Thailand

Bangkok: 

You have to embrace Bangkok for what it is.  It is loud, congested, intense, but such a wonderful city.  I loved it so much.  You can go clubbing on this road called RCA - its SO fun.  There is also Khao San Road, which is all backpackers, kinda like Bourbon St. in New Orleans - I didn't go there often.  I stayed in places around Sukhumvit 11 (road) a lot, it was a good area.   We always stayed at a hostel called Suk11 but the management was a little mean.   Always have your passport on you.  Make sure to go to a rooftop bar to see the view: http://www.bangkok.com/magazine/vertigo.htm 

Chiang Mai: 

Has the feel of a European city.   We rented bikes and biked all around the city, had so much fun at the bars at night with other travelers.   Its a city you could live in forever, make sure to go here. There's also a famous temple at the top of a mountain, you can get a cab there. 

Koh Chang: 

I stayed on this island on my birthday and really loved it.  I stayed in a bungalow right on the beach (that had HUGE cockroaches but still was hilarious and fun).  We went to a fun bar and there are plenty of restaurants.  

Ko Pi Pi/Phuket:

I thought Phuket was quite touristy, even though its a 'must do'.  Didn't love it, but it is the jumping off point for, Ko Pi Pi, which is the beach that was in the movie The Beach - you take a tour boat out there and it is extremely beautiful , so is the boat ride out there.  Some tours you can stop and snorkel and it is quite wonderful.   

Lopbhuri:

Has a monkey temple (the monkeys overtook the town and temple, quite cool) and beautiful sunflower fields.  Worth a trip! 

We also had a weird trip to some basically abandoned island, which sounds cool, but when you get dropped off there and realize there is no booze to be had, its not great!  You couldnt buy booze because it was a Muslim orientated island, so check on that before going places.

Other notes:

-On all beaches, you can find restaurants on the beach where they have fire shows and lanterns you can light with fire, make a wish and send up into the sky.   

-Wear SO MUCH sunscreen.  Seriously, its insane how strong the sun is. 

-Don't go to Pattaya.  It's for sex tourism and one of the saddest places I have ever been to.   All the women are prostitutes and the old men there are awful.

-Animals in Thailand:  they treat animals super badly in Thailand, so watch what places you support.   I rode on elephants there as part of my program, but if I did it again, I would not have gone.  They don't treat the elephants well.  Same with some tiger places.   Just do your research and try to find a humane place if you want to have experiences with the animals!

-Food:  I ate fried crickets!  Not too bad, give it a try.   DO NOT have ANY ice at all.  I went to hospital because of this.   Avoid fruit and uncooked veggies.   I cannot speak to resorts, since I always stayed in low-priced lodging.  

-Transportation:  Buses there are ridiculous. They blast horrible Thai music and have scary bathrooms.  But if you need to take them, no big deal.   There are a lot of people offering rides in vans - we did this a few times, but due to language barriers, a few times we ended up in the wrong place!    Mainly we used songthaews (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songthaew) .  These are like pickup truck buses.  You ride in back and they are regularly scheduled, so more reliable.    For Bangkok to Chiang Mai, we did an overnight train.  It was so awesome, I would do again in a heartbeat.  You have to like trains in order to enjoy this though :)

-Political situation:  There is (was) a military coup going on right now, so make sure you register with the embassy so they know you are there.  Just be safe, keep abreast of where there are protests going on in Bangkok.