Tourism Thai: much more than meets the eye.

Thailand is already a world renowned destination for tourists and for good reason.  Service in Thailand is great, interesting culture, beautiful architecture, fantastic food, really nice weather (particularly at this time of year) and of course lovely people.

You will often see crusty old farangs like me talking and complaining about aspects of life in Thailand.  Like the politics or corruption or whatever. But really if you stay in any place long enough you will be able to see the faults.  As I have hinted before, I love my own country England much more now that I don't live there. 

But tourists come to Thailand for such a short time that they are in the majority of cases going to leave with a good impression and a desire to return.  My first visit to Thailand was 18 years ago, in fact the first country I visited outside of Europe.  And I guess my love affair began then.

However, since I have been lucky enough to live in Thailand I have often felt privileged to be able to see so many parts of the country that most tourists wouldn't have time to see.  For the reality is that of the 800,000 Brits that come to Thailand each year (more than from any other farang country) the majority will most likely only see a permutation of  Bangkok, Pattaya, Koh Samui, Hua Hin and Chiang Mai.  Sure some might make it further afield.  But they are very much in the minority.  At the moment.

A few bloggers posted articles about the recent Loi Kratong festival which I really enjoyed.  I have often wanted to go to Loi Kratong in Sukhothai but as yet have not found the time.  I can picture my dream Loi Kratong weekend in my mind. Stop for a night in Phitsanulok on the way.  There's a nice little road side place which serves great bamee that I found on my last visit.  Visit Pra Putachinnarat.  Drive on to Sukhothai.  Spend a couple or three nights there enjoying the Loi Kratong festvities and taking a side trip to the wonderfully peaceful temple paradise of Sri Satchanalai.  Before returning, perhaps stopping off in Mae Sot, Tak on the way back to visit the markets on the Burmese border.

Can you imagine how appealing the many up-country festivals and attractions in Thailand might be to the more adventurous foreign travellers if only they knew about them?  For there is much more to Thailand than meets the eye.  So much that I still want to see in Thailand, for sure.

I want to see Naga flames dancing about the Mae Khong river in Nong Khai; elephants performing in Surin, giant Khao Pansaa candles in Ubon and candles shaped like houses in Sakhon Nakhon. Can you picture buffalos racing through the streets of Chonburi?  Or mountain ghosts in their bright masks in Ley? I want to have my photo taken sitting among the sunflowers in Lop Buri and Saraburi.  Or watch sound and light shows about the River Khwae bridge or the temples in Ayuthaya.  How exciting to be able to see spirit possessed men climbing bare foot up sword ladders or piercing their bodies with needles at the Je festival in Phuket. Dragons in Nakhon Sawan. 

Besides Sukhothai and Ayuthaya I still need to visit the temples in Phanom Rung, with its layered doorways that allow a view of the sun or Khao Pra Wihan, with its derelict Khmer Rouge armaments.  Banana festival in Kamphaeng Pet and fruit festival in Chantaburi. Enjoy the crazy party atmosphere of long boat racing on the Mae Nam Naam or in so many other provinces with luxurious names such as Phayao, Pichit and Nan.  And i have heard that the best place to party over Songkran is Chiang Mai, not Khao Sarn Road.

Plato once said that the more you know the more you realise how little you know.  I say, the more you travel the more you realise how little you have travelled.

Thailand already has a thriving tourist industry.  But you know, if only people realised that there was so so much more than meets the eye in Thailand then the industry could come on in leaps and bounds.  The slogan Unseen in Thailand is catchy but so far hasn't caught on, that much.  I am going to turn 40 next year (eek) and before I really start getting too old, I am going to make it my aim to see as many parts of Thailand as I possibly can.  I hope that you have the chance too.