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For future reference the Wikitravel:CIA World Factbook 2002 import can be found at Talk:Thailand/CIA World Factbook 2002 import.

[edit] Regions

So, who's ready to tackle splitting up Thailand into regions? --Evan 12:23, 4 Feb 2004 (EST)

Maybe I can get somebody local to do it?--ted 18:35, 5 Feb 2004 (JST)

I went ahead and did it. Basically I followed the layout of the weather maps in the local newspapers. There seems to be some question about whether or not they are really needed. I won't be bothered either way. Regions? Yes, or no?

I think that we currently have too many regions. The Toursim Authority Thailand splits Thailand into only 5 regions. North, North-East, Central, East, South. I think that this is more reasonable. Splitting up the south into more regions may be reasonable for a weather forecast, since the weather tends to differ quite much, but is not needed for a tourist guide IMHO. -- Fido 19:25, 15 Sep 2004 (GMT+6)

Agreed and implemented (this had been on my to-do list anyway). Jpatokal 09:44, 15 Sep 2004 (EDT)

Should we change the name of South coast and Islands to South and Islands? I think that's reasonable because the region does not only consist of a coast and islands. Fido 10:47, 16 Sep 2004 (GMT+6)

Done. Jpatokal 04:06, 16 Sep 2004 (EDT)

Thanks for fixing my links Maj. I guess I still need to work on my mark up a bit. -- Ted 00:36, 25 Feb 2004 (EST)

[edit] Energy drinks

Red Bull actually is an original Thai drink (Krating Daeng is actually "red water buffalo" and the logo is exactly the same). In 1987 an Austrian businessman named Dietrich Mateschitz made a deal to introduce the product worldwide, and tweaked the formula (taste and carbonation). The original Thai company owns 52% of the new Red Bull which is based in Austria.

Correct on all counts, except that krating is an 'ordinary' bull, not a water buffalo (which would be kwai). And thanks to the deal, the guy who owns the Thai company in question is listed in the Forbes billionaires list... Jpatokal 20:51, 10 Jul 2005 (EDT)

In the section on Energy drinks. It says that red-bull is thailand, an Austrian I met in Singapore told me that it is Austrian and the red-bull website seems to confirm this ([1]). Does anyone have any evidence to counter this? Suggesting that red-bull isn't from thailand to a thai, seems to offend them. --211.30.93.57 00:56, 20 Apr 2005 (EDT)

As the Red Bull site states, the Austrian guy came across the original Krating Daeng in Thailand and remarketed it as Red Bull. The company is joint-owned by Austrian and Thai concerns.

The article also says Thailand is the original home of energy drinks, but I would bet Japan had them much earlier. -- Paul Richter 01:09, 20 Apr 2005 (EDT)

A few years ago I was on the receiving end of a phone survey about energy drinks. Apparently any drink with sugar and caffeine in it (e.g. Coca-cola or coffee if you take it with sugar) counted as an "energy drink". So I guess it depends on your definition of energy drink. WikiPedia:Energy drink --Ewlyahoocom 23:04, 1 May 2005 (EDT)

Introduction of energy drink to Thailand,was done by Osotsapha Co.,who manufactured Lipovitan-D under license from Japan. Then the market grew, with local Thai Brands coming into the scene, Osotsapha's brand was MAGNUM, TC Pharmaceutical was Red Bull. As for the Austrian guy, biz rumors has it that, actually, the guy went ahead and copied and marketted it in Austria, with the logo and brandname intact, as Red Bull, without licensing it from the brand owner in Thailand. Following the unexpected worldwide success of Red Bull, the Thai owner started suing the company in Austria on brand infringement. The Austrian company must have checked with lawyers and find that they could lose it all, so they negotiated with the Thai owner and gave part of the Austrian company shares to Thai owner, and after that, they also divided market segments. Thai owners would be selling in S.E.Asia and Central Asia, while Red Bull Austria would market to the rest of the world. -- 4 May 2006

