Tag Archives: Thailand

Thailand one of the most welcoming countries in the world

April 4, 2013 Thai Tour Guide Team Leave a comment

Which countries are the most open and welcoming to foreigners? This was the question that a recent article in the Washington Post was exploring.

Not surprisingly, Thailand ranked among the most welcoming countries of them all.

Not to toot our own horn – but I really think this is the reason why Thailand is such a popular tourist destination, even more so than the beautiful beaches.

We are really happy when foreign people come to our country and like to travel around here. Of course, we want people who appreciate our culture and country.

Many of our clients told us they love how friendly and kind Thai people are. I think actually that most people in the world are friendly and kind, but maybe our culture puts more emphasis on expressing it.

Asiatique The Riverfront Bangkok – A New, Popular Tourist Attraction by the Chao Phraya River

February 22, 2013 Thai Tour Guide Team 1 Comment

Asiatique is a relatively new and popular tourist attraction by the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok. It’s a place where you can spend a nice evening looking for souvenirs, fashion, enjoy some food and drinks and simply take in the lively and laid-back atmosphere.

This place used to be warehouses long time ago, but they renovated it and made it into a shopping & atmospheric entertainment area, which was done quite nicely. It also opens every day (not just on weekends like most other Bangkok night markets), and since it’s made mainly for international tourists, the area is quite clean, neat and organized (as opposed to the often charming, but also chaotic arrangements you find on markets which cater more to the locals).

Since it’s by the river, you often get a pleasantly cool breeze when you sit at one of the cafe’s or restaurants on the terrace, although the prices here are really high.

There are plenty of cafes, restaurants and small shops and stores. The prices aren’t cheap, but still reasonable and overall it’s a very nice and pleasant experience. It’s an attraction mainly for tourists from other countries, but Thai people come here too, particularly for the atmosphere and shopping of fashion. There’s a big ferris wheel too, which is a nice way of catching a glimpse over the city by the river.

This place is quite easy to navigate, so you can come on your own, or if you want with your own personal Thai tour guide.

There are plenty of clothing, fashion accessory and gift shops, and the style is kind of similar to the things you can find at the Terminal 21 fashion mall (although the selection is much smaller here than at Terminal 21).

The place opens around 5 p.m. and it’s best to be here after dark, because then the temperatures are not too hot. You can also get a foot massage here or enjoy a fish spa.

Foodwise, there are plenty of choices. If you’re looking for a great Thai food experience, this might not be the place, but lots of international choices from Japanese to Italian to Korean, steakhouses, seafood, and so on. The prices are a bit high for Bangkok standards, but then this is normal for tourist attractions. Or you try the lower-priced food court on the vicinity.

The famous Joe Louis Puppet Theatre can be found here to, as well as the Calypso show.

How to get there: You can take the boat shuttle service from Sathon Pier (BTS station Saphan Taksin), which operates daily from 4:30 p.m. to 11:15 p.m. We do not recommend going there by taxi (or leaving from there by taxi), as the traffic is often congested, and taxis waiting in front of Asiatique The Riverfront often charge inflated prices. If you want you can hire a private Bangkok tour guide for your visit here, or just go by yourself, it’s quite an easy attraction to explore on your own.

Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon in Ayutthaya

March 10, 2012 Thai Tour Guide Team Leave a comment

Here is a picture of a popular Buddhist temple in the old capital of Thailand – Ayutthaya. Ayutthaya is about 1 1/2 hours north of Bangkok and if you have an interest in temples, it is well worth the ride.

The highlight is a large chedi:

It which was expanded by King Naresuan in order to celebrate his victory over the Burmese army. That’s why there is a large statue of King Naresuan on the temple compound, and people come here to worship and ask for the fulfillment of their wishes:

King Naresuan was an avid fan of cockfighting, and that’s why to this day you find these statues of cocks on the temple compound in honor of his memory.

