Thailand Advice (Again)

TripleT

TripleT

TripleT

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Hi I've searched and found lots of information but I'm just wondering if anyone can offer any more advice.

The plan is to fly out on Sunday 18th April (going to book flights with Emirates I think for just less than £500 each) and return on Tuesday 4th May.

Spend 1 or 2 nights in bangkok then get the overnight train up to Laos for a bit of tubing fun and like. (Anyone give me any advice/experiences of this please?). Then get the train back.

Then fly down to Koh Samui and spend 1 night there but then getting the boat over to Koh Phangan in time for the full moon party. Spend 4 or 5 days there then get the boat back to Koh Samui for the rest of the time but getting back to Bangkok for flights etc.

Anyone think I'm REALLY missing out on visiting anywhere? Not really interested in seeing Phuket to be honest. Any trips that I absolutely must see or do?

Any other general advice would be great thanks. Trip is with the girlfriend so don't need to know to watch out of adams apples and like :p

Thanks
 
Don't under estimate the time it will take you to get to Laos for your tubing especially if if your thinking of going to the far north of Thailand and taking a boat to Laos. Personally I prefer to take my time and see fewer places. I also recommend the Chang Thai elephant sanctuary.
 
If you're going up to Laos it seems a shame to miss out on the nothern parts of Thailand. Chiang mai/Chiang rai etc.

I'll be at the April full moon party too, so seeya there! :D
 
didgemaster said:
Don't under estimate the time it will take you to get to Laos for your tubing especially if if your thinking of going to the far north of Thailand and taking a boat to Laos. Personally I prefer to take my time and see fewer places. I also recommend the Chang Thai elephant sanctuary.
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Good advice, took me 3 days to get from Chang mai to VanVien (or wherever tubing is), 2 days on a long boat, 1 overnight bus, well worth it though :D
 
I wish I had spent more time in Chiang Mai during my visit (and I was there for 9 days :D). It's awesome there - exactly what I think a holiday in Thailand should be like - the weather was awesome and the whole place was so laid back. It helped that I knew a few people, but it was by far the most welcoming place that I discovered - it's also easy to avoid the drunken westerners up there. I originally planned to go to the Full Moon party, but realised that being surrounded by drunk British idiots was something I don't like doing here, let alone on holiday :D
 
Bangkok is quite a city, I knew it was big but hadn't realised quite how big until I saw it for myself, you could spend a week there alone to be honest, but one thing I would recommend you should do if you can is book yourself an evening on top of the Banyan Tree hotel, in the Vertigo Bar & Restaurant ...I did it last year and it was fantastic. It is quite expensive up there though, with a birds eye view of Bangkok, not your usual Thai prices, I recommend the 400g Australian Wagyu steak, lovely ...and not too pricey, they did have some special Japanese steak that was £130 mind :o ..also the cheapest wine they have is £40 a bottle up there, but they do have some nice beers, it was the only place I found German wheat beer in Thailand.

Also, in Bangkok, if anyone mentions the Pat Pong 'night market' ...don't bother, unless you want to walk around a market full of complete crap and fight off guys trying to sell you 'Sexy Show!' in the many 'clubs' that line this area, it's a notoriously seedy place where mostly foreighners go for sex, but they do have a market there ...I did not know this until I went there on the guides suggestion though. That's what you get for going on holiday with women though, they hear the word 'market' and go ooo shops lets go, only it wasn't exactly what they expected :p

As for other places to see, I highly recommend Chiang Rai in the far north, and the Golden Triangle trip, you can see Thailand, Burma and Laos all from the same spot, out across the Mekong. I took a boat trip to Don Xao island which is part of Laos and was lucky enough to be able to cross the border at Maisai (I think that was the name) into the Republic of Myanmar (Burma), I would not recommend Burma if you a super sensitive type though, some of what you will likely see there may well upset you, Burma is not like Thailand at all, or Laos for that matter ...and you may very well get followed by the military, I would not recommend you take your passport and any important travel documents into Burma, a good guide will know this and what to do, you can get the papers sorted on the Thailand side of the border and leave your passport with them for safe keeping, also, wathc your pockets/bags (that goes for Bangkok too, but especially in Burma).