I've lived in Thailand throughout the 1980's and know that Kratingdaeng was widely sold long before Westerners became familiar with it. Lipovitan D was the first of those kind of drinks. Then came Kratingdaeng, and then there were big advertising wars between Kratingdaeng and Magnum, with each brand trashing one another in "redneck" television commercials. Magnum took a blow when one of their chief endorsers, champion boxer KhaoKor, fainted in the ring during a fight with a Korean. Although these "stamina" drinks originated in Japan (and possibly the Japanese got the idea from somewhere else), Kratingdaeng, literally "bull that is red" and the famous charging bulls logo is absolutely Thai in origin. I have drank it in the early 1980's, definitely before the formation of any Austrian Redbull company. All these kinds of drinks were typically working class drinks. Truck drivers, taxi drivers, factory workers, etc. all imbibed them in prodigious quantities. The upper classes of Thailand would avoid these drinks, looking down on them as "redneck" beverages.

[edit] Koh vs Ko for islands

Wikitravel:Romanization currently states that "Koh" should be used over "Ko", but the esteemed Sir-Madam 202.47.247.130 has decided to change these back to "Ko". Please explain your reasoning; I think that "Koh" is both more common and more likely to be pronounced correctly. Jpatokal 11:42, 6 Dec 2005 (EST)

Bump. I'd really, really like to hammer this out once and for all and would even be willing to flip back once again from Koh to Ko if we can just come to a consensus. Jpatokal 03:54, 28 Dec 2005 (EST)

Instant consensus:-

• guidebooks that use "Ko"
  • DK-Eyewitness
  • Globetrotter
  • Insight-Discovery
  • Let's Go
  • Lonely Planet
  • Periplus Travelpack
  • Rough Guides

• guidebooks that use "Koh"
  •  ?

I think there's been a general shift from "Koh" to "Ko" with publications over the last few years.

• maps that use "Ko"
  • B&B
  • Collins
  • Lonely Planet
  • Nelles
  • Periplus
  • Roadway

• maps that use "Koh"
  • Groovy Map

Berlitz use "Ko" (not sure if that's for maps or books or both or what).

Thai people are more likely to write "Koh"; non-Thais are more likely to write "Ko".

"Ko" is more common in Thailand on signs, buses, boats, advertisements, in magazines, etc.

"Koh" gets more google hits (the actual ratio varies a lot between different islands - no idea why).

"Ko" is currently more common at wikitravel.org - despite the actual article names.

"Ko" and "Koh" are about equally common at thorntree.lonelyplanet.com

Neither "Ko" not nor "Koh" is likely to inspire a non-Thai to pronounce the word anything like Thais do; however "Ko" tends to produce something shorter sounding (but usually still not short enough).

If you rename the main articles, I'll take care of the links, redirects, etc.

BTW "Ko(h) Pha Ngan" is more common than "Ko(h) Phangan" or any other variation.

(Koh Kong should remain as it is, as "Koh" is pretty much universal for Cambodian islands)

OK, that's good enough for me. "Ko" it is once again then. Jpatokal 04:36, 31 Dec 2005 (EST)

Updates to links / redirects / etc now done.

The seven articles that need renaming are the seven islands listed in Thailand#Other_destinations - all Koh -> Ko, except Koh Phangan which should be changed to Ko Pha Ngan.

And finally, Ko is the RTGS spelling. −Woodstone 18:02, 15 Jan 2006 (EST)

I live in Thailand and have to say that the sound of Ko in Thai is the same sound as the UK 'got' without the t, but with a low tone, since it is a short syllable.

The closest representation would therefore be 'Ko'. 'Koh' softens the 'o', and lengthens the vowel which is much further away from the Thai. —The preceding comment was added by 58.8.14.177 (talk • contribs) 20 Jan 2007

Yes, Wikitravel is now standardized on "Ko". Jpatokal 06:37, 20 January 2007 (EST)

[edit] Singapore Map?

