travel plans

At this point I have changed my plans a fair amount, and I've researched extensively what would be safe options. For when Katherine and I are traveling around, we have made some different decisions so as to accommodate safety to a greater extent. First off, I have to go to Kolkata because that is where my flight home is from, but I will not be spending the two weeks there that I had intended.
July 17th is the graduation ceremony, and then I will be traveling by van (provided by AUW) with three other AA teachers. Although it means I'll have to spend a day in a hotel in Dhaka, I don't mind the extra cost because the trains are really uncomfortable and rather dangerous for a woman alone. Then, when I get to Dhaka, that really nice gentleman Micky will be taking care of me for the day; he's providing me a driver and taking me out to a nice dinner, as a farewell to Bangladesh. He is known to many of the faculty, and very paternal towards me, so I feel safe with him.
Then, Katherine and I decided to go to Thailand for a little over a week, so that we could get out of this area and see some beautiful places...tourism is extremely popular in Thailand, so they are used to westerners, and we are not such oddities. Also, travelers are infinitely safer there, and it is not a Muslim country, so we don't have to worry about covering all of our skin and wearing the headscarf. Pretty much all of the other teachers have spent time in Thailand, and it was the most highly recommended place out of anywhere within easy flying distance, for both safety and beauty. We will be arriving in Bangkok on the 19th, my flight getting there midmorning, and Katherine arriving an hour later, coming from Germany. We will then be taking a sleeper train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai; we booked a private cabin (with a lock) so that we will be safe there, even though the trains are reputed to be very well-patrolled and comfortable even in a normal seat. We booked a really nice hotel (which is still only about $15 a night, split between the two of us) called Chang Puak Hotel, and they will pick us up from the station. Look up pictures of Chiang Mai, it looks idyllic. The thing I am most excited about is that there is a large cat protection center, where you can play with baby lions and tigers (they don't get vicious until they are over a year old). There's also lots of beautiful jungle, mountains, marketplaces, and temples. We will be in Chiang Mai until the evening of the 26th, at which point we will return on the sleeper train back to Bangkok, and fly to Kolkata. In the interim (around the 22nd), my friend and mentor Tamanna will be joining us. She will be invaluable while we are in Kolkata, because she speaks Bangla, some Arabic, and Hindi, and knows her way around. We got lots of recommendations from the other teachers on where is okay to go in Kolkata (where to eat, shop, visit museums, etc), and booked a cheap but well-regarded hotel that's been reviewed on Lonely Planet. We'll all be staying together, and so it's even cheaper when the room is split three ways. Then, Katherine and Tamanna and I all have flights that leave the afternoon of August 1st, and I'll arrive back in JFK at 6am on August 2nd.