which thai island would you go to ???

nottooxabi

Hi,
we are a married couple arriving in bangkok in nov and spending a couple of days before chilling on an island in a hammock for 7-10 days before heading to cambodia....

I am trying to decide what island to go to... have heard from friends that north of ko pha nang is really nice, beach huts..chilled etc..
(far side from full moon madness etc.. )
Ko Tao is geared towards divers and have only heard good things too..

Ko Samui i'm getting mixed reports, very commercial/spoilt .. i've been told to avoid chaweng and na thon at all costs.. costa del sh1thole ..
but BO Phut on Samui is recommended....anyone been ?

another option would be to get over to Trat and get a boat to Ko Chang or Ko Kuud..i've heard ko kuud is v nice but a bit quiet.. it might be handy for making way overland to cambodia...

Anywho if anyone has been or has recommendations i'd love to hear..
thanks a lot

tinkerbell

My friend is going to Thailand in July and so I've heard her mention places that she's been advised not to go to. I think Ko Pha Nang is the place where the full moon is? If that's the place then apparantly it's not a nice island at all and you only go to go to the full moon. She mentioned Ko Tao as being nice but the main place she's been talking about is Phi Phi, apparantly it's amazing.

Ko Samui & Phuket aren't meant to be great so steer clear. I don't know any of the places as I've never been but this is what she's been told by people who have already visited Thailand.

nottooxabi

Thanks.. i think it depends where you go on ko pha nang..south of the island is full moon... north of the island is nicer i heard..

Glowing

ko pha nang - the south east, where the full moon is, is a dump! There are some lovely idylic resorts on the western and northern coasts. I'd go back ... 'Laem Son 2' was gorgeous!

Koh Chang is okay, but is being destroyed with new resorts ....

Avoid Samui I'd say - but Koh Tao is lovely - not much else to do apart from eat, drink, dive and swim! Bliss!

ibh

Some parts of Koh Samui are pretty sh!t. Especially Chaweng. But it is beatuiful in other places. Lamai beach isn't as bad as Chaweng, still a little seedy at night thou, but nothing too bad.
Bo Phut is quiet and supposed to be really nice but i didn't make it there.

Clseeper

I did that last year, travelled thailand then onto Cambodia and Vietnam before returning to the south of thailand to chill before returning home.

I went to Ko Samui, Ko Pha Nang and Phi Phi.

Phi Phi was by far the most beautiful place on the whole trip [maybe up there with Halong Bay in Vietnam]. It's just a tiny island with the whole town centred on a sand bank between two large stacks. The atmosphere was just amazing, very laid back. Small but enough places that you could eat and drink somewhere different ever night for a week. Went for 4 days and ended up staying for 2 weeks. Never did get to any of the other islands on the west coast. Didn't want to risk ending up in a dump and regreting leaving.

RATM

OP If you are looking for a honeymoon type hotel then theres this one on Ko Samui
http://www.tongsaibay.info/new/home.php

From there you can easily get a speedboat over to Ko Pha Ngan for a full moon party if thats what you are into.

Tinkerbell- I think most people who have ever been to the north or the west sides of Ko Pha Ngan will tell you its an idyllic paradise. The south at Haad Rin beach is where the main full moon party happens and its not everyones cup of tea but the north and west are simply beautiful, its just a shame most people just go for the party then move on, the rest of the island is a true gem.

That said I reckon if you want superb scenery on an island in Thailand then theres no better spot than Ko Phi Phi.

RATM

Should also say that if you do want to go to Ko Pha Ngan then I can recommend a place called Bottle Beach in the northern part of the island. Its only accessible by boat ( which keeps the part-timers away:D ) and its a beautiful place. Its a 2km long beach with bungalows surrounded by two pretty large steep hills and lush forest. The accommodation on it was fairly basic ( light, fan ) when I was there in 2004 but Id say they have air con in some bungalows by now.

We only meant to spend 4/5 days there and ended up staying 2 weeks. We just chilled, listened to music, swung in hammocks, went swimming and played the odd game of beach football.

lso

A few people had recommeded Phi Phi to us - we lasted less than 24 hours on the island, hated it!

I still can't pin-point why - think I was expecting something different it actually was busier than we had anticipated and to be fair the weather wasn't great.

We had just come from the Perinthean Islands in North-East Malaysia, which are superb and may be worth traveling the extra distance (different weather system there so not quite sure what it will be like when you're there). Very chilled and not so developed - not the place to go if you want night-life.

Also liked Ko Tao - we weren't diving and still enjoyed it, when we got off the boat, we said we weren't interested in diving and were pointed in the direction of the non-diving area.

It was a few years ago now since we were there - we were more "mature" backpackers and not that into a crazy nightlife scene.