Hi. Looks like I am going to Thailand for the 3rd year in a row (Feb/March)! I wanted to try South America this time but couldn't really convice my friend that there are other places too where you can have amazing food, great massages, meet and drink with friendly ladies, nightlife, fantastic hotel prices, and man the list goes on and on! (Apparently I didn't have a good convincing argument). So I'm going there again BUT I don't want to do the SAME SAME things again, it has to be DIFFERENT. I've been to Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Pattaya, and liked Koh Samui the best. I have 3 weeks and can do 1 week back in Samui again but I NEED YOUR HELP for the other 2 weeks. I'm coming from Canada and I'm thinking I can perhaps include 2 of the following:
Beijing or Shanghai (China), Tokyo (Japan), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Cambodia, or Laos, any other suggestions????
China seems interesting but cold at that time, they say japan is expensive, Cambodia/Laos seems risky if they don't have nightlife for singles. I'd like to take as much in as possible like adventure activities, shopping, sightseeing, and also relaxation!

I really really appreciate your feedback. Thanks a bunch.

luan prabang, laos is interesting and there are plenty of back packer types passing through....not wild nite life but some decent bars....cheap too for lower end hotels...

koh chang

pattaya

hua hin

skip kuala lumpur/china and japan...

It sounds like you'd prefer an urban area with lots of nightlife. What about Vietnam? You could spend a week in the Hanoi area and a week in the HCMC (Saigon) area.

Luang Prabang is lovely, but isn't a place with a lot of nightlife. Nor is Cambodia.

If you want to stick with Thailand, I'd also recommend Hua Hin. It's where the King lives most of the time so it's a bit more, er, refined than some Thai resorts, but still plenty to do: elephant safari, bars, restaurants and an excellent beach. Krabi is also pretty relaxed.

Further afield, KL is a fascinating city - a mixture of Oriental/Indian/Malaysian and old and new. Shopping is fab. Langkawi is very unspoilt and, because it's a tax-free island, very cheap. Malaysian cuisine - it's called 'nonya' - is interesting: oriental but with much more influence from the sub-continent. Malaysians themselves are very friendly and welcoming and probably less dedicated to money than the Thais.

e4e, why don't you take a look at Bali? It's a bit further afield but you can fly direct from Bangkok and once you arrive it has everything on your wishlist; "amazing [well, not as good as Thailand but good and cheap]food, great massages, meet and drink with friendly ladies, nightlife, fantastic hotel prices..."

" adventure activities, shopping, sightseeing, and also relaxation!"
Bali definitely offers all that!

If you focus on the Seminyak beach area you will find an abundance of shopping, sophisticated restaurants, clubs that stay lively all night and spas to revive you for the next. Also there are plenty of adventure activities like surfing, rafting, trekking, mountain climbing. Plus Bali has a fascinating and vibrant indigenous culture.