Based on the latest RTW Fares spreadsheet (http://qsi.cc/users/wbt/RTW%20Fares.xls), it appears that if I'm looking to purchase an economy RTW 29k ticket, one of the better bets is to purchase it from Bangkok... (and, side note, that spreadsheet is AMAZING ... proving once again how invaluable this community is once you discover it!)

Anyway -- this is well and good, but I'm still a bit in the dark as to (a) how reliable/safe is it to purchase a RTW ticket abroad, (b) are there any hidden fees/taxes that might be avoided by purchasing in your home country (in my case, the US), (c) how can I confirm the current price of a ticket in, for instance, Bangkok, and (d) do I lose out by not purchasing and booking my flights months in advance from the US, and instead just jumping on a fight to BKK and expecting to sort everything out there?

Many thanks in advance for any advice!!

If the search function is working, there are numerous threads about agents in Bangkok, who's reliable, who's contactable easily etc etc. Several "foreigners" have posted personal experiences about getting/booking/paying their RTW's from agents in BKK and dealing with them from their home countries.
Cheers.

The alternate way for US residents is to go through a Canadian TA because they are the only ones allowed to issue *A tickets at ex-Thai fares. They are also more efficient and thorough than certain Thai agents can be.

I've tried searching with no luck.. tried 'bkk round world', 'bangkok round world', 'bkk rtw', and nothing of any interest. The search seems to pick up peculiar threads, to be honest, given my key words. If anyone knows of any of these threads, please do pass them along!

I just used the words "bangkok agent" and it returned a page with about 8 different threads appropriate to your original query.
Cheers.

Sigh.. I just need to be smarter than the search engine.... thanks!