Inside the compound there are Buddhist statues where people make offerings:

This temple is like many temples in Thailand – it was first built long time ago on a small scale, and then expanded in several steps over successive reigns. It was also renamed repeatedly, and other names which it carried throughout history have been Wat Pra Keow, Wat Chao Praya Thai or Wat Yai Chaya Mongkhon.

The city of Ayutthaya itself was established in 1351 by King U-Thong.

The temple was first constructed in honor of two princes (whose names were Chao Kaeo and Chao Thai) who both died of cholera in 1357. The then reigning king Ramathibodi ordered that a monastery should be built on the site where their bodies have been cremated.

Then Buddhist monks who had been trained and ordained in Sri Lanka used the monastery to further their religious practice.

There are many historical events that took place on the temple compound.

It can be really nice to stroll over the temple compound and just let the serene atmosphere of the place have its effect on your mind. And it’s best to come with a personal tour guide who can tell you stories of the place, answer questions and give you a context to help you better understand the meanings of the many interesting and maybe seemingly curious things that you will see here.

When Thai people come here they always like to stop to eat a noodle soup here – it’s very popular for their delicious taste.

Underwater Wedding Ceremony in Trang, Thailand

February 7, 2012 Thai Tour Guide Team Leave a comment

A wedding is a special event that you will remember for the rest of your life – so why not make it really special. Like an underwaterwedding in Thailand. Even thought the name is actually quite self-explanatory, you might still be wondering how this works.

So here’s how: a loving couple actually does the wedding ceremony under water – in the ocean, while wearing diving gear. And in Thailand, it’s done in the traditional Thai way. (Well, except for the being under water part, which is a rather new invention).

But a picture says more than a thousand words, and a video more than a thousand pictures, so just watch this fascinating video clip to see it with your very own eyes:

This year there will be a large underwater wedding ceremony in Trang – it takes place from February 10-12, 2012.

Unless you want a last-minute wedding, it’s probably not going to be this year, but these wedding ceremonies are taking place every year, and the price is actually a lot more reasonable than you would expect considering the challenging logistics involved.

The first time this event took place was in 1996 – and since then it has become a happy tradition that people in the province of Trang – and visitors from all over the world – enjoy.

Trang in Thailand is the perfect location for this event, because of it’s pristine and colorful coral reefs and the abundance of beautiful marine life there. The water is clear blue and the beaches are white and beautiful.

If you decide to join, this will without a doubt make the memorable event of your wedding even more unforgettable.

Our personal tour guides in Thailand can help you to take care of all the logistics involved, so that you simply enjoy the event, cherish these presious moments and taste the sweetness of love and the warmth of sharing the time with your family and friends in such a unique and adventurous way.

There are many beautiful islands in the province of Trang, so your honeymoon is just a boat ride away in a paradise-like setting. Whether you enjoy exotic Asian flavors or prefer the more familiar tastes of Western cuisine, it’s all there and at the highest quality standards.

If you want a romantic, remote getaway on an (almost) undiscovered island, or prefer to have a wide range of activities and a well-developed touristic infrastructure, we can help you to plan your honeymoon in Thailand to ensure that everything will go smoothly. And we help to custom tailor your experience to you as much detailed as you wish too.

Our experience in event planning, trip planning and the hospitality industry will enable you to make it just perfect.

Surprising Thai Murals (Video Lecture)

February 2, 2012 Thai Tour Guide Team Leave a comment

If you’re a bit into quirky culture, then this video about the unusual temple murals of Thailand could be interesting to you.

Murals are wall paintings which can often be found in temples in Thailand. So it shouldn’t be surprising that most murals depict scenes out of the Buddha’s life, or communicate Buddhist beliefs and lessons.

But there are many other kinds of murals too. Some depict history battles or important scenes from Thai history, often involving royalty. Some even depict current scenes and recent events – for example, there is a temple in Northern Thailand where a mural depicts how the airplanes flew into the World Trade Center in New York on 9/11.

