[Tishabet]

Originally posted by Brian Cameron
Go up north to Chiang Mai, city has a great night market and pleasant countryside. Try to get out into hill country ie Karen tribe area, maybe do some trekking.

Too bad you don't like beaches, personally I'd hit one of the islands like Koh Samui. No need to leave the beach all day, vendors with beer, roast chicken and sausage, local style sarongs, beachware, etc even thai massage practitioners, wander by every few minutes, friendly not pushy, at least that's how it was 15 years ago. Some islands have some good diving to break up the monotony, pleasant though it may be.

If you do decide to check out Patpong at night in Bangkok, suggest you restrict your visits to the main floor establishments. Upstairs ones are at best completely disgusting and at worst are havens for shakedowns and holdups.

Oh, and if you use the foreign exchange booths to change money, always have a rough idea how much you should be receiving, and count your baht, carefully, in front of the cashier, before you leave.

Chiang Mai is most definitely on the agenda...my dad lived in Thailand for about a year (albeit in the early 60's and in association with SEATO) and this was the area he remembers most vividly.
I didn't mean to imply that we don't like the beach... quite the contrary!
We just don't like the idea of flying to a foreign country and checking in to a resort for twelve days... this seems to be the trend among some honeymooners (in Thailand and elsewhere), and it's not really our style. We'd rather visit a number of different places. Koh Samui is actually on the bride's short list of places to go; I think we'll definitely spend two or three days there