If by Pankgor you mean Pangkor ;) then we only picked it because it was a drive away from KL. Indeed we got the impression that east coast + perhentian islands were something we missed. Ah well there are constraints in every journey, and you learn while traveling (another argument for going longer, or coming back ;)).
Overall Thailand is still my fav (with pearls like Koh Samet and Koh Phi Phi, we also had a wonderful time in Khoa Sok national park. But back then we skipped the entire north, and still felt like 1 month was too little), Vietnam had filthy beaches and generally a less good vibe, but we skipped the north there as well, that was probably a mistake. But I loved the food and people of Malaysia, most relaxed trip so far, just the kindest of people everywhere.
Malaysia is SEA Lite, it's basically West (at least the mainland part, never been to Borneo) compared to rest of the SEA
yeah, one of the most memorable experiences from my numerous stays in Thailand was doing multi-day Mae Hong Son loop on motorbike (it was really old semi-auto Yamaha or Honda, like 70s or 80s), highly recommended, Pai area is amazing, Chiang Mai is also interesting place, can't say same about the other two Mae, also Kanchanaburi area is one of my favorite places in TH where I've been numerous times and my personal favorite island is Ko Phangan, spent there few weeks on many ocassions (never been interested in FMP though)
agree with Vietnam, not very friendly country, didn't do much in north besides Hanoi (OK), Ninh Binh (great for motorbiking, though worse than Yangshuo in China or Vang Vieng in Laos), Halong Bay is nice but way too touristy, NB was nice empty
some people find it blasphemy - but I would say Malaysian cuisine (great mix of Malay, Indian and Chinese cuisine) is the best in SEA (especially in Penang) even compared to Thai, filipino probably the worst, might as well eat food at home in Europe (though their cakes in small bakeries in every street are great), Vietnam/Cambodia/Laos about same meh
by my experience higher the elevation, friendlier the people (same appliest to basically every SEA country I visited), the kindest/friendliest people I've met anywhere in SEA were in Dieng Plateau, but if I had to pick up the country Philipines would be by far nr. 1 in friendliness, Malaysia would be nr. 2 I guess, Vietnam would be on the opposite end, Thai people (at least in contact with tourists) are usually very fake, though I've had also many nice interactions with them (usually when no money is involved)
Overall Thailand is still my fav (with pearls like Koh Samet and Koh Phi Phi, we also had a wonderful time in Khoa Sok national park. But back then we skipped the entire north, and still felt like 1 month was too little), Vietnam had filthy beaches and generally a less good vibe, but we skipped the north there as well, that was probably a mistake. But I loved the food and people of Malaysia, most relaxed trip so far, just the kindest of people everywhere.