Ten things you’ll love about Thailand

 1) The weatherDepressed by the long, dark winters in your home country? Stuck indoors due to endless days of grey drizzle? Thailand’s endless blue skies and warm days can offer a much needed tonic to even the most sun-starved SAD sufferer. It is definitely hot and sunny in Thailand. Bangkok, somewhat suprisingly, boasts the highest average temperature of any city in the world.

In April the temperature in Bangkok can reach over 40C but has dropped as low as 10C. A particularly pleasant time to visit Bangkok is November to December. The temperature being in the more comfortable mid 20s. The hottest time of the year in Thailand in general is April – around the time of the Songkhran water festival. In Thailand the climate tends to vary with altitude – Chiang Mai and other Northern cities experiencing more comfortable temperatures. Thailand does of course have a wet season with rains causing widespread disruption.Thailand can be thought of as having three seasons: hot, rainy and cool. The hot season runs from March to May. The rainy season runs from June to October and the cool season runs from November to February.Generally for sun-starved farangs the sunny climate in Thailand is a very big attraction. It’s fantastic to be able to snorkel in warm, clear seas at a time of year when back in a place like UK people are fogbound and shivering.2) The food Thai food is world famous – and with good reason. There is a good range of different foods available in Thailand and invariably it’s of high quality and delicious. Once you’ve tasted food in Thailand you will very likely get addicted. Even Thai food in restaurants back in “farangland” will just not be the same after tasting the real thing.

As well as a huge variety of dishes available there are an equally huge number of venues of different types. International style dining is available in most hotels and there are chain style restaurants for most food tastes. Anna’s cafe can offer a pleasant dining experience in a restaurant environment that will be more familiar to Westerners. There are several around town. Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Western, Italian are just some of the menus available in Bangkok. Even smaller cities will have a huge selection of restaurants.

My favourite places to dine are the small street side restaurants. They usually just have plastic tables and chairs, some Christmas tree style lighting and ice cold beers. Menus vary but include noodles, soups, rice and seafood dishes. They are also extremely reasonable. A decent meal for two costing in the range 100 to 200 baht depending on extras.  There are also low cost eating facilities in places like TOPS supermarket in Central Plaza. You can select your dishes from the selection available and seating is provided. Not the most intimate dining experience but you notice that everyone sitting near you (you will often be the only farang) looks amazingly happy (See Thailand photos for a snapshot).So, eating in Thailand is a great pleasure. Try different dishes, experiment, but watch out for the really spicy dishes!3) Islands and beachesThailand has many famous islands with stunning beaches. There are whole books devoted to Thailand’s wonderful islands and beaches. A lot has been written and said about this aspect of Thailand. Post-tsunami things have been a little more circumspect than in the past. However, there’s no doubt that Thailand has some of the best beaches in SE Asia if not the world. Scuba diving is also excellent and well-catered for, mostly through PADI centres. Snorkelling trips are widely available and typically organised through the hotel or a local agent. You can of course just get your flippers and mask on and start swimming. The organised trips are often worth it as you will be able to access remote reefs and islands where there is a wider variety of marine life. Many other water activities are also available – kayaking, jet ski and of course banana boat! Thailand is a very big draw if you are a lover of water sports.  There is also the rather pleasant nature of beach life – even if you can only make it out to the islands on the weekend. There is something extremely satisfying about sitting at a small beachside restaurant sipping ice cold Singha beer and shooting the breeze with good friends. Some of my favourite beaches are Kata beach (Phuket), Ao Prao Resort (Samet), Klong Dao Beach (Lanta) – so many happy memories. 4) The peopleThere is much that can be said about Thai people, their positive attitude to life and their friendly nature.  Get thai elite visa