I arrived in Bangkok, Thailand’s vibrant capital city a couple of weeks ago; my last visit to the City of Angels (otherwise known as Krung Thep) was approximately one year ago.

What’s new in Bangkok? Besides a number of new boutiquish hotels and upscale Italian Restaurants popping up on the scene, not much has changed.

As usual, traffic jams are horrendous in the greater Bangkok metropolitan area, especially in the inner city. As an example, to get to the Emporium Shopping Center from the President Park Hotel, located on Sukhumvit Soi 22/24 – a distance of little over one mile - it will take up to 25 minutes by taxi. The way to get beat the traffic is to take a motorbike taxi for 20-30 baht; the motorbike taxi will weave in and out of traffic, and get you there in a quick and efficient 5 minutes

What else is new? The BTS Skytrain fares have increased somewhat. The minimum fare about a year ago was only 10 baht (approximately 30 cents USD) and it has since increased a whopping 50% to 15 baht (approximately 46 cents USD) – this fare increase has had a significant impact on the average Thai person’s pocketbook but for the tourist, the fare increase is no big thing!

A change for the better - The President Park Hotel, with their improved signage has made it a lot easier for their visitors to get to their Fitness Center. I admit to have gotten lost in prior years. Although getting there is still like negotiating a rat’s maze, all you have to do is follow the clearly demarcated yellow line. Sort of reminds me of the famous Elton John song, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

From my room in the Mayflower Tower, it will usually take 8-9 minutes to reach their “Feel Good Factory” (Fitness Center) Congratulations to the management for the much needed improvement!

As a traveler, I admit to having a fascination with TIME.

In particular, I like to keep a record of the length of time between the arrival at an International airport and my Hotel check-in - including a timeline of all the intermediary components between arrival and check-in – i.e. Immigration, baggage pickup, money exchange, stepping into taxi etc.

I know this fascination of mine may sound a bit bizarre but I think it may be interesting reading. So I herewith, submit a TIMELINE of my recent arrival on November 18 at Suvarnabhumi, Thailand’s international airport located just outside of Bangkok.

• 11:07AM Arrival of Eva flight from Taipei, Taiwan at 11:07AM (On time)
• 11:15AM Walked off plane at 11:15AM
  Proceeded to walk to Immigration checkpoint (about 250 meters)
• 11:31AM Processed by Immigration (short and sweet)
• 11:45AM Picked up two pieces of luggage from baggage carousel; proceeded downstairs to taxi loading zone
• 11:51PM Cashed 100USD for baht (the local currency) at money exchange bureau
• 11:55AM Bought local newspaper and DTAC simcard for cell phone
• 12:05PM Stepped into Taxi at airport – destination President Park Hotel
• 12:35PM Stopped at Vasu, a wholesale money changer located near the Nana BTS. Exchanged 2500USD for Thai baht while taxi waited outside with my personal belongings
• 12:43PM Hopped back into taxi
• 1:05PM Arrival at President Park Hotel, Sukhumvit Soi 22/24

Note: Stopping at Vasu Money Exchange was somewhat of an irregular procedure, as most airport taxis are used to dropping off passengers at home (locals) or at a hotel (visitors) with no in-between stops. Even though, I left my personal belongings in the taxi while exchanging monies, I wasn’t anxious about the taxi running off with my personal belongings, as this was a licensed airport taxi! Traffic conditions were moderate.

As you can see from this TIMELINE, everything went like clockwork. Approximately two hours elapsed between my arrival at the airport and hotel check-in. Pretty good if you ask me!

Shortly after midnight, I will be embarking on My Annual Odyssey to Southeast Asia. My itinerary, November 18 - December 30, includes three countries – Thailand (29 nights), Singapore (3 nights) and Malaysia (10 nights). During my grueling 42 nights on the road, I will have a whopping 15 changes of hotels. Now if you do the math, the average stay at each locale is slightly less than 3 nights.

I’m sure you have heard of the famous traveler’s adage - “If it’s Monday, it must be Paris; if it’s Tuesday, it must be Rome.” Well, I will be doing the Southeast Asian version – For me, it is “ If it’s Monday, it must be NAN (Northern Thailand); if it’s Tuesday, it must be Taiping (Northwestern Malaysia).

