MONEY
We didn't use traveller's cheques so we can't give any info there. We brought with us cash euro and cash USD, VISA card and Maestro/Cirrus card.
Thailand: ATM's readily available (much more widespread than in Europe). If you only stay a few weeks bring cash euro (better rate than from ATM) but because we didn''t want to lug around a fortune in cash we used mainly ATM in Thailand. VISA is also widely accepted (generally without commission).
Myanmar: you have to buy as an independent traveler 200 USD worth of Foreign Exchange Certificates. You can use these to pay hotels, entrance fees... so if you stay longer than a few days you won't have trouble spending them and thus it's not worth paying 10 USD or such at the airport counter where you have to buy them to buy less than the 200 USD. There are no ATM''s in Myanmar. Euro is accepted in banks to buy FEC's at a normal rate. Outside banks nobody wants euros, only USD. Watch out for torn, dirty, old, stained, scribbled notes because they won't be accepted under any circumstances (it happened to us, so trust us).
VISA can be used to buy FEC in the bank at 3 % commission, and for the rest only some top hotels and foreign companies like Balloons over Bagan accept VISA, so don't rely on it too much.
In Myanmar we paid hotels in USD but for things like food and souvenirs it''s best to have kyat. Change in Yangon because you get nowhere a better rate than there. Do not change in the street, but go inside a shop or restaurant where you can check and count the money.
Laos: there are no ATM's. Euro, USD accepted in banks. In Laos it's best to have kip, Thai baht and USD because depending on what the party you discuss with wants they charge a different rate and the differences can be really enormous. Visa is accepted in travel agencies and hotels but they routinely charge at least 3% commission, so it's to be avoided.
Cambodia: there are no ATM's, better to pay in cash USD all around. You get change in riel (at a better rate than the bank gives) that you can use to pay for small expenses. VISA again at least 3% commission everywhere.
Vietnam: there are ATM's but you can only withdraw 2 mio VND per transaction (about 130 USD), the bank slaps 20000 VND on top of the other costs so the rate is really bad ...bring cash! VISA again 3% commission at least. Again torn, old, dirty, scribbled bank notes are not accepted.
Malaysia: plenty of ATM's, VISA no problem, euro no problem.
BOOKS AND TRAVEL GUIDES
We left with 4 reading books bought on a flea market and through a system of continuous exchange with books that are left behind by other travelers in guesthouses you can keep on reading for free.
This does not work in Myanmar (no books available, too precious?), Vietnam (no free exchange, you have to swap 2 for 1 or give a book and pay a surplus) and Malaysia (at least where we've been in Malaysia ... not many budget guesthouses?).
In Bangkok, Cambodia and Vietnam you can buy copies of books for a few USD. The offer ranges from the latest John Grisham to the whole range of Lonely Planet.
Lesson: if you plan to go on a long trip, prepare the essentials via the Internet and buy the actual LP guide books in SE Asia (and to be cheap buy the copies). We bought 5 LP's for every country in Belgium before we left and during our stay new editions of Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam came out...We bought a copied new Vietnam edition and a copied Malaysia edition in Vietnam. We also brought with us the various Insight Guides (not available in copies) which contain beautiful pictures and give good background info but they weigh a ton.
LAUNDRY
In Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam it's very easy to find a place to give your laundry and get it back the next day. We did not see this in Malaysia.
Prices below or at most 1 USD per kg (ironed).
Lesson: bring just a few items of clothing, it's very easy to have them washed and anyway clothes are so cheap there you'll buy certainly new things over there.
TRAVEL GEAR
If you start your trip in Thailand or Vietnam, bring so to speak only the clothes on your back. You can buy good quality copies of Jack Wolfskin, North Face, Lowe Alpine backpacks for a fraction of the price in Europe (small: 5-10 USD, big: 15-20 USD).
Clothes are very cheap (1 to 2 USD for a T-shirt) so bring only stuff from home you plan to leave behind. Tailor made clothes are a specialty of Bangkok and Hoi An in Vietnam.
Contact lenses and glasses are readily available in Thailand and Vietnam and at a fraction of the price in Europe.
CAMERA
We had with us a digital camera Fuji Finepix with SmartMedia cards of 64 and 128 MB (about 150 photos together) - it happened occasionally that we didn't have memory enough. We worked also with 2 batteries and bought in Vietnam a third ... recharging takes 5 hrs via the camera and a battery lasts only half a day.
We also had with us a laptop to transfer the photos from the Smartmedia to the hard disk. Of these photos we took back-ups on CD-R's which we sent home in the mail.
