I have always wanted to travel to Southeast Asia and with my vacation hours ready to expire, I decided to use them to spend 3 weeks adventuring in Thailand.

Here is my basic plan: Fly into Bangkok, spend a few days exploring the largest city in Thailand, get acclimatized to the much warmer weather.  I’ll then catch an overnight ‘express’ train (a relative term because it takes about 11 hours to go 750km/450) miles to the northern city of Chiang Mai.   An overnight train is a great way to make this trek, because you’ll be sleeping through the boring flatlands neer the big city, and will be waking up in time for the climb through the mountains.  Plus I don’t have to worry about a hotel!

Before leaving Bangkok, I’ll be sure to get fitted for a custom tailored, handmade suit, so that  it will be ready for when I swing back through for my departing flight.

Chiang Mai, Thailand’s largest northern capitol will be the jumping-off point for the motorcycle tour portion of my trip.  I’ll be renting a motorcycle (probably a Honda 400 Super Four or 250 Baja) for about $15-20 a day and heading off on my ~10 day loop of Thailand’s Golden Triangle region.  I have no idea what kind of hijinks I’ll get into on the bike, but am planning on visiting several temples and hill tribes.

After the adventure in Northern Thailand, I’ll be catching a quick 1.5-hour-long Thai Air flight to the island of Ko Phuket–one of Southern Thailand’s premier beaches.  I’m planning on staying a few days in Phuket and then catching a boat to the smaller and more remote Ko Phi Phi islands.  I don’t have a lot of hard plans for the week I’ll be spending on the islands, but I hope that I’ll be abel to enjoy several aquatic excursions, and will be spending a fair amount of time with a cold beverage in my hand.

From there I’ll either fly or bus/train back to the Bangkok, where I’ll pick up my suit(s), do a bunch of shopping and head on back to the states (via Nirita/Tokyo).

Some of the specific things that I’m hoping to squeeze into my time in Thailand:

• Visit Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep
• Overnight Stay on in a Hill Tribe Village
• Ride an Elephant (seriously!)
• Go Fishing
• Drink a couple Margaritas on the Beach
• Go Boating
• Purchase a tailor-made suit
• Bringing home a bunch of clothing/shopping
• Overnight stay at Chad’s guesthouse
• Purchase some premium replica timepieces in Patpong
• Get a new wallet
• Perhaps get some shoes/boots custom made
• Watch a Muay Thai match

During my travels, I will be keeping a travel log, taking a lot of geo-tagged photos, and recording my entire trip with a GPS tracker.  Shortly after my return I will try to post the recap of the trip..

I’ve planned the trip using a couple of books and lot of internet reading.  Listed in order of usefulness:

• Golden Triangle Rider (GT-Rider.com)
• Let’s Go Thailand 4th Edition
• Thai Visa
• Thailand - Culture Smart!: a quick guide to customs and etiquette
• A Motorcycle Guide to the Golden Triangle
• Fodor’s See It Thailand, 2nd Edition
• Michelin The Green Guide Thailand

The motorcycle portion of my trip was planned pretty much exclusively with information from GT-Rider.com.  Let’s Go has been an amazing book–a great resource for any trip to Thailand and was just updated for 2009.  ThaiVisa.com has a lot of good information from expats.  Culture Smart was a great primer about the customs and culture of Thailand.   A Motorcycle Guide was a tough read, totally devoid of navigable maps.  Lots of info on routes to take, but lacking the geographical context in which to make sense of it.  Great if you’re already familiar with the area, but of limited use if you’re not–I suspect it may really come into its own and once I’m on the ground.

I can’t really recommend Fodor’s or Michelin. Both are shiny with lots of pictures, but not really catered to the more adventurous traveler. If your idea of a great vacation is 5 star hotels and beaches, might be the right guidebook for you.

I’m planning to pack Let’s Go, A Motorcycle Guide and the Lonely Planet Thai Phrasebook
for the trip (all are very lightweight, and actually now that I think about it are black and white only).

I have to also give shout-outs to Seat 61, a great website for planning any kind of rail trip to Thailand or elsewhere.  I used ThaiAir for my domestic Thai flight–which was only about $100 for the roughly 1000km flight.

My main flight and insurance was purchased through Expedia, less than $1k inclusive or taxes and fees.  My international driver’s permit–basically a multilingual translation of your domestic driver’s license–was obtained from AAA.

Also thanks to sebr, vtveen, juvetson, and flicken for providing creative commons photos until I can take my own!

Over the next few days I’ll be posting up information about packing & preparation for the trip.   When I get back I’ll post as much information, photos and stores as I can.