I have two options that I am considering for our two week trip:
1. When arriving in Bkk, fly directly to Phuket and spend jet lag recovery days there, then to Chaing Mai and end in Bkk.
or
2. When arriving in Bkk stay there and recover at the Mariott, then to chiang Mai, and finish in Phuket.

Any thoughts of which you would chose?

We plan on snorkeling and kayaking in Phuket, so I don't know if that would affect anyone's choices.
FYI we aren't able to go any sooner than the end of April, I know the rain will start coming down, so if you think we will be absolutely miserable doing anything in the rain let us know.

Here was my origional plan:
1 Late night flight to Bancock
2 flying (confused about date/time chg)
3 Noon-arriving -rest day at mariott
4- Grand Palace- river market
5- Bancock sights
6- Fly to Chang Mai- Night market
7- ? trek/tour - northwest thailand
8- trek/day tour-
9- trek/tour
10- trek/tour
11- Chang Mai or Puhket?
12- fly to puhketi or Krabi or Samoui
13- Kayaking
14- Snorkeling
15- fly to Bancock- shopping and other sights
16- Fly Home

So has anyone ever gone through Track of the tiger/ Maekok River Village Resort? Prices for their tours seem to be just a bit higher, but I wondered if it would be worth it for a good overall experience. Any other mountain resort sugestions that are less that 3000 baht a night? Would appreciate a comfortable place since we may come home soaking wet. Any other tour guide recommendations for that area? We want to do a litte hiking, a river raft, elephant ride, see any beautiful sights and maybe tribal people (in an unintrusive way only so we may scratch this as I think it may promote some voyeristic exploitation). We are also wondering if it would be just as well to stay in Chiang Mai and do day trips.

My husband also wants to take a half day cooking class, any sugestions where? They did offer one at Maekok Village resort, but I wondered if there would be just as good of ones for less elsewhere.

Best place for good kayaking and snorkeling in the south? Where we stay doesn't really matter that much here, won't really just lie around on the beach at a resort, we'd be out doing something.

Thanks again for the advice.

The usual triangle is BKK (3-4 days, CM (3-4 days), Phuket (3-4 days), BKK 1-2 days). We've done this two of the times we've been to Thailand and it worked well. I advised that on your first day in Thailand, you get up and out early no matter how fatigued from jet lag. This has shortened the transition for us. Others (RhkKmk, for instance) recommend sloth for the first several days.

Is it proper for a Panda to respond to a Koala?

you do not say where you will be flying from but i assume n. america or europe, but maybe australia, in which case the jet lague would be significantly less....from the other areas i find it to be significant....

depending on your arrival time which i think you indicate is late at nite, then i would hang out in bkk for a couple of days to adjust....i like bkk at the beginning and end of my trips as some have suggested as well...

then maybe on day 4 or 5 go to either CM or Phuket...

finish with 2 days minimum in bkk so as to avoid having to co-ordinate flights home with a stop in bkk...

I would definitely go to Phuket first and spend your jet lag recovery time. No question.

we actually arrive around noon in Bkk from the US. I think we have decided now to go to Krabi instead of Phuket, so I don't know if they really have an afternoon flight to Krabi anyway, so we may just stay in BKK, then Chiang Mai, then Krabi. Thinking of staying at the Sand and Sea in Krabi. Does anyone know how hard this is to get to from the Krabi airport? Are there other airlines that fly the BKK-Krabi route other than Thai air?

Good choice on Krabi over Phuket. We went to both locations when we were in Thailand and unless you are looking to party, Krabi wins hands down. Probably the most beautiful beach we have ever been to (because it is positioned between limestone cliffs--absolutely amazing). We stayed at Rayavadee and our hotel had arranged for our transfer from the airport. Try e-mailing the resort and ask them, maybe they can arrange transport. Good luck planning and have a great trip.