In the early hours of the morning, as the train left Bangkok I glanced out of the window. There, against a lurid neon sky, was a strange billboard. All the other billboards were in the exquisitely curly but incomprehensible Thai script. This one was in English, and it said, “Be True To Yourself.” Simply that. No logo, sponsor, no sales pitch. This is an attitude that underlies the natural grace, the willingness to please, the honesty and courtesy of the culture and its people. Combine this with a warm ocean, tropical forests, great massages, delectable cuisine and low prices, and you can see why this is a popular travel destination.

The Tsunami 

For months Thailand was synonymous with a freakish natural disaster, as the ocean, with no apparent warning, quietly rose up and engulfed thousands of unsuspecting people. Like the malevolent manifestation of one of mankind’s deepest, darkest forebodings, the tsunami touched the primordial dread of our worst nightmares. It caused millions of dollars of damage and untold suffering. Yet Thailand has rapidly rebuilt its infrastructure, and now needs tourism more than ever to help it recover economically. It is the only country in the region that was never invaded, and this could help explain its warmth, stability and calm acceptance of all and sundry. The culture is pervasively good natured and tolerant. The basis of most dealings with local people, and that which makes it a pleasure to visit, is people’s honesty. Thai’s are born traders. This could be why the European powers never invaded the country. It was too valuable as a stable regional economy, with entrepreneurship in its genes. It has never been subjugated to a colonial power or ideology, and this is apparent throughout the country.

Dragons and princes, gnomes and elves, gingerbread houses and wicked witches...wandering through the villages of Alsace makes you feel as if you had stepped into the pages of one of your childhood fairytales. As you stroll along the wiggly, narrow cobbled lanes you would not be at all surprised to see a medieval prince galloping past in hot pursuit of a fiery dragon, his damsel trailing her jewelled golden tresses not far behind. Roman arches, Byzantine columns, Gothic spires, Rennaissance wells, Baroque troughs casually litter the squares. Wobbly-walled houses and inns teeter precariously overhead, their wrought-iron balconies festooned with flowers of glorious colour and fecundity. Yet do not be deceived by the precarious asymmetry of the buildings, for though they are made simply of wood, packed earth, twigs, stones, duck feathers, goat dung and any other sundry detritus that came to hand at the time, they are in exquisite condition after more than a thousand years.

Frames are made on the ground from sturdy timber, then pulled up with ropes for the walls to be made from a tightly packed earthen compound known as “Pisé de Terre.” They’ve withstood an execrable climate for centuries, though subjected to extreme weather conditions ranging from freezing, soggy, snowy winters to summers where hot winds funnel through the valleys, many afternoons enlivened by gale force winds and thunder storms. The thick walls provide welcome insulation from the often inhospitable climate. They keep houses cool in summer; in winter they are remarkably effective in retaining the heat generated by open fireplaces and ceramic charcoal burning furnaces that have also been in existence for hundreds of years.