Hi,
There seems so be a lot of consensus that hotel rates are a lot higher than in the past, especially in Bangkok. The specials that I'm finding on hotel websites seem to end at the end of March. Am I looking too early for April dates? Will there be new specials out for that time period if I wait to book? Are spring rates typically less or more than winter rates?
Thanks again for all your expert opinions!

The US dollar is very weak at the moment and hence you might feel that the rate is high. For an April travel date I would book the mid month stay now since that is the new year holiday for this part of the world and certain locale, like Chiang Mai, will get book up fast.

The consensus among hoteliers seems to be that, in the current economic climate, there are just too few travellers around to justify lowering rates, as the added business that would be attracted wouldn't be enough to compensate for the lower margins. So, you can't expect to see any new deals. April, aside from the Thai new year, is the start of the low season, when rates tend to go down in any event.

Below is a link to a recent article in the NYTimes Business Section addressing hotel growth in Asia. It seems occupancy rates in most cities are still down. You do wonder why many hotel rates aren't reflecting that.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/bu.../11hotels.html

hotel rates in bkk tend to start to drop in april/may... i might wait another month or two