[ah yeah]

Hi, looking for some specific advise on thailand. Going for 3weeks at start of October with the gf.

Bangkok- Flying in to, and from here, how long should I stay? I was going to spend a few days here at the end of the trip and was looking to get a suit made, does anyone know how long it takes? is 2/3 days long enough?

Chiang Mai- We want to do a decent trek, and are both fit enough for a challenge. Can anyone recommend a decent one? Not necessarily the cheapest one, would rather spend the money for a safe and well run trek with knowledgeable guides. Apart from the trek, how long should we spend in the city. Anything else of significance to see/do?

South Thailand- Being October we've heard mixed stories about how much it will and won't rain. What areas in the south or elsewhere in the country for that matter would people recommend to get some sunshine? Also, as we're going as a couple we don't want to go to crazy party towns, can anyone recommend more chilled out areas with good weather to visit?

Any feedback appreciated

[6ix]

Did this exact trip a few years ago and I'll actually be back there this October, but for a longer trip.

Bangkok - 3 days should be enough to get a suit. Raja's fashions near the Nana Plaza are excellent tailors, I got a suit there. They've associations with the US Govt and make suits for ambassadors in the region - they've even got pictures of themselves with George Bush Senior! They're well known, but so much so that there are a couple of other shops with the same names trying to capitalise on their reputation, so watch that you go to the correct one!

I really enjoyed Chiang Mai - nice change of pace after Bangkok, and I'd recommend Phi Phi down the south. As far as I know, the East coast islands (Samui, Phangnan, Tao) get heavier monsoon at that time of year.

Anyway, I've a couple of detailed tips in this reply that I wrote lately

[ah yeah]

Thanks 6ix,

How long would you recommend staying in Phi Phi?
Did you visit Krabi at all? If so, whats it like?

What was the weather like too when you visited the south/Chiang Mai the last time?

[6ix]

Originally Posted by ah yeah

Thanks 6ix,

How long would you recommend staying in Phi Phi?
Did you visit Krabi at all? If so, whats it like?

What was the weather like too when you visited the south/Chiang Mai the last time?

Phi Phi - I stayed 4-5 nights there, had to extend for a night or two because my girlfriend got food poisoning... I suppose there's not a whole pile to do there, but it's very beautiful, the beaches are great and you can go diving. I'd say 3/4 days would be plenty there, but I'm not a huge beach person, I like it for a few days then I like to move on and do something else. Phuket is nearby.. it's a lot bigger but it's not nearly as nice.

I didnt visit Krabi town itself, but we got a boat (or 2 boats actually!) from Phi Phi to Railay beach, which is in Krabi Province, not far from Krabi town. It's a really nice beach, only accessible by boat, and worth a look if you're in the area. It suited us because we were heading back to Bangkok, so stopped off there on our way for a day and night and then headed North.

Weather was lovely for us throughout the country, predominantly sunny but some days were quite overcast too... consistently warm though. We had one really heavy monsoon shower during a beach party one night on Phi Phi had everyone running for cover, but it was all over within 30 mins and the everywhere had dried up within an hour... otherwise I can't remember any rain, definitely not during the day anyway. Even when it does come it's ok as it 'clears the air' and makes it less muggy.

You could be very unlucky and get a lot of rain I guess, but hopefully not.

[JayC5]

Hi folks,

Hope you don't mind me throwing in a question or two? I'm heading to Thailand in August and pretty much planning a similar trip so I've been reading your thread with much interest

I'm not too certain about travelling within the country however, I've been pricing flights between Chiang Mai - Samui and they're pretty expensive, what methods of transport did you use during your time there 6ix? We're going for three weeks and starting off with a few days in Bangkok followed by the overnight train to Chiang Mai. Would it be cheaper in terms of transport to choose Koh Chang over Samui instead? I'd be extremely grateful for whatever advice you can offer regarding travelling cheaply and the various modes available


Thanks in advance,

J

[Miss.Marple]

Jumping on the bandwagon here 2!!Planning the same kinda trip going in 4 weeks time for 3 weeks..so any info be appreciated too!

[6ix]

Originally Posted by JayC5

Hi folks,

Hope you don't mind me throwing in a question or two? I'm heading to Thailand in August and pretty much planning a similar trip so I've been reading your thread with much interest

I'm not too certain about travelling within the country however, I've been pricing flights between Chiang Mai - Samui and they're pretty expensive, what methods of transport did you use during your time there 6ix? We're going for three weeks and starting off with a few days in Bangkok followed by the overnight train to Chiang Mai. Would it be cheaper in terms of transport to choose Koh Chang over Samui instead? I'd be extremely grateful for whatever advice you can offer regarding travelling cheaply and the various modes available


Thanks in advance,

J

Unfortunately I'm not much help here. Because of the short time frame, we flew from Bangkok to Chiang Mai (very cheap) and then from Chiang Mai to Phuket (a good bit more expensive) and then from Krabi back to Bangkok at the end (very cheap again). It just gave us much more time in each of the places we visited, rather than spending several nights on sleeper buses/trains getting from North to South. I've heard good things about the sleepers in Thailand, in comparison to some of the surrounding countries so I'm sure they're grand anyway, just take a bit longer.

When I go in a few months time I'll have a lot more time so I'll be able to take longer trips and enjoy the scenery, but I reckon I'll still take a few flights for convenience sake, particularly between Laos and Vietnam.