Thailand trip

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I'm flying to Phuket next week and spending nearly 3 weeks there, including christmas.

I have no hotels booked so I'm pretty much winging it.

Things I have in mind;

full moon party
scuba diving
mountain climbing

Anyone been out there (or live there?) and recommend some tips, activities and places to visit?

I'm thinking I might spend some time in Koh Samui / Phangon but other than that my plans are pretty open.

Cheers!
 
If it were me I'd spend a few days in Phuket - maybe a couple of days in different areas such as Patong or Phuket town then I'd get the cheap ferry over to PhiPhi island and spend a couple of days there, from here you can go to Krabi and have a few days there then fly over to Samui for a couple of days, from Samui you can get ferries or speedboats over to Koh Phangan & Koh Tao


as for activities, well there's loads to do

off the top of my head:

Phuket - beach, fishing trips, boxing, Bangla road
PhiPhi -diving, walk up to the peak for sunset, hire a boat and take a trip to Maya Beach (where 'The Beach' was filmed) , they will also take you snorkelling and show you areas of interest, watch the fireshows whilst getting drunk
Krabi - mangrove trips
Samui - speedboat to Ang Thong national park , can inculde sea kayaking, snorkelling, walks on the islands, beach buffet

There's loads of other stuff , tbh I'd buy a Rough guide book or similar and have a read before you go and note anything of interest to you
 
The above sounds good, but get out of phucket as quick as you can!

Phi phi is touristy but still amazing. Have fun and remember haggle for everything while you are over there!
 
I'd avoid Patong, unless you like hookers. Because there is nothing worth seeing/doing in Patong, except a shed load of bars and and thousands of prostitutes.

Phi phi is beautiful... If you can see past the building work. The Tsunami destroyed something like 70% of the islands infrastructre, and as a result even now the place is like a big ugly building site.

You might want to consider going east from Bangkok for a few days or so. Koh Sammet (near Rayong) and Koh Chang are both nice.
 
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ive been many times and i would choose the east islands

koh samui, koh phangan, koh tao to spend 90% of your time
 
Phi phi is beautiful... If you can see past the building work. The Tsunami destroyed something like 70% of the islands infrastructre, and as a result even now the place is like a big ugly building site.

It was ok when I was there in 2009 :confused:
 
Just got back from a 11week trip around SE Asia.

We spent two weeks in Koh Samui and Koh Phangan. Samui was OK, but it wasn't great. This might be due to where we stayed (Lamai beach, south of Chaweng). Chaweng is a dive, so I'd avoid that.

I'd recommend Haad Chao Phao, Haad Salad and Bottle beach as nice beaches to stay on Phangan. Don't worry too much about not being near Haad Rin (where the FMP occurs), as it's cheap and easy to get transport from anywhere on the island. You won't want to stay in Haad Rin for too long, either.

Enjoy it!
 
Personally I would agree with the others, Phuket is nice for a couple of days party, but go elsewhere, dont spend 3 weeks there, there is so much to see and do in Thailand. Phi Phi is nice, but the reefs are on the way out and I would think in a couple of years there will be very little to see there in the sea, however the Island is fun for partying and such.

I didnt go to any of the other Island so I cant comment on those, but I went up to the North, Chiang Mai was good fun and we set out from Bankok, went to a floating market and then to Ayutthaya to see old temples, etc... and then near Chiang Mai we went out Elephant Treking and then to a place called Tiger Kingdom, you get to go in the cages with the tigers and take photos, etc... the similar ones near bangkok are not as good as the tigers are chained and doped, these ones are wandering around and you can see the baby tigers which are possibly the cutest things in the world. Plus the night markets and scootering around are a good laugh.
 
I was there this year, and yes it's Ok. But over-rated. Not nearly as nice as some of the less touristy islands.

I meant regarding "as a result even now the place is like a big ugly building site"

I saw very little building work happening when I was there
 
I meant regarding "as a result even now the place is like a big ugly building site"

I saw very little building work happening when I was there

There was loads going on when I was there :( They were building tons of those crappy "bungalows" mainly. :/ And even without any actual construction work, the island is already very built up.

Did anyone notice the pointless Tsunami shelter there? It's locked! So If a Tsunami comes again, it will be like "Oh crap the shelters locked!" :D
 
a place called Tiger Kingdom, you get to go in the cages with the tigers and take photos, etc... the similar ones near bangkok are not as good as the tigers are chained and doped...

We went there too, and we're pretty damn sure these tigers are also doped. There were a few medium-sized ones patrolling the cages and they tried to attack us through the fencing, yet when we went in with the massive tigers all they wanted to do was sleep. So much so that the bloke had to poke them with a stick to wake them up!
 
We went there too, and we're pretty damn sure these tigers are also doped. There were a few medium-sized ones patrolling the cages and they tried to attack us through the fencing, yet when we went in with the massive tigers all they wanted to do was sleep. So much so that the bloke had to poke them with a stick to wake them up!

We were in with some of the younger tigers and they were pretty active had the trainers playing with them in a pool, got some amazing shots out of it. Do agree on the big ones they were sleepy, but the one I got was very much not sleepy, got kicked a few times after rubbing his belly for a while then he sat on my foot.
 
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