>-Where should I go?
Islands maybe, north is good too.
>-Is backpacking a feasible option?
The best option imo.
>-Should I just stay in Bangkok?
You should leave Bangkok as soon as you can

Better don't just stay in Bangkok, the city itself is interesting. But there is way more to see in the central parts of the country (and in addition it's saver, don't forget the still ongoing protests)
And try to avoid the south if you want some real Thailand experiences. The south is nothing but tourisms, so try to stay more in the North, there they have not only great cities, but also a wonderful rain forest.
And as for a specific place to visit, the UNESCO world heritage of Sukhothai comes to my mind, really an amazing place!

Oh, another tip: Better get a good umbrella or some kind of raincoat, you'll travel in the in the rain season. Rain without end I can only say......

>>95935
>>95940

-Thanks all, how much money should I have saved by then ideally?
-Are there any hostels you can recommend?
-Couch surfing perhaps?

still OP, was just posting from another PC.

Also, does Lonely Planet help whilst backpacking?

>>95950

Depends on how you want to live when you stay there. If your gonna backpack and live dirt cheaply( I.e. only eat on the street, stay in the cheapest hotels) then you can get by on like a couple hundred bucks.

Or if you want to have some fun, go out, stay in a nice place, take a couple grand with you.

The protests really arent a bother to the foreigners. It's not as bad as the media makes it out to be.

The Thai's are very good at ripping foreigners off. So if you wan't to save many act like your poor. ALWAYS get a METERED taxi, and make sure the guy TURNS IT ON.

Don't hand out any big bills. It's a good idea to have 2 wallets with a medium amount of small bills. Also that way if you get pickpocketed your not losing all your money.

>>95952
I helps a little on timetables and such. I usually picked my first guesthouse from the book as well (assuming I arrived to the new place early), after one or two nights i usually found another one. Prices skyrocket as soon something is mentioned in LP. Also you cannot do any "real" backbacking, as all the 50 million other guys with LP:s have already done it, so its like a "tourist tour around Thailand, where you feel like you have backbacked".
In my opinion go to Laos instead. Better places to go, cheaper, low crime rate, more weed, people are nicer and everything is overally much better if you plan to backback. And it is not completely ruined with tourist yet

My advice is to only spend a couple of days before you fly back in Bangkok, that's all the time you really need there.

At the moment tourism is really bad thanks to the media coverage of the protests, some hotels were at off-peak levels over Christmas & New Year. The lower end will probably stay quiet healthy because backpackers won't be put off, but if you have a bit of extra money you could probably upgrade from that at very reasonable prices, especially outside the most popular tourist areas, also car hire will probably be ever cheaper.

If I were you I'd try and have $1000+ dollars and go for a mix of backpacking and nice hotels.

I believe it'll be monsoon sea in the north and Andaman sea around that period, so the East is likely to be nicer from that point of view.

>>95928

In my home country, this is Pattaya of thailand, american student
1.stealing stuff everything
2.lyingto policeman
3.spit to face when talking, mouth is bad smell
4.dont having money, many american student, hole in cloths and dirty pants, old shoes
5.raping? jap gal because jap gal say american boy no thanks, very ugly and fat
6.very smell of food eating by american
7.very smell body, no bath long time, sometime 10 days?
american=monkey same

>>96572

LOL. I've met few Americans when I visited Thailand. Probably confused with the Brits and Aussies.

You can live dirt cheap in Thailand by following some simple steps:
1. You can stay at a hotel for $10 a night. There are many and you should do some homework before you leave so you know there they are in the cities you'll be in.
2. You can eat for less than $10 a day. Just like like the locals and a sidewalk food joint. Costs you about $2 a meal and it won't make you sick.

3. Traveling is pretty cheap too. Most of the population is poor, so transportation is rather inexpensive there, either going places within or between cities.

4. There is a lot of stuff too see there. Just plan ahead and get some ideas what you want to do.