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

Air Asia, a regional carrier that specializes in budget air travel within Southeast Asia, has an unusual way of dealing with air ticket refunds. About a week ago, I booked a RSVNS on Air Asia and purchased a one-way ticket online from Hat Yai, Thailand to Bangkok for travel on December 27, 2009. The cost of the ticket was 2115 Baht ($62USD).

Within thirty minutes after buying the ticket, I discovered that I had already purchased the same ticket on July 25. The cost of the original ticket was 1185 Baht ($35USD). After my blunder, I immediately sought to contact Air Asia to request a refund in full on the duplicate ticket.

Based on my experiences with airlines based in the USA, I thought that the refund would be straightforward as I caught the mistake right away and I wasn’t really taking anything out of Air Asia’s pocket. Maybe that was a little presumptuous on my part. If I had read reviews from disgruntled Air Asia passengers, I would have discovered that Air Asia’s refund/cancellation policy is not very consumer friendly. In short, it is downright awful - in essence Air Asia has a “No Refund Policy”.

Because Air Asia doesn’t have a Call center in the USA, I was resigned to the fact that I had to call their ticket office in either Malaysia or Thailand. After getting through to Air Asia in Malaysia, I appraised the agent about my unfortunate blunder. The agent told me that Air Asia could refund my first ticket (the lower priced one) and I could keep the 2nd higher priced ticket.

I told the agent that was unacceptable as the higher priced 2nd ticket should be the one that is refunded. Upon hearing this, the agent immediately reversed direction and told me, Air Asia could give me a refund on the 2nd ticket less a 850 Baht penalty. Even though I wasn’t totally thrilled with the cancellation penalty, I told the agent if that was the best she could do, I could live with it.

The agent further explained to me that the refund would not be issued to my credit card, but it (the refund) would be available as a travel credit which must be used towards a purchase of air travel on Air Asia by November 26, 2009. Putting aside my disenchantment with Air Asia’s refund policy, I accepted the terms and thanked the agent for assisting me.

I waited for 24 hours to pass – because I didn’t see the travel credit in my record, I decided to call Air Asia again. This time around I reached the Air Asia ticket office in Thailand. Explaining my situation to the Air Asia agent, she advised me that I would be issued a travel credit for the full amount of the 2nd ticket (no cancellation penalty) and that I must use this travel credit by November 26.

I confirmed with the agent, that the issuance of travel credits was Air Asia’s official policy on air ticket refunds and thanked her allowing me to get a “refund in full” on my duplicate ticket. Fortunately, I was able to use most of my air travel credit towards a purchase of air ticket for a friend of mine in Thailand. LOL, I still have 500 baht left over.

Bottom Line – Air Asia has a “No Refund Policy”. Once they have your monies, they are going to keep it!

I really used to like Kamala Beach, a popular resort area on Thailand’s Phuket Island. Despite the many cafes and shops along the boardwalk, as well as many lounge chair and massage concessions on the beach, it used to be a fairly mellow and quiet scene. Believe it or not, I liked Kamala Beach even better after the Tsunami of December 2004 cleansed the area of the boardwalk and its horde of concessions. The Post Tsunami Kamala Beach was devoid of lounge chairs and there was only a smattering of tourists. I was there to survey the scene in August 2005 – the beach was wonderful and oh so quiet!

The last time I visited Kamala Beach was in December 2007 – things had changed considerably, not only was the boardwalk and all its concessions were back (and then some), a very disturbing development impacted the Kamala Beach area – Jet Skis had invaded the scene.

Trying to relax in the late afternoon from my lounge chair near Kamala Dreams Hotel was almost impossible due to the incessant noise of these awful machines whizzing by. Not only were they noisy, but the jet skis also dumped an inordinate amount of gas and oil right into sea, contributing to the growing problem of water pollution in Kamala Beach. The environment impact of jet skis are well known.

I bet you most of the foreign tourists on Kamala Beach were also put off by the recent introduction of these motorized contraptions. To me, you go to the beach to relax, read a book and have a quiet conversation – with the constant noise pollution of these jet skis, that’s damn near impossible. I guess that is what they call progress!

To get away from the noise (and the polluted waters), you have go another 2 miles up the coast to the relatively unspoiled beach scene at Laem Singh

Believe it or not, my search for the the most eco-friendly beach destination in THAILAND has uncovered a place I haven’t been to yet, and that is Koh Libong! I am sure most travelers have never heard of this relatively obscure island as well.

Koh Libong is the largest island in southern Thailand’s Trang Province. The island is home to a rather substantial colony of Dugongs, a large marine mammal that is closely related to the manatees. These creatures feed on the sea-grass beds that flourish off Koh Libong’s southeast coast. A colony of green turtles are also residents of the island.

