Most of you don’t buy guidebooks until you’ve decided where to go on vacation.  I’ve got no hard data to back this up, but I’m pretty sure most of you spend more time figuring out which hotel to stay at than you do where to go. That’s one of the reasons smaller guidebooks that focus on one area or city are becoming more and more popular. Totally understandable, because really who has the time to read hundreds of pages just to figure out where to go? Vacations are supposed to be fun, not work. read more »

I’m on vacation so sending you over to Greg’s blog for a great post on how expensive Bangkok really is to live or visit.

Just a little tidbit to get you to click over, and no offense meant if you are a bearded hippy :

…if you spend time on Khao San Road, you’ll likely run into some bearded hippies who chastise you for spending more than $5 a day on a place to sleep, but less than $40 on some good weed.

The Village Farm and Winery, one of three wineries on the tour

Bet you didn’t know Thailand produces wine.  Well it’s true, and there are a handful of lovely, charming wineries near Khao Yai National Park, just a few hours by car from Bangkok. read more »

There’s a new iPhone application for tourists visiting Thailand. You can download it here. I haven’t had a chance to test it out yet since I don’t have an iPhone ☹ but it’s supposed to search for sights, entertainment, hotels, transport, restaurants, ATMs, etc. near your location and map travel routes.

It’s $9.99 and no word yet on how comprehensive it is. As all you guidebook buyers know, content matters more than presentation, though someday soon we will have our great content available electronically, too. Until then, I’ll try to give this app a test spin. If you get a chance to try it out, please share your experiences and thoughts.

Phuket is pronounced:

Poo-ket

There is no “f” sound.

Phi Phi is pronounced:

Pee Pee

Again, no “f” sound.

It’s not your fault. The Thai-English transliteration system is really confusing. I cringe when people mispronounce Phuket since most people end up calling it Foo ket, or Fu ket. You can imagine how funny and awkward that sounds, tho Phi Phi sounds a bit awkward when pronounced correctly until you get used to it.