Packaged tours have their place, but I prefer the adventure of finding my own way around. I typically spend up to a year studying about a country before going. I like the sense of adventure and challenge that comes from finding my way around a strange, exotic place. I always embark on a trip with a bit of a fantasy of being like James Bond starting a mission. One main point of Thai culture is the idea of status.
Thai society is extremely status-conscious.
Another dominant point of Thai culture is what we might call a strong element of superstition. For millennia the Thai people believed that innumerable spirits populated the land. With this in mind, it becomes important to appease these spirits and avoid offending them. At least in some measure, you still find this kind of belief in Thai culture. And if this belief is not exactly literal, it is at least figurative or latent in that Thai culture is extremely conscious of fate and luck.