The location map of Thailand is in fact the location of Singapore. There is a good map of Thailand on Wikipedia. I'm too busy (read: lazy) to create an account and upload it. Could someone please do that? 61.90.155.15 10:45, 18 May 2006 (EDT)

Well spotted, and now fixed. Jpatokal 10:50, 18 May 2006 (EDT)

[edit] Currency

Seems to be no real consistency in how prices are denoted throughout the Thailand articles. I have seen it as Baht 999, 999 baht, B999 and 999 THB. There are probably other examples as well. Anybody got an opinion - I don't mind so much which but we should be consistent. Hkpatv 04:09, 12 July 2006 (EDT)

As the currency has such a short friendly name, makes sense to use it as opposed to an abbreviation - so: 999 baht 125.24.4.216 05:45, 12 July 2006 (EDT)

Lower case not upper? Have seen examples of both 999 baht & 999 Baht here and elsewhere.Hkpatv 20:19, 13 July 2006 (EDT)

I prefer "baht". It's not a proper name requiring capitalisation like "Fred" or "Shropshire" or "Bay Area Transit Authority"; it's just a word, a unit of measure like "liter" or "ounce" or "cubit". - Todd VerBeek 20:28, 13 July 2006 (EDT)

Agree, lower case - "baht" ~ 58.8.10.74 23:20, 29 October 2006 (EST)

[edit] Prostitution?

Isn't there a Wikitravel policy against including "sex tourism" related topics on Wikitravel? If so, why is there a section of this article titled, "Prostitution"? EmbrunOntario 22:40, 25 July 2006 (EDT)

See Wikitravel:Sex tourism policy and its corresponding talk page. I haven't studied them, but you seem interested so I thought I'd point them out. -- Ilkirk 22:45, 25 July 2006 (EDT)

Per the policy, information that is not directly related to the prostitution aspect can remain -- for example, safety issues or mere gawking are acceptible topics. Check out the policy and see if you feel it is being applied appropriately. -- Colin 22:53, 25 July 2006 (EDT)

[edit] Foreign & Commonwealth Office Warning

Shouldn't this be noted somewhere? http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029390590&a=KCountryAdvice&aid=1013618386505

Already listed in Thailand#Civil conflict, no? Jpatokal 22:48, 15 August 2006 (EDT)

[edit] Coup Border Crossings

I'm in Maesot. The Friendship bridge to Myanmar has reopened, and I believe all other borders are as well. Can someone else confirm, so the warnings can be removed.

222.123.17.233 23:00, 3 October 2006 (EDT)

Any confirmation from Three Pagodas Pass? ~ 203.144.143.8 23:09, 3 October 2006 (EDT)

If the country has returned to normalcy can we remove the ugly warnings? — Ravikiran 09:57, 14 October 2006 (EDT)

How a bout just moving the wrning to the stay safe section and reminding travellers to stay away from demonstrations, especially while marshall law is in effect. Any Ideas? Felixboy 11:48, 31 October 2006 (EST)

Martial law was never declared, even during the coup. And staying away from demonstrations is always a good idea. ~I'm starting to think the warning could be downgraded to a line or two in "History"... Jpatokal 12:56, 31 October 2006 (EST)

Martial law was declared on September 19/20 and has not yet been lifted. The "political gatherings are limited to five people" restriction has been eased (now permitted indoors). ~ 203.144.143.9 18:37, 31 October 2006 (EST)

Oops; I stand corrected. Not very relevant to the average tourist though (unless their last name is Thaksin). Jpatokal 23:04, 31 October 2006 (EST)

[edit] Cities

Hat Yai is only a gateway, Mae Hong Son is much more important from a tourist's point of view I think. --Flip666 18:53, 10 November 2006 (EST)

Hat Yai is a major tourist destination for Malaysians, but backpackers. Mae Hong Song is not a major city (in size or tourism), but maybe it could be added under "Other destinations"? Jpatokal 03:37, 11 November 2006 (EST)

[edit] Emergency numbers

Does anyone know emergency numbers, e.g. police, ambulance, etc.? --Flip666 ^writeme! • 07:30, 3 May 2007 (EDT)

Emergency number in Thailand are 191 (Police), 199 (Fire Fighter).

