Saturday, July 30, 2011

A Newbie's Guide to Thailand

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Thailand has that great accessible mix to potential tourists of being exotic and seemingly a far off land but in reality it is an easily reachable tourist destination. With a lively and intriguing culture, gorgeous beaches, many places to explore and a not very expensive way of living Thailand is often travelers first port of call.
Although it is a popular tourist destination with many travelers from the world round and specifically Europe and north America there are still things that in order to make the best out of your holiday you have to be aware of before you travel.
Thailand is a fascinating country, culture and an experience guaranteed to entice, excite and leave a lasting memory on all those who visit and more often than not intend on returning as soon as possible.
Here are some basic yet interesting facts on Thailand - sourced with help from the Lonely Planet which is an excellent, concise and very informative guide for all those interesting in traveling, stretching to all four corners of our globe.
Thailand is situated in South East Asia and it borders - Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Myanmar, it's coasts are situated by the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea. It boasts a population of 67.764 (2009) which compared to the population of the United Kingdom in 2009 was calculated to be 61.838 there is not too much of a difference compared to the land mass.
The land mass of Thailand according to Wikipedia is Land: 511 770 km² making it the 51st largest country in the world and the land mass of the UK according to Wikipedia is 242,900 km2 making it the 80th largest country in the world.
The largest city in Thailand is Bangkok it is also the capital city of Thailand which is officially known as The Kingdom of Thailand and before that it was known as Siam.
The largest peak or the highest point in Thailand is that of Doi Inthanon standing at 2565 metres this mountain is situated in Mae Chaem District it is part of the mountain range which separates Thailand from it's neighboring country of Burma called the Loi Lar mountain range.
Other more demographic and practical facts about the country of Thailand - the currency is the Thai Bhat which currently converts to one British pound equaling almost 49 Thai Bhat. 95% of the population in Thailand is Buddhist with Muslims forming the second largest religious group in Thailand.
Thailand is the ideal destination for a holiday that seems far away (which it is) but mixes traditional and western culture for those of us who are not such intrepid explorers. It is beautiful, inexpensive and has a massive amount of different activities for everyone to find something to keep them happy. During the course of researching a writing this article it has definitely moved up to the top five destinations I would love to visit, until then I'll bring my own bit of Thailand to me with my adventures in attempting to recreate the Thai cuisine.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6451497

posted by Laurie Beth at 2:54 AM