First time to Thailand

lisij

Hello,
We (me and my wife) are planing a trip to Thailand on March 19 - April 9, and since we dont know anything about it we ask for your help boarders.ie we been looking around at people recommendations and made our own stops, please feel free to advice/correct/avoid us in anything you might come up with.
Oh, our trip will be mostly relaxing, without drinking, go outs or any partying and we would like to avoid crowded places as much as possible, if possible that is
Our stops:
Chiang Mai - for temples, thai culture, waterfalls all sort of activities, but since we are only staying for 3 weeks im afraid we wont go there since time is valuable thing for us. feel free if you say that Chiang mai is a must see place, and we reconsider our plans

Hua Hin - nothing we know about it, but people say great place to enjoy beaches

Ko tao - lovely beaches

Ko Pha-ngan - lovely small island with all sort of relaxing activities such as spas, massages and etc..

Ko Lanta (i think the one at Krabi island) - same as the above ones, relaxing beaches

and the last stop Ko Phi Phi - again, same as all the above, lovely beaches, relaxing and enjoying Thai cusine

and one more thing how would we get out of the ko phi phi to Bangkok airport? i see theres a Phuket airport not so far from ko phi phi, so we could take a flight from there to Bangkok and then back to Dublin or theres some sort of easier trip to Bangkok?

Thank you all for your help

Tipperary animal lover

Hi, ye will have a great time, Chiang mai is a most 2-3days plenty of trekking temples and a great city for food and markets.
I'd skip hua hin and travel to ko samui( fly in from Chiang mai) use it as a base. You can get a boat to ko Tao and ko pha ngan for day trips.
Fly from samui to Phuket and head to the phi phi islands( beautiful but over crowded) and a ferry from there to ko lanta( a great island more relaxed I think)
Thailand is overly commercialised, alot of places you go you'll meet more tourists than Thais, if you stay of the main tourist drags you'll find great budget hotels and decent restaurants.
Have a look at tripadvisor it'll give you great ideas, if your gonna rent a moped make sure to get an international drivers permit(around€12). Book your internal flights ASAP to get a decent price.
Let me know if ya need any more help. If you fancy something different and cheaper and exciting have a look at vietnam!!! We are heading back there next march on our third time, flying from Dublin to Saigon with emirates €720 each.

lisij

Tipperary animal lover wrote: »

If you fancy something different and cheaper and exciting have a look at vietnam!!! We are heading back there next march on our third time, flying from Dublin to Saigon with emirates €720 each.

Unfortunately got the tickets already to Bangkok yeayyyy
so, as we arrive to BKK you really advise to go to Chang mai, what way is better to get there, train, bus, flight maybe? (what are the ruff ticket prices?)
after we enjoyed the chang mai we should take a flight to Ko samui (what are the prices for flights?) and get a hotel over there, from ko samui we would use day trips to ko tao and on the next to pha-ngan (what are the prices for the boat trips), and why wouldn't you recommend to stay on ko tao or pha-ngan i mean over a night or even more nights?
and after from samui to phuket (again what are the ticket prices?), then phi phi island and ko lanta, again use phi phi as a base? and finally, from phi phi to phuket to bkk and fly back home? thats wright? feuwh... hard to remember all those destinations

Tipperary animal lover

Hi again, as you have only 3 weeks I'd fly if its in your price range.
Bangkok- Chiang mai-ko samui-Phuket-Bangkok, don't know prices now but do a dry run of the dates your travelling on the Bangkok airways site and you'll know then!!!
You might like pha ngan and ko Tao each to there own one night stay in either and you might love it!! the ferry is around €10 from samui. Make sure your not on these islands when the full moon party is on, the place will be mobbed unless ye want to party hard!!!
A night or two on phi phi and head to ko lanta for a few nights.
Accommodation is easy to get so when ye arrive at a place leave the touts bring ye to a hotel and if your not happy just walk around and see what suits ye.... I'd book 1-2 nights for when ye arrive to get over the jet lag.

The Davestator

Tipperary animal lover wrote: »

Hi, ye will have a great time, Chiang mai is a most 2-3days plenty of trekking temples and a great city for food and markets.
I'd skip hua hin and travel to ko samui( fly in from Chiang mai) use it as a base. You can get a boat to ko Tao and ko pha ngan for day trips.
Fly from samui to Phuket and head to the phi phi islands( beautiful but over crowded) and a ferry from there to ko lanta( a great island more relaxed I think)
Thailand is overly commercialised, alot of places you go you'll meet more tourists than Thais, if you stay of the main tourist drags you'll find great budget hotels and decent restaurants.
Have a look at tripadvisor it'll give you great ideas, if your gonna rent a moped make sure to get an international drivers permit(around€12). Book your internal flights ASAP to get a decent price.
Let me know if ya need any more help. If you fancy something different and cheaper and exciting have a look at vietnam!!! We are heading back there next march on our third time, flying from Dublin to Saigon with emirates €720 each.

Just back from Thailand and Chiang Mai was the highlight for me. We did a day with Elephants (not a dodgy tourist place where they have the elephants do tricks etc.) Tiger Kingdom was good, if a little sad and the pace was much nicer than Bangkok.