[edit] Hey, great

The "hey, great beaches" bit has been there forever (I think Evan originally put it there?), and IMHO it serves to liven up what would otherwise be a really dull straight-from-the-tourism-authority intro. Jpatokal 22:13, 24 May 2007 (EDT)

[edit] Taxi meters

I've spent well over a year in Bangkok, the last time in May, and getting metered taxis is generally no problem at all. If one cabbie balks (and usually only the sleazebags outside hotels etc try to pull this), get the next one. Cabbies like to complain, but you don't have to believe them -- eg. one popular line is to complain that gasoline is really expensive now, when every cab in BKK is actually running on CNG! The airport fixed price cars are limos, not taxis. Jpatokal 12:09, 11 July 2007 (EDT)

[edit] Page locks up when printing

I don't have a problem with Phom Pehn, Bangkok, Angkor, Siem Reap, or Cambodia. This page locks up Firefox. I tried making the page shorter, but that didn't help. short page 00:00, 20 December 2007 (EST)

This is a problem with your browser, not with Wikitravel. --Peter ^Talk 00:01, 20 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] Farang

Re: removed racist reference to caucasians - it's extremely unrealistic to dismiss the term "farang" as offensive or unacceptable, and removing it from Wikitravel articles because it's racist is a mistake.

However the term "farang" (to quote Wikipedia:Farang: a foreigner of European ancestry) has been used elsewhere where "foreigner" or "traveller" or "tourist" should have been used; I'm going to amend those articles and link from the edit summaries to here. ~ 58.8.212.199 08:06, 9 January 2008 (EST)

Now done. In the process, I've switched some related mentions such a "farang food" to "Western food", simply because not everyone is familiar with the meaning of "farang". I think it's probably best to stick with "Western" for food-related information, simply to avoid unnecessary confusion. ~ 203.144.143.4 09:01, 9 January 2008 (EST)

Agreed on all counts. Gorilla Jones 18:43, 9 January 2008 (EST)

[edit] Amphoe

I would like to suggest we drop the use of amphoes in our articles. Amphoes are administrative divisions of provinces, most of which are already pretty small. Plus, many relative small provinces the size of your average American county often get divided into 15 or more amphoes, most of which have only one significant city at the most. All this naming of amphoes is fracturing our region articles and likely making them pretty confusing for the average traveler. I've traveled in Thailand quite a bit and I never knew or needed to know about them. Borndistinction has been graciously packing many province articles with great information directly licensed by the Thai tourism agency, but I think a lot of it now needs to be pushed down into city articles rather than this messy amphoe business. Texugo 02:53, 23 April 2008 (EDT)

Agreed. The Borndistinction content needs a lot of refactoring... Jpatokal 05:51, 23 April 2008 (EDT)

[edit] Clothing

Is there any stores in Thailand that sells Bathing Ape (bape) clothing there? I know there's no official store there but as a legit whore reseller do they have it there? thanks

[edit] Respect

Wai

As a foreign visitor, you are not expected to know how to wai, nor to reciprocate when wai'd to; while you're unlikely to cause offense if you do, you may well look slightly ridiculous.

Thailand is very relaxed and I want to add here that if the situation is casual, looking "slightly ridiculous" might be just right.

No, it would not be. Jpatokal 13:45, 1 November 2008 (EDT)

The King & I

Also, anything related to the stories and movies The King and I and Anna and the King is illegal to possess in Thailand. Almost all Thais, even ones in other countries, feel very strongly when it comes to any version of this story.

The second sentence above that Thais feel strongly is certainly true. My 84 year old Thai mother in law just about broke the arms of a chair in my living room when she saw Yul Bryner jumping around "like a monkey" in the King & I on TV. However, the reports that the videos are actually banned may be urban legend. I think it needs to be checked with the Thai embassy. I recall reading in the english language press in Thailand about the time when Jodi Foster version of Anna & the King came out that the daughter of the king had seen the film and was not displeased with it.

