You've got a wide number of options open to you.

You could stick to one country Thailand for example...start with Bangkok take a trip to Northern Thailand (Chaing-Mai, Chaing-Rai, Golden Triangle) and finish off with a beach area such as Phuket, Krabi or Koh Samui. Bangkok...personally prefer to be on the River, but there is a huge choice of quality hotels throughout the city (Bangkok Marriott Resort & Spa is a good all rounder and on the river...more luxurious choices the Peninsula, Oriental, Shangri-La).

Plenty of operators out there can arrange things for you...Premier, Hayes & Jarvis, Kuoni...flights will be on scheduled airlines, hotel standards generally high, the board basis is usually room only or B&B because there are so many eating options in and out of the hotels. Eating out is generaly cheap.

Borneo is usually twinned with Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. In Borneo people tend to do either the states of Sabah or Sarawak. Either one can afford you wildlife trips and beaching opportunities.

Sri Lanka is crying out for tourists at the moment and quite a few tour operators have tour and beach holidays in their brochures. Sri Lanka is a beautiful island the people usually gentle and welcoming to tourists. Kuoni do quite a few different tours and you could combine a tour with a week on the beach either in Sri Lanka or the Maldives. The flights are usually with scheduled airlines Sri Lanka Airlines or Emirates both excellent companies. The price of drinks,meals & souvenirs are really cheap.
Another option is Malaysia, if you have three weeks you can acomplish a lot, a tour of the Mainland a week on the beach (Penang, Langkawi) and/or a side trip to Borneo. A tour of Borneo can be quite tiring as it is very hot and humid but definitely worth a visit. Malaysia is also a very reasonable place pricewise.

just throwing in another option! We are looking at flying to Ho Chi Mihn (Saigon)City from Bkk. It is just over an hour flight and about £100 return. November is a littlle difficult weather wise in Thailand.there can be a lot of rain in the favourite beach areas. However Northern Thailand is ok then.

Hello

We are planning a trip to Thailand in July, Bangkok then on to Koh Samui. Can anyone tell me what the weather is like at that time of year, I know its Monsoon season, how much rain does it get and does it affect your holiday. Also is this time of year particulary humid? Any advice would be appreciated.

Cheers

Rainfall for the month in July is averaging around 130mm (a bit over 5 inches). I imagine the concern is whether that falls slowly over 6 hours a day or drops in bucketloads for an hour and then clears up afterwards!!

Bangkok will be very humid

We did Bangkok/Koh Samui in March - superb! Next year we hope to do Langkawi and Borneo, or maybe Sumatra instead of Borneo, haven't decided yet.

Have a great time whatever you go for!

I'd second Judith's comments about Sri Lanka and the Maldives, although that was one of the few holidays we've had that we did not book through Kuoni.
SL is, in my opinion, the ultimate in tour destinations. In just a few days you can see beaches, tropical jungle, tea plantations and countryside that reminds you of Cornwall in Spring. You can see old and new temples, monkeys and elephants and climb a 'mountain'.
The sea was too rough for swimming while we were there.
The Maldives were the opposite, at least on our little island. We don't dive so we had the whole island almost to ourselves most days, with nothing to do (but sunbathe, swim, snorkel and read) but, after a while, we got into 'beach sloth' mode.