Wish I got your reply before leaving, cokey! Would have known about Cirrus then. Had to do all currency exchange stuff at Patong We used Western Union, though. However, we did feel all the money exchange counters were actually ripping people off their bucks!! We got an average of 4.93 Baht per HKD....guess that's bad...right?
We rented a 2-wheeler, too cheap and great fun! Andaman was great, very quiet and beautiful. We later moved to Patong and enjoyed the liveliness there!!...and of course, the AMAZING bargains we got!! I never had so much fun bargaining! Would recommend all to bargain for upto 60% discount, which is what I got!!
Phuket is one of the best getaways from HK, I would say!