Brokedown Palace is on the netflix queue.
My wife and I will be going to Phuket, Bangkok, Kanchanaburi, and a few other places over a couple of weeks. Does anyone have any thoughts on Thailand? What should we do in Bangkok?
Is American Thai food similiar to Thai, Thai food? Will I come back as a Buddhist?
I've spent some time wandering the country aimlessly, much like Ryan from The Office.Other than what you've mentioned, first thing I'd recommend is to get up north to Chiang Mai and go trekking out of there. It's a well-worn path, but it's well-worn for a reason: it's really pretty cool. It might feel kinda touristy to spend a half-day riding on elephants or going down the river on a raft you made out of bamboo, but then later you realize you spent a day riding an elephant and floating down a river on a bamboo raft, which is not the kind of thing you can do at home. It's active travel, though- serious hiking with a pack, not all that relaxing.
Phuket can be great or not so great- it's like any Western beach region, gotta research the resort and area or you might be in the middle of a bunch of fast food restaurants. If you're looking for a quieter, more nature-y area in the same region, I'm a big fan of
Koh Lanta.
Bangkok is obviously a mind-blowing place that's worth checking out. But the downside is that it is a tough city to negotiate. Traffic is brutal and the air is horrible. You're gonna spend a lot of time sitting in taxis or tuk tuks staring at mangy three-legged dogs through the haze. So you probably want to find a centrally located hotel. Looking at
this map, you're gonna want to be in the area near the bend in the river.
I thought the food was relatively close to American Thai. A lot more seafood-focused, which makes sense, but not totally different tastes.