hi MARY ANN. greetings fropm NEW dELHI. i am gLAD u had such a nice trip, and sounds like u enjoyed your Premium economy THAI flights as much as i did! I too would fly the route again in a second. take CARE, enjoy the memories. regards, Bonita.

xyz99-just go. Don't worry. 2 weeks is plenty of time to get a stong dose of the flavor of Asia. If you get hooked, you'll be back many times.

Bonita,
Nice to hear from you! While I was surrounded by (4) pillows and the nice blankets, I thought of you and the post you wrote about how comfy you were. Maybe I don't have another flight that long to compare it to, but it was actually a breeze. Read one of your posts about your past and current trip. Sounds wonderful. Do I have to start sharing my forum time with the India board too?

Hi all,
Thanks for the encouragement – from what you’re saying, 2 weeks in Thailand is doable.

123Go, we would not go anywhere just to sit and enjoy a 5* hotel or shopping (not our style) but the new places, different culture, good restaurants, etc. For that kind of experience, Thailand sounds great; I will definitely look into it.

I agree, better go for a few days than not going at all, but for that reason we’ve been doing mostly Europe now and saving Asia and New Zealand (another must for me) for after retirement. You guys made me think about all this differently, and I thank you for that.

123Go, waiting for more details of your trip. Was this your first trip to Asia? Or to Thailand? Where did you go? And did you take pictures you would share with us?

xyz99
You sound like the same sort of traveler we are with the same interests. We once went to Hawaii and squeezed out 19 days and spent about 1 actually on the beach (not counting stopping by the side of the road to jump in the water with snorkel gear).

Yes, this was our first trip to Asia. We usually do "adventure" type trips including hiking, backpacking in National Parks, skiing, diving etc. always on the go.

The main reason for our trip was for MDH to do some scuba diving with another couple we often travel with. I don't dive, so we needed somewhere where I could snorkel, but was also exciting and different. The promise of culture, food, all the things you mentioned made Thailand sound like a great destination. We also want to do New Zealand (almost did the Milford Track a couple of years ago, but really didn't have enough time to make it worth the effort, ended up on Molokai instead). Anyway, while investigating where I could put a dive trip together that would be of interest to all of us, I looked at Phuket b/c I'd always heard about the diving in that area, and knew the other couple had always been interested in it, but as I did, assumed it was not a feasable option. I started looking at guide books and internet sites, the next thing you know we were going. It took about 4 months from inception to departure. Somewhere along the line I found this site and certainly it elevated the excitement level reading all the posts about the area. Also got me addicted to checking posts frequently.

I think my next trip report will be about our visit to Phuket b/c there seems to be a bit of negativity on this board about going there. I'll be happy to put my two cents in, but I'm still mulling the whole experience (only good) in my mind before I start to write. Promise it will be soon.

You mentioned concentrating on Europe, for now. That's what we've done too and usually fit in some Alp skiing every couple of years, but my travel companions and I are all in agreement that our flight to BKK seemed shorter and easier than our last flight to Munich. Go figure.

123go
Re: length of trips: Before I retired from teaching elementary school, I had to confine my spring break trips to 1 week and my Christmas break to the time between day after Christmas and my return do work, which was usually the Monday after New Years. I spent many a 1-week vacation in Europe! I have done less than 2-weeks in Thailand over New Years a couple of times. I prefer the longer trips; don't get me wrong. But if one's gotta do it, then take the 7-12 days or whatever you have!! That's my opinion on that subject!! Just GO! It's better than sitting around at home WISHING you were somewhere else.
Carol

Carol, absolutely agree.