I first went to Thailand in October 2001. I went on a two centre holiday there - Bangkok for 4 nights and Phuket for 10 nights.

I have decided that because there is so much to put about all the things we (my husband and I) did and saw, I am only going to concentrate on our stay in Bangkok.

Firstly, October is the end of the rainy season and so the price we paid was very good. I don't remember the exact figure but it was in the region of £1500.00 altogether. The booking was with Thomas Cook Signature Holidays, and included return flights to and from Manchester to Heathrow, Bangkok and Phuket, also included was private car transfers to and from the Thai airports and hotels and hotel accommodation (a three and a half star hotel in Bangkok - The Hotel Asia, and a four star hotel in Phuket - The Kata Thani Hotel and Beach Resort) which were on bed and breakfast basis.

I will give a brief description of our hotel in Bangkok:

Good location, two swimming pools, a gym, a tailor shop, a jeweller's, a gift shop, a Brazilian restaurant, a Chinese restaurant, a cocktail lounge, a coffee shop, and a restaurant which served Thai and international food and a limosuine service (at a small fee).
The rooms were very spacious and we were lucky that we had a city view. The room had all standard amenities, such as a hairdryer, TV, air conditioning, bathrobes, toiletries etc.
The staff at the hotel were extremely friendly and helpful at all times.

Ok, I will admit that when we first discussed the idea of going to Thailand, I myself was a little dubious, as the first thing that crossed my mind was the sleaze, sex and drugs, but, I thought 'never say never' and decided to give it a go.

After a gruelling 13 hour flight from Heathrow, we arrived at the Don Muang Airport in Bangkok, and were met by our driver. As we set off to the hotel I was thoroughly disappointed. All I saw along the side of the road were huge, dirty, concrete highrises - this was nothing like the 'pretty' Thailand I had envisaged, after seeing pictures in various brochures, but, like I say we had just had a very long flight, and I thought things may look a little better in the morning.

We checked in at the hotel and decided to grab an early night, so we could start exploring early the next day.

We decided that we would go and see some of the more famous temples and the Grand Palace, so we asked at our hotel, and they kindly arranged a guide for us. Our day trip was to include 4 temples, the Grand Palace and a city tour by private, air conditioned mini bus - all that for about £7.00 each.

Our guide was fantasitc - extremely knowledgable and very proud of his country (and rightly so). Dong (the guide) was the sort of guide who didn't mind when you wanted to stop and take photo's, and was quite happy if you lingered at some places more than others - he wasn't at all pushy and didn't take us to loads of jewellry factories like some guides do, just because they get a commission from them for taking tourists there.

The temples fitted my 'perfect vision' of Thailand - truely spiritual places and amazing to look at. My faith in my holiday choice had been successfully restored. I was in utter awe at seeing the saffron-robbed monks, and realised how dedicated and focused on their beliefs they were - it was almost as if there were no tourists there at all, because they just carried on doing their day-to-day tasks and chores without batting an eyelid at us.

The Grand Palace was full of history and culture - an amazing feat of architectural design, as well as being pleasing to the eye - virtually nowhere was offlimits to the toursits.

Another day trip for us was The Bridge on the River Kwai tour. This was a moving and emotional day. Firstly we went to one of the cemetaries to see the graves of the Prisoners Of War, and then we went to the 'old' museum, which is actually a replica hut, of what the POW's had to endure. Inside the hut were pictures and testimonies that had been done by the POW's, as well as descriptions of the work they had to carry out and the sort of ill-treatment they received.

Next we went down to the river and got picked up by a long-tail boat - these are fast and quite exhilirating. You get dropped off just by the bridge, and then you can go and walk along it. After a good look round, we then went and caught a train, which took us over the bridge, and to a notorious part of the railway line, known as 'Death Pass'. This is the original wooden structure which is on the side of a sheer rock-face. It's at this part of the two hour journey that the train grinds to a halt, to allow you to take in the scenery and capture some amazing pictures.

After the train journey, we were met by our minibus driver, who took us up into the mountains and then down to the river, where we had a lovely lunch on a house boat. This was truely what I would call living. There was the most fantastic atmosphere and we thoroughly enjoyed the day.

Thailand is a shoppers paradise, and this is certainly true in Siam Square, especially the MBK centre - it's not just another department store, it's a Thai department store - wonderful bargains to be had by all, and if the truth be know, we didn't have enough time there in just one day, and did end up going there on a couple of occasions (it's no wonder we ended up paying for excess baggage on the way home!).

Now, if Bangkok is famous for one thing, it must definitely be Patpong - a notorious go-go bar area, where live sex shows are a penny to the dozen. BUT, there is also a famous night market, where you can buy almost anything at knock down prices - including of course, fake designer items, Thai silk, handicrafts, gifts and ornaments.

I was not much of a 'haggler', but, because the Thai's expect you to bargain with them, I became quite an expert, by the end of the night!!

No trip to Thailand would be complete without a trip to a tailors, and so we did just that!! As we were going onto Phuket, we decided that we would buy our suits there, and so decided just to buy some blouses and shirts. 4 silk blouses cost about £25.00 and 6 Pure cotton shirts cost £30.00 - we have really had good wear out of these. They have obviously the perfect fit, they wash and wash, and neither the colours have faded or the quality of the material deteriorated.

Other general information about Thailand is:

Food and Drink - Food is very cheap and tasty in Thailand - you can get a main course for roughly £2.00, and a full three course meal can be bought for £10.00 per couple. There are places which do charge more, but even then, you're only taking about a tenner each.
Drink is relatively cheap - soft drinks in bars are about 30p and a bottle of Carlsberg Export is about £1.90. You can get the locally brewed Singha and Singha Gold beer, which has quite a nice taste when it is served chilled, for between 60p and £1.10, depending on the size of the bottle. Wine is expensive - a bottle of Jacob's Creek Red Chardonnay cost us £23.00 (the 3 course meal only cost £18.00). You can of course, buy drink cheaper in the local supermarkets.

Weather - we were very lucky considering it was the end of the rainy season. The temperatures were in the high 80's everyday, which was nice, but, the humidity is very high, and so it's nice to be able to cool down in a shop (another excuse to buy some more bits and bobs) or cafe/bar. We did get rain, but the torrential downpours didn't last long - about 15-20 minutes and it was all over.

Some customs - don't touch anyone on the head, take off your shoes before entering a temple or Thai house, women are not allowed to touch the monks, don't raise your voice and one of the most important ones, don't disrespect the King or the Royal family.

If you stick to these customs (there are more, so it's worth investing in a travel guide) then you can't go too wrong.

Now, we know that some people have had bad experiences in Thailand, however, there is a fantastic cultural and calming side to the place that sometimes gets over-shadowed by the sex and drug industries, please don't focus on just the seedy side of the country - we didn't, we had a wonderful time, and have booked to go back in February 2003.