Spec me a...Holiday to Thailand

mr tommo

mr tommo

mr tommo

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So, me and the missus want to go away somewhere next year. Will have to be either May 29th or 30th, for 1 week only. (shes a school teacher so not much choice for holidays)

I don't want to go for any of the obvious, holiday rep, full of ***** european holiday destinations. Been there, done that.

Quite fancied Egypt and she really wants to go there. However, Ive always fancied Island hopping/back packing around Thailand for a couple of months, but thats not going to happen now.

So I was thinking a week in Thailand was a good idea. I know I'd lose a day due to the flights so I'd only actually get 6 days there, but thats better than 2 week in egypt to me.

Where would be the best place to stay for the week? Phuket?

Won't be clubbing or anything like that but don't want somewhere thats dead either.

What are the must do things and what should I totally avoid? I don't want to be sitting around a pool all day :)

Also, is Thailand still as cheap as I imagine it to be or has all the tourism ruined the place?
 
We're off to Thailand in March, doing some PADI diving qualifications. That kind of thing sound interesting? The diving off Phuket, I believe, is excellent, or you can get a boat to any of the smaller islands and dive in some gorgeous locations.

It certainly doesn't seem expensive to me, we're looking at £800 maximum cost for two weeks (not including the diving courses).
 
platypus said:
We're off to Thailand in March, doing some PADI diving qualifications. That kind of thing sound interesting? The diving off Phuket, I believe, is excellent, or you can get a boat to any of the smaller islands and dive in some gorgeous locations.

It certainly doesn't seem expensive to me, we're looking at £800 maximum cost for two weeks (not including the diving courses).
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Sounds awesome, something I'd absoluetly love to do. How does it work? Can you get qualifications over here? Time/cost?

Who are you looking at booking the holiday with?

JBuk said:
Phuket for a few days then PhiPhi island for a few days
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Definately want to visit the Phi Phi islands,although Ive read in a couple of places that they are abit over crowded there no, especially since The Beach was filmed there.

_Jimlad_ said:
i wanna go but can only do aug as my misses teaches, i think its rainy season then?
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Yeah Rainy season starts in May-June. Thats a bit of a concern actually...
 
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Thailand is awesome, but if you're going to Phuket (which is the name of the entire island), bear in mind that Patong is a dump, full of drunken westerners (particularly Australians - who think they own the place) and just as bad as any Euro destination.
 
Luw said:
Thailand is awesome, but if you're going to Phuket (which is the name of the entire island), bear in mind that Patong is a dump, full of drunken westerners (particularly Australians - who think they own the place) and just as bad as any Euro destination.
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I'd read a blog saying such things, so I was planning on staying somewhere a little quieter. To be honest, days walking and on long boats discovering the islands are more my idea.

Would Phuket be the best base for this?

[TW]Fox;15038248 said:
You sure a week is long enough? It's a 12 hour flight dont forget - long way to go for a week.
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It is a bit of a concern to be honest, It will be the sunday by the time I get there which leaves me with just 6 days. I've never been on a long haul flight to be honest so haven't even taken into consideration how that would affect me. Ideally, its the kind of place I'd like to go back packing for a couple of months :(

Could always wait until the summer holidays (she has 7 weeks off and my holidays can be whenever I like).
 
mr tommo said:
Definately want to visit the Phi Phi islands,although Ive read in a couple of places that they are abit over crowded there no, especially since The Beach was filmed there.



Yeah Rainy season starts in May-June. Thats a bit of a concern actually...
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They are not that bad , I went in April and although there was quite a few people on the island it wasn't annoyingly busy (except when the ferry arrives)

The pubs on the beach were nice and relaxing on an evening, not too busy and some doing fireshows and stuff
 
No way a week is long enough. I lived in bangkok for a few months, and when I left I felt like I was only just begininng to get to know the place.

As for prices, well beer was 95 baht per bottle (£1.78) except in nightclubs where it was double that. Cigarrettes are 75 baht per 20 pack (£1.40). The average meal cost me around 140 baht (£2.60) not including drinks.

I know you're probably not going to be spending long in Bangkok (which is a great shame in my opinion) but you may want to take a look at this thread anyway:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18056071
 
It can be cheap for some things, food from street hawkers is generally cheap, some clothes are cheap and you can barter them down a bit , alcohol is cheapish if you drink local stuff but imports cost a fortune
 
JBuk said:
They are not that bad , I went in April and although there was quite a few people on the island it wasn't annoyingly busy (except when the ferry arrives)

The pubs on the beach were nice and relaxing on an evening, not too busy and some doing fireshows and stuff
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Thats quite good, did you stay over there or just a day trip? How easy are hotels to find just walking around?

seek said:
No way a week is long enough. I lived in bangkok for a few months, and when I left I felt like I was only just begininng to get to know the place.

As for prices, well beer was 95 baht per bottle (£1.78) except in nightclubs where it was double that. Cigarrettes are 75 baht per 20 pack (£1.40). The average meal cost me around 140 baht (£2.60) not including drinks.

I know you're probably not going to be spending long in Bangkok (which is a great shame in my opinion) but you may want to take a look at this thread anyway:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18056071
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Just had a very quick look at that, just got enough time to reply, family party tonight. Looks excellent and I really can see this turning into more of a travelling holiday over the summer holidays now if I can convince the mrs. :o

Have you been to Phuket? Would you recommend this as a decent base for visiting the other islands?

Thanks for that, those prices seem very good :)

JBuk said:
It can be cheap for some things, food from street hawkers is generally cheap, some clothes are cheap and you can barter them down a bit , alcohol is cheapish if you drink local stuff but imports cost a fortune
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Not a massive drinker and couldnt tell my carling from my stella!:p


Anyone feel free to pimp your Thailand holiday snaps for inspiration :D
 
No, Phuket isn't a good base if you're planning on doing a bit of island hopping. The place you want to be heading is Koh Samui.

Also, see if you can go a month early and be there for April 13-15th.... Songkran festival :D
 
Depends what you want to do in thailand, but imo a week isnt long enough. You would want atleast 10days and then limit it to maybe two places.

The islands are nice, Phi phi is close to where the beach was filmed (leo), altough the beach itself was _VERY_ busy when we went. PhiPhi is also cheaper than Bangkok, but you need to consider how long it will take to get there, since you need to get a ferry.. Koh lanta is also very nice, might be easier to get to. You can also fly into Krabi from Bangkok (no point staying there just head to the islands)

Chang mai, which is up north is great. I would highly recommend the elephant orphanage there too (not the treking) - http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/

You can use airasia to fly cheaply between Bangkok and changmai (and other places in asia). Flights are cheap and better than easyjet etc.
 
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