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The Best:
- Ko Lanta
- Grand Hyatt Erewan, BKK
- Sukhothai
- Gatorade at 7-11
- Thai Airways
- Luxurious movie theaters

The Worst:
- Sad, scruffy dogs

THAILAND

Western convenience and eastern hospitality. What could be better? Thailand is "Asia Lite." Not only are the people friendly and the sites spectacular, but the trains are clean and the service is good. If you've never been to Asia this is a good place to start; if you've been before you'll probably find yourself wanting to return again.

Dispatches

"Bangkok, USA": The dangerous allure of Starbucks after two months of weak green tea.
"The North": The ruins of Sukhothai and chef'ing it up in Chaing Mai.
"Leonardo DiGeoffrio":On The Beach at Ko Phi Phi.
"Yule Tide, Sand, and Surf": Christmas on Ko Lanta. Paradise found.

Photos
(To come)

Links

Tarntawan Place Hotel: A mid-priced ($40) hotel in Bangkok, near Patpong. A great place for those easing into (or out of!) the backpacker class of lodging. Friendly and quiet.

Grand Hyatt Erawan: When you want to splurge, stay here. Near the World Trade Center, with good access to cinemas and shopping, this place had impeccable service, a nice pool, and the best damn sheets I've ever slept between! We stayed here New Year's Eve, spending in one night about what we'd spent in the previous month.

Coral Beach Bungalows: Our island paradise on Ko Lanta. Rustic but restful. Great food and a friendly family host. Approximately 1/20 the price of the Erawan!

Chaing Mai Thai Cookery School: Great instructors, great food. Loads of fun even if you don't normally enjoy cooking.

Thai Airways: A nice airlines. You'll find yourself missing their flight attendant's polite, demure little bows the next time you are cattle-prodded onto an American-based carrier.

Bangkok Air: Another good airlines with lots of domestic flights.

Random Thoughts and Tips

If you can spare a few extra bucks, take advantage of the excellent domestic airlines. Thai Airways and Bangkok Air each have great service and nice planes, and offer relatively cheap routes between Bangkok, the Chaing Mai, Chaing Rai (onward to Laos), Suhkhothai, and the islands of the south.
Ko Phi Phi has gorgeous scenery, but the livable area is so small all the hotels and bungalow and restaurants and nightclubs are packed right on top of each other. It's great for a few days, but it's not the best place to relax.
We really enjoyed our cooking class in Chaing Mai, and the town itself is pleasant enough, but if your time is limited you might want to skip Chiang Mai entirely and visit smaller towns with a bit more character.
For getting around Bangkok, there's nothing faster than the Skytrain/monorail thingy, if it's on your route.
The $3 "Polo" shirts make great travel shirts. Mine survived another 6 months of traveling. You'll find sidewalk vendors selling them all over Bangkok.

Our Route