Thailand forum

I can't speak to the meditation thing, although I would imagine that if it's in English, it's obviously going to be geared for tourists. Stands to reason.

As for Thailand being "touristy", that depends on where you go. If you go to places with wonderful beaches, famous sites... then yes, of course, it's going to have a lot of tourist. They are going to go to those places for the reasons you would. If you want to experience Thailand without tourists, then you go to places that are not interesting for tourists - basically provincial Thailand. Of course, they're not interesting for a reason; People don't speak English, there isn't a lot of great sites to see, the food can sometimes be a problem... That's not to say it's not interesting. I live in provincial Thailand and I like it. But most people go on vacation to enjoy themselves and this usually means creature comforts. If you want to avoid the tourist scene that is really easy. Go to Isaan - we don't get hardly any tourists out here. Places like Amnat Charoen, Yasothon, Roi Et... these places see hardly any tourists.