A friend and I are going to Thailand next week for nine days. We’re planning on splitting our time between Bangkok and (probably) Chiang Mai. Any suggestions?
And we’re not going for the joys of rampant prostitution, thanks. 
Some general advice first:
Eat from street vendors (so you can see being cooked in front of you). This is very important. I got very, very sick from eating a meal I didn’t see getting prepared.
Usually ice is fine to eat (there are lots of fruit shake vendors around). If the ice is well formed it has been professionally prepared and is safe.
Bargain with a smile on your face. But always, always bargain.
At the Night Bazaar in Chiang Mai arrive early afternoon if you plan to do lots of shopping (You’ve got really good bargaining power in the afternoon).
Also when bargaininging, seem unsure if you want the product. They will fight to keep you interested.
Water-wise get the 1 litre bottle six-packs. They are the cheapest (15-40B per pack) and are safe.
Try different foods. You can find really nice surprises just by having a bit of guts.
Now some questions so I can give some more adice:
Are you trekking out of Chiang Mai?
How long do you plan to spend in Chaing Mai?
Any special dietry requirements?
I’ll post more advice when I can think of it.
You’re going to love it!
Been there 4 times myself - I could go on all day about it.
Everythin Ell said about bargaining is excellent advice. Be nice all the time - never get angry; all you’ll do is confuse people and upset them.
Banana pancakes from street vendors are great. Pad Thai (fried noodles with goodies) is also ubiquitous and delicious.
If you’re in Bangkok, check out the Jim Thomson house, which is very interesting, as well as the reclining Buddha next to the Royal Palace. And if you’re can spare a few days, a side-trip to the lovely (but undeveloped) island of Koh Samet is feasible (about 3 hours in a minibus and 1 hour on a boat).
When I was in Chiang Mai, I rented a jeep for a week and went exploring by road, and off-roading in the jungles (dangerous to say the least, especially in North-West Thailand where there are Karen rebels hiding out), looking for hill tribes. Didn’t find any, but had a lot of fun.
Good site (indispensible guidebooks too): http://www.lonelyplanet.com/
Get a job on the railroad. Laying Thais.
Parts of Bangkok are one huge red light district. We must have our factory close to one, 'cause the engineers that travel never see anything but hookers (oh, wait, maybe that’s not a proximity thing). But I never noticed it in Bangkok.
Pattaya, Thailand - the Wisconsin Dells with hookers and drugs. If you aren’t going for the rampant prostitution - I’d skip it.
Never got as far as Chang Mai. I’ve heard its beautiful. Been to Phuket (poo-ket). That’s very lovely.
Have fun.
Say hello if you bump into me. I’m leaving this Friday, arrive late Saturday night. I can show you some interesting places in and near Bangkok. I’ve only been to Chiang Mai once for a few days. Trekking is a big thing up there. A lot of wooden antiques up that way. You should take in Khum Toke, a special dinner served while watching traditional dancing and such. Yes, it’s touristy but it’s also the sort of touristy thing Thais do in their own country.
If you can hire a car and get out of the city it’s probably very interesting. But be very careful if you drive yourself, especially watch out for motorbikes and big trucks, it can be semi-dangerous. Biggest vehicle always has the right of way.
Definitely give Pattaya a pass. If you want water take a plane to Koh Samui, Krabi, Surat Thani or Phuket. This time of year I think that Samui or Surat Thani are better choices because the monsoons (strong winds out of India) make the currents dangerous in parts of the Andaman. I don’t think this happens in the South China sea.
If you want a shorter trip to water, go past Pattaya to Rayong and Koh Samet or at least as far as Jomtien beach. If you want to try the other direction go to Hua Hin; I think HM the King summers there.
In or near Bangkok: Get up early, go to Wat Pho and get Thai massage. Go to MBK (MahBoonKrong) and see a real Thai shopping mall. Go very early on the weekends to Chatuchak (sometimes called JJ market). This second one is outdoor and can get very hot, hence the early morning reco. Just about everything is on sale there (but it’s hardly the best place to buy anything, just an interesting thing to see). Find a tak graw court and watch them play. What a great game, it’s like a cross between soccer and volleyball played on five foot nets with no hands. A wicker ball is used. Very fast and incredible athleticism. You can find this in Lumphini Park or Queen Sirikit Park.
Visit a Wat (temple), but: learn and understand Thai etiquette. Dress correctly (avoid shorts, if you are female cover the upper part of your arms/no low necklines). Don’t speak loudly. Always smile. Don’t point at religious objects, including spirit houses. It’s best if you can find somebody Thai to show you the ropes. If a Thai person gets upset with you: smile, apologise and walk away. Even if it’s not your fault, maybe especially so. Don’t litter, they are imposing 2000baht fines for littering right now, mostly aimed at farangs. If you don’t know what a farang is, well, you are probably one. It’s probably best not to talk about the Royal family unless you can do so in reverential tones. The King and his family are a special class unto themselves. The police, on the other hand, are widely not respected and considered to be corrupt.
Let me know if you have any specific questions.
Exercise extreme caution when Thais on the street or a bus invite you to play cards or visit gem shops. They are trying to scam you. Never eat or drink anything a Thai might offer you, especially if you’re travelling on a train or bus; many travellers have been drugged and robbed by this method.
Don’t believe any stories Thais might tell you about “special bargains.” A Thai man stopped me in Bangkok as I was on my way to Wat Pho. He told me, “It’s Sunday; Wat Pho is closed. I can take you shopping and get special discount for you from my uncle’s silk shop.” Needless to say, I blew him off and, of course, Wat Pho was not closed. Puh-leeze.
