Thailand has a rich, textured and colorful culture. Many exotic and exciting monuments testify to this. In recent decades, Thailand has rightfully transformed itself from primarily a beach, Wat and backpacker stopover, into one of the world’s great tourist destinations, with a plethora of cultural options. There is certainly no shortage of activities for the golfing visitor (and family) to enjoy.

It’s a remarkable vacationing value.

Where else but in Thailand can you cruise on a converted rice barge, roar upriver in a long-tail boat and take a white-knuckle ride on a bamboo raft, then stay in jungle tree houses as guests in the homes of hill tribe villagers—or in raft houses floating on a river? Equally memorable are the trails leading deep into the rainforest past cooling waterfalls, and the simple beauty of the translucent sea lapping onto endless white, soft sand.

A holiday in Thailand can combine the kinetic frenzy of Bangkok, with its futuristic high-rise buildings juxtaposed against the exquisite beauty of the gleaming Grand Palace, and the vernal beauty of the Golden Triangle’s temples and remote hill tribes north in Chiang Rai. Or the beaches of Pattaya and Hua Hin on opposite sides of the Gulf of Siam and, further south, Phuket and pristine Krabi—and the island of Samui.

In every town and city, bargain-hunters thrive in the street markets crammed with all manner of goods, where good-natured bartering is the norm.

Buddhism is a way of life here and with the reverence the people have for the Monarchy—a dynasty that has maintained the independence of the country for centuries; the result for the Thais is a blend of tradition with contemporary living.