To answer your questions...

Where is Thailand?
Thailand is southwest of China.

Why did I go?
I'm studying abroad in Singapore for January, so I had one week after Christmas to take a tropical vacation in a country I've been wanting to support since the tsunami on Dec. 26, 2004 and the idea that tourism will help them rebuild their home, and since I discovered how great Thai food is.




Who did I go with?
 Three classmates from St. Thomas who are also studying abroad in Singapore.  (In picture: Emily, me, Holly, Sharada)

How long was the flight?
Very.  I don't know.  So many time zone changes...
We went west to go east, leaving Minneapolis at 1pm (local time), arriving in Tokyo for a lay over at 6pm (local time), arriving in Singapore for a long layover at some early morning hour (local time), then leaving for Thailand at 9am (local time) and arriving at 10 (local time), getting to the hostel around 12pm (there's a different blog for that), and I was on the beach by that afternoon.

Do they speak English?
Not really.
But, we get by just fine.

Is Phuket safe?
We're in Kamala beach, and so far so good.  Actually, it's very European family oriented, and none of us have felt one unsafe moment.  The locals are friendly, and men don't do cat calls like Latino men tended to do in Latin America.

What is the money?
Thai bhat.  Roughly 30 baht to 1 US dollar.