Then there are depictions of visions from people, depictions of daily life past and present, romantic scenes and so on.

It’s really quiet intersting, because Thailand is such an open and tolerant society that artists who do the temple murals can often work very creatively. There’s of course nothing that rivals the great murals which can be seen in Italy from an artistic standpoint, but in their simple ways the Thai murals have a lot to offer.

It’s best to go with a personal tour guide to see temples in Bangkok, because then you will be able to ask questions (and get informative answers) about the meanings of temple murals, what they represent, their place in history, and you’ll be able to listen to many fascinating stories.

You can watch the complete video lecture here:

Ultraman and the Siam Commercial Bank – A Lecture by Justin McDaniel from the University of Pennsylvania

http://itunes.apple.com/de/podcast/ultraman-siam-commercial-bank/id381381032?i=85991041

Visiting a tea farm in mountains of Northern Thailand

January 31, 2012 Thai Tour Guide Team Leave a comment

Agro-tourism is something that is particularly interesting for people who grew up in cities. We usually buy our food in stores, and even though we know that it comes from farms, or oceans, or mountains, and other places, we don’t really know how it came to be. Agro-tourism is a way of experiencing first hand, and see with our own eyes, how things are produced, grown and made into food.

There is a farm by the Boon Rawd Brewery in the very far North of Thailand – the province of Chiang Rai – that has now been opened to tourists.

It’s been establishes in 1983, and there’s lots of jujube being grown there. Jujube is a kind of Asian date, and it’s used in many east-Asian traditional medical systems to alleviate stress.

But we personally find the tea farm a lot more interesting – you can visit the tea plantation and chew some fresh tea leaves. This might not sound very tempting, but if you are someone who likes tea, it’s a great experience – fresh tea leaves are bitter at first, but when you chew them a kind of sweet essential oil aroma enfolds inside your mouth, which gives your mouth a very pleasant fresh and “rounded” feeling. Also, it gives you a very calm and relaxed energy boost. Some of our personal tour guides know where wild tea plants grow in Thailand, and when they let clients taste them people often fall in love with it.

There’s a restaurant where you can try different foods which contain tea leaves too.

The tea that’s grown here is Oolong tea, and most of it is made for export to Taiwan. Many people don’t think of Thailand as a tea producing country, but tea cultivation dates back many centuries already. In the mountain ranges of Northern Thailand, you have the ideal climate for growing Oolong tea, and seedlings of some of Taiwans finest tea plants have been brought to these areas and ascendants of Taiwanese tea cultivars are overseeing the farms.

Traditional Thai Fishing Village Life Style

September 15, 2011 Thai Tour Guide Team Leave a comment

There are still many small local communities in different parts of Thailand that live in pretty much traditional ways. Times are changing for these people too, but at a much slower pace than they do in the big cities or in most developed countries.

Here is a fascinating documentary about shell gleaners in Southern Thailand, in the small village of Ban Mondtanoi.

An experience like this you can really only have when you go with a personal tour guide. Tour operators don’t go to these places, and if they do, it turns into a kind of circus where you watch these people, take pictures with them and maybe buy some souvenirs – but you don’t really experience or understand what life is like there. This can only happen when you travel with a very small group and have someone who can introduce you to locals, help to translate and is aware of cultural differences. This way it can be a real encounter that both you and the locals there will remember with joy.

Death Railway, River Kwai

September 12, 2011 Thai Tour Guide Team Leave a comment

If you’re looking for a really scenic train ride – taking the Death Railway from Kanchanaburi (Western Thailand) is it!