The maximum time that I’m staying at any one place is 5 consecutive nights - in both Bangkok and Koh Lipe. I know I will get very travel weary during this marathon trip (Been there, done that), but I’m hoping that I’ll be able to recharge my battery (so to speak) towards the tail end of my trip when I land in Koh Lipe, an offbeat island resort in Southern Thailand.

Everybody asks me “Are you excited about the trip?” My reply is not really! As a veteran traveler, while I’m really looking forward to getting “out of dodge “, I can’t say that I get really excited. I just try to concentrate on the day to day things - the trip takes care of itself!

Most people don’t understand that this is not an extended pleasure vacation but more properly a working vacation - and I do work! In addition to furthering my destination knowledge and checking out new places, I gather lots of material for my travel blog as well as take many photographs for future travel slideshows/videos.

Sorry to belabor the point - This is work, my friends. I’m not saying, I don’t have fun! I DO!!! But at the same time, I have specific professional objectives that I am trying to fulfill.

One thing for sure, it sure beats the hell of being stuck in the USA this time of year!

The Great Mormon Butterfly (Papilio memnon), a member of the Swallowtail Family (Papilionidae) is one of most spectacular and largest butterflies that I’ve encountered in Thailand. The female of the species is this week’s featured travel photo - the picture was taken just off the roadside in Northern Thailand, not far from the city of Mae Salong in Chiang Rai Province.

Unlike her cousins in North America (i.e. The Tiger and Anise Swallowtail etc), this Thai swallowtail is very clumsy and a relatively slow flyer. The male and female of the species look completely different in terms of their coloration. The female as depicted in this photograph is multicolored with black spots on creme colored hindwings, while the male is almost completely black.

Other related swallowtails in Southeast Asia, more commonly known as birdwings, look remarkably similar to the Great Mormon in terms of their physical characteristics and are also relatively slow fliers.

Isn’t this female Great Mormon a beauty? A real whopper of a name too! I bet you didn’t know that there were Mormons in a Buddhist country like Thailand? Now you know.

Coming up soon is the story of the Monarch Butterfly Annual Migration from North America to the Highlands of Central Mexico. One of nature’s greatest phenomenons.

Let’s face it – While Travel Guide Books can be a good resource or very handy reference when you’re traveling, unfortunately most of the information is not up to date. If you want current and in depth information on specific destinations including hotel and restuarant reviews, touring options etc from a traveler’s (and consumers) point of view, I suggest that you do some research online.

There are numerous online travel forums, online travel communities and travel portals available where travelers share their tips, recommendations and advice with fellow travelers.

As Traveler and a Travel professional, I utilize these travel forums when doing both research on my own personal travels or on behalf of a client. My favorite travel forums are – Thorn Tree, TripAdvisor, TravelFish and VirtualTourist.

Each of these travel forums are very unique and presented in a somewhat different format. See below

• Thorn Tree Travel Forum
  One of the most useful forums, it is geared primarily to the younger and budget oriented traveler. In their forums, travelers seek advice from other travelers on a variety of topics. If you go to Thorn Tree, you’ll find some very interesting and active conversations (threads) going on. Thorn Tree is part of Lonely Planet, the largest travel guide book publisher in the world.
• TripAdvisor
  Probably the most popular and well known travel forum online, this is the place to go when researching hotels. On TripAdvisor, fellow travelers contribute their unbiased reviews on hotels, guesthouses, B & B and specialty lodging around the world. TripAdvisor caters to a slightly more upscale and older traveler than Lonely Planet.
• Travelfish
  Unlike other travel forums mentioned here, Travelfish does not cover the whole world. Travelfish deals exclusively with Southeast Asia and caters primarily to the budget traveler - backpackers and flashpackers - and to those travelers who are interested in an off the beaten path experience. The editors have compiled quite a list of guesthouses and budget hotels in each locale - and their reviews are usually spot on.
• VirtualTourist
  This is not really a travel forum per se like Lonely Planet or even TripAdvisor, but an Online Travel Community. On VirtualTourist, travelers from around the world share their insight and travel recommendations on various destinations. Travelers submit a destination or trip review based on their own travel experiences, often accompanied by trip photos.

