One night in Bangkok..

StaggerLee

Hi All,

Planning to go to thailand in November for 2-3weeks.

Plan A is to fly into Bangkok and head north pretty much straight away. Spend a few days up there then fly down south and Veg on the beach for the remainder of the trip.

Does anyone have any advice on where to go in the Northern region?

Where to base ourselves in the South? Budget is mid-range for the trip.

Any information on internal flights/trains in thailand would also be handy.

2 Espressi

Get out of Bangkok as soon as you can, Chiang Mai (Up north) is way nicer.
Best of all would be to get a connecting flight from BKK to CHM, you wouldn't have to leave the airport (though there's a good walk between terminals)

Heading south, I suppose Koh Samui would probably suit, but direct flights are pricey as there's a monopoly on flights from the mainland. Stay away form Chaweng Beach, its very Costa Del Sol, there's plenty more on the island to enjoy.

Grem

Chiang Mai is the only place up north that i saw. Its nice but not very amazing/kicking. We did a 2 day hill trek and then friends brought us to a club where all the Thais go, great night, met some crazy fun people but we headed off the next day into Laos and cant say id ever go back!

Check out seat61.com for Train timetables/fares etc in Asia. We took an overnight sleeper train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai.

Ko Samui is the only Thai island i WOULDNT recommend. You might as well be in the Canaries. Head to one of the smaller ones, Phi Phi or Koh Tao. Most people island hop instead of basing themselves in the one area. Phuket is nice too, you can fly from Bangkok for about 50euro. Not sure about Chiang Mai.

empirix

I'd recommend spending about 3 nights in Bangkok, its an experience in itself, yeah its fairly polluted but the shopping and some of the sites as well as mixing in with local life is unreal, just hop on and hop off a bus is a grweat way to see the real Bangkok and it costs buttons, head towards Sukhumvit for shopping and nightlife, then theres Khoa San rd where theres literally hundreds if not thousands of backpackers all over the world hanging out and having a few beers, I recommend Phi Phi island down south to realx etc, while there get a boat for the day and go to some of the secluded beaches etc - paradise.

Enjoy

MrJones

3 nights in bangkok. desnt have the small ring to it does it

StaggerLee

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I booked some flights over the weekend, i fly into singapore for 4 days, then fly to Phuket. I then have 14/15 days to get to Bangkok to fly home. I reckon I'll stay in bangkok for at least 2 nights.

Sooo... that gives me 12 night in Phuket. The question is do i stay there for the whole time and take day trips to Krabi or Koh PHi Phi etc, or should I move around, bag and baggage.

I've seen a couple of nice places to stay in Phuket so I was thinking of just being lazy and hanging out there, I'm kinda done with the backpacking scene..

Any more advice would be greatly appreciated.

kraggy

hey,

personally i wouldn't stay in phuket that long. if you're going as far as there, you gotta check out phi phi.

all of thailand is pretty but phi phi is a notch above the rest. you could get the boat out (takes about 1.5 hours from Krabi, not sure about phuket) and you could have a really nice relaxing 5/6 days there. it's the closest thing to paradise that i've seen. a bit more expensive than other parts of thailand but still much cheaper than home.

if you go there, look out for a guy called Song at boatman's corner. get a group together and rent out a boat for a few hours. he'll pilot. he's great craic and will bring you to the cool spots including some snorkling and Maya beach, that famous place the film The Beach was made. cost us about 60 euro between 10 of us for about 4 hours.

and because there's no cars on the island, there's no rushing and it's all about chilling.

enjoy...

nodisco

Agree with Kraggy

Have spent months in Thailand and would not spend a long time in Phuket. Phi Phi is nice but expensive - if you want to do something different - go to Krabi (not far from Phuket) and get a boat to Rai-leh beach. Some of the best rock climbing in the world in fantastic surroundings. BBQs on the beach each night, excellent snorkelling in the area and the beach at hat tham phra nand is incredible - as is the lagoon in the cave.

