Ultimate Thailand Explorers contestants Ben and Brian were kind enough to answer a couple of questions about the upcoming competition. From December 10 through December 15, they'll be exploring Pattaya and sharing their experiences in real time with people across the globe.

Suzanne: Where are you from?

Ben and Brian: We live in Orlando, Florida

S: What do you think about Thailand?

B&B: Neither of us have been to Thailand before.

S:So you must be really excited about the contest?

B&B: We are looking forward to learning about the culture, sampling the local cuisine and of course discovering the many attractions and beaches that Pattaya has.

Pattaya is quite popular with European travelers but most Americans don't know about this bustling resort city. Find out more about Pattaya here. Ben and Brian already have their blog up, check out how they're preparing for their trip to Thailand.

Remember to log onto Ultimate Thailand Explorers to cast your vote and enter to win some cool prizes.

The votes are in the the folks at the Ultimate Thailand Explorer contest have announced the five pairs who will compete for $10,000. As you may recall, the contest is sponsored by the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Thousands of people posted Youtube video entries explaining why they should be chosen for an all-expense paid trip to Thailand where they'd blog, twitter and post videos about their experience. Check out the five final teams on the Ultimate Thailand Explorer website. The five teams will arrive in Thailand on December 8 and begin a week-long tour of one of five popular destinations in Thailand. They'll post updates on the website every day and viewers get to vote on the winner. If you log in and vote, you get a chance to win lots of great prizes, too.

The free seat sale is starting at Air Asia's website on November 11 for flights from May 2010 to October 2010. You'll only pay airport tax, so tickets for flights inside Thailand will cost less than $5! Flights from Thailand to other countries in the region are around $20. Seriously good deals. You have to act quickly as the free seats go fast. If last year is any indicator of what will happen this time around, there won't be any seats left by the end of the day.

If you're following the news in the region, you may have noticed that Thailand and Cambodia have been arguing a lot lately. At the heart of the dispute is some land surrounding the Preah Vihear Temple. The temple itself is in Cambodia, some of the surrounding grounds are in Thailand. The two countries have literally come to blows over this (and sadly for tourists, you cannot access the temple through Thailand right now).

To make matters worse, Thailand's exiled former prime minister (the one ousted in a coup a few years ago), has now agreed to be an advisor to the Cambodian government. Thailand reacted by pulling their diplomats out of Cambodia. Cambodia did the same. Who knows what will happen next.

The good news is that, at least for now, the land borders between Cambodia and Thailand remain open. This is great news for people who need to extend their visas. You can only extend a visa on arrival for 7-days from inside Thailand, but if you cross a border and return, you'll get another 30 days in the country (you cannot do this indefinitely, you can only stay for 90 days out of any 180 with such visas). The Aranyapratet/Poi Pet border between Thailand and Cambodia is where most go since the trip can be done in one day.