Your first trip to rural areas of Thailand can prove to be a whole new cultural experience. There are various customs you’ll be expected to conform to and a list of do’s and don’ts and one of them involves their eating customs.

Although you’ll undoubtedly have your own habits when it comes to eating, if you’re visiting parts of rural Thailand in particular, it’s appreciated if you can adapt to their style of eating. Thai’s only eat with the right hand, so if you’re used to using your left, you may need to sit on your left hand for a while, whilst you get used to it! What’s more, although forks are often found on the table with your meal, they’re not used for eating – only for putting food on the spoon. Instead, you’re expected to eat with the spoon in your right hand.

However, when you’re eating sticky rice, the spoon rule doesn’t, as it’s regarded as being a food that you eat by hand. To make things easier, squish the rice up into a ball and eat like that. You can also use the rice as a form of spoon, and eat other items of food from it.

Everyone shares the same serving plate and you’re expected to use your own spoon to dish food from it onto your plate. But be careful – if you’re going for seconds it’s deemed impolite if you still have remains of food on your spoon, and especially if any of it accidentally drops onto the serving plate!

A trip to Thailand isn’t complete with a visit or two to a Buddhist Temple, or Wat. But it’s important to bear in mind that there are various customs involved and a list of things you should and shouldn’t do, as they are sacred religious places. So, before you visit, take note of these points.

Dress code: Wearing the appropriate clothes is really important. It’s considered impolite to wear shorts, mini skirts or any other clothing that exposes too much flesh on the arms or legs. It’s also not recommended that women wear jeans or trousers. Instead, women should wear a long skirt or trousers with a top that covers their arms. Men should wear trousers and also a long sleeved top.

Footwear: Footwear is important, too. If you’re going inside a temple, then you’ll have to take your shoes off. Outside the temple, it’s best if both men and women wear closed foot shoes, rather than open-toed sandals.

Viewing the Buddha images: Buddha images are regarded as being sacred and whilst you’re looking at them, make sure you never touch a statue or image. Likewise, you should aim to avoid turning your back on an image of the Buddha or pointing your feet at it (or, for that matter, anyone, as it’s deemed rude).

Buddhist monks: Monks aren’t allowed to touch or be touched by women, or accept anything a woman tries to give them, so avoid doing any of these things.

Visiting times: Find out the recommended visiting times and don’t go during a religious gathering or ceremony.

One of the most evident things you will notice on any trip to Thailand is exactly how different their customs are to our own. The Thai way of life is very much based on the Buddhist religion and this is blatantly evident almost as soon as you arrive.

While Thais have mostly come to expect foreigners to turn up wearing shorts and short tops, you will gain much more respect from the locals if you dress modestly. This is especially true for the women who should also remember never to touch monks. Temples are one place where you must dress appropriately and be respectful. You are free, indeed encouraged to look around the temples, but you should be quiet and dressed.

Respect for the king is also something that is looked on as being very important. Twice a day, the national anthem is played in public places and you must be stood when this is playing. You can, and probably will, be arrested if you do not stand. This respect has been earned because the current King is one who has done a lot for the Thai people.

I’ve always loved Thai food and whenever I go to a restaurant I tend to order some of the hotter Thai dishes available. So when on our recent visit to Thailand it was inevitable that the cuisine was going to be one of the highlights for me and while I knew some Thai food can be very, very hot I also knew that this wasn’t the case with all of their dishes and I also believed I would be able to handle it well enough.

The first thing that struck me when we tried the local cuisine for the first time was the friendliness that went hand in hand with the service. The Thai people are genuinely very friendly and we were made to feel welcome wherever we went. The waiters were more than happy to explain the dishes and warn us if they thought we were biting off more than we could chew.

The food was everything I had dreamt it would be and more. The smell alone when you walk past some of the restaurants and bars was enough to entice you in but these fantastic aromas weren’t just emitted from the eateries but also the homes. My wife joked that if she hadn’t have been there I would have been knocking on doors asking to try some of the food. She was right.