It's definitely still banned. See eg. [2]. Jpatokal 13:45, 1 November 2008 (EDT)

[edit] Medical tourism

I really feel like this section is way overblown. From what I can tell, Borndistinction copied this whole section verbatim from this article, which is fine I think, but I'd rather see this stuff in its own travel topic because it's too much detail for the main Thailand page, and I don't see districtifying it and creating a Medical tourism section on every district article just to hold the listings. Our page for Medical tourism actually has a link to an as-of-yet-uncreated Medical tourism in Thailand page. I'm thinking that's where it should go. Any opinions? Texugo 02:59, 30 October 2008 (EDT)

First of all, to clear the misunderstanding about the content, this article is copyright of TAT and this page has got content from [3] page.

The article Medical Tourism in Thailand had been created earlier but it was deleted due to the reason being not a travel topic which I think is not fair enough. Whereas, during the vote for deletion, it was discussed to be added to the Thailand page, so I've done that now. Any more suggestion? --Borndistinction 04:59, 30 October 2008 (EDT)

Yes -- you've added way too much info, 99% of which is blatant touting, and I've reverted the whole lot. There is no consensus that this level of medical info is appropriate anywhere on Wikitravel.

I've also removed all the spa stuff you added. Lists of spas should be added to the individual destination pages (Chiang Mai spas in Chiang Mai, etc), not the main article. Jpatokal 05:29, 30 October 2008 (EDT)

Cool...! Ok then, I'll adjust the content to look better (wikitravel style) :) --Borndistinction 06:38, 30 October 2008 (EDT)

[edit] Beer

I think the beer section seems quite out of date, so I propose re-writing it if people agree with my proposed changes.

I think Singha Light, Chang Draught and Chang Light all warrant a mention in the Thai beers section; and San Miguel, Asahi and Federbrau are now commonly available upmarket brands. In fact, it may be better to split the section up into "Local brews", "Upmarket Brands" and "Imported Beers", the latter including the increasingly common Belgian Beers (Duvel, Stella Artois and Hoegarden all easy to find now, especially anywhere tourists might find themselves), Beer Lao and Irish ales such as Guinness and Killkenny, also well established on the tourist trail.

Finally, the biggest anomaly that should definitely be corrected if nothing else is the mention of Kloster - a beer which has been discontinued in Thailand for many months now.

Thoughts? Dantilley 10:30, 28 January 2009 (EST)

Plunge forward! I don't think we need to go into too much detail though, especially re: Western/imported beers. Jpatokal 10:34, 28 January 2009 (EST)

OK, has been done. I added a small section about Alcopops also. Dantilley 00:04, 31 January 2009 (EST)

[edit] Thailand is the gay friendliest country in Asia.

According to Wikipedia. --Dark Paladin X 15:45, 6 February 2009 (EST)

[edit] TOC

Any thoughts on why the table of contents gets messed up starting with "do"? – cacahuate ^talk 20:10, 7 June 2009 (EDT)

[edit] Excellent article

I've spent over a year in Thailand and would like to say this is a really excellent article that really explains Thailand and Thai culture very well. One thing though, I think some of the prices are a bit outdated now... 800 baht for a day's site-seeing... 200 baht for a room... that's going to be hard to do anywhere that tourists are likely to be staying. Apart from that, spot on. :)

Please use your experience to update the article and make it even better! --inas 19:48, 12 July 2009 (EDT)

[edit] Breadcrumb Trail for Thai Articles

Breadcrumb trail seems a bit messed up. I will try to sort it. Also with the state of the regional articles, I don't think this article is anywhere near guide status and I will knock it back to usable. --Burmesedays 12:23, 4 October 2009 (EDT)

Problem with the breadcrumb seems to be changed names for the main regions and the re-directs in place.... a lot of fiddly work required from the top all the way down. --Burmesedays 12:38, 4 October 2009 (EDT)

Sorted down through regions and provinces. I think the cities take care of themselves. --Burmesedays 10:29, 6 October 2009 (EDT)

Thailand is thoroughly messed up, we had a huge dump from the Tourist Authority, which seems to be more or less discouraging users from editing, since it's so chaotic. --Stefan (sertmann) ^Talk 10:38, 6 October 2009 (EDT)

Ah. That would explain the general state of disarray. At least the breadcrumb trail is now fixed though so the overall structure of articles makes sense. --Burmesedays 20:33, 6 October 2009 (EDT)