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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.

Liveaboards Philkade Mermaid I Thailand & Burma Mermaid II Thailand & Burma

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.

Mergui Archipelago & the Burma Banks - The Burma Banks are a series of large underwater flat-topped seamounts that lie approximately 180 kilometres northwest of the Similan Islands. The areas surrounding is over 350 meters deep and large areas rise to within the depth limits of recreational scuba diving. The name derives from this 1500 square kilometre area lying within the exclusive economic zone of Burma. This is adrenalin diving.
These mountains rise very gradually from the depths and are covered with hard coral growth and large patches of sand. Whilst covered in fantastic hard & soft corals, there are other reasons to travel this far out from the coast. Pelagic & shark spotting is the sport out here.
These days, most boats are spending more time in the Mergui Archipelago proper (further inshore) than out at the banks. The diving in this inshore area is just as good and grey reef sharks seem to be migrating here from the Burma Banks. Travel time is a little less, as are the currents. This makes the Mergui Archipelago more accessible to the less experienced diver whilst the quality of the dive sites is just as good.

The most common type of shark in both areas is the nurse shark that grows to over 3 metres in length. Nurse sharks swim freely nose-to-tail over the top of the reef. Keep an eye out in the blue, as the Oceanic White Tips & Silvertips make frequent appearances
In addition, you'll see larger reef fish than in other areas of Thailand, such as huge sweet lips and the occasional grouper.
The most common diving technique at the banks are large drift dives over the mountain flats. Currents can be quite tricky here-sometimes changing in direction 90º to 180º very quickly-and very fast. It is common to drift over one kilometer on certain dives-assuming the current is taking you in the directly you originally planned! All dive operators that dive at the banks are strict with safety rules. Although these vary slightly from operator to operator, it is roughly agreed that all divers must dive with a 'safety sausage', a whistle or other signaling device, and that either the dingy or the larger vessel should follow the diver's bubbles on the surface. Finally, it is a must that buddy pairs stay together at all times, and in fact some operators insist that divers dive in a group of at least four. To become separated from your dive boat this far from land would surely be a disaster.

 

Liveaboards Philkade Mermaid I Thailand & Burma Mermaid II Thailand & Burma

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