There is a tradition in Thailand that entails building a small “spirit house” whenever a new home, business, or hotel is built. The spirit house is constructed to give the spirits (or ghosts) who once inhabited the land being built upon a place to reside, rather than having them move into the new residence. Some spirit houses are built on the sides of roads, to give those who might have died there a peaceful place to live.

The spirit houses themselves resemble small houses, almost like elaborate bird houses, set atop poles or wooden posts. Their placement must be carefully planned, as they may not be hidden by the main house, nor placed where the main building will provide too much shade.

In order to entice the spirits to occupy the spirit house rather than the main residence, daily offerings of food, flowers, incense and candles are brought to the tiny house by the home or business owner. It is said that offerings of money in the form of bags of coins will bring wealth to the residents as well. Tiny statues of men and women serve as slaves for the spirits, and models of horses or elephants provide for their transportation.

In the city of Bangkok, there is a large spirit house at the site of the Grand Palace. Every day, Thailand natives and tourists alike flock to make offerings and beg favors from the spirit of Chao Phor Lak Muang, the guardian spirit of Bangkok, who is said to reside there.

Having spent several days in the glorious region Hua Hin, I am more than happy to bestow it’s multiple delights on anyone wanting a varied holiday. Actually, that could be difficult for me because to be perfectly honest we spent most of our days on the beaches and nights in the bars, but there is a hell of a selection of both.

Of the 5 beaches we spent most of our time on the Hua Hin beach. It’s an impressive 7 kilometers in length and is still relatively undeveloped so you will get some peace from the milling crowds. We did make the short journey of about 20 km to get to Khao Tao beach. This is a wonderfully secluded cove and if it’s privacy you want while you’re sunbathing the trip is more than worth it.

The bars are truly something else and I have to admit that we didn’t make it far past the Celtic Bar. Some of the appeal was that it was quiet and this was in small part due to the bar girls being a little less aggressive in their sales pitch than in other bars. The beer was good and the pool table was available most nights so it was worth the visit without a doubt.

Thailand is a beautiful place to visit. The beaches and the temples alone are enough temptation to make one want to go there. Thailand was once known as Siam but in 1939 after developing a democratic government, the name was changed to Thailand, meaning land of the free. Thailand is the only country in southeast Asia to never have been colonized.

One of Thailand’s most popular sights to visit is Ayutthaya, the Thai Capital for 417 years. At one time this ancient city was quite prosperous. Ayutthaya is near Bangkok, which is the Capital now, and has many ruins and art works to take in.

It is no wonder that a country with such beautiful architecture, natural beauty and balmy weather would have over sixty-five million people in residence. Millions more vacation there every year, enjoying the sunshine on the beaches, the breath-taking views from the mountains or rafting down the fast rivers. Thailand offers a great number of vacation opportunities.

One can enjoy the deep, rich history of Thailand while experiencing modern amenities in the comfort of one of the many extraordinary hotels available. One can take a train, air-conditioned bus, tuk-tuk, taxi or perhaps the new sky train system and explore one of the most beautiful countries in the world.

I have to admit to feeling a little sceptical about taking the family to Thailand, after all most of the stories you hear involve sex and drugs but once we arrived I knew it wasn’t a mistake. The first thing that strikes you is how beautiful the country is, something that is not publicized often enough in my opinion.

Perhaps it’s a bit of a cliché but we planned our trip to stay in Bangkok because that was the one place above all others that had plenty of information and some excellent reviews. When we first arrived we were all lost for words. Sights like the floating market are even more spectacular in the flesh than they are in any martial arts film. While it is obviously geared towards tourists, it manages to retain an incredible amount of dignity even while packed with Western tourists. If you’re looking for a proper market then Pratunam is the place to go. Above all else, the smells are something that will stay with me forever. In fact, my entire stay in the beautiful city of Bangkok will remain a memory etched into my brain.