Can I say you should go over a few weeks earlier and enjoy the country, its an amazing place, so much history and so peaceful, the people are so wonderful.

I second Nicole's suggestion.  The highlight of my "pre-surgery" tourism was spending a few days at Ko Si Chang Island.  It's about a 2 hr bus ride south of Bangkok to Sri Racha, then a 45 minute ferry ride to the island.  The main (almost only form) of transportation is mopeds.  There's a port on one side of the island with a nice hotel, and a really nice beach on the other side with a slightly lesser quality hotel.  I was there three nights, had a great time, and the room(s), moped, food etc, came to about $150 US.

Cheers
Kim