We drank Sangsom sets - Thai whiskey served in a bucket of ice with a coke and the local Red Bull, which was so potent it was forbidden to export it.
We stayed up all night for a full-moon party on the beach. We tried fried ants and grasshoppers - I even had a bite of a battered scorpion.
Ahhh, what a difference 15 years makes.
When I visited Thailand this time, as a 34-year-old, my experience was somewhat altered.
Our group was met at the airport and transferred to a five-star hotel in the city.
Shown to our 19th floor rooms (not a cockroach in sight; instead a bowl of exotic lychees and chilled bottled water), we showered (in hot water) then met downstairs for cocktails at a stylish bar.
Sipping my drink as I sank into the cushions, letting the familiar woozy jetlag feeling wash over me, I pondered what my 19-year-old self would have made of all this finery.
Would she think I was a sell-out? Who cared. I was more likely to meet Leo DiCaprio in this bar than on the Khao San Rd, anyway.
When we travelled north to Chiang Mai in the late 90s we had opted for the cheapest transportation - an overnight bus (which would also save us the cost of a night's accommodation).
It was adequately clean, but the trip was terrifying. It was made all the worse by the bus driver's first stop being at a bottle shop to pick up a slab of beer. For himself.
As he chugged on his Chang beer, my friend and I struggled to relax, watching the bus veer and lurch to the wrong side of the road.
On my latest trip, we were transported north in a deluxe, air-conditioned super coach, with massaging chairs, gold-tasselled curtains and - most comfortingly of all - seat belts.
Rooftop bars in Bangkok. Photo / Supplied
Once upon a time, we would hike halfway around every city we visited, trying to find signposts we could understand or locals who spoke enough English to understand us, in the hope of stumbling upon sites of interest.
This time, our guides picked us up from our hotel, drove us to sites such as the ruins of Phimai (Thailand's spectacular answer to Cambodia's Siem Reap), the silk-weaving village of Pakthongchai, the ceramics village of Dan Kwian.
Instead of debating the merits of incomprehensible menus, before deciding on a place that had picture menus with translations in five languages, we were taken to beautiful eateries and had delicacies such as the special roasted duck in Korat, the flower water at Lad Mayom, the grilled fish near Lamtakong Dam. We drank cocktails at a bar on the 55th floor, overlooking Bangkok - not a bucket in sight.
We were taken to markets with far fewer touristy souvenir options and little-to-no English speakers, but real prices, real finds and a real Thai experience - and no hassling hawkers.
Instead of sleeping on mattresses or hammocks at best, and sarongs on a bamboo floor at worst (which I'm sure my 34-year-old body would not have appreciated), we stayed in beautiful hotels with luxurious linens and all the finest creature comforts.
I know what you're thinking. Sell-out. My inner 19-year-old is screaming it, too.
But even if it is cheating a little bit, isn't it better to see the best bits of Thailand and to be taken there by Thais who know what they're doing and who don't scream "tourist" (even if you do)?
Sure, I had more creature comforts and fresh sheets and air-conditioning than I did 15 years ago.
But I think I also experienced more of real Thai life, Thai cooking and Thai people than when I trod the well-beaten path to The Beach, all those years ago.
CHECKLIST
Getting there: Thai Airways flies direct from Auckland to Bangkok every Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
The writer was a guest of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
