I'm very interested in Thailand. How big of a concern is the current political situation over there?

Honestly, not at all.

You're a westerner (I assume white), and the Thai people know you're their lifeblood. Unrest stays well away from the tourist areas of bangkok. Besides you'll be out of bangkok on a beach. No one will go to any effort to blow up some sand.

I'm planning to go to ko tao ($200 for an open water PADI course & accomidation) and just snorkel/dive for several weeks. It's a really good place to be. Snorkeling is one of the best kinds of exercise there is. It's not too hard, but you can do it for hours and it's really fun and you feel it when your done.

Another option is the perhentain islands, tioman island or siporna archelegpo in malaysia. Malaysia has better infrastructure compared to most of south east asia. You can get unlimited 3G internet for certain ($6.50 a week USD prepaid) with celcom on those islands. (not sure with siporna).

I don't know how it is now, but two years ago in Ko Samui the 3G internet was unusable. For example I never managed to log in to Facebook with it. It would work for a few seconds, then the connection would disappear for a minute and then work for a few seconds again. We had more luck getting a very cheap cabin next to a very expensive resort and use their wifi. Forget the internets, bring a few good books and enjoy your stay =)

Absolutely no concern. I've just had a colleague come back from a three week holiday there (both in Bangkok and traveling around) and he said that there was no sign of any disturbance or nothing abnormal. He does this holiday every year so he has some perspective on this.

His only complaint is that his favorite shopping mall was torched during the riots, but other than that now is a perfect time to go as any.

I'd second Thailand. Head either to Ko Pha Ngan on the east coast or Ko Phi Phi on the west. Don't book anything. Take only a backpack. Amazing food. Amazing people. Not remotely like the sleazy parts further north.

> thailand. and make it more than a month. A cheap cabin just off the beach is $100/month with cleaning lady.

Yeah, but for anyone going to Thailand: Don't pre-pay for a month anywhere, there's a decent chance you won't like the first city you wind up. I was going crazy in Bangkok after a week so I caught an overnight train to Chiang Mai and much preferred it there, stayed there for the rest of the month my visa was good for. Staying flexible is good travel advice anyways, but especially in Thailand where various places are very, very different.