5 weeks in thailand just do the islands or head up north ?

yxcujvbj

Hey all,

Been reading all the past threads on Thailand and have found a heap of info but need some of your advice. a group of 8 of us are heading in july for 5 weeks .

We are confused as to whether we want to head up north and then do the islands or just spend the 5 weeks doing the islands ! any one have any suggestions or advice???

whatsyourquota

5 weeks on just the islands? You must be mad, yes they are beautiful and all that but there isnt a whole lot different with them. 2 or 3 weeks is more than enough. You will soon get sick of sitting on the beach
Head up north for a week as well and I would also recommend a week in Laos.

Greystoner

Really depends on what activities you want to do.

The islands are great for diving and partying,relaxing,etc but are a bit more touristy.You could easily spend 5 weeks here especially if you are diving, and chilling out in the evenings, but I would recommend a trip up to the North too.

North: places like Chiang mai are less touristy, but still totally geared up for tourism. Hill tribes treks(touristy and non-touristy) and cookery courses are choices up there too and it's also a way into Laos, which is worth flitting into for a short while.

You can go straight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai on an overnight train, or travel the 'scenic' way, via (oh so cheap!) local buses and stop off on the way up. Learn a little bit of Thai though, as the places we stopped in don't speak English!It's ok though, you can get by. Just be careful what you choose to eat in the market!

yxcujvbj

we really just want diving partying and scenery etc... visit all teh main places then relax and enjoy the nights !!

was also reading that its rainy season and want to avoid the monsoon type rains . i read some where that some islands are best to go to if you want to avoid the heavy heavy rain but cant remember which ones they are.

I know its been asked before but how long does it usuallly take to get in vang vieng in laos. we really want to giving tubing a go for the bant but it seems that it will take the gutted of 2-3 days to get there and were wondering is it really worth taking a 4 days- a week out of our 5 weeks to do it??

If we were going to loas it would probably be after we visit the islands so near the end of out 5 weeks . what would be the best way to get from the islands up to laos ? or is it even possible?

Sorry for all the questions !

whatsyourquota

The gulf of Thailands monsoon season isnt during the summer so you might get some overcast days but not much. So that would be koh samui, koh phangan and koh tao.
I feel its ridiculous to not head to north Thailand and I have no doubt you will get bored of the islands and head up there anyway and its not too hard to get to laos from there.
If by some miracle you dont get bored of the islands but still want to got tubing the fastest but most expnsive way is fly koh samui - bangkok then bangkok- vientiene and vang vieng is about 5 hours bus from there.
or the slow but inexpensive way is the ferry to don sak from the gulf of thailand bus to surat thani train to to bangkok then train to vientiene then bus to vang vieng

heisenburger

overnight bus from bangkok to vang vien lads...leave bangkok in the evening time and u arrive at the boarder at around 5am...cross the boarder, fill in the paperwork etc and with a bit of luck you'l be on the river that day!

magentas

Go north! Chiang Mai is a great city...use it as your base for touring the best part of Thailand (in my humble opinion!):D

lubie76

Definitely head North! I was in Thailand for 5 weeks earlier in the year and tbh although the Islands are great, they are very touristy and you don't get to appreciate the Thai culture there. Chiang Mai and the village of Pai are chilled out but with loads to see and do. Chiang Mai is a great city and I much preferred it to Bangkok. We got the sleeper train to Chiang Mai and explored there and all its surroundings for 10 days and then flew down to the Islands. I wouldn't have done it any other way to be honest cause it was great to do all that sightseeing but know we had the beaches to look forward to.

Stinicker

Visit Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai also, (I never got to Chiang Rai but it is supposed to great from fellow travellers I met in Chiang Mai), there has been a few Earthquakes over the border recently in Burma so worth checking the local situation before visiting.

I also took the 16.5hr sleeper train from Bangkok and it is very cheap, book direct from Hualamphong train station and not from any tout or so called TAT - Thailand Approved travel agent, a bunch of conmen they are, you will get a price from them that is very good (which it is by western standards) however in reality booking direct is usually even cheaper and quite often the accomadation they provide is very basic and run down.

