Not recently; and this may seem like a cheesy answer – but if I were going again soon, I’d just go to Barnes y Noble and peruse 3 Lonely Planet guides for a couple of hours.
But I can’t wait to see what other people write. Travel writing, mmmm.

I would not go to Thailand now amid the political turmoil. If I had to pick, I would say Peru, although I have never been there.

I’ve been to Singapore which was amazing. It’s right next to Malaysia but I haven’t been there, I think Kuala Lumpur would be fun though. I love asian food and asian cultures.

And i agree, thailand wouldn’t be a good choice right now.

I traveled with someone from Malaysia and know people who have visited Thailand and met people from Peru. Never actually visited any of these places myself, although I may check out Peru later this year. They are all very different in many ways…I wouldn’t say one is better than any others. I think you’d have the most buying power in Thailand or Malaysia over Peru, but not sure.

Malaysia is a very Muslim country – it is the official country religion, with over half its population Muslim. Their religion is printed on their ID cards, and they are segregated by religion. Muslim being ‘first class’, Hindu being ‘second class’ I think. The Muslims go to all the best schools, etc.

My friend that went to Thailand also visited Laos and Cambodia I believe in the same summer. You might be able to see both Thailand and Malaysia while in the area, but I always like to focus on a small area and get to know it well rather than rush to “see everything”.

Of course, it might be a lot cheaper to get to Peru than the other two, depending on where you’re starting from. The Peruvian I most recently met said the food in Peru is better than Mexican. I think you have more buying power in central america, excepting Costa Rica. Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua all look more affordable than Peru.

I live in Malaysia right now. I would say visiting Malaysia would make good sense, you have more buying power there as the things are still ‘cheap’ compared to US dollars. You would experience various cultures (in fact, 3-in-1: Malay, Chinese and Indian; plus aborigines/indigenous ethnic cultures) in one country. Lots of shopping malls in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city.
It is a bit risky to travel to Thailand now, especially Bangkok (political turmoil). Nevertheless, Thailand is an exciting place for every true blood travelers. Many Malaysians like to go for tour there once in a while.
I don’t know much about Peru, as I have less knowledge of the culture and lifestyle there.

I visited Thailand in 2008. It was amazing… we had a tour guide most of the time so that helped. We visited Bangkok, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Phi Phi Islands, Khrabi, and a little bit of Phuket. Northern Thailand is beautiful… but then again, so is south near the islands. Bangkok was cool, but way too crowded. Let me know if you’d like an email address of our tour guide, or more information.

Here are some photos of Thailand that I took while I was there.

@silverfly Yes, please! That would be awesome. Thank you! :) Beautiful pictures, by the way.

Chile is a beautiful country as is Thailand (returned just before the recent political problems erupted). I don’t know how you selected Chile, Thailand and Malaysia, but China and Viet Nam are both unique and worth considering. Really like the people in Viet Nam and China.