Yeh well I guess it is a lot of money, actually it was for 14 days and not 12, so I think that works out at about $230 per day. I can tell you roughly how the money was spent ..... with approx. amounts which is for 2 people, but as I said, buying stuff for a family of 5

Food/drinks/snacks/including bottle vodka $430
Massages/pedicures/facials $80
DCDs/CDs $210
Stuff bought for ME/the house $530
Stuff bought for my daughter $430
Stuff bought for my hubby $100
Stuff bought for older son $220
Stuff bought for younger son $220
Tours/trips/taxis/tuk tuks $330
Phone calls back home (will send emails next time!) $70
Gifts for friends etc. $230
Duty free stuff (Grog!) $50
Miscellaneous stuff $260 (this includes doctors fees, medicines and our room upgrade in Bangkok cost of $130)

So ... I dont really think my spending was that excessive ... it was in line (roughly) with what I had budgeted for. If you can get away with only $1000 spent in 12 days, then thats great!! If we had spent more time just lazing around the pool, I guess we could have spent less, but for me, its not every day (or even every year!) that I get the opportunity to travel o/s so I try and make the most of it. This didnt of course, include accommodation, apart from the $130 room upgrade. Our cost for all airfare, taxes, transfers, accommodation (10 nites Patong Merlin and 3 nites Novatel BKK), breakfasts and travel insurance for my daughter and myself was about $3,100, which I thought was dirt cheap! Not too many places you can holiday in Australia for that kind of money, in those kind of places .....

Kitty