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THAILAND
Despite massive development in mainstream tourism, there are still plenty of places in Thailand that offer first-rate adventure travel activities in magnificent natural areas
Thailand is one of the most famous mass-market travel destinations in the world. But what most tourists see during a typical visit only scrapes the surface of what the country has to offer. Venture beyond the beach resorts and the busy tourist hubs of Phuket and Pattaya and there are dazzling reefs, deep jungles and awesome limestone pinnacles. And in the cool mountain region in the north there are immense underground cave systems, wild mountainbiking and trekking traits, and exotic cultures. Ironically, despite Thailand’s reputation as “overdeveloped”, there are now more adventure travel options and environmentally aware operators than ever before. If you know where to look and what to ask for, this country is without question one of the best all-round adventure travel destinations in the region.
Once upon a time, and not so long ago, Thailand was the runaway success story of the Asian tourism industry. Through the 1970s and 1980s, powerful marketing campaigns brought millions of visitors from around the world flocking to its brilliant white-sand beaches, cool mountain retreats and superb resorts. The national tourism organizations of other Asian nations looked on with envy.
Then things started to go wrong. In the major tourism areas — which had some of the most beautiful natural environments in the country —runaway development ravaged the landscape and did horrendous damage. Culturally-aware travellers were replaced by hordes of mass-market tourists, and crass commercialism began to dominate the industry. Soon places like Pattaya and Phuket were being held up as examples of how NOT to develop a national tourism industry; and representatives from other Asian countries, who once looked at Thailand as a role model, now regarded its development path as something to be avoided.
Fortunately, the Thai tourism industry leaders have taken the matter very seriously in hand, and are rapidly introducing measures to curb the worst abuses, and create sustainable growth with minimal environmental impact. In addition to that, many enterprising and environmentally aware operators are offering new services and tours that take you — carefully — into magnificent areas of the country that still retain all their natural beauty. Ironically, despite all the publicized problems, there is no undoubtedly more on offer for the adventure traveller than ever before, and the quality of the experiences has never been higher. Thailand is still without question one of the best all-round adventure travel destinations in the region.
When considered as a whole, Thailand has a vast range of activities to offer adventure travellers, and many of them — such as the diving off the islands of Phuket, rock climbing in Krabi, mountainbiking in the northern mountain provinces and jungle trekking in the national parks — rate as some of the best of their kind in the world. If you’re planning a trip to Thailand, you’ll quickly find there’s much that’s tempting — but usually you have so little time .. .
If limited time is a major factor, there are two ways of deciding where best to go. Either choose one specific activity, focus in on the various areas of the country where you can pursue that activity, and finally select the place that appeals to you most; or, alternately, go for an all-round holiday in which you try a number of activities. In the latter case, it’s best to select an area which has a broad range of activities on offer, base yourself at some suitably convenient spot in the middle of that area, and then line up your own action-packed agenda. We suggest this latter approach, and as a result, this article reviews the country on a region by region basis rather than by activity.
When you’re choosing an area — or a menu of adventure activities — the first basic choice is: north or south. The north of Thailand is essentially a mountain and jungle experience, a journey into cool highlands where you’ll find dense forests, challenging trails, roaring rivers and exotic tribespeople. A trip to the south is usually very beach and sunshine oriented, with diving, boardsailing and sea canoeing high on the list of favoured activities — though rock climbing and jungle trekking in the superb national parks are also becoming very popular. Based on the way you’re likely to locate your-self and the constraints of travelling time, we’ve further subdivided these two basic areas. We’ve also added in a review of the activities you can try within a reasonable distance of the city where you’re most likely to start your visit to Thailand: Bangkok.
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