Report of the trip in Thailand

History:
The outstanding facts are presented by great periods while overlooking some historical events. The matter is not to make a guidebook but a synthesis.

I Origins:
-- By 10.000 BC the plateau of Korat and the valley of Mekong River were already inhabited,-- By 4.200 BC the civilization of Ban Chiang and Ban Prasat in the North-East of Thailand was the oldest to cultivate rice, well before the Chinese, and to produce bronze, of better quality that Mesopotamia, thanks to the presence of tin,The Thais belong to the ethnic group of the Austro Thai which were nomadic from south of China, Guangxi and Yunnan, to Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam.
--From 3rd to 2nd century BC at the time of Asoka the area accepted missionaries coming from India accompanying by the merchants who diffused Buddhism of the school of Theravada – Hinayana, lower vehicle It was the beginning of the indianisation of the South-East Asia along the coasts towards China in the south. This acculturation is attested by Buddhist sculptures of Gupta influence.
The towns of Suphanburi and U-Thong were hearths of diffusion of Theravada Buddhism,
--As of 8th century AD, significant groups of Kadai Thais migrated from the south of China and Vietnam towards the valley of Mekong River and Chao Phraya River.
--From 6th to the 10th century, the town of Nakhon Pathom was the centre of the Kingdom of Dvarati whose principal ethnos group was “Mon”.
--From 9th to the 11th century central Thailand was managed by the Khmer kingdom of Angkor. The towns of Lopburi, Sukhothai and Pimai were connected by roads to Angkor.
Thailand of the south and the north of the Malayan peninsula were under control of the Srivijaya Empire whose capital was Palembang, Sumatra.
--From 13th tot the 14th century the Kingdom of Sukhothai was creates in 1238 with the favour of the decline of the Khmer kingdom of Angkor and with the weakness of the empire of Srivijaya. The Thai historians regard Sukhothai as the first Thai Kingdom of the History.
--From 14th to the 18th century emergence of the Kingdom of Ayuthaya annexing Khmer Sukhothai and the territories. 400 years of being able and 34 kings followed one another until 1767 not without some competitions with the powerful kingdom of Burma which ransacked somen cities.
--In 1782 General Chao Phraya Chakri seized the power; it was the first king of the Chraki dynasty which always reigns in Thailand.
Chakri followed a policy of independence with respect to the colonial powers of Europe by conceding territories with English, north of the Malayan peninsula, and with French in the east of Mekong River for Laos and the return of Angkor and Battambang to Cambodia. Thailand was never colonized. The same policy of concession made it possible to avoid the Japanese carnage from 1941 to 1945.
Since 1932 Thailand was the theatre of 18 military coups d'etat without bloodshed passing from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy as in the United Kingdom. For a Westerner the internal policy is not very readable. A recent coup d'etat took place in September 2008.

II Facts:
I already mentioned that the shape of Thailand resembles a head of elephant whose surface is slightly lower than that of France for an equivalent population.
The population is composed:
-- Thai 75% of which 95% are Buddhist Theravada school
-- 11% of Chinese coming from Hainan and Canton practicing the Chinese trilogy, Buddhism and Confucianism, Taoism,
-- 3,5% the Malayan one in the south at the border of Malaysia are Moslem,
-- 10,5% come from Vietnam, of Kampuchea, of Laos as well as mountain tribes and finally some Europeans whose majority have more than fifty years and a banking account required by Thai Immigration.

