Four regions, one long spine
Thailand runs sixteen hundred kilometres from the Burmese border in the north to the Malaysian one in the south, and it changes as you go. The north is mountains, Lanna temples and cool nights around Chiang Mai. The northeast — Isaan — is the big farming plateau, the least visited and the most Thai. The centre is rice country and Bangkok. And the south is the long peninsula with a coast on either side and the islands that most people picture when they hear the name.
That geography is also the practical key to the trip. The seasons differ from region to region, the coasts have opposite monsoons, and the country is long enough that moving between them takes a night train or a short flight. Plan around the map, not around a single weather chart.
Tickets & connections
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Thailand
- 77 provinces; Bangkok is both the capital and its own province
- Currency is the baht; cash still rules outside the cities
- Cool season November to February, hot March to May, rain June to October
- Thai is the language; English is widely spoken in tourist areas
- 220 volts, plugs type A, B and C — European plugs usually fit
