Day Trips from Bangkok

lc180

Hi,

I'm going to Thailand in a few weeks, flying in/out of Bangkok. My friends and I have roughly 13 nights to spend there.

My rough breakdown so far is:

• 2 nights in Bangkok
• 8 nights on the Islands (probably Koh Samui/Koh Phangnan/Koh Tao)
• 1 night in Bangkok before early morning flight home

That leaves 2 days free. As we are already doing two internal flights from BKK to either the east or west islands we don't want to go to the effort to travel north to Chiang Mai so just wondering can anyone recommend somewhere close to Bangkok (2 hours max) to spend a day or two.

We are open to all ideas and activities except for hiking. Any natural reserves or animal sanctuaries nearby would be cool.

Worst case we'll just spend a couple extra days relaxing on the islands.

Any tips would be great,
thanks!

Stinicker

You could visit the historical city of Ayutthaya which is not that far a distance from Bangkok, you could either do a day trip from Bangkok or maybe an overnighter there. It really depends on what your into, if you like history and monuments etc. then Ayutthaya would be a good bet.

Alternatively take a trip over to Pattaya, Thailand's party town capital, Pattaya is much cheaper than Bangkok and it is one big binge town of booze, clubs and hookers! It is worth even going just to take witness it without ever partaking in the hedonism. I was there this year for the Songkran festival and the whole place was literally rocking, mad place altogether.

lc180

Thanks for the tips!

So I've been looking into it, think I will either do an overnighter in Ayutthaya or Kanchanaburi, seems to be loads of history and cool things to see.
Pattaya also really interests me though, I'm 28 I was want to enjoy the nightlife as well as experience all that Thailand has to offer culture wise. I know it has a seedy side but did you find much to see and do during the day? I don't want to go there if its only nightlife there and nothing else really.

leverarch12

Lots to do in Kanchanaburi, it gives a mix of historical sites and also has a very popular national park. I really liked Kanchanaburi!

lc180

leverarch12 wrote: »

Lots to do in Kanchanaburi, it gives a mix of historical sites and also has a very popular national park. I really liked Kanchanaburi!

cool, is one night/two days enough time to comfortably see things or should I consider staying for two nights?

cheers

Stinicker

lc180 wrote: »

Thanks for the tips!

So I've been looking into it, think I will either do an overnighter in Ayutthaya or Kanchanaburi, seems to be loads of history and cool things to see.
Pattaya also really interests me though, I'm 28 I was want to enjoy the nightlife as well as experience all that Thailand has to offer culture wise. I know it has a seedy side but did you find much to see and do during the day? I don't want to go there if its only nightlife there and nothing else really.

Pattaya is an acquired taste really, it is a party town and whilst I only spent a few days there by the end of it I was getting bored of it also.

There is things to do there but they are awfully cliched type of tourist traps, you could take a day trip to Koh Larn which is an island a few kms off the coast but I'd say it is underwhelming (not been there). Alot of the city is geared towards ex Soviet package tourists whom are everywhere and sex-tourists with their new found rent-a-girlfriends. It is cheap enough but is far removed from the "real Thailand". There is loads of shopping and markets also and they have their own fake floating market also and this miniature legoland type of city thing.

When I was there Songkran was on for several days and it was great, basically everybody behaves like a 5 year old splashing water at each other non-stop. There is one thing about Pattaya, I would not call it boring and 2 or 3 days there could be a laugh and if someone has spare days in their trip I'd say give it a shot and just think of it as a Spanish resorts bigger and badder cousin.

leverarch12

lc180 wrote: »

cool, is one night/two days enough time to comfortably see things or should I consider staying for two nights?

cheers

two days one night plenty of time! Could even do it all in a day if you got up early enough

Benny_Cake

I'd go to Kanchanaburi. The Death Railway / Hellfire Pass trip is very good if you have any interest in WW2 and Erawan National Park is a must see. The town itself has a few war cemeteries and museums,not a whole lot going on otherwise but despite that it's a nice relaxed place,quite a contrast to Bangkok!