What other said about the king and the royal family is 100 percent correct and also goes for Buddha images and monks. When you’re kneeling in a temple, never let your feet point at anyone, it’s very rude.
Contrary to what others have said, Koh Samet is NOT underdeveloped and is just as busy as Koh Samui and other hot spots. Koh Tao and Koh Chang are much better bets for a getaway.
Bangkok must-sees: Dusit Palace, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha and the Grand Palace, the Marble Temple, the Temple of the Golden Buddha, Wat Arun,
Street food in Bangkok is awesome; try the 5 baht meat and veggies on a skewer–yum.
Khao San Road is the cheapest place to find a room, but most of the places there are little plasterboard coffins. Spend the cash and stay in the H&H-icy cool air con, room service, and CNN!
Hey gobear, fyi, the Thai government is looking to develop Koh Chang into upscale tourist accomodation. I think they are even building an airport there. There are still large stretches of open beach on Koh Samet, it’s not undeveloped but it’s nowhere near as tawdry as Pattaya. And it’s a reasonable drive from Bangkok, about 2.5 hours plus the ferry ride.
GilaB, in case you hadn’t figured it out yet, koh is the Thai word for island. It’s pronounced more like gkaw. Phuket is an island and a province, it’s very large and doesn’t get the koh designation. Pattaya, Krabi, Jomtien, and Hua Hin are all towns on the water with beaches or near beaches. Surat Thani is a province and a town, in the south, IIRC.
Keep the tips coming, folks – I’m hoping to go to Thailand for a few weeks next winter, once those pesky PhD exams are out of the way. Any ideas about where to find cheap airfares would be greatly appreciated.
What’s the hassle factor like for a young woman traveling alone?
Behind the Temple at the top(The end with Gulliver’s Bar) of Khao San Road there are a good few hotels with nice air-con, TV, hot water for approx. 300b per night.
Chaing Mai is absolutely fantastic. I recommend “The North Star Guesthouse” very central, air-con, hot water, nice food, swimming pool all for 400b a night.
OK, I used the wrong terminology: by ‘underdeveloped’ I meant dirt roads, no water supply (shitty brown water delivered by truck), and electricity by generator, turned off at night. gobear is correct that there are a lot of hotels and beach huts on the island, and it gets quite crowded on the northern end.
GilaB,
Where are you going to find kosher food in Thailand??? Is there a local Chabad house in Thailand?
Zev Steinhardt
Why here, of course.
Run by the Chabad house, as I figured. Thanks jjimm.
Zev Steinhardt
While these things happen and it’s the foreigners who are mainly targeted for these scams (because they’re percieved as being rich), there are an awful lot of very honest people in Thailand. As an example, here’s a story from today’s Phuket Gazette about a man who left 1.5 million baht, about $35,000, in a pillow in his hotel. The maid turned it all in. This is probably equal to all the money she has ever earned, plus some, roughly equivalent to a made here finding almost a million dollars. And it was in cash.
A yound Dutch woman joined me for a little while. We met on the bus up to Pai (definately visit if you have the time). She didn’t speak of any trouble in Thailand but had always made friends with people and travelled with them. But I’m sure it does take place, so just be careful.
Some Thai words:
Hello: Sawasdee [Kup/Kaa] (Kup if male, Kaa if female) - pronouce it sawadee
Thank you: Kob Khun [Kup/Kaa]
How much: Thao Rai - pronouced Taow Lai (most r are pronounced l)
Delicious!: Aroy!
1: Nung
2: Song
3: Som
4: Sii
5: Ha
10: Sip
20: Yee sip
Then you can combine different numbers so, for example, 50 would be Ha sip and 25 would be Yee sip ha.
I’m sorry if the spelling is wrong but this is how I pronounced them and they understood me.
If you want to get into the language a bit before you go this is a useful site: LearningThai.com. It’s a tonal language but otherwise fairly simple.
The only tip I have is to buy some Thai sarongs (pronounced ‘surong’ or ‘shurong’)–they’re brightly printed cotton and are sewn up the side. My sister brought some back from her tour of duty over 25 years ago and we still wear them. Utterly the most comfortable piece of clothing you’ll ever own.
My sister said that Thailand was beautiful, the people friendly, and the food great. 
I spent quite a bit of time on the beach in Thailand - easily the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen.
Koh Samui was very nice, but I was there in 1990, when they were building the airport. I’ve heard that it changed after the airport opened. I’m told it’s less rustic now - perhaps more geared to backpackers parents rather than backpackers. I also visited Koh Phangan, which was a smaller island off of Koh Samui. Koh Phangan was quite the throwback when I was there, with one of the restaurants offering mushroom omelettes. (Now there’s a way to start an interesting day!)
Another wonderful island is Koh Phi Phi (pronounced Pee Pee). Koh Phi Phi is actually 2 islands. One with a few locals, some hotels, beatiful stretches of beach, and fantastic snorkling. The other a bird sanctuary with no overnight stays allowed. You can take day trips to the sanctuary island for snorkling and exploring. The landscape all around is so impressive with huge rocks jutting hundreds of feet out of the water. (You can get a Hollywood glimpse of Koh Phi Phi in the Leo DiCapprio movie called The Beach, which was filmed there. The movie is - well, it’s awful, IMHO. But the island shots are great so just keep your finger poised on the FF button and hit it the moment there’s any dialogue. I think a 007 movie was made there too.) Koh Phi Phi is near Phuket, but I got there by boat from Krabi province, where I had taken a bus from Surat Thani. Where Phuket is a little commercialized, complete with a Club Med, Koh Phi Phi is much more laid back. If you do venture south of Bangkok, you should make plans to visit Koh Phi Phi.
Enjoy your trip!