drizzled on top. Filling and delicious.

   Waan yen , literally "sweet cold", consists of a pile of ingredients of your choice (including things like sweet corn and kidney beans) topped with syrup, coconut cream and a pile of ice, and is great for cooling down on a hot day or after a searing curry.