You will no doubt have heard this said of Thailand and it is; by and large true, I say this with tongue in cheek because the Thais are a genuinely friendly people but you have to bear in mind their circumstances. Whilst they are a hard working race they get no help from their government. If they have not got, or cannot find work, then they do not eat. It follows therefore that if they get their hands on a foreign traveler with money they are gonna smile and make sure they do everything possible to keep them happy, while at the same time helping themselves to some of that money.

Most of my time is spent in northern Thailand, which is considered to be the cultural region. Should you be going to travel in Thailand please enjoy all it has to offer and believe me that is an awful amount but temper it with consideration for the local population. The King is the most respected individual in the kingdom and is loved by his subjects. Make derogatory remarks about any member of the royal family at your peril.

The second most important institution is the Monkhood of the Buddhist faith, 90%+ of the population follows Buddhism. Full of beautiful and ancient temples lavished with much adornment by the community it serves. There are more than 7000 Buddhist temples in Thailand. The wealth of the church in Thailand is probably greater than the monarchy. Every Thai individual will make "merit" by giving to the church at any opportunity. The theory being that they will get it back in the next world.

The Thais are devout Buddhists in the main with Muslims making up 10% of the population mainly in the Deep South and Christians and other religions making up the remainder. It must be born in mind that Thai style Buddhism is a mish mash of true Buddhism and paganism, which has filtered down from the days of the Lanna kingdom. Most Thais have their own spirit house in the garden for the spirits of the ancestors to reside in and offerings will be made to keep the spirits happy.

The temple is the hub of village and community life. Local government whilst centred in the Ampher House (town hall) gets its message across in the local temple. This is the same when election time comes around, it all centers on the temple.

Every family expects their sons to join the monkhood in their teens and consider it a great honour for the family. Great ceremony is placed on the son joining the church followed inevitably by a great party to which everyone is invited. The Thai way is to have a party for any reason however slight and I for one can see no problem with that.

Weddings are another great opportunity for a party. The day starts with members of the family going to the temple and collecting the community owned tables and chairs in their trucks and setting them up in the grounds of the brides family home. The previous evening the fatted pig would have been killed and cut into mouth sized portions and cooked in the largest Wok you have ever seen some five feet in diameter. It is monitored throughout the night to ensure it gets stirred occasionally, in between the rounds of rice whisky drinking.

The night before is rather like a disco with a group on stage and everybody dancing. The men dance together and not with the ladies. It is most disconcerting to have a Thai male come up to you and ask you to dance. I find it very difficult to say no without causing offence and so I end up dancing with them. They seem to be happy and the ladies accept it.

Ask anyone who has visited Thailand if they would return and I know they will say YES! emphatically!

I am a 63 yr old British ex-pat living in a small village in Northern Thailand, between Chiang Mai and Lampang.

My main interest is Thai life in all its forms but, because of where I live it will tend to be more of a rural nature rather than city life.

If you have any questions you wish to put to me I would be most happy to try to answer. If I don't know I will certainly know someone who will.

You can reach me at http://www.squidoo.com/Real-Thailand

Graham Dearing