Thailand
is a Southeast Asian, predominantly Buddhist kingdom almost
equidistant between India & China. For centuries known
by outsiders (farangs) as Siam, Thailand has been something
of a Southeast Asian migratory, cultural & religious
crossroads.
Thailand has an area of 517 000 sq km, making it slightly
smaller than the state of Texas in the USA, or about the
size of France. Its shape on the map has been compared to
the head of an elephant, with its trunk extending down the
Malay peninsula. The centre of Thailand, Bangkok, is at
about 14 degrees north latitude, putting it on a level with
Madras, Manila, Guatemala City and Khartoum.
The country's longest north-south distance is about 1860km,
but its shape makes distances in any other direction 1000km
or less. Because the north-south reach spans roughly 16
latitudinal degrees, Thailand has perhaps the most diverse
climate in South East Asia.
The Gulf of Thailand coastlines form 2710km of beaches,
hard shores and wetlands. Hundreds of oceanic and continental
islands are found offshore on both sides of the Malay peninsula
and those with tourist facilities constitute only a fraction
of the total. Offshore depths in the Gulf range from 30
to 80 metres.
How to get there
Bangkok & the country's other major airport, Phuket,
are served by numerous airlines with multiple daily services.
Wherever you are in the world, you will not have a problem
getting to Thailand. Daily direct flights are common from
every corner of the earth.
Climate
Thailand's
climate is rules by monsoons that produce three seasons
in Northern, North Eastern, Eastern and Central Thailand,
and two seasons in Southern Thailand. The three season zone,
which extends roughly from Thailand's northermost reaches
to Phetchaburi province on the Southern Peninsula, experiences
a 'dry and wet monsoon' climate, with the dumping rains
& winds of the south-west monsoon arriving between May
and July and lasting into November on the West Coast.
This is followed by a dry period from November to May. Hence
most of Southern Thailand has only two seaons, a wet and
dry, with small temperature differences between the two.
The West Coast experiences dry season, November to May,
whilst the East Coast has dry season March to November.
Most of Thailand - with the mountains in the North and the
Khorat Plateau of the North-East notable exceptions - is
very humid, with and overall average humidity of 66% to
82%, depending on the season and time of day. The hot part
of the dry season reaches its hottest along the north-east
plain, and temperatures easily soar to 39 C in the daytime,
dropping only a few degrees at night. The temperature can
drop to 13 C at night during the cool season in Chiang Mai.
If you're visiting the North during the cooler months, long
sleeved shirts and sweaters would be in order.
Cultural background
Many
festivals are linked to Buddhist or Brahman rituals and
follow a lunar calendar. New Year, Songkran, is celebrated
in mid-April by 'bathing' Buddha images, paying respects
to monks and elders by sprinkling water over their hands,
and generally tossing a lot of water in the air for fun.
Expect to be soaked unless you want to party-poop in your
room.
The sowing and harvesting of rice has given rise to a cycle
of festivals. To kick off the official rice-planting season
in early May, the king participates in an ancient Brahman
ritual in a large field in central Bangkok. A Rocket Festival
is held in May in the country's north-east, using a volatile
mixture of bamboo and gunpowder to convince the sky to send
rain for the new rice season.
The rice harvest from September through to May leads to
joyous local celebrations throughout Thailand. The Vegetarian
Festival in Phuket and Trang, during which devout Chinese
Buddhists eat only vegetarian food, runs for nine days from
late-September to early-October. Merit-making processions
are the most visible expression of this festival, but there
are also ceremonies at Chinese temples.
The
Elephant Roundup in Surin in November is a festival popular
with the kind of people who enjoy watching giants play soccer.
During the Loi Krathong Festival, held after the rainy season
(usually in November), candle-lit floats are cast into waterways
to bring good fortune for the coming year.
Thailand, like other Asian countries, has been influenced
by contact with foreign cultures. However, the never-changing
character of Thai culture has remained dominant, even in
modern city life. Often depicted as fun-loving, happy-go-lucky
folk (which indeed they often are), the Thais are also proud
and strong. The pride of being the only SE Asian nation
to have resisted European colonisation is self evident and
deeply ingrained in the national psyche.
Diving
Thailand's best diving is found off the West Coast. Most
liveaboard vessels visting this area embracing the Similian
Islands, the Andaman Sea, Richlieu Rock, Hin Daeng, Mergui
Archipelago & the Burma Banks are based out of Phuket.
Similan
islands - The Similan Islands, located about one hundred
kilometers northwest of Phuket, are composed of nine granite
islands covered in tropical jungle, washed by a clear blue
tropical ocean and blessed with some of the world's finest
beaches. Similan comes from Malay fisherman who named it
"The Nine Islands" (Sembilan is "nine"
in Malay) and now the islands are identified by a name-in
Thai-and a number; for example, Ko Huyong (Island #1), located
at the southern end of the chain. The islands have achieved
national park status and thus are fully protected under
Thai law. The National Park Authority maintains their presence
on two of the islands: Ko Similan (Island #8) the largest,
and Ko Miang (Island #4). Recently, the islands have come
to the special attention of the Thai Royal Family which
further protects them from possible abuse.
Elephant Head Rock-This is probably the most "famous"
dive site in the Similians. The name comes from a formation
of three rocks that breaks the surface.The largest of the
rocks resembles a elephant head. Under the surface it is
like diving in an enormous aquarium, with the rocks forming
a natural amphitheatre. Fish and corals in all the colours
of the rainbow. The rocks forms large and small tunnels,
plenty of great swim-throughs. The variations are enormous!
This is one of the most exciting dives around the Similians.
A must - watch out for the mantas !
Christmas Point- Of all the dive sites around Similian this
is the most dramatic. The first part of the dive starts
at 24 metres depth where we find hundreds of soft corals
and sea-fans. A lot of different fish swim back and forth
in this area. We meet large shoals of trevally hunting smaller
fish and leopard sharks resting quietly on the sand. The
dive comes to an end close to the island, with exciting
tunnels formed by large rock formations. Often you see some
big fish taking a "siesta" in the tunnel crevices.
Richelieu
Rock- Richelieu Rock is considered to be one of the best
places on the planet to meet whale sharks. This place has
an incredible amount of different coral reefs and formations,
that drop away 35 metres straight down from the surface.
It is believed that there is more than 300 different species
of coral here! This is site for those who like to explore
and catch up with a ghost pipefish or pygmy seahorse or
two.
Independent