From what I have read, there is more of a commitment to an environmentally friendly and sustainable tourism industry in Trang Province than anywhere else in Thailand. The governor of Trang Province has gone on record stating that he wants to avoid the haphazard and reckless tourism development that has ruined other island destinations in Thailand i.e. Phuket, Koh Samui, Koh Phi Phi etc.

In order to protect the natural beauty of the region, the Swedish Government has funded a master plan for sustainable development in Trang Province. In particular, on Koh Libong, Swedish environmentalists and Thai academicians from Bangkok have joined forces in an effort to make the island an ecotourism model for the region.

Three small Muslim fishing villages are scattered around the island – the native people in these communities seem to be enlightened about the need for conservation and environmentally friendly practices. The interior is home to rubber plantations and is heavily forested. There are only a handful of small resorts, all located on the west coast of the island. While many small beaches surround the island, there is only one “classical tropical beach” – a 1 KM stretch of golden sand fronted by clear, aquamarine waters.

Since I have never been to Koh Libong, I will have to wait to till I visit this island (and Trang Province), before I can assess the staying power of this sustainable tourism movement. If history teaches us anything, tourism development is usually guided by greed (and the pursuit of the almighty dollar) and has destroyed many an idyllic paradise.

Only time will determine the fate of Koh Libong and other island destinations in Trang Province. I have plans to do some reconnaissance there in 2010!

For your information, over the Christmas Holidays, I plan to visit Ko Lipe, considered by many to be overall, the most beautiful island in Thailand. From what I have read, Koh Lipe is another Island Paradise that’s on the threshold of getting trashed!

In the last several days, I have done some extensive research in an effort to identify the most the eco-friendly beach destination in Thailand. To be honest with you, it is a lot easier for me to rattle off a list of beach destinations/island resorts which are not very eco-friendly. See below..

Pattaya - Truly an Abomination!

Located about 90 minutes east of Bangkok is Pattaya, Thailand’s internationally renowned sex tourist mecca–beach town. Located on the mainland, Pattaya leads the pack of those beach destinations where development, human greed and the excesses of tourism have had a severe negative ecological impact. No other beach destination in Thailand comes close to the ugliness and urban blight which is Pattaya. Believe it or not, before the Vietnam War, Pattaya was a sleepy fishy village with lush green vegetation and sparkling white sand beaches. Not anymore!

Phuket and Koh Samui - Paradise no more!

Below Pattaya on my list (quite a step down) are Thailand’s two most popular island resorts – Phuket and Koh Samui. Both places have international airports to receive tourists all over the world; while the airport in Koh Samui is like an island boutique, Phuket’s airport is a modern gleaming affair. Both islands are abundant in natural beauty with a mountainous interior and gleaming white sand beaches, however both Samui and Phuket have suffered from the excesses of development and tourism leaving behind a severely degraded environment.

Phi Phi Island - Paradise Ruined!

Located in Southern Thailand’s Krabi Province, Phi Phi Islands – an area known for its raw physical beauty - is just another example of Paradise getting trashed by excessive development and too many tourists. Admittedly, I have never been there.

Koh Chang - Going the way of Phuket and Samui

Of all the island resorts, Koh Chang is the place I know best, having been there four times. My last visit was in November 2006. An extremely lush and mountainous island, Koh Chang is rapidly changing (and not for the good) as there are still plans to make it the next Phuket. Climbing the slopes of the jungle clad mountain slopes are many new bungalow operations and along the west coast, the land is being cleared to accommodate a variety of upscale (and opulent) albeit expensive beach resorts. If an international airport ever happens here, it will be the coup-de-grace.

In Koh Chang, proper sewage treatment facilities are lacking, and in some places near the beach you can smell the raw sewage as it trickles into the sea. If you don’t believe me, go to Magic Resort – small budget bungalow operation on Klong Phrao Beach – and take a whiff of the raw sewage on the southern perimeter of the property. Sort of reminds of the smell on the far side of Aloha Beach Resort, a first class hotel located on Lamai Beach in Koh Samui. In Thailand, only a handful of hotels in the resort areas have their own sewage treatment plant.

Koh Lanta and Koh Jam/Koh Pu - Not ruined yet, best of the lot

Ko Lanta and the relatively obscure island of Ko Pu/Ko Jum, both located in Krabi Province seem to be holding up all right from an ecological perspective. Based on my visit there in 2005, the tourism growth had not completely swallowed Koh Lanta, and Koh Jum/Koh Pu - the Island with the split personality - seems to be comparatively pristine.

Coming up, my nomination for the most eco-friendly beach destination in Thailand. Stay tuned!