My husband and I have been to Thailand several times. We are now going to Australia and will be in Thailand for about 10 days in Feb.07.
Since we had been to all the touristy places in Thailand, what is there to do? We are Senior citizen and have limited income but love traveling and meet people. Any suggestions?

You can make merit by donating food and supplies to the monks in the early morning.

Walking around Lumphini Park from about 7:00 a.m. onward during the week is quite interesting.

In October we went to an art exhibit at the Queen's Gallery. Four floors of paintings by Thai artists, demonstating a variety of styles. It was a wonderful way to spend several hours.

I'm not sure what you mean by "all the touristy things." If you mean maybe the top ten places to see listed in the guidebooks, then there are many other things to do and see. I always love visiting wats that are "off the tourist track" which seems to mean all of them except the top few listed in guidebooks. On our last trip, we visited two wats in Bangkok where we made offerings and we saw no other westerners there. I also loved the Prasaart museum. I try to visit a couple such wats each trip. Most of Bangkok is basically "off the tourist track."

study the newist nancy chandler map very carefully and you will find many things and places to visit that are not the norm....just walking down some streets can be very interesting...on our recent trip we spent some time on soi 55 sukhumvit and there is a lot to do and see along that street...

cooking classes are another thing...

go to a less frequented place like koh chang for a couple of days...

Hi
the whole of Thailand is open to you!
Here are a few more suggestions:

Bangkok
- go for a bike ride. Check out ABC for fantastic bike rides into the green zone of Bangkok, south of the river. You'll see a completely different side of the city. If you want to take it easy, maybe you can arrange a private little tour.
http://www.realasia.net/BangkokBike.htm
- check out Khlong Toei market - it's a massive fruit/veg/wet/everything market: see the locals do their daily shop for cheap prices! (You can pass through the market if you do the bike tour).
- hang about in a student campus e.g. Chula or Srinakharinwirot - wander into their canteen and eat for very cheap!
- visit Koh Kred Pottery Village on the weekend. It is a bit touristy, but a calm nice place to wander around too - get a motorbike driver to whizz you around the island.
- goto a town like Korat: allegedly the second largest city in Thailand, but in reality a pretty small, sweet town. Phimai is an hour away. Or goto Phitsanalok. Hardly any other tourists and you get to see some local life.

i am told that ko kret is not really open at this time based on recent flooding

Good morning everyone: Thank you for all your help. I don't think that bike ride is for us since we are senior citizens and unable to do bike ride any more.
Nancy Chandler map? Where can I get it? Khlong toei market? Can one get there on the sky train?
Does anyone use Thai train? Is it clean? We fly everywhere and thought that might be fun to go to Chiengmai on a train.

You can get to Khlong toei market by underground, there's a station named after it. Or taxis should know where it is.

I think Koh Kred is open, but there is still some flooding around. Hopefully by February, it should be oK.

Where to start!
There are just so many places around the country that hardly ever or almost never see any tourists yet they are great places, plenbty of places with good scenery, nice towns to visit, but be sure that if you get off the tourist trail then don't expect the tourist trappings!
One good thing is that in main towns you can always find at least one good hotel as there is always somewhere that caters for the local travel market, Thai business people like anywhere need a good hotel to stay in, for examply the Sofitel in Khon Kaen is a superb hotel and an absolute bargain.

Trains are fine, if you go First Class you should be quite comfortable.

Tell us more about the sort of places you want to go to, how you want to spend your days, what you want to see and do.
Isan ( or Issan if you wish ) is very pleasant, there are places with temples and ruins scatttered accross the country.
A lovely part of coastline is south from Bangkok, served by rail line where you find farmlands and fruit plantataions, rivers, deserted beaches, national parks, what is good is that you can still be within a few hours drive of some top luxury resort like.
So if your question includes 'Can we get off the tourist trail but still sleep in comfort and a reasonable amount of style' then the answer is a clear 'YES'.
3 star hotels run average around the USD 35-45 range, but most of not all have suites, and some of these suites can be a real bargain.
I'll add more once the Christmas rush is over.

The Nancy Chandler map (there is one for Bangkok and one for Chiang Mai) is available at hotel newstands and bookstores all over Bangkok. It has lots of ideas!

You can buy Nancy Chandler map on line thru Amazon.com. It is very helpfull to have one ahead of being there as there is SOOOOO much information on it. Just going to the Malls like Paragon and walking around can shoot a 1/2 of a day. The Erawan Museum is a little out of town, and would require a taxi ride to get there, but once ther you could spend another 1/2 day. The entrance cost is150 bt, so the taxi would be your costliest thing. Carol always says to go to the Gold Star theathers to see a movie in lux. She esp. recomends the one at Siam center.

Just went on the train between Chaing Mai and Bangkok. (first class, we had our own compartment.) The train was dirty, and the bathrooms were especially dirty. They had an eastern and a western bathroom at the end of each car, not one in your compartment. But what bothered me the most, was the fumes from the engine. I couldn`t wait to get off and get a breath of fresh air! I don`t know if all the trains are the same (we did the overnight) but that was my experience. Also, we were warned not to drink the fruit juice they came around and offered, as it might not be safe. Maybe other people had better experiences?

Can I suggest a visit to either or both the puppet theatre in Suan Luam and the kohn performance at the Royal National Theatre ( both in Bangkok ). Tourists do go but most people will be Thai as they are both genuine examples of Thai culture.

There are lots of museums and theatres in BKK. We saw Siam Nirimit, a spectacular performance of Thailand's art and culture. There are 150 performers with over 500 costumes. Ratchada Grand Theatre on Ratchadapisek Road next to the cultural center. There is also the Chalermkrung Royal Theatre which has alot of Khon shows.

Have you visited Ayutthaya? If not,give it some thought. Certainly very different to Bangkok and just a couple of years ago, it was not very touristy. Just 90 minutes from Bangkok.

If you haven't been to Ayutthaya, it's a lovely day trip. Do take the boat back. It really isn't off the tourist track. When I first went to Thailand 20+ years ago we took the trip to Ayutthaya. You can arrange for this trip at any travel agent.

Thanks everyone for the wealth of information! This answer is for JamesA: My husband loves the "long tail boat"! He wants to see how it is made. Where can we go to see it? The seaside where there are very few "Farang" and the fruits and gardens sound wonderful. Where?
I am always very interested in the wealth of organic and hydroponic veggies in Thailand. I saw it at the upscale super market(Emporium), where can I see how they do it?
How and where can I learn how to make Sushi and Thai fresh summer rolls? I had been to the cooking school(curries, and others but I only want to do simple thing). Where are the temple where we could learn a few fact of Buddhism? My husband is interested in knowing more about that. He is very tired of materail world of christianity.
Thanks.

Hello JamesA: Where are you? Please read my request for help on finding places for the "long tail boat buider" in my last post. Does anyone has any information?