We went to Thailand in March 1999, so most of the info you'll find here dates from that period unless otherwise stated.

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About 56 countries are exempted from getting a visa, and these citizens can get into the country for 30 days. Click here to see whether your country is amoung the 56. Citizens of another 99 countries can get a tourist visa of 15 days upon arrival in the main airports. Apart from that there are 3 different visas: Transit visa: 30 days, 200 Bht

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We always felt safe during our visit, and nothing got stolen. Nevertheless, there are reports of people being drugged on trains and buses by accepting food from strangers. So be careful for this.

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Bangkok is one of the main transport hubs in Asia, and many travellers simply buy a cheap ticket to Bangkok and catch a flight from their to go further. Also check the "Asean airpass chapter for this".

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Instead of spending our first days in Thailand in Bangkok like most other travellers, we decided to fly immediately to Chiang Mai. Bangkok can be a very hot and overwhelming city, and we thought it would be therefore better to acclimatise to the heat and the jet lag in the North, and I think that was a good decision.

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Check out "The North" page too for details on getting to Chiang Mai by air, train and bus. At CM airport, there are taxis charging a fixed price of 90 Bht to bring you to the center (3/99). Going to the airport you can be cheaper off taking a Tuk-Tuk for 50 Bht (3/99).

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Pai is a small little town, no mass tourism yet, and I hope that the long curved road will keep it that away. It's 4 hours by bus from Chiang Mai. Pai has a big variety of guesthouses starting with simple bamboo-huts at 50 Baht pp, but has also beautiful resorts in the direct surrounding, up to 700 Baht for a hut. The area has a lot to offer, this can be discovered by mountainbike or motorbike, or by foot. There are several good trekkingcompanies here, a lot offer that same 3 day-package that you get in Chiang Mai. But from here you don't have to sit in the car for so long on the first and last day.

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The LP says that a lot of the morning flights in dry season get delayed or cancelled because of fog. THIS IS TRUE !! What usually happens is this: the first plane of 9.30 am gets delayed for about 1 to 2 hours. THIS MEANS THAT ALSO THE 3rd FLIGHT GETS DELAYED, because this is the same plane. The second flight of 11.30 am however is another one, and by 11.30 am the fog has usually gone. So I strongly advise in dry season to book the second flight which is usually on time, and to avoid the first and the third flight. Secondly these flights tend to be heavily booked by tour groups occupying 30 seats, so book ahead, preferentially from home by internet, you've got nothing to loose with making a reservation, since you pay once you're in Thailand.

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There's 1 plane a day from CM and from BKK with Bangkok Airways. From CM, the plane arrives at 12.25, from BKK at 10.20 am. They now have a good deal saying you can book the BKK-CM flight for 1.400 Bht, and stop in Sukothai and spend 1 to 3 nights there before flying through (3/99). The Sukothai airport is really very small with I guess not more then 20 to 50 passengers a day (of the 72 passengers on our plane, only 8 got off). So, there are no touts or taxi drivers waiting for you there. The only option you have is taking a shuttle charging between 80 to 160 Bht pp depending on which hotel you go to.

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There are 2 terminals in Don Muang, the big international terminal and the smaller domestic terminal. Both are connected with a covered 500 m bridge. There are also shuttles every 15 minutes between the 2 terminals, but I think this is really useless since it takes only 5 minutes by foot.

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