Bangkok
Bangkok shows much more of the Thai culture than the tourist bubble of Phuket. This was not a surprise, which is why we included both destinations in order to have a blend of vacation and travel. Vacation is when you relax and get massages, and travel is when you learn about new cultures, food, and language. First a little orientation on Thailand. History: Thailand is the only SE Asian country not to have been colonized. That's pretty impressive. Did they manage it with a massive army? According to my new German boss who lived in Thailand for 10 years, Thai people are unsuspectingly sneaky. On the surface they are very kind and friendly and unthreatening, but he says they are very clever. This is demonstrated by how Thailand avoided being colonized. They played the colonial rivalries and tensions against each other, mostly the British, French, and Germans in such a way as to avoid being colonized. Pretty impressive. Politically, Thailand became a democracy in 1973 with br...