The southbound train, Number 35, leaves Hualamphong Station in Bangkok at 14:45 and slowly trundles through the suburbs of Bangkok and across the Chao Praya River. From there it carries on through countryside interspersed with villages until Nakhon Pathom. A glance out of the window on the left at this town’s station will reveal the golden spire of the famous Phra Pathom Chedi.

After leaving Nakhon Pathom, the train goes south and usually reaches Hua Hin around dusk. The vista from the carriage window includes spectacular mountain peaks, coconut plantations, the sparkling waters of the Gulf of Thailand and prawn farms. Hua Hin Station is a heritage structure that has been beautifully preserved. After Hua Hin it is dark and time to head for the dining car where there is usually a good range of Thai specialities and Singha beer.

After dinner, the air-conditioned sleeping berths offer a good night’s sleep with clean sheets and the clackety-clack of the bogie wheels a soothing sound. The International Express arrives in Surat Thani late in the evening and Hat Yai around 07:30 the next morning. From the latter it is a short hop to the border at Padang Besar and the Thai and Malay immigration posts.

People continuing on to Malaysia reboard the train after clearing Malaysian immigration and customs, while those just renewing their visas wait for the northbound service to arrive at around 17:00. The Number 35 gets to Butterworth at 13:45. Single tickets from Bangkok to Butterworth are 1,120 Baht in the upper berth and 1,210 Baht in the lower. Advance tickets can be bought at any State Railway of Thailand booking office.

A much better option is to pay a little more and take one of the air-conditioned buses. These luxury coaches have less seats, only two on either side of the aisle, and a quality of service which can rival that of passenger aeroplanes. Larger visitors can take VIP buses which offer bigger seats and more legroom. On major routes such as Bangkok to Chiang Mai, the difference between these two classes is around 100 Baht.

All towns and cities in Thailand have their own bus terminals. The stations are often some way out of town, supposedly to keep traffic out of the centres, but ostensibly to keep taxi and song taew drivers in work. In Bangkok there are three stations: Ekamai serves eastern routes including Pattaya, the Southern Bus Terminal (Sai Tai in Thai) and Morchit, which is the boarding point for all destinations in the north and northeastern regions of Thailand.

Buying tickets at terminals in the smaller towns can sometimes be a problem, yet there is often somebody willing to practice their English and help. Long distance buses for journeys of eight hours or more are generally timed to depart early in the morning or in the evening, giving great arrival times. Buses for shorter trips run throughout the day, with frequencies depending on the popularity of the particular route.

Those requiring air-conditioning have to pay premiums of 40 per cent. Passengers taking the air-conditioned international express from Bangkok to Butterworth in Malaysia still only have to pay 1,210 Baht to get a sleeping berth for the almost 1,200km journey. Comfortable and clean bedding in the sleeping berths also allows visitors to arrive at their destinations feeling refreshed and also sated if they had breakfast on board.

As well as the Chiang Mai and Butterworth services, the State Railway of Thailand’s (SRT) also has express services to Nong Khai and Ubon Ratchathani in the eastern regions of the country, and local services to places such as Aranyaprathet and the River Kwai Bridge. SRT services are often delayed and are known by regular travellers as ‘slow but sure’ as they do eventually arrive at their destinations.

The bottom floor is the newest addition and is where the airport link arrives and departs. You can also find a few convenience stores, cafes and money exchange desks here. One floor up is where the airport bus departs and arrives. There is also a fantastic little food court which many foreigners do not know about. This is a great place to grab something to eat before a flight. The prices are much cheaper than the restaurants in the airport, and the food quality is actually very good. The kay yang is particularly delicious, evidenced by the long line of customers in front of tis counter each day! Just outside the food court you’ll find a variety of transport and tour providers including the service desk for the bus to Pattaya.

Keep heading up one floor and you’ll come across the arrivals floor. The tourist police also have an office on this floor at the meeting point of arrivals. The second floor is full of restaurants and facilities for travellers including money changing facilities,  restaurants and a news agency.

Finally, the top floor is the imposing departures hall which is full of life 24 hours a day. This airport really is huge! To orientate yourself, just check on the of the departures board which will tell you where your airline’s check-in counters are located. Immigration and security for passengers is located right behind the check-in counters, so it’s all pretty easy from there. Just remember, immigration lines at Suvarnabhumi can be long, and your gate may be quite a walk, so this is one airport to arrive early to make sure you’re on time.

