Bangkok to the beach: Thailand guide

One flight and there we are, in busy-city Bangkok or island Phuket - and from there, the spicy world of Thailand is our oyster. From Bangkok's gold-lipped temples, bars and barges and brightly lit night markets, to super-laid-back luxury island retreats where time seems to slow.

MORE FROM OUR THAILAND GUIDE
Relax on languid shores
In the market for deals

Slice of heaven for body and soul

There are 15 direct flights a week between Perth and Thailand with Thai Airways and Virgin Australia.

Thai has daily flights between Perth and Bangkok on an Airbus A330-300, taking just under seven hours.

Until March 29, the Tuesday and Wednesday flights leave Perth at 6.50pm and arrive at 10.45pm - flights on every other day of the week leave Perth at 9.10am and arrive at 3.05pm.

Prices? From about $650 return, economy class. And then there's the option of flying on to other parts of Thailand. Perhaps Bangkok and Koh Samui from $1049 return, flying Thai.

Virgin Australia flies regularly between Perth to Phuket in 6 1/2 hours.

Packages in Phuket? Anything from eight nights with return airfare and breakfast in four-star accommodation from $899.

I have confidence in Thailand. It offers quality tourism.

Others agree. From January to September, tourist arrivals increased by 23 per cent - the world's best performer.

Permanent Secretary for Tourism and Sports Suwat Sidthilaw says that 19.67 million international tourists visited Thailand during that nine-month period. They brought $29 million (863 million baht) in tourism income.

And a new study released at the Global Wellness Tourism Congress has revealed that one in seven of those dollars comes from "wellness tourism".

"For decades, the very concept of a holiday has been associated with excess: too much eating, drinking and too little sleep, leaving too many travellers less healthy when they check out than when they checked in," says Ophelia Yeung, lead author of The Global Wellness Tourism Economy study and co-director of the Centre for Science, Technology and Economic Development for researchers SRI International.

"This new research clearly reveals that more people are now choosing destinations that help them keep or get healthy while travelling, while a smaller (and also growing) segment is also now taking trips with the specific, sole purpose of improving personal wellbeing."

SRI defines "wellness tourism" as all travel associated with the pursuit of maintaining or enhancing one's personal wellbeing. The wellness tourism economy includes all expenditures made by tourists on these types of leisure and business trips, including lodging, food and beverage, activities/ excursions, shopping and transport.

Thailand's Ministry of Tourism and Sports expects to welcome 26 million international visitors this year. Thailand knows about tourism, and it knows how to look after visitors. Most of them head to Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Ayutthaya, Bangkok, Samut Prakan, Chon Buri, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Surat Thani, Phang Nga, Phuket, Krabi, and Songkhla.

And in this Thailand Guide, we give you a "sampler" - quite specific stories that also serve to show the mood and experiences of Thailand.

For a city experience, we visit the markets of Bangkok.

For beach, relaxation and resorts, we visit Khao Lak.

For luxury, we visit Kamalaya on Koh Samui

And while they are specific, they are also emblematic of the treat that is Thailand. Each has a flavour - and the flavours of Thailand are distinctive.

And there, of course, we come to Thai food. How could I not write about Thai food? The country's cuisine is, after all, one of its top attractions. Local agriculture, fresh ingredients, traditional flavours, local cooking. This culinary experience can please the most discerning tastebuds.

Herbs and spices are essential to Thai cooking and they are used to achieve that essential Thai four-taste balance . . . sweet, sour, salty and spicy. There is a focus on texture, too, and dishes so often combine soft and crunchy, dry and moist, calm and hot.

And so we sit back, and let the palm trees sway, and enjoy the sunset.

Thailand's name in the Thai language is Prathet Thai - "Land of the Free".

And here, in the only country in South-East Asia that was never colonised by a European nation, we enjoy those distinctive flavours.