LANGUAGE: Thai
CURRENCY: BAHT ( THB ) ( ฿ )
DOCUMENTS: For a stay of up to 60 days (extendable upon request up to 90 days), a passport with at least 6 months of validity remaining at the time of entry into the country is sufficient.
CLIMATE: Thailand’s climate is generally divided into three seasons:
– Cool season: (November, December, January, February) Very little rain and generally lower temperatures, but since it is still a tropical country, the average temperature remains around 30°C during this period.
– Hot season: (March, April, May) Higher temperatures, very hot but still bearable.
– Rainy season: (June, July, August, September, October) Temperatures similar to the hot season but with much higher humidity. The rainy season doesn’t usually ruin a pleasant stay, as it often consists of heavy, sudden downpours that typically last just a couple of hours, leaving the rest of the day clear and sunny (though the humidity in the air is noticeable).
Despite these differences, there is no truly bad time for a holiday in Thailand. Every season has its pros and cons, and you can find very different weather conditions during the same period simply by moving from one part of the country to another. Unless you happen to run into a particularly unlucky combination of circumstances, any time of year can be a good time to travel to the Land of Smiles. Perhaps the biggest difference concerns prices. From November to March it is high season, with more tourists around, while June to October is generally considered low season and the average cost of flights and accommodation tends to be lower. That said, for flights from Italy this is not entirely true, because airlines consider August a high-season month in Italy, so fares are often higher than at other times of the year. The same applies around major holidays, regardless of whether they fall during a more or less favorable season in Thailand.
THAILANDThe Land of Smiles, but also of calm and, above all, contradictions. Just consider that prostitution is illegal throughout Thailand, yet in practice it is probably one of the countries with the highest number of sex workers in the world, whether occasional or professional. Together with the year-round warm climate, dreamlike seaside destinations, a generally relaxed lifestyle, and a relatively low cost of living, this makes Thailand a very attractive destination for single men, often no longer particularly young, who after years of holidays in the Land of Smiles eventually decide to move here permanently, perhaps after marrying a Thai woman for any number of reasons. Thailand offers practically something for every taste. There are huge cities such as Bangkok, with around 8 million inhabitants, or roughly 14 million if we consider the wider metropolitan region including the surrounding provinces, but also rural villages scattered across the countryside, especially in the north of the country. And of course there are countless small dream islands, the largest of which is Phuket, covering 543 km²—roughly twice the size of Elba Island.
FOR MEN: Nana, Soi Cowboy, Patpong (Bangkok), Walking Street, Soi 6, Beach Road, Soi Buakhao, and LK Metro (Pattaya), Patong (Phuket)
NOTE: Thailand is a one-of-a-kind place in the world; the only way to describe it is: “The Land of Smiles.”
