Elektricity:
American flat plugs fit most of the wallplugins. Voltage is 220 V. For areas outside the classic tourist sites you are advised to take appropriate adaptors with you.

Picture taking:
Feel free to take pictures wherevere you want except in the Wat Phra and in the kings palace. Members of the king family are not  to be photopgraphed as well !

Health:
Actually there are no vaccination directions. However, it's advised to consult your physician or your travel agent approx. 3 month before your travel for updates.

Clothing:
Light, active breathing clothes are advised for all seasons. For appropriate dressing -especially in the evening-, you should pack closed shoes.  See also do's and dont's in Thailand above !

Rental car's and mopeds:
If you want to drive savely you are advised to rent vehicles only from intl. rental companies. They maintain rental stations in almost all tourist destinations and take care for appropriate insurance coverage. Be careful: Thailand traffic is left with righthand-sided cars. If you drive on country-side roads, spend extra care. Very often, the heavier and the bigger the car, the more ruthless the driver acts on the roads. Do not stick to western rules but apply a defensive attitude.

Emergencies:
Tourist Service line: 1155
Police emergency: 191
Firefighters: 199
Tourist police: 169

Business hours:
Thailand has no official openeing rulings. Most of the stores are open 7 days/week..
Bank tellers are open from 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM.
Warehouse are open normally from 10 AM - 7 PM.

Post office:
Open from  Mo - Fr  8:30 AM - 3:30 PM; Sa and Su from 9 PM - 12 noon.
Postcards and letters via Airmail to Europe take between 4 and 10 days
Postal parcels are limited to max. 20 kg.

Immigration:
For visitors originating from any EC country and who stay max. 29 days in the Thai kingdom do not need a VISA. For those who intend to stay up to 3 months, they must apply for a VISA in their home country with the royal Thai embassy. Such VISA is usually obtained without extensive bureaucracy.

How to pay:
Thail currency is Baht (THB). 
100 THB correspond actually to 2.31€ or 1.42 GB£
1 GB£ =70 THB; 1€ = ca. 47 THB
Use this link for actual rates
→http://www.swissquote.ch/index/index_quote_d.html
Foreign currencies can be imported without limitations. Thai currency import/export is limited to 50'000 THB!
Travellerchecks (€, US$, CHF and GB£) and Creditcards are accepted almost everywhere.

Timezone:
Localtime = GMT + 7 hours (GMT summertime + 6 Stunden)

Custom:
The import of fire weaponary and drugs of any kind is strongly prohibited and get's punished rigorously and uncompromising. It's advisable to declare goods with high values upon arrival at the custom inspection station to avoid potential troubles whilst random custom inspections.

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Thai-Food

Raffinesse on the plate!

One is not only to view and experience Thailand but also to become acquainted with its culinary highlights from the kitchen! The Thai kitchen is famous worldwide. Whether fiery chili sharp or mild, the harmony in the composition and the freshness are among a few secrets of the Thai kitchen. Essentially it's a combination between centuries-old eastern and western influences, which merged harmoniously into somewhat typically Thai one. Different accents are set, depending on who cooks the Thai meal, for whom it is cooked, for which opportunity and where it is cooked.

Originally the Thai kitchen reflected a way of life, which is closely connected with the water. Main parts of the dishes were animals living in the water, aquatic plants and herbs. Originally  large meat junks were unknown in the Thai kitchen. Western influences introduced this preparation method into the Thai kitchen. Due to its buddhist background the Thail cut the meat and mixed it with herbs and spices. The traditional methods of the Thai kitchen were braising, baking or grilling. The methods roasting, pan-frying and frying were introduced by Chinese influences. Since the 17th century,  Portuguese, Dutch, French and Japanese culinary highlights have mixed with the original thai kicthen. Chilies are known only since the 17th century when Portuguese missioners brought them from South-America.

Thais adapted stranger methods to their own behaviours and replaced some ingredients. Pure butter fat, which is used in the Indian kitchen, was replaced e.g. by coconut-oill and coconut-milk replaced animal milk products. Fiery strong spices are moderated and refined by fresh herbs such as lemon grass and galgant (a kind of ginger). Applying fresh herbs and replacing spices is classic for the preparation of typical Thai curries. It is well-known that the Thai Curries are very hot spiced, however, the burning in the mouth is fading away rapidly, whereas Curries from other countries with intensive spices keep the heat feeling in the mouth much longer.

Instead of serving the courts successively, traditionally all dishes of a meal are served at once with which allows different combinations of the courts and different tasting experiences. A complete Thai menu consists of a soup, a curry dish with spices and a dip with appropriate fish- and vegetable-junks. A hot spiced salad can replace the Curry court. The soup, e.g. fiery hot TOM YUM should then be followed by a mild Curry. The harmony of the taste and the composition of the individual courts of the entire meal are most important.

Thai eaters use only a fork an a spoon. Even simple dishes, for example pork meat with steamed rice, is prepared in a way, that one never needs a knife to cut the food in to smaller junks. The food is put onto the spoon and then carried to the mouth.

Ideally, the Thai meal is an informal affair that includes two or more persons. Reason being, the more person sit at the same table, the larger number of dish variations are ordered. Normally two persons order three dishes additionally to their own plates with steamed rice, three persons order four courts etc.. The persons select individually from all of the ordered meals what they would like to try and put it on their own plate with the rice. Soups are eaten together with the other courts, not independently of them. Sharp courts become balanced by mild meals.

The ideal Thai meal is a harmonic mixture out of sharply, mildly, sweet sour and must please eyes, nose and the palate. A typical Thai meal  consists of a clear soup, a dish with cooked or roasted meat (perhaps bitter melons filled with pork meat tasted with peppermint), a dish with fryed fish, a hot spiced salad (beef strip on lettuce salad, bulbs, chilies, peppermint and lemon juice) and a selection of dip sauces accompanied with  raw vegetable strips. To finish, a sweet dessert and/or a fresh fruit such as Mangos, Durian, Jackfruit, Papayas, grapes/clusters or melons should terminate a classic Thai meal.

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