No smoking in Thailand - A hard to believe fact

In Thailand, where about 17% of the nationals; that is 65 million people are smokers who consume 110 million cigarettes daily, a complete ban on smoking especially in Thailand’s nightlife entertainment centres has come as a pleasant surprise to all the non smokers who, till now had to suffer breathing problems inhaling secondary smoke.

With effect from February 11, 2008, all air conditioned bars, pubs, discotheques and clubs are covered by the regulation. Owners of open air eating places and markets will also have to mark out smoking and no-smoking areas. Care will be taken that smokers only use the designated areas to puff the smoke. Individual violators can be fined as much as 2,000 baht (US$65). If any public places violate the rules, they will be fined 20,000 baht as well.

For all those of you who feel that smoking is your way of busting stress, take heed when traveling to Thailand. Make sure you recognize the smoking zones which are clearly marked in English, Thai, Korean, Chinese and Japanese and not end up paying heavily for this addiction.

Best season to visit Thailand!!

Thailand’s climate falls into the category of tropical and humid. For the northern part of the between November and May the weather is mostly dry with cooling breezes from North-east monsoon during November to February. March to May experiences relatively higher temperatures for the northern part of Thailand. May to November is dominated by the southwest monsoon, during which time rainfall in the north is at its heaviest.

The southern region of Thailand gets higher rainfall. On the west coast the southwest monsoon brings rain and often heavy storms from April through to October, whilst on the east coast the most rain falls between September and December.

Generally speaking, the best time to visit Thailand is from November to February when the northeast monsoon gives its cool respite from heat. At this time Bangkok experiences temperature range from 18ºC to 32ºC , while in northern and northeast Thailand, temperatures can get quite cool with morning temperatures as low as 8º C to 12º C with the occasional 20º C day. Nights can be particularly chilly and at high altitudes the temperatures can and do drop below freezing.

Try and avoid the hot and dry season from March to June. At this time temperatures in Bangkok average around 34º C, but can often reach 40º C with the humidity levels of 75%.

From July to October is the monsoonal season when most of Thailand’s annual rainfall is accumulated. The humidity averages just under 90%, with temperatures averaging around 29º C in Bangkok.

Refer to the bar chart for the temperature and rainfall in Bangkok…..

Thailand street foods- Love them, hate them!!

No other place in the entire world has such a wide range of aroma and sights of food with such a casual display than the ‘Land of Hospitality’- Thailand. There are at least 43,000 street food vendors in Bangkok, the municipal government says, a legion of operators of food carts crammed into every available nook of urban real estate.

Bangkok alternately loves and hates its food vendors. The city government banned them from certain areas because they cause traffic jams, block sidewalks and result in growth of cockroaches and vermin in the sewers where they dispose off their trash. One recent article in The Nation, a Bangkok daily, even described street vendors as “parasitic elements” whose presence spawns “organized beggars, street-children gangs and hooligans who are responsible for many of the petty crimes in the city center.”

But it is difficult to imagine Bangkok without its vendors. Inexpensive but delicious street food fits into the mosaic of Bangkok’s luxuries. To foreign tourists and wealthy Thais, this city represents cheap modernity: skyscrapers and swank hotels.

Food stalls in Bangkok are a great social equalizer. A typical noodle stall can feature shirtless manual workers eating beside well-dressed middle-class Bangkok Thais. The choice of Thailand street food is immensely large and it would be difficult to shortlist some of the top Thai street foods. Just for a quick glance, some of them holding the top notch can be listed as:

1. som tam - a spicy salad with shredded papaya
2. khao mun gai tod - fried chicken served on rice cooked in chicken broth
3. rat naa - noodles and pork in a thick gravey
4. ba mee nam - egg noodle soup with wonton
5. pad thai - fried noodles with dried shrimp and tofu
6. johk - a thick rice soup excellent for breakfast
7. pad see iew - pan-fried noodles
8. khao pad - fried rice
9. moo pad krapow - pork fried in basil
10. khao moo daeng - red pork with rice

What is your list of favorite Thai street foods? Do not forget to post in the list of your favorites…