There are two trains running on this line. The first is an express train service which runs non-stop between the airport and Makkasan Station. The second is a city line which makes a few stops between the airport and Phaya Thai station, where you can connect to the BTS line. This train significantly cuts down the travel time to and from the airport as well as the cost of both taxis and airport buses. The other benefit is that at Phaya Thai you can jump straight onto the BTS line which will take you out to Mo Chit, the location of the major bus terminal. You can also get to Hualumphong Train station for connections to various destinations throughout Thailand.

This new train line is certainly a welcome relief for travellers coming and going from Thailand, and is a great new addition to Bangkok’s public transport system.

Motorcycle taxis are usually available in most parts of Thailand, even in small towns. Look out for clusters of young men wearing orange jackets with numbers printed on the back in Thai. Remember to agree the price before you get on the back of the motorbike.

Meter taxis are usually only available in large cities such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya and Phuket. In the rest of the country many interesting alternatives are available.

Buses are available throughout Thailand. However, outside Bangkok the destinations are rarely printed in English and you cannot expect the conductor to speak English. The best way to make sure that you arrive at you destination is to ask someone (preferably at a travel agency or tourist café) to write the address in Thai and teach you how to pronounce it correctly. Also, most buses fill up quickly and are crammed to bursting point. In order to guarantee a seat, get on at a bus station.

Intercity Coaches are a fine, cheap way to travel around Thailand. The good road system means that they are quite comfortable and travel between most cities, large towns and tourist destinations. Much cheaper than the train (a journey of 220 kilometres costs around 90 Baht) as with local buses it is best to embark at the bus station to guarantee a seat.

Songthaew means ‘two rows’ in Thai, referring to the two rows of wooden benches that line the walls of these small, open-backed mini vans. Very common in small towns and villages, songthaews follow a designated route which is not always obvious. It is best to flag down the driver, state where you want to go and add the word ‘mai?’ to the end. Fares typically cost between 6 and 20 baht.

Saburus are a more modern and comfortable version of the songthaew, with padded seats. Expect to pay about double the price of a songthaew, although many people say the comfort is worth the extra few baht.

Known as Samlaews, these are the same as the bicycle rickshaw, which can be found all over India. Not exactly the fastest or most comfortable form of transport and only recommended for short journeys, although they can be a nice way to get to know a place or enjoy a romantic sunset ride.

Feelings have been very tense of late. That infamous laidback Thai attitude and smile has oft-threatened to erupt into that strange brand of bedlam that makes this country such a bemusing place to live. A lot of destruction did occur late week with fire engines and buildings torched in a mirror of Bangkok’s troubles further south.

Hopefully with the clearing out of Silom and the legion of buses winding their way back up to Isaan we can put these troubles to bed for a while at least. Of course, the red shirt leadership we have to stand trial for their part in the carnage, and quite rightly so. And it would be astonishing if this did not arouse yet more sporadic violence, with the dilemma of elections still not solved. But I hope we can just enjoy the relative calm for a while.

But what are the options for staying in Thailand long-term? One of the most popular solutions for people desiring the lifestyle of their dreams is to undertake a TEFL English teaching course at a reputable institution and helping local people master our mother tongue. Teaching English is a rewarding occupation which bestows a myriad of different skills upon participants. Teachers must learn to lecture, converse, listen and, most importantly of all, have a great deal of fun in their day.

Teachers who have taken a TEFL course are also on path to an actual career with many doors open to them. Taking a TEFL course in Thailand gives the freedom to teach and live here without any visa or work permit problems, and then travel and work elsewhere. After a few months working in Thailand, teachers with TEFL qualifications can gain employment in South Korea and Japan where wages are extremely competitive.

The northeastern Thai town of Udon Thani is the main transport hub for those wanting to get into Laos, and is a 12-hour coach from Chiang Mai or eight hours from Bangkok by bus or train. Alternatively there is an airport here with Nokair connections to many destinations including Pattaya.

