What comes as a complete surprise to the skeptics is that Southeast Asia with Thailand as the hub does have an intriguing and alluring outdoors. Often we have fixed images of this part of the world that are hard to overcome. The very mention of Thailand, for example, and our minds conjure up all kinds of preconceived ideas - - golden temples, good shopping, a vibrant nightlife, beach resorts and fun in the sun.

But Thailand is more than golden temples and smiling faces. Thailand has adventure lurking in its midst, at every turn. Its mountains are a challenge for both rock climbers and mountaineers; its wild rivers churn with white water for daring rafting and kayaking; it has trails to hike or cycle through majestic hill - tribe villages and lovely tropical forests where wild elephants and tigers drink at rivers side by side; it has ocean floors littered with wrecks to investigate; it has ancient ruins and archaeological sites still to be uncovered; and for the spelunker, amateur or professional, it has caves to explore.

Our tasted in travel do change. Today travelers want something different - - adventure. For years, it seems, even the spirit of adventure was dead. It wasn't so long ago that whenever I talked about going off to explore the jungle of Southern Thailand or about sailing aboard a Thai fishing boat to some of the remote islands, people would scoff. "You can't do that anymore," they said. "Those days are gone."

Today it's quite different. People are interested in adventure, provided it's safe. Adventure, provided it's safe. Adventure is the theme. Newspapers carry tales of adventure; social clubs invite lecturers to give talks on travel and exploration; adventure clubs have become popular; and there are 'adventure tours' that promise to take you to faraway and often hard-to-get-to places, usually for handsome fees. Whatever the motive or reason, the reawakening of adventure is very encouraging. We all share this earth together, and it can be a very exciting place if we let it be. Adventure, of call it discovery if you wish, adds a new dimension to our lives. It gives us a purpose.

For some adventure might be climbing Thailand's mountains or rafting her wild rivers; to others it might be delving into her past. Written history began when the first Europeans arrived. But the Chinese and Indians had been trading by land and by sea with Thailand, or Siam as it was then called, for as many as 5,000 years. They had well-established trade routes, trading posts and even cities, centuries old and long forgotten by the time the Portuguese arrived. Early Chinese chronicles from the seventh century AD make mention of such cities, or trading posts, and of trading routes across the Krai Peninsula in southern Thailand. Yet no one has uncovered these sites or searched out these routes. It seems that modern man is more interested in finding oil than in discovering another Angkor Wat.

Thai fishermen sparked off the spirit of adventure a few years ago when they located a wrecked Chinese junk in Sattahip Bay in Thailand. It was a sensational discovery. Its cargo contained priceless Sawankaloke pottery. How many hundreds- -perhaps thousands- -of other such vessels were lost through thousands of years of trade? In the relatively short span of 500 years, England claims to have had 220,000 wrecks along her shores. Think what the waters around Thailand might have to offer.

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