We did have a classic reflex camera with us in case anything would happen with the digital camera but we didn't use it. The digital camera for the moment still has the great advantage that many people are thrilled to see their own picture in real time. It's a guaranteed hit with the local population. The disadvantage is the reaction speed (especially frustrating when photographing moving objects, animals etc).
SAFETY
In short, SE Asia is a dream. Not once did we feel unsafe, threatened or such. Hazardous is the traffic, especially in Cambodia and Vietnam.
SCAMS
We ran into a whole lot of scams. A popular one in every country is as follows: children ask you where you're from. Then they say they collect coins from every country and please can't you give them one. The next unsuspecting tourist gets then confronted with a bagful of euro coins and the question if he can exchange them to local currency "because we can not do anything with them in our country"...
Commission games are also very popular. Taxi drivers, bus drivers, and almost anyone else you come in contact with has something to recommend to you (shop, hotel, restaurant) where, if you go there, he collects a commission. Happens everywhere but Vietnam is notorious. If a tuk-tuk in Bangkok asks a ridiculously low price you know what to expect also.
Bills: always check the bills you get. Very often there are mistakes but they are as often in your advantage as to your disadvantage (finally I think they simply have problems with calculus). Never order something from a menu which has no prices (happens frequently in Vietnam) unless you"ve asked for the price first.
Theft: the only theft we are sure of happened to us in the post office in Chiang Mai where in the confusion over a mail parcel someone stole a 1000 Baht note. We suspect we also had a small amount stolen on the boat we chartered in Halong Bay.
Overcharging: first of all, agree on a price before you set off and only pay when you get there. The worst people are tuk-tuk drivers in Bangkok, motor taxis in Cambodia and cyclo drivers in Vietnam. One remedy: read LP or ask around. Study the map so you are sure how far it is you want to go (everything is "very far" according to these guys).
Once when we arrived in the middle of the night in Hanoi we insisted on using a metered taxi instead of bargaining for a fixed fee and we found out the following day that the guy had driven us twice round Hanoi before dropping us at the hotel...
Try to pay with small change, if you hand a big note 9 times out of 10 the driver will claim not to have any change...
HEALTH
Diarrhea: apart from the occasional half day of cramps, no serious diarrhea or other illnesses to be noted. We did take 1 daily capsule of Perenterol (a yeast stimulating the natural intestinal flora) as prevention against diarrhea.
Malaria: we took the whole 6 months doxycyxlin, an antibiotic. 1 capsule per day until 4 weeks after return is the dose. Doxycyclin is readily available in Thailand and Vietnam (we didn't ask in the other countries) without prescription at about 1 to 1.5 USD for 20 (much much cheaper than Europe).
PACKING
Tips for packing your backpack: never put anything loose in your backpack or you're guaranteed a big search every evening. Pack clothes, shoes etc in plastic bags (one for shirts, one for shirts, one for T-shirts).
We also took with us a tin box. In the beginning this was simply stuffed with gear, but as you travel and you buy things that have to be handled with care (things that can get broken or dented) it's nice to have a strong container to put these in (we transported silver and jade this way).
POST, PHONE AND EMAIL
In Myanmar there is no phone or internet. You can use mail but it's always via an account of e.g. a hotel and thus it's expensive.
Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia: internet, internet phone (much cheaper than regular long-distance phone) on every street corner. Connections sometimes excruciatingly slow. Prices from 0.5 USD to 2 UD per hour.
Vietnam: internet readily available, alas no internet phone (so it's expensive to call from Vietnam).
Post: we sent 4 parcels home: 3 from Thailand (2 sea mail, 1 air mail) and 1 from Vietnam. All of them arrived in Belgium safe and sound. The Thai ones took 6 weeks to deliver, the Vietnamese one 3 months but at half the cost (about 50 USD for 22 kg). Malaysia is apparently even cheaper. In Belgium we only paid 9.9 euro flat fee per parcel for import and custom charges but the parcels were unopened (we claimed "souvenirs" for contents).
VISAS
For Thailand no visa is needed if you stay max. 4 weeks. For all the other countries (except Malaysia) you need a visa. It&'s definitely much faster and cheaper obtaining your visa in Asia than elsewhere in the world. You can go yourself or pay a travel agent to do so.
We bought the Myanmar visa in Bangkok, the Lao visa via a travel agency in Chiang Mai, the Cambodian visa in Vientiane and the Vietnam visa via a travel agent in Phnom Penh. Every embassy seems to charge its own fee and has its own regulations for issuing so ask around (especially Vietnam seems erratic in this ... one thing is certain: the best place to get a VN visa is Phnom Penh). It is not so that Bangkok is the very best place to get visas issued.
Generally you need 2 photos and the waiting period ranges from 1 to 4 days.