Undon Thani is around 50km from the Thai border town of Nong Khai and taxis cost around 600 baht, so you may want to buddy up with some fellow passengers and share the cost. Alternatively mini-buses wait to collect you at the bus station and will carry you direct to Thai immigration for around 200 baht per person.

Once you’ve stamped out of Thailand (don’t forget your exit card folks!) you pay the 20 baht toll across the Friendship Bridge and cross over to the Laos side. There (if you are clever and arranged your visa beforehand) you get stamped straight in at the ‘arrivals’ window.

However, if you haven’t anything pre-organised you go to the ‘visa on arrival’ window on the left hand side and had over your passport, one photograph and your visa fee (35$US for most nationalities). You can pay 1,500 baht if that’s all you’ve got but obviously it is more economical to arrange dollars beforehand.

Once over the border minibuses wait and offer to take you to the Thai consulate (providing its still early enough – we got through at about 9.30am), wait for you to hand in your visa forms and then take you to the hotel of your choice. All this costs 150 baht but, in my experience, is well worth is for the saved headache and to be sure that you get your application in straight away.

The Thai consulate has lots of people hanging around outside trying to persuade you to let them fill out your form for you for a 40 baht fee. The form is in English, however, and so you’re better off heading straight in, collecting a ticket from the machine on the right hand side of the windows and doing it yourself.

There are pens and tables there plus little pots of glue for pasting your two passport-sized photographs to the form. Once you’ve handed in your completed paperwork (there is no fee until March , 2010, for tourist visas) then your driver will take you to your hotel.

We were in town last week which corresponded with the start of the 25^th Sea Games so the whole place was packed with Thai coach tours and there were few bargains to be found. Nevertheless, we managed to get a nice ‘VIP suit’ with TrueVisions cable TV, air conditioning, bathroom and minibar for 1,200 baht per night.

After that a pleasant evening was spent wandering the French colonial promenades and feasting on baguettes and apple croissants plus gallons of dark, delicious Beer Lao. The next afternoon our driver picked us up from the hotel for the reverse of the journey of the previous morning.

The embassy opens its doors at 1.15pm (already with a huge queue by then) but people moved fairly quickly through as various nationalities picked up their passports complete with double-entry tourist visas. I did enquire about the possibility of a triple-entry but my request was politely declined.

Then it was back across the border and to Udon Thani for the bus home. Generally Vientiane is a lovely, if sleepy, town well worth staying around for a couple of nights next time you need to nip over a border. The food was delicious and the booze certainly superior to Chang or Leo. And at the end of the day what more matters.

The temperature in the hilly climbs was considerably colder than I’ve been used to and made a refreshing change to the scorching heat of the northern capital. The first day was spent touring a medley of gorgeous pagodas which were set high on the side of rocky outcrops. The thin air made it particularly difficult to breath but thankfully there were Hyundi-produced escalators lifting visitors through the cloud to the various chedis at the top.

Then in the afternoon we finally set ourselves up in a quiet little campsite near a stream and two large waterfalls. Facilities were excellent, with clean Western toilets, tents and equipment available for hire, and even small basic bungalows for those who don’t fancy roughing it.

It wasn’t long before the music started and an eclectic mix of traditional Burmese songs, Beatles hits and modern classics filled the chilly night air. And enormous BBQ heaving with turmeric-marinaded squid, succulent chicken wings, pork ribs, fish and steak kept burning until late on. Everything was delicious including a bubbling caldron of steaming tom yam soup.

The next day brought Sangsom-inspired hangovers and a trip to Doi Inthanon Royal Project. This is one of many re-education schemes which aim to teach native hilltribe people new agricultural techniques. There was a massive variety of exotic fruit and veg as well as many species  of cacti and locally produced coffee which perked the party up no end.

After touring the various sections a sumptuous feast was served comprising of all organic produce grown at the park. There was steamed rainbow trout, deep-fried pork, crisp garden salads with mustard-rich mayonnaise, minced pork salad and – of course – lashings of tom yam soup.

After this a quick trip to the awe-inspiring Wachirathan Waterfall had us reaching for a mandatory snap and then back to town. Certainly Doi Inthanon is a great place to go, with fantastic cultural sites, superb great-value food and breathtaking scenery. But going there with a great group of friends certainly puts the icing on the cake.