Facts
Capital: Bangkok
Population: 64.34 Million
Language: Thai
Currency: Baht
2 Wheels to China Ratings
Food & Drink: 8/10
Kat and Richard have slightly different takes on food in this part of the world. Kat was overjoyed at the abundance of pork, street food stalls selling meat on sticks and noodle soup, and being able to eat rice with every meal. Richard is slightly more fussy, not eating any unidentifiable meat, not liking food stalls in general, and preferring to avoid seafood, fish, pork, chicken on the bone and rice with every meal. We both do like spicy food though, which Thai most certainly is, and agree that at it's best (curry with boneless chicken in Richard's case!) food in Thailand was some of the best of the trip.
The most popular Thai beer is the very drinkable Singha. It is available on draught in bigger towns, in cans, in bottles, and in huge bottles. Chang and Leo beer are also widely available, and are both decent. Thailand was the first country for a while where beer was really cheap. How refreshing.
Road conditions: 9/10
All the roads in Thailand were in very good condition. Most of them are quite new and well surfaced. The smaller roads carry very little traffic, so even if they are old they don't get a lot of wear and tear. All the main roads we cycled on had wide motorbike/cycle lanes, so even if the traffic was heavy, it was never dangerous.
Traffic: 7/10
For the most part there is a steady flow of traffic which is constant but not too heavy. The exception was Highway 2 from the north of Bangkok to the Laos border which was very busy with lorries and a bit unpleasant. The traffic in Bangkok is a nightmare, it was by far the worst place we have cycled in. We got the bus for the last 150km or so from the south, but the highway up until that point (Phetchaburi) was actually very quiet.
One annoying problem in Thailand is that motorbikes use the bike lanes to go in both directions, and they come from nowhere. You might look down to check the time, or your speed, and when you look back there is motorbike heading straight for you on the wrong side of the road. No driver/rider even glances to see what's coming when they join a road or pull out - they just expect oncoming traffic to avoid them. This requires a bit of vigilance.
People: 8/10
We didn't meet a single person in Thailand who was not friendly. This is especially important when you have trouble with the language, need to eat, and require a bit of forebearance from your hosts. There is a good amount of smiling and waving at passing cyclists, with kids being particularly enthusiastic. In some smaller places, people giggled and ran away from us or tried to hide when we tried to ask for directions. This seems to be from sheer embarrassment at being singled out by a scary foreigner who is babbling away in some strange language. It is most definately not rudeness - that would be very un-Thai. Being able to say a couple of greetings in Thai, and smiling a lot, goes a long way in these circumstances.
Sights & Scenery: 8/10
The scenery in the south of Thailand (Krabi and Trang areas and across to Chumphon) with its karst peaks and lush tropical vegetation, was some of the best we've seen so far. It was one of the most memorable areas in those terms.
The journey up the east coast, from Chumphon to Phetchaburi, was far less spectacular, but quiet and rural. It was the best part for seeing laid back Thailand going about its daily business.
Bangkok and the surrounding area is well endowed with historic sites and impressive temples and palaces, so we were able to get our cultural dosage mostly there.
The landscape to the east and northeast of Bangkok was much more barren. Apart from one day riding along the edges of a national park, which was beautiful, the roads were clogged with traffic and there was very little to see, apart from Thai lorry drivers waving enthusiastically as they went past.
Miscellaneous
Visas: As a British citizen you don't need to apply for a visa beforehand. Simply fill out an embarkation card at Immigration and present this to Customs. Your passport will be stamped allowing you to stay 30 days on a social visit - be sure to keep the tear off section from the embarkation card as you will need to present this when leaving Thailand.
If you want to stay more than 30 days you can either apply in advance for a longer visa (and pay for it) or exit and re-enter the country from one of the land borders and get a fresh 30 days for free - although you are restricted on how many times you can do this within a given period. We did this when we returned to Thailand from Cambodia.
Accommodation: Thai hotels are of a pretty good standard, and they are cheap. Even the shabbiest of places might be run down and dingy, but it will almost certainly be clean. Proper hotels are generally great value - between 5 and 10 pounds per night for a double, depending on the location (touristed town or not) and competition. That will come with bathroom (often with a bath), hot water, air con, cable tv and often a fridge. Most hotels will include breakfast, which will normally have some kind of Western offering, most usually toast and cold eggs. And ketchup. Adding milk to your tea will be considered very weird.
When asking for directions, the Thai word for hotel sounds something like 'wrong raim', though unless by some fluke you manage to get the tones absolutely right you almost certainly won't be understood. Saying 'hotel' in a variety of tones and accents might work. We just pointed to the word in our phrasebook after many instances of either of the above being unsuccessful.
The biggest problem with Thai hotels is the lack of them, unless you are going to a town in a guidebook, in which case you'll have no problem. A town which looks the same size, or larger, on a map as one you have stayed in that had 11 hotels, might not have any at all.
Dogs: We had heard that Thailand was notorious for cyclist related dog chases. There are indeed a very large number of dogs roaming about in Thailand. The chasing we experienced was pretty pathetic though - a few barks and a token rumble along behind you. We were never actually attacked by a dog, and never felt in danger. Perhaps we have just become seasoned super tough cyclists. The dazer worked in all of the less pathetic cases, though shouting did the trick too.
Social Graces: Thailand was the first country where we knew there were certain Dos and Dont's (other than women dressing conservatively) which might affect how we were perceived. Unless you make a very serious gaffe, or do something really offensive, Thais will normally be far too polite to point mistakes out to you. The issue of 'face' is very important in this part of the world, and embarrassing you by correcting your behaviour in public would cause you to lose face, a big no-no. Things are pretty straightforward, but here are a few of the important things we discovered:
Shoes - Take them off before entering someone's home, a small local shop, and most especially a temple. It should be pretty simple - if there are shoes at the entrance, remove yours. You don't need to do this for 7-Elevens.
Eating - You'll be presented with a spoon and fork as cutlery. Putting the fork in your mouth would be seen by a Thai as quite disgusting. Use your fork to push the food onto the spoon, then eat with that.
Wai - A palms-together, prayer-like greeting. If someones greets you in this way, always do the same back.
Heads and Toes - Don't touch anyone on the head, or point your feet at anyone. Don't sit with your feet facing a Buddha image.