My husband and I are going to Thailand for the first time in November. We are the kind of travelers who like to go and stay in one or two places and really get to know the locals and their culture. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks

If you have not been to Bangkok, you must go and spend a few days there. Visit the floating markets in the morning. Take a river bus and enjoy the scenery. Take a day trip. Ride a barge on the Mekong River. Ride an elephant at an elephant farm. Many go to Chiang Mai. It is tourist town, but on the way there you will pass water buffalo and terraced gardens. Koh Samui is on the Gulf of Thailand. It was not destroyed by the tsunami. The town itself is fine to stay in. Use it as a base to visit more secluded places. <img src="/images/graemlins/beamedup.gif" alt="" />

I have been to Thailand 30+ times and have traveled to each region of the Kingdom of Thailand. My husband and I have been there numerous times together, as well as on several trips with our children.

A couple of questions - how long will you be visiting Thailand, and do you prefer seaside, mountains, or both? Do want to fly between destinations, or travel by train, or even bus? Remember Thailand is a long country from top to bottom. It is the same distance as Seattle to San Diego!

The north of Thailand affords a wonderful cultural expierence including hilltribes. If you are interested in antiquities there such as Ayutthya and Sukhathai of 0005AD. In the South you have a totally different expierence and feel. We much prefer Hua Hin as a seaside destination in comparison to Phuket which is over loaded with tourists. If you are wanting to absorb the local culture and relax there are many wonderful places that are not so popular with tourists and tour groups.

Just give me some guidelines and I'll be very happy to make some suggestions.

Mary-Anne Durkee
Thai Food Editor, Bellaonline

Hi MAryAnne My husband and I are visiting Thailand for the first time between November 11 to 24 and I would like to ask any recommendation as to where to go and what to do and try. We love outdoors so seaside and mountain side is awesome. We are flying in To bangkok on Nov 11 arriving late at night so I guess the first question is where should we stay. We want to experience Thailand, talk to locals eat local food. I would love to ride an elephant LOL. I guess one week of seaside and one week of mountain side either way please give me advice. thanks in advance Sincerely Maria

hello, If you are planning to move Thailand for first time you have to check all tour details on online. I suggest you to check www.thailandgreattours.com this site has offer to you various options according to your need. it has many tailor made Thailand vacation packages. Thanks

The floating market is an experience that few wants to miss while in Thailand. You get to see how the Thais use the waterways as their primary means of cheap transportation in the old days and carry out trading from their crafts. You see sellers of farm produce, animal produce, gifts and even cooking food, all from the boats in the water. You can either signal the boat with the stuff you want to pull over to your side, or you can wait for them to come by to show you their wares, or you can hire a small boat and go among them to look for your choices. You may even find interesting gifts for your girlfriend there. &lt;a href=BellaOnline ALERT: Raw URLs are not allowed in these forums for security reasons. Please use UBB code. If you don't know how to do UBB code just post here for help - we will help out!

Thailand has much to excite the traveler, I lived there for around 4 years. Bangkok is such busy city, it's hot and the pollution is quite bad. The whole place is an absolute adventure. The food, people and locations are so vast. The smells on the streets are sometimes awful but the the smell of food from restuarents and venders are brill, food aroma seems to stay in the memory for ages. Bangkok is known for been quite a safe place considering the amount of people and the way in which the city is built. There are fantastic markets that sell just about anything, there are nightclubs and bars to suit, both couples and singles. The islands of Thailand are varied from small idealic locations for the newley married or the larger island for the groups of partiers. I've been to most of the islands, nearly always alone, so i learnt quite a lot about Thai culture, Thai's are open to foreigners, more so if the foreigner is pleasant and prepared to be patient.