New Years Eve in Thailand!! HELP?

Northernsoul

A few mates + myself are headin to Thailand for NYE ,well from Dec26-Jan 9th. The plan is to get out of Bangkok within 24hrs and head down to the islands. That's where the dilemma starts! We want to get as many of the Islands in as possible in this 2 week trip, get a NYE full moon party in but also want to have time to relax and chill out as well.
Island-wise , I'm hearing a lot of bad things about Phuket, (the Benidorm of SE asia!) and apparently Ko Phangnan for is where the REAL Full Moon Party is held. Phuket just jumped on the bandwagon when it became popular.. http://fullmoonparty-thailand.com/
If we're going to Koh Phangan, an island close by is Koh Tao where they do the diving courses.. Its apparently a really nice chilled island, and hasn't got the enormous tourist resorts like some places in the west.... + I’ve heard Koh Lanta is lovely as well and still fairly undiscovered. AAaaaaaggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh Decisions!!!!

Ok, what I need to work out is what we can realistically hope to do within a 2 week trip and whether we should forget about some islands altogether.

Heres our basic itinerary thus far:

Fri Dec 28th 06.40 Arrive Bangkok
Sat Dec 29th Leave Bangkok for Koh Samui by overnight train (€20)
Sat Dec 31st Boat to Koh Phangan from Koh Samui (30mins) for full moon party

Sun Jan 1st - Sun Jan 6th .. Fee to do whatever ( Phi Phi, Phuket??)

Mon Jan 7th Leave wherever we are to get back to Bangkok
Wed Jan 9th 02.45 Depart Bangkok via Amsterdam for Dublin

I have read most of the other threads about Thailand on here, but Any attional help, or direction would be greatly appreciated:
Cheers..

Joeyjoejoe43

In 14 days, you should defo be able to fit in most of this. For the full moon party, I would say defo go to Ko Phangan - home of the full moon party. However, it might be a good idea to stay somewhere in the North of the Island like bottle beach (very chilled out, with really nice beach front huts for 300 baht a night, huts on left as you arrive by boat from Chaloclum - Note you can only get to bottle beach by boat) or some other place a little bit away from Hat Rin. Note, when you arrive in Tong Sala, you'll have a load of annoying taxi drivers trying to bring you places, pay no more than 100 baht each to get to Chaluklum or hat Rin.. Also there's some well-priced cool t-shirts in the shops along the main street just up from port..

In Ko Samui (which by the way is also an island so you wont be getting there by train, it'll be train then boat from Chumphon or Surat Thani) Note that the Surat thani train station is around 15km or so from the coast, so you'll have to get taxi or whatever for about 100 baht each.. This would be the place to rent out Mopeds or Motorbikes, as the roads are far better than the tracks of Koh Phangan and Koh Tao. Of the 3-island group this is the most resorty and my least favourite, but some people love it...

kao Tao - Lovely little island, although pretty obsessed with diving, expect to pay above the nowm for accomodation if you are not doing a dive, Ive heard good things about Ban's diving centre I think it was called, no 1st hand experience though, did my diving in Malaysia, was meant to do it in Ko Tao, but over-pushy reps put me off...

Phuket - Dont even waste a day here, if you have to stay over on way to Phi Phi, do, otherwise avoid. Krabi would be a good alternative.

Phi Phi - Def go here if you've got time to spare, the beach where 'The Beach' was shot is here and is pretty cool for the photo collection, makes watching the movie again even more enjoyable.

Ko Lanta - I know nothing about, but have a vague recollection of some Danish dude telkling me about how great it was, might be hrad-pushed to fit all of this in.

I reckon Bangkok - Surat Thani - Ko Samui - Ko Phangan - Ko Tao - Surat Thani - Krabi - Phi Phi - Krabi - Bangkok may be the way to go....

Board-in-work

Definately avoid Phuket - busy - full of tourists - benidorm of Thailand. Go to Krabi instead. You can fly from Bangkok - airasia.com - very cheaply. Phi Phi is good too, try Raleigh beach in Krabi. Accessable by long tailed taxi boat - very good climbing - stunning sunsets.

Koa Tao - mostly for the divers I think.


Ko Chang - Large island - some good bars, rent a moped and explore the island. Here is the most relaxing time I had in Thailand -
http://www.pornsbungalows-kohchang.com/pictures.htm

The bar /treehouse is great! Ko-Chang accessible by ferry from the mainland.
Then get back to Bangkok and fly to Krabi! enjoy......

Joeyjoejoe43

Board-in-work wrote:

Ko Chang - Large island - some good bars, rent a moped and explore the island. Here is the most relaxing time I had in Thailand -
http://www.pornsbungalows-kohchang.com/pictures.htm

The bar /treehouse is great! Ko-Chang accessible by ferry from the mainland.
Then get back to Bangkok and fly to Krabi! enjoy......

Hmmm, porn's looks pretty nice. was it expensive?? Did you vist nearby Ko Whai or Ko Mak??

Board-in-work

Hi,

Porns, wasn't expensive (can't remember how much I paid). They have different types of beach hut - basic type (no air con) are the cheapest. But definately very reasonable. - Shower - bed - mozzie net - balcony - what more do ya need!

They have a few right on the beach. (seen in pics on the website.) I took a sea-kayak over to the 3 adjacent islands. Out paddling - great fun, can't remember the names of these islands. Porns is right at the top of kai Baie beach. So not a lot of tourists know about it. The bar is cool - spent many a day in the hammocks there! 5 months touring Asia - this is the most relaxing place I stayed at.

Ko Chang is the largest island - very close to Bangkok - so from here it's easy to get over to Krabi or any other island.

Northernsoul

Sorry for taking a while to respond to your replies guys - i've been in hospital with a stone in my FRICKIN kidney!! (which btw, i have yet to pass, so the best is yet to come! Thanks a million for the help - your replies were really helpful, and i'm feeling a lot more confident that we can make the most out of our 2 weeks there. 1 last question though - AS its NYE, full moon party time etc, and busy, will it be ok getting accom, beach huts etc over there or should we look at booking in advance?? Many thanks again. i'm seriously you guys

Joeyjoejoe43

If your thinking of staying in Hat Rin, you'll defo need to book id say. Other places in Ko Phangan may be ok, but id book anyway, as the island will be mad busy for new years.. Get some numbers from a lonely planet book or here http://www.travelfish.org Enjoy the 2 weeks..