Thailand Experience

Thai Me Up!

Advantages: Beautiful natural scenery, friendly locals, VERY cheap
Disadvantages: Parts becoming slowly more commercialised

Thailand really is a country which will change the way you look at the world. I have personally visited this country twice to date and during my time there saw many different sides to the country and what it has to offer. The most important to thing to understand about Thailand is that, although the majority of the country still reflects the original natural beauty that the country has to offer, some parts are slowly becoming very commercial in terms ...
...locations for anyone travelling to Thailand and it is fair to say that most tourist do make a stop off here at some point. The first time I visited this island tourism was only starting to creep in and, although it was already far more tourist orientated that most part of Thailand, western culture was yet to really seep through. The second time I visited this island, a mere two years later, alot had changed. It was simply more geared towards looking ...

nicnak172004 03.08.2006 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Thailand - Outside Bangkok

Gecko Villa

Advantages: location,pool,people,off the beaten path,views, experiences
Disadvantages: not too much English spoken in the local area

...20 minutes out of Udon Thani. Udon Thani itself is quite a modern Thai trading town, and did not really seem that attractive. However, once we had left the city we felt we had really found the true Siam from the past. We did not want to stay in a hotel and found the website (http://www.geckovilla.com) on the recommendation of friends. We were picked up by the owners at UTH airport off our Nok Air flight (which again had been recommended - http://www.nokair.com) ...
...had rented ourselves an entire country house for our holiday, right in the middle of the Thai countryside and surrounded by rice paddies and woodlands. We really enjoyed having the privacy of our own pool and house, and the food that was prepard for us daily was delightful (and learning how to make it from the owner, a former cook, really pleased my wife!). Perhaps the best thing was being able to explore the nearby rural villages and experience ...

jrico 30.05.2007 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Udon Thani (Thailand)

Escape to Pai

Advantages: escape the husle and bustle of commercial parts of Thailand
Disadvantages: Absolutely none

...visit, peaceful bike rides around Pai and if you are too lazy the you can relax alongside the river and forget all about the rat race.Everyday living is cheap, rooms for a few pounds a night and the food is awesome, as you would expect in Thailand. You can buy the best pancakes at night on one of the handful of streets that makes up Pai and during the day you can satisfy your sweet tooth / munchiesat the German bakery. There is nothing bad i can ...

starbank 07.03.2005 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Pai (Thailand)

The Elephant Round Up at Surin

Advantages: Exotic, Fascinating,Great Exhibition, Great Food
Disadvantages: Some people might not like animals taking part in shows

...is around 40km north of Surin itself. The Asian elephant is actually slightly larger than the African one but the Thais even believe the shape of their country resembles the head of the elephant. It should be added the Thai species, in contract to those in Africa, is easily domesticated within a matter of weeks and in the lush rain forests of northern Thailand - and neighboring Myanmar - you can see elephants hard at work hauling logs. The north ...
...festival - is the annual Surin Elephant Round-Up This is always held, come what may, on the third Saturday of November. In this very well patronised tribute to the Buddhist kingdom's best loved animal, over two hundred of the giant beasts are assembled to entertain and thrill the huge crowd, which gets larger year by tear. Few visitors go away disappointed with what they see. The stars of the show perform a range of tasks which are well beyond ...

ashford 26.01.2001 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Surin (Thailand)

Not What You'd Expect

Advantages: great base for serious trekking
Disadvantages: not much else to do

...nature-oriented, happy town of Pai, Mae Hong Son was a real shock. We thought that a town on the Myanmar border would be even more wild and remote, but this turned out to be a wrong assumption. It seems that close proximity to the opium barons is lucrative. Mae Hong Son is full of stores carrying modern supplies and restaurants serving farang (foreign) food. There is a steady stream of moped traffic and even the occasional 4x4, so keep that in mind ...
...3 flights a day, so you are almost guaranteed a ticket on the day you wish to travel. We bought ours on the same day we flew and we still had a choice of flight. If you are not into hardcore trekking, give Mae Hong Son a miss. ...

JeffSumm 05.09.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Mae Hong Son (Thailand)