By starting points are you referring to where to fly from/with etc...?
Or are you referring to where's good to go?
If the latter...haven't been in Vietnam yet
But my advice on Thailand is...don't stay too long in Bangkock. 2-3 days is loads of time IMO.
Koh Samui is lovely. A must. Chaweng is where you want to be.
Koh Pha Ngan is great too. Avoid the full and half moon parties (unless you're into being out of your tree and having people shitting outside your hut at night)!!! Haadrin is cool though.
Krabbi is nice too (Andaman coast)
Koh Phi Phi is nice for snorkelling and diving. Bit claustrophobic though. Try to get a nice hut. Very hard!!
Forget Phuket. It's a complete hole.
Watch out for those lady boys!!! They're everywhere. One of them took a fancy to me one night in a 7Eleven and I only went in for M&M's!!!
Another one wanted my drink one night. When I gave it to him/her (excuse the pun) he/she showed me all his/her...em...bits!!! Very disturbing :\
Pay for air conditioning.
Piggy.