[baronaaba]

PalinLovesBeam,
my friend, I feel you may be looking for the 'real' Thailand for a very long time, unless you enter the hearts and minds of the Thai people, because that is where the 'real' Thailand originates, exists and from whence it emanates.
You might just as well ask 'where is the 'real' world?'
Wherever you go you will find natural beauty and wonderous scenery, but it is the people that live in those places that make them welcoming or repulsive, thus it is that I find Thailand to be so wonderful.