Southeast Asia forum

"But part of the experience is travelling like the locals on beaten up buses or third class trains."

In my view it's the bad part of the experience...

The locals also drive drunk all the time, wear no helmuts on motorcycles, and drink Lao Cao which is so bad it gives white lightning a good name.

I do agree with altmtl in that if you stick to regions that are close together you could hit all four countries you have described, but I am not sure that meets your actual intent.

Since you are probably starting in Bangkok that should eat a week. The city is huge but most of the sights are located closer to the Chao Praya river. A little research here can steer you there. There are a lot of hotels of all ranges around the Sukhimvite area which is also loaded with all varieties of restaraunts and nightlife. Once you've had enough of Bangkok, a lot of people like to check out Ayudaya and Kanchanaburi. They are all relatively close to Bangkok. After that you will probably have to decide (if you don't want to backtrack) whether you want to go north to Chiang Mai and then on to Laos or south and hit the islands and beaches or East and head towards Cambodia and Angkor Wat. There are a number of interesting places you can stop along the way, so you just have to make up your mind how you want to handle that.

I think it's a good idea not to fix a timeline and simply move on when a place is no longer interesting for you. That makes it stress free and relaxing.