Country Information

Thai food is traditionally fairly hot and spicy, but most tourist restaurants tend to tone down the heat for the more fragile Western palate. Most Thai food is prepared with fresh ingredients such as lemon grass and coriander and rice is commonly eaten with most meals. Popular fruits are papaya, jackfruit, mangosteens, rambutans, pomelos (similar to grapefruits) and, above all, durians, which farangs (foreigners) either love or hate. The thorny fruits have a rather malodorous scent which has even resulted in many hotels banning them from their premises.

Excellent food can be found at the stalls of the many street vendors around the country as well as top-notch eateries. There are also many Asian and European restaurants throughout the major cities and smaller towns.

Things to know: Bars have counter or table service.

National specialities:
• Tom yam (a coconut-milk soup prepared with makroot leaves, ginger, lemon grass, prawns or chicken).
• Gang pet (hot 'red' curry with coconut milk, herbs, garlic, chili, shrimp paste, coriander and seasoning).
• Pad Thai (stir-fried rice-noodles) served with shrimp or chicken and garnished with peanuts.
• Desserts include salim (sweet noodles in coconut milk).
• Well worth trying is sticky rice and mangoes (rice cooked in coconut milk served with slices of mango).

National drinks:
• Mekhong (local whiskey) and SamSong (rum) are very popular.
• Singha and Singha Gold are locally made beers which dominate the domestic market.
• Coconut milk straight from the shell during the harvest season is particularly refreshing in the heat and humidity.

Legal drinking age: The government has raised the legal drinking age from 18 to 20.

Tipping: Most hotels and restaurants will add 10% service charge and 7% government tax to the bill.

Bangkok offers a wide range of entertainment venues, from nightclubs, pubs, bars, cinemas and restaurants, to massage parlours, pool halls and cocktail lounges. The nightlife is concentrated in three districts of Bangkok - Banglamphu, Patpong (between Silom and Surawong roads), Sukhumvit Road and the nearby street of Soi Cowboy. Bangkok's sex industry is as blatant and booming as ever.

Many venues are open all day and late into the night, although bars and clubs are supposed to close at 0200. Sometimes there is an admission fee but this usually includes one or two drinks. The dress code is very relaxed, although a few of the nightclubs do enforce smarter clothing.

Performances of traditional religious and court dances can be seen at the Thailand Cultural Centre and Patravadi Theatre in Bangkok. Elsewhere on the mainland, nightlife takes the form of traditional dances. The islands are renowned for their nightlife but attendance is almost exclusively by foreigners. The full moon parties are notorious and continue well into the following morning. Performances by the infamous katoeys (lady boys) are worth a visit, with the most famous seen at the Calypso Cabaret in the Asia Hotel in Bangkok.

Thailand is one of the best places in Asia for bargain hunting and visitors will be spoilt for choice with the huge, glitzy shopping malls, department stores, small shops and bustling street markets. Both Bangkok and Chiang Mai have excellent night markets.

Good buys include Thai silks and cottons, leather goods, batiks, silver and gold, pottery, precious and semiprecious stones (in particular rubies and sapphires, which are indigenous to Thailand), pearls, dolls, masks, painted umbrellas, lacquerware, pewterware, bamboo artefacts and bronzeware.

The weekend market at Chatuchuk in Bangkok is a regular cornucopia with hundreds of stalls stocking items ranging from genuine antiques to fighting fish. Tailor-made clothes are also good value and can be made in a matter of days and are usually of a high standard.

Duty-free shops are located at Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai and Had Yai airports as well as in the King Power Complex (website: www.kingpower.com) on Bangkok's Sri Ayutthaya-Rangnam Road. Items can be purchased there and delivered to the airport in time for the departure flight. Value Added Tax (7%) can be refunded on goods bought in shops labelled 'VAT Refund for Tourists', but there is a minimum transaction of ฿2,000 including VAT. VAT Refund Application for Tourists forms are completed at the time of purchase and it is necessary to show one's passport. Cash refunds (minimum ฿5,000) can be obtained in the airport departure hall and often the goods purchased must also be shown.

Shopping hours: Mon-Sun 1000-2100/2200.