GPS tracklog of the trip in Thailand

I Team:
No change, MAN truck and its Guy driver.
II Journey:
Thailand was visited on five journeys of which two were required by an outward journey and return in Europe to make the cell of my truck repaired.
2.1 the trip:
The first was a grand trip of Thailand from the border of Malaysia to the border of Cambodia.
The second and the third consisted in heading back to Cambodia.
The fourth visited the North-East starting from South Laos towards North Laos.
Finally the fifth and last journey proceeded in extreme north starting from Laos then to head to Malaysia.
2.2 The road network:
The road network is of good quality. However main roads used by trucks have the left lane of very embossed. Sign posted are readable; it is generally subtitled in English. Roads with one and two numeric digits are Primary Highway, with three digits Secondary Highway and with four digits Provincial Highway.
2.3 Thai drivers:
As in Malaysia Thai driver respects the highway code. Although they drive at a high speed trucks and coaches are free from criticisms. Two negative remarks relate to pollution, on the one hand exhaust fumes of trucks and buses and on the other hand sound as well of cars as of motorcycles. As in Malaysia vehicles are modified with the installation of noisy exhaust; for young people it is a game, vroum, vroum.
Road controls are frequent for local people.
2.4 The insurance of the vehicle:
The insurance is compulsory, it is requested from crossing of the border. But on the way I was never controlled.
The Carnet de Passage en Douane -CPD- is not recognized; the customs write “Simplified Customs Declaration Forms” with the CPD! and according to the checkpoint two additional documents.
2.5 Various facts:
On more than 13,000 kilometres I attended no road accident.
III bivouacs:
As everywhere else bivouacs were easy to find in open country or on seashore. But downtown it was often a stroke of luck, to see Bangkok and Chang Rai. I did not encounter any problem of safety; during the night I slept with open windows and door to ventilate the cell. The temperature seldom went down in lower part from 27°C.
The table of the Campsite-position gives waypoints of all my bivouacs as well as mileage between each stage.
IV Supplies of food:
I point out that I did not cook. Midday I lunched on the way at “local Truck drivers” or in cities in “Food Stalls”. “Day-markets” and  “Night-markets” offer all essential foodstuffs; fruits are abundant.
There are in Thailand nearly 5000 “7/Eleven” and often in the service stations on main highways. They are well supplied out of sliced bread for toasts. Moreover great cities have outside the hypermarkets “Tesco Lotus” where milk UHT is found, Corn Flakes, meat, pork-butchery and cheeses etc
V Fluids:
Diesel is present in all the service stations; of course the price moved with ups & downs of the barrel. Water is normally available in the service stations. Only Adaman Coast caused me some trouble because water came from a tank!
VI Money:
All banks have ATM's accepting Visa card, very often Master Card but seldom AMEX. HSBC bank was present only in Bangkok.
VII Guides:
I never took of guide to visit sites. I had Lonely Planet guide book, Lp.
VIII Passport, visa, border crossing:
One of the characteristics of the countries in the South-East Asia, except Vietnam, is obtaining a VOA, 30 day visa on arrival. Alas reduced to 15 days since the last military putsch.In Thailand the VOA can be extended for a maximum 10 day duration reduced to 7 days. Alas with a vehicle and “Simplified Customs Declaration Form” – SCDF- it is impossible. Another possibility is to leave Thailand and to return with a new VOA and a new SCDF; but up to 90 days maximum then there are necessary to remain 90 days out of Thailand. It is also possible to have an annual visa if it one proves that one has financial resources, but never with a vehicle.
Crossing of borders is reported by the Information page.
IX My appreciation:
9.1 I liked:
-- Welcoming of the population, its courtesy, its discretion, not of invasion as in India,
-- I with pleasure revisited Thai temples whose architecture is a heritage of the Buddhist art adapted to the resplendent tropical climate of colours under the sun,
-- Landscapes in North and many parks.
9.2 I hated:
-- In the south loudspeakers of mosques and detonators during Ramadan – September 2008,
-- Pollution in any kind in Bangkok and the massacre of the city by express ways,
-- Electric wire of which the height is indicated in the cities -from 4,5 m to 6,0 m-, alas in countryside they hang sometimes prohibiting the access to a campsite,
-- I often fled the music thundering with the low ones from vehicles on the beaches or campsites,
-- Mature westerners come to have an old age stick. I did not head to Pattaya high place of the prostitution heritage of the American army during the Second Indochina War.
X Relevance of this trip by camper:
As I mentioned above the road network is in general of good quality except some roads in the north of the country. The classical motor homes can travel everywhere in so far as the overhang, angle of escape, is not excessive and that the load index of the tyres matches at least to the weight of the vehicle.