Thailand travel guide

The Kingdom of Thailand draws more visitors than any other  holiday destination in south east Asia and is a holiday and travel vacation paradise. With its irresistible combination of breathtaking natural beauty, golden beaches, inspiring temples, renowned hospitality, robust cuisine and ruins of fabulous ancient kingdoms. Few countries are so well endowed than Thailand, and what better place to combine medical tourism or a cosmetic surgery holiday than Asia's number one holiday destination.

Bangkok Thailand is also the medical tourism and plastic surgery capital of the world and offers amazing cutting edge plastic surgery techniques that the rest of the world only dreamed existed. This is due to the countries very open minded approach with regards to sexuality and of course the famous sex reassignment surgery SRS (lady boy) culture. Thailand for a vacation or even for a plastic surgery holiday has absolutely everything to keep you entertained all under one sky and a price we can all afford.

Our Thailand travel guide takes us from the stupa-studded mountains of Mae Hong Son and the verdant limestone islands of the Andaman Sea, to the pulse-pounding dance clubs of Bangkok and the tranquil villages moored along the Mekong River, Thailand offers something for everyone.

Temples: Thai culture is heavily influenced by
Buddhism.   However, unlike the
Buddhist countries of Asia, Thailand's Buddhists follow the Therevada school, which is arguably closer to its Indian roots and places a heavier emphasis on monasticism. Thai temples known as wats, resplendent with gold and easily identifiable thanks to their ornate, multicolored, pointy roofs are ubiquitous and becoming an orange-robed monk for a short period, typically the three-month rainy season, is a common rite of passage for young Thai boys and men and even westerners too.

Thailand has it all: and is the most popular tourist destination for this reason. Exotic, yet safe and largely hassle-free, cheap yet equipped with every modern amenity you need, there is something for every interest and every price bracket, from beach front backpacker bungalows to some of the best luxury hotels in the world. And despite the heavy flow of tourism, Thailand retains its quintessential Thai ness, with a culture and history all its own and a carefree people famed for their smiles and their fun-seeking sanuk lifestyle. Thailand is a country where you can visit over and over again, it's bountiful beaches and atmospheric grandeur just never leave people.

Costs: In a word, Thailand is cheap,
and excellent, 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. that's 20 dollars. 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 royalty. 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.

Shopping: Thailand is a shopper's paradise and many visitors to in particular end up spending much of their time in the countless markets and malls. Particularly good buys are clothing, both cheap locally produced street wear and fancy Thai silk, and all sorts of handicrafts. A Thai specialty are the night markets found in almost every town, the largest and best-known of which include Suan Lum Night Bazaar in Bangkok. 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.

Current Political Situation
In September 2006, a swift and bloodless military coup endorsed by the King overthrew the previous democratically elected but widely criticized government, promising elections in late 2007. Although martial law still applies and political gatherings are restricted, there has been no violence, no curfews are in effect, there is no longer any significant military presence in public places, and all services including tourism are functioning normally.