I was wondering, are tourist going/staying away from Thailand in general or is it just the South. I'm planning on going to Ko Chang (in Trad province) early January. I was thinking it would be much less crowded due to the tsunami and people staying away from Thailand. Then it occurred to me that beach goers may simply go to beaches on the gulf side (hua hin, pattaya, samui, etc.) making them even more crowded than they would already be.

Anybody in any of these places and know which of these scenarios is the real one?

A valid question but difficult to guess what people are going to do for their holidays in the future.

Replies here will only be a guess.

Details of hotel bookings from TAT might show a trend but first you would have to factor out transferred bookings from new bookings.

If I were you I would make or re-confrim my booking for Trat.

East Coast resorts may have many more tourists than they expected.

At the moment it seems that most of those who are staying in Thailand are leaving the devastation in the West Coast heading for the Gulf Coast.

Mates of mine have told me that Bangkok, Ko Samui and Ko Chang are experiencing an influx of displaced tourists. I'd expect it to be pretty much the same in most places. Book ahead if you want to be on the safe side.

Expect places to be a lot busier than usual away from the disaster area.