Enjoy

StaggerLee

I was thinking of doing day trips to Krabi and Phi Phi, although not sure if you could get to phi phi and back in a day.

I bought a rough guide to thailand, the latest edition, I think the guy who worot it hates the place, hi said both Krabi and Phi phi are dumps, same with Phuket... that kind of put me off going to PHi Phi for a few days. Might have a rethink

DamoKen

StaggerLee wrote:

I was thinking of doing day trips to Krabi and Phi Phi, although not sure if you could get to phi phi and back in a day.

I bought a rough guide to thailand, the latest edition, I think the guy who worot it hates the place, hi said both Krabi and Phi phi are dumps, same with Phuket... that kind of put me off going to PHi Phi for a few days. Might have a rethink

don't know what that guy was talking about, Phi Phi a dump? one of the best places I've ever been, especially after spending time in Bangkok and Phuket for a few days before getting there. The fact there are no roads is a massive plus, no tuk tuks beeping you every 2 seconds (if I want a ride I will fooking ask mate!!!), no "ping pong banana show sir?" queries every 5 to 10 ft. If you want to chill for a while I'd totally agree with Kraggy on that one. If you do go there, check out the Hippy Bar on the beach, chilled to bits and always meet loads of cool people.
Krabis another really nice place, wouldn't bother with the town itself but Ao Nang or Railay Beach are excellent. And definitely spend a day or 2 more in Bangkok, it's a bit full on, but one of the most interesting places I've been. And you tend to appreciate the islands a whole lot more afterwards .

Having said that, Phi Phi is probably the most expensive of the small islands I've been to, on the east coast you have cheaper but no less beautiful places like Koh Tao (another great diving spot like Phi Phi if that's your thing), or a bit further south is Koh Phangan, home of the Full Moon party. If you go there try for the north of the island at beaches such as Coral beach or Bottle Beach, idylic doesn't describe it. For a bit of action you can always get a long tail boat down to Had Rin where the Full Moon/Half Moon and Dark Moon parties kick off.

Anyway, you'll find loads more places, just listing a few of a multitude. Enjoy mate

kraggy

@ stagger

you wouldn't do phi phi in day trip. forget about it.

go to phi phi and just expect a nice simple few days of chilling in an extremelly picturesque place that will clear the head. and maybe going out on a boat. as damoken said, check out hippies at night. fireshow every night and basic chillin and meeting people from all over the world. tis nice.

damoken

haven't been to Railay/Rai leh myself. is it def worth checkin out?

also, which resort did you stay in koh phangan in the north of the island? i stayed in baan panburi which was nice but would be open to considering others next time round.

thanks

StaggerLee

Phi Phi it is so. Had a look at a few places to stay on t-internet. Looks fantastic. Can't wait.
Thanks everyone.

empirix

I stayed in Krabi, Raileh beach(or however you spell it) is pretty cool and the rock climbinng is unreal was fortunate to do a bit of backpacking with a pro rock climber from Alaska, the guy gets paid for bringing people all over the world to rock climb - what a job eh! it is surely beautiful there, but for me nothing will beat Phi Phi in Thailand best place ever, i was also fortunate enough to leave Phi Phi 4 days before the Tsunami to head to Sydney to spend Xmas with the Bro, i get a bit down whenever i go back now becaus eall th eold faces that are no longer around and weren't fortunate enough to survive but still its my No. 1 spot in the world to just chill out and forget about everything.

Has to be done. Koh Phangnan and the full moon is a dump, although i suppose its the party thats turned it into this, not to mention the corrupt locals just after your dollar, avoid

kraggy

would have to agree with you there about the bottom of ko phangan being a dump, especially during FMP.

the north still has much to offer though. some nice resorts which are quiet and chilled and minus some of the gobsheens you'd see at Full moon.

must pay Raileh a visit so. many seem to recommend it. thanks for that...