Curiuously enough, TripAdvisor is owned by Expedia.com and in 2008, TripAdvisor acquired VirtualTourist. Talk about a Travel Conglomerate!

Having been in the travel business for many years, I have a pretty good
acumen for trip planning as well as understanding the psyche of the traveler. The best advice I can give to a prospective traveler would be - Make sure you plan your vacation as far in advance as possible. This tip is especially true if you are planning to travel during the Christmas Holidays or during the peak travel months to a popular vacation destination.

If you’re planning an extended vacation to Europe, Asia (or any other destination) for more than 2 weeks, you can probably “wing it” for most of your trip. Just make sure you’ve covered the basics – R/T airfare from your destination, accommodations for the first 2 nights and the last night of your trip – the rest can be impromptu.

If you’re planning a 1-2 week stay, I suggest that the itinerary be planned well in advance and hotels booked for the duration of the trip – there is simply not enough time to improvise or travel spontaneously. Unlike most Europeans, Americans cannot have an extended vacation - they are usually limited to 7-14 days.

Let’s face, it everybody (and their mother) would like to travel out over the Christmas Holidays, Dec. 20-27 or Dec 26–Jan 2/3 (the first Sunday after New Years) - these are real prime time dates, and there is extremely limited availability for affordable airline seats or hotel rooms. It is akin to finding a needle in a haystack.

Many people have come to me a month or so before departure, expecting me to make arrangements for those dates only to be severely disappointed when I tell them there is nothing available, or airline seats are only available at outrageously high fares. They shake their head in bewilderment. My suggestion is - Book for the Christmas Holidays no later than early July or 6 months in advance.

For travel during the peak summer months of July / August as well as January/February to the Caribbean, Mexico or to other popular resort destinations, you should book at least 2 months in advance in order to avoid major disappointment

How about me? I took take care of all my arrangements for my upcoming trip to Southeast Asia, November 18-December 30 over 2 months ago!

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I had taken care all of my travel arrangements over 2 months ago for my upcoming odyssey to Southeast Asia, November 18-December 30, where in a 42-day period I will be visiting Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. However there was one very small loose end to take care of - since my air ticket to Thailand was for more than 30 days, I had to apply for a tourist visa with the Thai Consulate.

I thought I was catching a break as The Thailand Government was waiving the $25 fee for the tourist visa for all travel between June 2009 – March 2010. Little did I know that this small procedure would be turn out to be real hassle - call it The Passport Follies!

About a week after I sent my US passport to the Thai Consulate in Los Angeles by certified mail, I received a call from a representative at the Consulate. She advised me that they couldn’t issue the tourist visa at this time because all the visa pages in my passport were used up, so she was returning my passport to me. I would have to get extra visa pages inserted; upon accomplishing that, I was instructed to return the passport to their office for the actual visa.

After doing some research, I discovered that I had to send my passport to the Passport Office in Philadelphia. Although there was no charge for the addition of extra visa pages, in order to get the passport back in a reasonable amount of time, they suggested I pay for Expedited Service which costs $60.

Without the Expedited Service, the anticipated wait time for was up to 3 months or longer – so the decision to shell out $60 was a slam-dunk! Furthermore there was the additional expense of sending (and receiving) the passport by express mail. Of course, as soon as I receive my passport, I will have to send it to The Thai Consulate by express mail (and pay for return by express mail).

Bottom line – Total damage for adding a few measly visa pages to my passport - about $130 - includes the Expedited Service and all mailing fees, and I can expect to receive my passport (with the tourist visa) about 3-5 days before I am scheduled to depart. It looks like I’m cutting it kind of close. There is a lesson to be learned from this experience!

If you have traveled around Thailand, I’m sure you’ve come across
the Spirit House (in Thai, Phra Phum), an ornate dollhouse-like structure which sits on top of a pole or pedestal. Spirit houses can be found everywhere in Thailand. In the city, the spirit houses are situated prominently in front of many hotels, office and government buildings or at the entrance of many bars or nightclubs. They also can be found on the premises of many Buddhist Temples.