There is absolutely no consumer protection in Thailand so do your research, avoid buses from Ko San Road and always keep your valuables on your person and never leave anything valuable out of your sight if travelling by bus. Go Trekking for one or two nights up north, it is a unique experience, bring lots of mozzie repellent, clean clothes and hiking shoes, and if your not fit don't even bother as it can be tough enough. Bring a torch also as you stay in bamboo huts with no running water or electricity, a deck of cards and some booze if you are easily bored. The locals take in supplies also and sell them for a meager mark up (like 50c for a can of coke) when it is like 40c in the shops so you don't have to pack everything and its good to support them as your flight ticket costs more than they will earn in a whole year!

whatsyourquota

I dont think TAT sell bus tickets etc think there only purpose is to give information.
So you probably dealt with someone pretending to be a TAT agent. TAT are very legit as far as I know.

Stinicker

whatsyourquota wrote: »

I dont think TAT sell bus tickets etc think there only purpose is to give information.
So you probably dealt with someone pretending to be a TAT agent. TAT are very legit as far as I know.

I dealt with a TAT "approved" travel agent and they do sell train tickets anyway, however to book these things yourself will save you even more money.

whatsyourquota

Nope they definately do NOT sell tickets you definately got scammed. Iv heard of this plenty of times and if you give it a quick google you see its one of the biggest scams around Thailand at the moment.
Il just give a link to one of these articles but there are loads more

http://www.gapyear.com/boards/index.php?op=vt&c=9&f=75&t=369429

Stinicker

whatsyourquota wrote: »

Nope they definately do NOT sell tickets you definately got scammed. Iv heard of this plenty of times and if you give it a quick google you see its one of the biggest scams around Thailand at the moment.
Il just give a link to one of these articles but there are loads more

http://www.gapyear.com/boards/index.php?op=vt&c=9&f=75&t=369429

I wasn't scammed so much as moderately overcharged I'd say compared to if I had been able to independently book everything myself in advance. Obviously you pay extra everytime you book with a travel agent in any country, although the Thai "TAT approved" agents get a good percentage compared to Western agents.

Everything I booked followed through, my hotels had my reservation, my flights and trains it was all legit just slightly more expensive compared to if I booked direct. The prices I paid I was quite happy with and it would be a bit like walking into a travel agent in Dublin and paying €600 for a week in Lanzarote when you could get the exact same thing direct online for maybe €500 - €550, if you cut out the middle men you save some money, but for all my flights, trains, and different places to stay it was just as easy to let the travel agent do it even if it was that little bit extra.

I didn't book from TAT or anything but the Travel agent claimed to be TAT approved, a bit like Bord Failite over here

whatsyourquota

So what did you mean when you called them a bunch of conmen then???

Stinicker

whatsyourquota wrote: »

So what did you mean when you called them a bunch of conmen then???

Because they are really out to shaft you unless you watch them closely, They booked me into a really crappy hotel in Koh Samui which I later read up about on Trip Advisor and it was supposed to be totally crap. I later went back to the travel agents office when I got back to Bangkok from Chiang Mai before heading down to Samui and told the agent that I wasn't going to stay there as it was supposed to be bad and cheekily then they then made me pay another 1,000bt (€25) for to upgrade to a different apartment, which turned out to be perfect afterwards.

For curiosity one day I went to the place I was originally booked for and it was a complete hovel. Similarly they told me 1st class was booked out on the train so I went 2nd class instead, there was loads of free cabins in the 1st class carriage afterwards. 2nd class was fun and I met some French lads and we went of the piss in the restaurant car which had no windows only a light warm breeze, fun times!

They will try sell you the worst stuff for the most money, their trekking tour I went on was brilliantly fun and quiet often you will get good deals with them but they could equally ruin your trip if you did not know what to look out for.

dearg lady

yeah, 'conmen' is a bit bloody harsh. There are some tourism offices that will rip you off, most will just include a charge for doing the extra bit of work. I was quite happy to pay an extar few baht in bangkok to get my train tickets. It would've cost me nearly the same to get to the train station to buy them, plus all the extra time!