So you chose to remain within the perhaps .5 square kilometer area that was impacted at that time. Later perhaps a few square kilometers. You easily could have moved a few km down the road to the SGS or WGS and not gone through what you experienced. As for "is it safe", while the .5 km area that you were in was intolerable, the other 513,000.5 km, give or take, was perfectly normal.

Curious, why didn't you bug out of the area sooner?

Nice weather excuse. But we all know it's for the nightly beer gardens during Nov/Dec. I love it! ^ ^ ^

I about had a heart attack back when I heard they burned down Central World because that's the biggest beer garden. I was glad to see they got it all sorted out before the festival started.

OP, what part of Thailand were you planning to visit?

If headed to Bangkok, then November-February is the best time to avoid the worst of the heat/humidity and enjoy very little rain, if any. December and January usually are the best of the best.

If you're thinking of beach areas, this is also the time for Phuket and that area. But if you prefer to go to beach resorts in summer, go to the gulf side where the water is calmer and it's less rainy.

Chiang Mai, on the other hand, has much milder weather overall, and although it's not wet then, it tends to be chilly, and even downright cold at that time of year, at least at night. Spring and fall are some of the nicest times to visit the northern part of the country.

As far as safety is concerned, Thailand is far safer than many, many other places you might ever travel. Naturally you should follow the standard travel precautions and exercise general good sense. Familiarize yourself with local laws and be very careful not to break any. Avoid areas where there are demonstrations (obviously) and avoid the far southern part of the country near the Malaysian border. Also, don't fall for the few scams that are about (do educate yourself about this). Otherwise, Bangkok is a remarkably safe city, particularly given it's less developed, huge, and very populated. Mrs feels much safer walking the streets or taking the Skytrain alone at night in Bangkok (in the city center) than she does in places like Manhattan or Chicago.

Thank you for all the responses. Bangkok would most likely be my primary destination as I am ot sure I want to embark on too much local travel. How many days should I schedule for leisurely visits to the main sights (not really interested in much shopping)?

3-5 I'd say, depending upon what you want to do. Lots of threads on various days worth of itineraries.

I have booked my flights and will arrive on Dec 23, leaving Dec 26 for a bit more than 36 hour stay. Now I am looking for a hotel (separate thread) but also would like to do some itinerary and budget planning, taking potential transit time by public transportation/riverboat into account. I searched for itinerary threads but did not get any decent hits for a list of must-see spots etc. Any suggestions would be great.

What time do you arrive?

With only 36 hours it makes a huge difference. For example if you arrive in the morning and leave the day after at night, then you have more daytime options. If you land in the evening and depart the day after, that has to be taken into account.

Here's what I suggest - decide what you like the best, Temples, Boat rides, spa-days, foodie ... Do you want to go out at night clubbing or eating ... early morning stuff. You name it.

You tell us what you are into and what time you arrive and depart (generally) and then you can get a substantive response.

Hope that helps, and will lead to more help.

I will arrive early afternoon and leave after midnight. I am not much of a nightlife party person, but would like to see the major attractions and get a feel for the variety of the city that is easily accessible by public transport. In other cities I can spend hours just walking around and going with the flow, but not sure how well I can take the heat. I guess a good mix of everything would be most fun.