Although we tried to learn Thai using a one-month on-line subscription to Rosetta Stone, we needed a lot more time with the software. We thought we would take some Thai lessons in Bangkok, so we took a cab to the American University Language Institute. We sat through a free hour of what was a 30-hour intro program. Basically, they teach an immersion approach and do not let you speak in class (or out) for the first 1000 hours. Needless to say, this wouldn't work f...

Got to hotel after an uneventful 40-minute cab ride. We were upgraded to a beautiful suite at the Royal Orchid Bangkok (all that work travel was worth a LOT of hotel points!), and we slept like babies. We are going to use Bangkok as a staging location for the rest of Thailand. We will return here at the end of March, so we'll do more sightseeing then.