Page 168 - TICA Membership Directory 2016-2017

HELPFUL INFORMATION

Business Hours communities of Sikhs and Hindus live in the cities and
Government offices are generally open Monday to are heavily engaged in a wide variety of businesses.
Friday, between 8:30am and 4:30pm, with a lunch There is also a small Jewish community in Thailand,
break from noon to 1pm, except on public holidays. dating back to the 17th century.
Banking hours are generally 8:30am–3:30pm Monday Tipping
to Friday. Banks located in shopping centres are open It is not necessary to tip taxi drivers, but both Thais
daily with operating hours that coincide with the malls’. and visitors round off the fare upwards as a tip.
Clothing High-end restaurants often include a 10 percent
In Bangkok and other major tourist destinations, service charge in the bill, in which case a tip is not
travellers feel free to wear whatever pleases them, expected, though many people leave change or a small
and locals are accustomed to the presence of amount. For restaurants without a service charge, a
foreigners. For a temple or palace visit, however, wear 10 percent tip is sufficient. Tips are not expected at
tops with sleeves, pants, skirts or dresses that cover street stalls and in cheaper restaurants. Hotels have a
your knees, and closed shoes. These places also have service charge, but it is nice to tip the bellhops.
scarves and sarongs to put over your clothes. More Utilities
and more high-end restaurants and bars, especially Electricity in Thailand is 22 volts, 50 Hz. Electrical
those in hotels, have dress codes. It is advisable to sockets accept either flat-blade or round-pin plugs.
check with them before going. All hotels will provide a converter.

Government and Politics
Thailand is a constitutional monarchy with a
parliamentary form of government.
Health Regulations
No vaccinations are required for entering Thailand
unless you are coming from contaminated countries.
Health Advice
Thailand has modern hospitals with English-speaking
doctors in the main tourist areas. There are also
clinics that do hotel-calls in Bangkok. Pharmacies are
plentiful in bigger cities. Make sure your insurance is
valid in Thailand.

Internet
All hotels provide internet and broadband services,
Postal Service and you can easily find internet cafes in cities and
Thailand’s postal service is reliable and efficient. town centres. Thailand uses 4G technology for mobile
Local postal charges are very low and international Internet access.
changes inexpensive. Many hotels offer basic postal Language
services, and post offices can be found everywhere. A Thai is the official language, although English is widely
common service used is Express Mail Service (EMS), spoken in business and in tourist areas.
which is offered both domestically and internationally.
International couriers, including DHL, UPS, and Fedex, Time Zone
can also be found as standalone locations and in Thailand is seven hours ahead of Greenwich Mean
certain shopping centres. Time (GMT+7).
Religion Tourist Information Services
The majority of Thais are Buddhists of the Theravada Tourist information is available at the Tourism
sect. Muslims are the second largest religious group Authority of Thailand (TAT) head office in Bangkok,
at about 5 percent. The three southernmost provinces local offices in 22 major cities, the TAT information
of Thailand are the only Muslim-majority parts of counter at Suvarnabhumi Airport and at every airport
the country. Christians, mainly Catholics, represent where there is a TAT local office.
0.75 percent of the population. Small but influential Visit tourismthailand.org.
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MICE GUIDE TO THAILAND