You are all wonderful and appreciate the various feedback presented here. And thank you Kathie for remembering my trip to Myranmar. I've been reading about the Mae Hong Son loop which sounds appealing. Now that I have my Myranmar trip figured out, onwards to Thailand! LOL!

Oh, heard about this Elephant Preserve that I'd like to share. The reviews have been pretty good, and website looks honest and fair.

http://www.pataraelephantfarm.com/index.php

I find CM devoid of character and far more touristy than bkk, based on its relative size..

CR itself is small, but the outlying areas are quite lovely and interesting...

I like khao lak for a beach area... 1 hour north of Phuket... Really nice beaches

But - artyguy - Patara uses hooks on the elephants. Visitors have noted fresh wounds on the elephants. Yes, it gets good reviews from visitors who are just wowed by seeing elephants, but it gets poor reviews by animal welfare groups.

artguy, Kathie is correct about Patara. We have stayed at the Elephant Nature Park, loved it, and no hooks.