Most Thai people who reside in their own house also have a Spirit House, usually placing it in the corner of their property. According to tradition, the spirit house must not fall in the shadow of the main structure. In the countryside, you’ll often encounter Spirit houses at the entrance to caves in the mountains, around a fishing pond or in the middle of the forest.

If you look carefully inside the spirit house, you’ll observe small human or animal figurines – in most cases, the human figurines are dressed up in Thai outfits. Some of the Spirit Houses are fully furnished with fixtures such as miniature tables, chairs, paintings and the like. Sometimes draped with flower garlands, most Spirit Houses have small balconies where flower vases, incense holders and candle sticks are positioned.

Spirit worship in Thailand is a very integral part of Thai Culture and is practiced by all segments of Thai society – from the very rich to the very poor. The Spirit House is the most prominent manifestation of Thai people’s traditional belief in the spirits. Many believe that spirits reside on the land, and if you build a house or a commercial structure, these spirits are displaced from their home.

In order to appease the spirits, a Spirit House is erected on the site to provide them a place to live. Daily offerings are made to the spirits – flowers, food, rice, and coins and sometime even cigarettes - in order to keep them happy. Frequent donations to the resident spirits of the Spirit House is believed to bring Good Luck!

Most Thai people have a very simple Spirit House which sits on one pole, but the more affluent Thais will typically have some very elaborate (and large) Spirit House built for them – these custom made houses are supported by four poles. A whole cottage industry has been developed around the manufacture of spirit houses.

I’ve been on many tours and sightseeing excursions (in addition to conducting my own tours) during my many years as a traveler, so I have a pretty good feeling of how a tour should be properly conducted.

The most common sightseeing excursion is the ½ day city highlights tour.
Many tourists who arrive in a new locale will typically go on an orientation
or highlights tour in order to get a feeling for the place. The tour may include historical points of interests, museums, monuments and parks as well as sampling the local color. Let’s not forget time for shopping.

As a general rule of thumb, the time allotted for such a tour should be approximately 4-6 hours, with the maximum distance from the point of origin no more than 30-40 minutes away. The tour should focus on no more than 3 major venues or attractions – sometimes the tour operators try to cram too many venues and attractions into the ½ day tour.

Take San Francisco as an example, a city I am most familiar with - A well rounded ½ day tour of the City might include Fisherman’s Wharf, China Town and North Beach (all in the same general vicinity) as well as Golden Gate Park (including the Japanese Tea Gardens and the De Young Museum) and perhaps a ride across the bridge to Sausalito, a popular tourist town hugging the San Francisco Bay with marvelous views of the CITY. This would be a good 6 1/2 hours including time for lunch in Sausalito. Of course, additional time will be chewed up in dropping off passengers at their respective hotels.

An all day tour will typically last 8-10 hours. Usually, they will depart shortly after breakfast. – let’s say at 8:00AM– 9:00AM and return by 6:00 -7:00PM in the evening. The maximum distance from the point of origin should be no more than 2 hours away with 1-1½ hours as the optimal distance. Again, the maximum number venues should be limited to 3 major attractions (allowing 1 hour for lunch).

If the distance to the furthest venue is more than 2 hours away from the originating point, the tour operator should consider a one - two night overnight at the primary or furthest venue. Travelers don’t want to spend the whole day on the bus!

Here are some specific examples of all day touring:

SAN FRANCISCO - To Monterey and Carmel via Santa Cruz (a popular beach town) or to Calistoga and the wine country, the drive will take a good for two hours

In COSTA RICA, highly compact country, there are many attraction and points of interest within a 90-minute radius of San Jose including the Caribbean Lowlands, Irazu Volcano/ Orosi Valley and La Paz Butterfly Gardens/Poas Volcano

THAILAND – Originating from Bangkok, a trip to Siam Cultural Park in Ratchaburi Province, the estimated travel time is 1 1/2 hours. To historic Ayutthaya and Lopburi, the approximate travel time to Lopburi would be 1 hour.

P.S. My apologies to my valued subscribers for my absence over the last month