I went to this beautiful and beguiling little place called Chiang Saen in Northern Thailand, right on the Mekong, had some tea and some local 'nibbles' at the most beautiful little village green in the shadow of the ancient temple of Wat Pa Sak (I think) and watched some young lads dancing with fire (one of which managed to set his trousers on fire and was promptly jumped on by about 3 others to put him out, much to the merriment of the largely Thai observers).

I also went elephant riding in Chiang Rai province (from a Karen hill tribe village actually), which I highly recommend as an experience worth having, just keep an eye for some of the very large spiders that can end up landing in your damn Howdah when you brush into the trees (which you will as you end up being very high up indeed when you're in the howdah on the elephants back).

I haven't been to Chiang Mai but that comes highly recommended as well, there is also a boat trip you can do from Chiang Saen up the Mekong to Jin Hong in the Yunnan province of China (long trip though, about 15 hours I think).

I also highly recommend you take the time to see Wat Rong Khun, also known as the White Temple, it's not far outside of Chiang Rai city, you have to see it to believe it really, it's just stunning.

I visited quite a few 'hill tribe' villages and people in Northern Thailand, that's worth doing too if you have any interest in that sort of thing.

All in all Thailand is a great place, there is a lot to do and see and really you could go on several 2 week holidays there and only scratch the surface. I have never been south of Bangkok, there is a whole lot to see down there too.
 
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When I was staying on Samui I went on a trip to the Ang Thong national marine park, it's a series of small uninhaboted islands not from Samui or Koh Phangan

The trip consisted of a speed boat trip to the park, then an hour or so snorkelling , a stop off for a walk on one of the islands, a thai style beach buffet then on to another island for some sea kayaking with a quick stop off to see some wild monkeys. It was quite good trip tbh and the speed boats are awesome fun
 
Samui is much nicer than Phuket but still fairly commerical, I would rather go to Krabi though as its less touristy because it doesnt have an international airport.
Pha Ngan is ok but spoilt by the douchebags who visit just for the fullmoon party to get pilled off their faces. I wouldnt spend 4-5 days on Pha Ngan, much nicer islands and beaches to stay on. Id probably go from Pha Ngan to Koh Tao (about 1 hour travel time), so much cleaner, less touristy, white sand beaches with crystal clear water.
Which hotel are you planning on staying at in Bangkok?
 
seek said:
If you're going up to Laos it seems a shame to miss out on the nothern parts of Thailand. Chiang mai/Chiang rai etc.

I'll be at the April full moon party too, so seeya there! :D
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Haha seems a few of us are going to be there. We are flying out to Bangkok on April 16th spending 3 night there and going on to Koh Samui for 11 nights but going to Koh Phangan on the 28th (?) as thats the full moon.
 
I'm in a similar predicament, I arrive in BKK on 1st April, and I still haven't sorted out where i'm going what i'm seeing etc.

Figured i'd stay in BKK for 3 nights, then go down to Ko Samui for a few nights, and then onto Ko Phagnan for the Half Moon Party, then maybe a few days over on Ko Tao. Then hop back over to the mainland, and across the Krabi, then to Phi Phi and over to Phuket before I fly down to KL for a day or 2 and to Singapore before I fly to Cairns.

Does this sound like a decent option? I've basically got from 1st April to 26th April to get to Singapore for my flight. Was thinking of flying from Phuket to KL on 22nd spending 2 days there, then spending last 2 days in Singapore.
 
Chiang Mai and Koh Phi Phi would be my must sees in Thailand from our trip. I could happily never see Bangkok again but Chiang Mai is a lovely city with an amazing laid back and plenty to do. Koh Phi Phi has to be the most afordable paradise Island in the world once you get outside of the Tonsai Bay area.
 
ive spent a lot of time on samui, phangan and tao

all of them have their commerical hotspots but if you travel outside of these they are all amazing islands

if you only have a short time, i would see less places and spend more time discovering the view that you visit

for me, its got to be these 3 islands.
 
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