![Maya Beach, featured in the famous novel and movie The Beach, is no paradise these days.](/web/20161115123638im_/http://www.traveller.com.au/content/dam/images/g/k/9/3/s/l/image.related.TravellerThumbnail.300x200.gk92qd.png/1444965234116.jpg)
Twenty things that will shock first-time visitors to Thailand
Thailand is well known as a tourist magnet, but some things will surprise you when you first visit.
Thailand is well known as a tourist magnet, but some things will surprise you when you first visit.
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The names may not ring a bell, but these islands have their own special attractions.
Anyone who cooks knows that even one ingredient, however small, can make or break a recipe.
Songkran is Thailand's biggest yearly festival, and the world's biggest water fight.
A solid four-star hotel with friendly, efficient service, aimed squarely at families.
Taste, texture and visual sensations at a fine diner.
Sometimes a hotel is still the best option.
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While mountains, rivers and lush green rice fields dominate the north, to its centre, Buddhist monks in saffron-coloured robes sashay through glittering temples barely visible atop misty mountains. In the south, hedonism rules. Sun-loving tourists flock to island beaches set among limestone mountains to party or purge. Dive into this intoxicating yet fun-loving country; the culinary king of Asia.