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Has anyone watched Rainbow Lagoon yet? I haven't made the time but will one of these days

There's such a huge glut of hotels that it's going to be difficult for all of them to make it.

So, they're still going to try the "high quality over high quantity" tourism thing.

https://www.tatnews.org/2022/06/thailands-entry-requirements/

I visited NB one time. It's so small inside. I was the only customer. So there was no need to feel self-conscious. I think there were three boys working. It was an interesting experience but I didn't find any of the guys especially attractive so I didn't go back.

I suspect that the guides who are not listed as drivers would know drivers if necessary if they are official guides. I did a trip several years ago to Sukhothai and Phitsanulok at Loy Krathong time where my guide friend arranged a driver and car for our trip. It was a really nice experience. They have a great parade and pageant at the Sukhothai ruins for Loy Krathong. He also arranged a trip to Khao Yai NP for me another time. I think my friend has retired from guiding now to teach English in Saraburi or I would recommend him.

I did a 3 day/2 night Isaan tour many years ago that included Phimai and Phnom Rung. I feel like Phimai is really underrated. My trip was arranged through a travel agent which is no longer in business. But it was a nice trip. I had a guide and driver. We stayed in Khorat for the the overnights and did day trips out from there. I always felt like arranging a guide and driver was cheap enough to make it worth doing rather than dealing with trains and local transport. You might want to take a look at Paddy Doyle's YouTube channel. He recently finished visiting every province of Thailand on a moped. After completing the mission he posted several "best of" videos if you aren't interested in watching all of his travelogues. [He's touring Vietnam now] He shares info about lots of places I had never heard of. Depending how far afield you have already traveled you might consider places like Sukhothai and the many nearby national parks. I personally would like to spend some time up in the northern mountains some time. I did Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai long ago with visits to places like Doi Tung and Lampang and Lamphun.

you can search in Google flights and set up fare alerts to let you know when the price drops flights.google.com

2 different sites run by the same company, I believe. Try rent.men or rentmen.eu

Isn't Charlotte pretty much an AA fortress hub? That probably also accounts for high prices. Without competition they can charge a lot more.

There are other ways to be generous beyond money. Just being nice and clean probably goes a long way in reputation points. Listening to their stories, as you obviously enjoy doing, is likely to be very appreciated as well. I am not especially demanding in bed which I think is probably also appreciated.

but he said he had money tied up with Delta due to canceled flights so I definitely understand looking for ways to spend that value instead of new money. I think the idea of searching by segment can make sense, although depending on how small your origin airport is you might not have a lot of choices. I guess it's all about tradeoffs and deciding how much your time is worth.

Min's tidbits includes some Cambodia info (starting in the middle of page 2) I did the drive from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh several years ago when Purple Dragon travel agency still existed. There's a good highway now between the two so the trip is easier than it used to be. My guide and driver were very nice but sadly since they were booked through the travel agency I don't have any sort of contact info. One of the main sights along the way is Sambor Prey Kuk. Here's a trip report I posted on Flyertalk. It was a big trip that included Bangkok, Laos and Cambodia. Post #7 has photos and some info for that part of the trip. I just stopped for an overnight along the way. I think you could do the drive in one day no problem. The place I stayed had interesting little bungalows and nice gardens. 3-4 days seems like a lot to me. You might consider taking a trip up to Preah Vihear and Koh Ker from Siem Reap for a couple of days if you haven't been there.

wow. Did you check business class? It might actually be cheaper

The issue might be that Asia Miles does not have access to all of QR's inventory of award seats as you surmise. This is a frequent occurrence among alliances where not all partners have access to the same seats. I recently was able to book Washington to BKK on QR using AAmerican miles for March. Of course Cathay is in a lot of financial trouble these days, but they had a pretty decent business class product. Do they not offer LHR-HKG-BKK flight options for your timeframe? I have been searching for return flights for my trip and the cheapest business class option is on CX from ICN via HKG and JFK. I try to avoid Chinese airports whenever possible though so I would pay a bit more if I had to in order to avoid them.

According to Thaiger the government is reporting arrivals are up by 10% since the beginning of the month

sounds like he has some issues

They seem to be putting a huge amount of effort into improved parks. Global Travel Mate has focused many of his videos on the changes

Seems like 1 Air Canada flight 4x per week isn't going to make much of a dent. Of course another problem is the current lack of pilots and crew that is wreaking havoc on summer air traffic especially in the US and Europe.

I'm in trip planning mode so I started looking at accommodation options for Bangkok. I took a look at Airbnb and there are some nice condos. I preliminarily booked a place at Ashton Chula-Silom which is on Rama IV near the Samyan MRT so quite close to Patpong area. While I have stayed in several Airbnb's in various places around the world I am a bit concerned about the legal status of Airbnb in Thailand. The place I booked has great reviews which does make me a little more comfortable. And I like the idea of the 49th floor pool deck with panoramic views of the city. But I live in a condo that doesn't allow Airbnb rentals and I understand the reasons why. So I am conflicted about staying in someone else's condo building where short term rentals are likely not allowed. For around the same price I could stay at the Amara Bangkok which looks like it's new and in a good location on Surawong. The only thing I would give up is the kitchen and washing machine which is something I like to have for such a long stay (2 weeks +). Maybe I need to look at serviced apartments again...

I think it's probably also the case that the current young generation has lived their whole lives taking photos of themselves and their friends all day long. So in addition to possible geographical cultural differences there are also generational ones. A tiny affection Lao boy sounds like a lot of fun.

that's a completely different pot of money that I won't be touching for many years other than sticking some money into the account every paycheck. Dollar cost averaging and all of that

I think for sure we've all been sitting home missing travel for the last couple years. So we've been saving the money we would have spent on travel during that time and are ready to spend it now. So splurging on a higher class, especially for long haul flights, seems like a reasonable idea. My bank account is much fuller now for not having taken the 4 or so big trips I would have taken. As for the costs related to booking with miles, it really depends on the program. My trip from Washington to Bangkok on Qatar was only $45 in taxes and fees, but it is costing me 110,000 AA miles, which admittedly is a lot for one way business class. Some airlines are more aggressive than others with the fuel surcharges. I've been looking at return flight options from Seoul for my trip and there are lots of options between $2500-3500 in business class. Again for one way that's not super cheap but it's not exorbitant. I'm still looking for mileage options.

I still don't really see the point after we've already got a couple of definitive documentaries.

Yes, the SQ A380 does let you get off at FRA. I actually think they require it to service the aircraft. While the summer is a mess, hopefully by autumn (after the school holidays are over) will be better at the airports. Frankly if you can afford it, it's another good reason to book in business class since you get shorter queues and more assistance if things go haywire at most airports. I just booked IAD-DOH-BKK using AA miles on Qatar Airways. But not until early next year. If you have the points though it's also a good option.