Small World. I know Horsham reasonably well. I am originally from Melbournes outer eastern suburbs and we relocated to Mildura 2 years ago.
Yes, most of Phi-Phi has been rebuilt, some for the better and some for the worst, but there is still much construction taking place. We were there in November last year.
On your taxi question, we have fitted up tp 8 adults in a Phuket style tuk-tuk but the other option is booking a freelance tour guide..aka man with large 4wd/mini van. Plenty to choose from, they will charge 700-1000 baht for around 3-4 hours or a little more for a full day. Just lay down the law early in the piece if you dont want to go a tailor or jewellery shop.

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I love Thailand this much

Yes ... Im always amazed at what a small world we live in!
Just can I ask you what form of money you use in Thailand ie. cash, credit card, atm card, travellers cheques or travelex card??? Or maybe a mix of them??? Im just a bit undecided about how to take my money over there ... having had lots of different opinions voiced about what is the best way to do it...
Thanx

I always take cash and have a credit card only as back up.
I keep it on me in a secure inside pocket while I am travelling between locations and lock it in the room safe when I get to a location. You then dont lose on conversions, dont pay commissions, dont have to take your passport around to change TC's,and dont have to worry about a machine eating or damaging my card. People will tell you that you run the risk of loosing cash and that is the risk you take, but to this day I havn't had an issue. I have certainly misplaced more cards than wads of cash in my day.

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I love Thailand this much

Thanx for that ... I just needed someone (just one person!!!) to tell me they do what I do and dont have any probs - so my mind is made up to do what I wd usually do - that is - take cash with credit card for backup and maybe take my atm card just in case it does actually work!!!
Where we are staying in both Patong and Bangkok are large places with in room safes ... so Im pretty sure what I leave in the room will be ok.