Hi Dustin.I'll move this over to the Thailand forum for you, and I'll also help you begin to explore your preparations for coming to Thailand through my own response. You've given a pretty long list of stuff you want to learn about (and there have been entire books written based on just these points) so we should probably take it bit by bit rather than all in one go, okay?
First of all, the important thing to consider is that you plan to come in March. The most exciting diving in Thailand is in the Similans and Surins National Marine Parks, and they are open from Nov 1 to May 1. So my advice is to do a liveaboard that visits dive sites in those two parks. By that time of year the nutrients in the water are typically greater than earlier in the season, and therefore we have more plankton-eating pelagics around at that time of year than earlier, so I think it's a great time to do a liveaboard here.
As for "splurging," actually, I think it's pretty cost-effective to dive from a liveaboard when you consider the per-dive cost. By the time you pay for a hotel and meals, and then get just two or three dives in a day, a liveaboard trip, with four dives per day quickly reduces the per-dive cost. But some people would prefer a more leisurely schedule, perhaps diving every other day, to the intensive pace of liveaboard diving. You can do a short liveaboard as well, and if you like it, maybe get back on board for a second trip. The nice thing about that time of year is that it's not as busy, and you can usually change your plans on the fly without too much trouble.
If you have additional days and would like to daytrip diving either before or after your liveaboard trip, there are some really lovely sites around Phuket. I don't personally get tired of them or find them tedious, but then I like pretty reefs, and I like not feeling rushed in getting gear set up, having the briefings, and preparing to enter the water. The local dive sites are some distance away, so they require longish boat rides out and back. But the boats are quite comfortable and we spend the surface intervals traveling from one dive site to the next, or having lunch, so the time really passes fast, and before you know it the day is over.
Whether you choose to do your AOW on board a liveaboard or through daytrips depends on how much relaxation you'd like when you're not diving while on a liveaboard. Liveaboard diving is pretty intensive, and doing reading and classroom sessions between dives and at night might not be especially appealing to everybody. But for others, it's more time-effective to do the course on board, especially if they have a tight travel schedule.
I think that's probably enough to get you started, isn't it?
