Thailand, the land of beaches, good weather, friendly people, good food and relaxation. This is what most people who visit Thailand and expats who stay here year round or for extended periods experience. We didn’t experience that so much where we cycled. The food was good and the weather was hot.

Most touring cyclists will come into Thailand from the north, which is supposed to be very beautiful and head towards the beaches and Malaysia to the southern peninsula.

A lot of touring cyclists love cycling in Thailand because of the infrastructure. However, we were a little frustrated that we couldn’t find local roads. Most of the roads from Poipet to Rayong were dual carriage ways with nice wide shoulders but we had to deal with a lot of cars and noise. When we did find a rural route to Kanchanaburi we really enjoyed the riding.

The transportation system is very good, with good roads, even the rural roads were paved. The inter-city bus systems were good and the train system was adequate. Within the City of Bangkok the transportation was excellent from ferries, buses and light rail and inexpensive.

Thailand has a land mass of 513,123 sq kms (twice as big as the UK) with a population of 68,100,000.

The schools were all open and lots of children attending school, through high school and beyond to University. Education is highly thought of in Thailand. Although the children didn’t greet us with cheery hellos, they were a little shy.

I was surprised at the amount of industry we found especially the automotive industry, from GM, to Toyota and all the various supporting industries. Thailand is definitely an industrialized nation, without the laws in place to protect the environment.

We were able to chat with a few locals, and learned a little about their thoughts on the industry and their country. One gentleman told us the industry was ruining the country, too much pollution. The government is corrupt, people pay-off the government to get things done.

We stayed a week in the Rayong area, which had a large German expat community as well as a few Scandinavians. It was quite a nice area, but surprisingly the beach was dirty. We were surprised about the amount of garbage we saw throughout the country, people did not seem to care about dropping their garbage wherever.

The accommodation ranged from very nice hotels which could be very expensive $100+ to cheap guesthouses at $10. You get what you pay for. We only experienced one guesthouse that didn’t have a flushing toilet. The less expensive guesthouse/hotels often didn’t have sheets on the beds, and some of those that did, I wasn’t sure on when they were last changed – I often used my own sheet to sleep on. The hotels we stayed in were clean and cleaned every day.

Of course we saw Temples, Pagodas and Stupas every day, a lot were being built or renovated. I often think the more religious a population the more reckless the drivers. Thai drivers were a little reckless, they had little regard for anyone else on the road, especially in the cities. In Bangkok, where there were bicycle lanes, they were often blocked with taxis, buses and tuk tuks.

Getting away from the touristy areas, we met people who were kind and helpful. In touristy areas, the Thais were not as friendly as I expected. Maybe they have tourist overload and when you see how some tourists behave I can understand why they became a little jaded.

We experienced a special kindness from Mae and Chay who invited us into their home.  I hope we get to see them again.

People have more money to spend and enjoy eating out and a better quality of life.

I was a little disappointed with Thailand, but only because I was expecting so much of the country and cycling there. Almost every person I had spoken to before visiting Thailand loved it. Once again as touring cyclists you see the good, bad and the ugly. Unfortunately, we did see the ugly side of Thailand, dirty beaches, ugly industry, and sex tourism. They are trying to stop the latter, however, it is very difficult.

Thailand is an inexpensive place to visit, apart from the big cities, but even those are reasonably cheap compared to North America.