It’s hard to believe that five hard-core shoppers can come up with a fourth of a metric ton in check-in luggage, but yes, that’s exactly the situation my friends and I found myself in at Bangkok Airport last week.

Visiting Thailand is such an amazing trip. On the tempting invitation of an ex-boyfriend to join him in a spa-cooking-partying Thailand trip, I hastily cleared my work and training schedules. Thai Airways is promoting several travel packages to key cultural cities in Thailand, with hassle-free packages for luxurious spa breaks, family trips or golfing,.

We settled for a three-city tour-Chiang Mai for mountain culture, Phuket for beach culture and Bangkok for urban culture-spread over a week, with equal time for shopping, eating, sunning and relaxing.

Majestic beauty- our first stop was the Northern city of Chiang Mai. Blessed with majestic natural beauty, it also has over 300 temples, with one nestled on the mountaintop- Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep-which has a commanding view of city. Like good tourists, we vogue every angle of the temple and its gigantic temple bells.

Spa resorts- The second city on our Thai break was world-famous Phuket, known for its spa resorts and entertaining nightlife. Our luxurious resort was Ban Thai Beach resort & Spa, where the rooms opened into a courtyard pool-just perfect for me to dip in and think about how I could be in the midst of training for the upcoming Ironman 70.3 in Camsun.

Kilo damage- Shopping was limited in Phuket because it was raining, so most of the kilo damage was accumulated in Bangkok, Our hotel, Centera Grand at Central World, is the best location to be if you are die-hard shopper. There are over four of five huge malls within walking distance to the hotel-Central World Plaza, Siam Square, Gaysorn Plaza and Siam Paragon.

Shopping can be truly so much fun, at least until the credit card bills arrive. Thank goodness Thailand has a Value Added Tax refund to take some of the sting off.