The train ride starts with a historic highlight: you drive over the Bridge over the River Kwai. Once you’ve crossed this bridge, you get to enjoy a scenic ride through the Kwai Noi valley.
The train stations in this area are small and lovely. Lots of frangipani and jasmine flowers here.
The really impressive stop is Prasat Muang Singh – this is an old Kher temple complex. Nobody really knows how old this temple is, when it was built – it was one of the most Westernmost outposts of the Khmer empire, but there are no written records about this temple.
Later on, the train ride get’s exciting: you are driving through thirty meter deep solid rock cuttings. It is very impressive to see this, and it puts things in perspective.

Now, you might be wondering why it’s called “death railway”. If it weren’t for the history of this place, then it would probably be called death railway because of what follows next: a bridge. But it’s not a normal bridge. It is a bridge that can’t possibly support the weight and strain of a moving train over it, clinging to a steep cliff along the Kwai Noi. Well, at least it looks like it couldn’t possibly support the weight and strain of a train. But in fact, miraculously, it does.
It’s not called death railway because of train accidents where passengers died – it’s called death railway because almost every man who worked on this bridge died during construction under the harsh and dangerous working conditions.

When you leave this part of your train ride behind you, the next stop is Tham Krasae – which means Krasae cave. In the cave, there is a Buddha image – you can see it from within the train.

Just as a good Hollywood movie, the Death Railway ride also has a happy ending – the last stretch of the track passes through a really lovely, beautiful natural area and finally reaches it’s final destination: the small town Nam Tok.

Nan

July 22, 2011 Thai Tour Guide Team Leave a comment

Nan is located in North-Eastern Thailand, named after the Nan river. It’s a very nice, quite location, a valley surrounded by mountains.

Nan is a nice place to visit if you want to go somewhere with not a lot of tourists. The people here have been doing traditional handicrafts for a very long time.

If you are interested in religious arts, the murals are a must-see. They are in two Buddhist temples: Wat Phumin temple and Wat Nong Bua temple. The murals depict scenes from previous lives of the Buddha, legends of Nan and the surrounding areas, heaven and hell.

Even if you are not so interested in temples, Wat Phumin is still amazing. Some of the structures of this temple are five hundred years old, and quite unique. Not at all the typical kind of Thai temple.

In late October or early November, there are Lanna boat races here, and during that time this little town gets livelier.

In this area, you can get good cotton, and they also make a paper from mulberry trees.

In the past, this was quite an isolated area of Thailand, but nowadays new roads make this area very accessible and it’s developing – but still a very charming place to visit, where the clock goes a bit slower than in other parts of Thailand.l

They also have a museum here. It is called the National Museum. Once it was a teak-wood palace for local rulers, and now it is accessible for the public. This is the best place to learn about the history of Nan and its people.

Explore the area with a personal Thai tour guide who can help you with local knowledge and translation, as many people here don’t speak English.

Phitsanulok Folklore Museum

July 19, 2011 Thai Tour Guide Team Leave a comment

Phitsanulok is a city in lower Northern Thailand. It is not very popular with tourists – most just pass here when they take a train ride to Chiang Mai, which is further up north, or when they go to Sukhothai or Kamphaeng Phet.

Apart from the popular Wat Mahathat temple in Phitsanulok, one of the most interesting things here is the Folklore Museum. Here, you get to see traditional Thai local life. Nowadays, this is becoming more and more difficult to see in Thailand. Everything is becoming more modern, and that is good of course – it is more convenient living. But some of the good things of the old ways get lost – and this is a place where you can still see those things yourself.

There are many wooden pavilions here, in which you can see many aspects of traditional Thai life. For example, nowadays, kids play with Nintendo Wii, and computer games, and iPhones. But in the Phitsanulok Folklore Museum you can still see traditional toys of Thailand, made from natural materials, without flashing lights and digital sounds.

Another thing that is very interesting about this place is the Buranathai Buddha Bronze-Casting Foundry. Here you can see how Buddha statues are made. Some are small, some a very large.

It is good to come here with a personal tour guide. The people who work here are busy doing their job: making Buddhas. With a guide, you can get explanations about the different steps that are involved in this.

Tour Guides in Thailand