Ko Shumi was lovely once you avoid Chaweng beach - too many McDonalds for my liking!

lisij

Thanks lads for u help, would anyone recommend a decent hotel in chiang mai? Dosnt has to be a 5 star but i dont want to live with cocroachers either

Gatica

The Davestator wrote: »

Just back from Thailand and Chiang Mai was the highlight for me. We did a day with Elephants (not a dodgy tourist place where they have the elephants do tricks etc.) Tiger Kingdom was good, if a little sad and the pace was much nicer than Bangkok.

Ko Shumi was lovely once you avoid Chaweng beach - too many McDonalds for my liking!

We did the same thing! were in Chiang Mai end of September. Also went for day trip to Elephant Nature Park to feed and wash the elephant and to Tiger Kingdom in an afternoon.
Did a cooking class too, which was fun and included a trip to the local market.
We were there 3 nights and really felt it was not enough. Would've loved to stay another 2 at least and do some hiking and trekking to the mountains. It's a lovely little town, has a relaxed atmosphere and the night bazaar has a lot to offer if you want to buy souvenirs.
Went to Deep Relax Spa, which in spite of its poor name, is an amazing little spa. Had the best oil massage of the 7 had in SE Asia. Defo worth a visit.

ocisorrenta

Gatica wrote: »

We did the same thing! were in Chiang Mai end of September. Also went for day trip to Elephant Nature Park to feed and wash the elephant and to Tiger Kingdom in an afternoon.
Did a cooking class too, which was fun and included a trip to the local market.
We were there 3 nights and really felt it was not enough. Would've loved to stay another 2 at least and do some hiking and trekking to the mountains. It's a lovely little town, has a relaxed atmosphere and the night bazaar has a lot to offer if you want to buy souvenirs.
Went to Deep Relax Spa, which in spite of its poor name, is an amazing little spa. Had the best oil massage of the 7 had in SE Asia. Defo worth a visit.

Can't recommend the Elephant Nature Park enough. We stayed one night and it was the best two days of a two week trip last year!

The Davestator

lisij wrote: »

Thanks lads for u help, would anyone recommend a decent hotel in chiang mai? Dosnt has to be a 5 star but i dont want to live with cocroachers either

I stayed in 'U Chiang Mai' and loved it. Don't know the price as it was in a package. Small, fancy and rustic. Service brilliant too

Stinicker

lisij wrote: »

Thanks lads for u help, would anyone recommend a decent hotel in chiang mai? Dosnt has to be a 5 star but i dont want to live with cocroachers either

I stayed in "The Small Hotel" Chiang Mai in 2011 and it was a neat little place, kinda quirky but nice. No cockroaches either !

Cockroaches and even Rats are a fact of life in the tropics and I have seen plenty during my trips to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. I was so freaked out the first time I took to wearing socks in my sandals (major fashion faux paus). When I realized the rats in a Malaysian night food market were not afraid of people was another major freakout! I couldn't eat there as I was sure I'd end up with Weil's disease or something,

Gatica

saw lots of insects over in SE Asia, just had to get the OH to take them kindly outside. Stayed at Ruen Come In in Chiang Mai. Lovely little family run hotel, downside is 15 mins away from the city.

lisij

Stinicker wrote: »

I stayed in "The Small Hotel" Chiang Mai in 2011 and it was a neat little place, kinda quirky but nice. No cockroaches either !

Cockroaches and even Rats are a fact of life in the tropics and I have seen plenty during my trips to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. I was so freaked out the first time I took to wearing socks in my sandals (major fashion faux paus). When I realized the rats in a Malaysian night food market were not afraid of people was another major freakout! I couldn't eat there as I was sure I'd end up with Weil's disease or something,

oh boy where am i flying

Stinicker

Gatica wrote: »

saw lots of insects over in SE Asia, just had to get the OH to take them kindly outside. Stayed at Ruen Come In in Chiang Mai. Lovely little family run hotel, downside is 15 mins away from the city.

The real fun is when you see said insects for sale cooked and bbq'd by the street vendors. I was tempted to try them but was afraid of having the runs for the rest of the trip so didn't. Bit of advice do your gastronomy experimenting towards the end of the trip, so if the worst happens it won't spoil the holiday.

lisij

Stinicker wrote: »

The real fun is when you see said insects for sale cooked and bbq'd by the street vendors. I was tempted to try them but was afraid of having the runs for the rest of the trip so didn't. Bit of advice do your gastronomy experimenting towards the end of the trip, so if the worst happens it won't spoil the holiday.

thanx for the advice, always wanted to try those insect

bewhiched

Love to head over next year but BUGS Jesus I'd die ??

Gatica

ha ha... did see the deep friend insect vendors alright. Thought would be brave and try the crickets til saw the cockroaches roasted right beside them. That put me right off...

On the bugs front, don't worry too much, you just get used to it, but it is handy to have someone around who wont mind taking them out one way or another.

geecee

Gatica wrote: »

ha ha... did see the deep friend insect vendors alright. Thought would be brave and try the crickets til saw the cockroaches roasted right beside them. That put me right off...

The weren't cockroaches.... roaches are not eaten as they are considered dirty

They were more likely grasshoppers, beetles or locusts that you saw
All of these live on rice, corn or coconuts are considered clean

Similarly the Issan Thais will eat field rats (that live on rice) but would never eat sewer rats

Gatica

in that case large beetles. Those were definitely not grasshoppers/locusts..

lisij

hello everyone!!
as my trip is getting closer(month left )) ), i have a question, how to get from bankok to chiang mai, we will arrive at 3 o'clock in the morning, which ways are more comfortable and fastest and stress free, yeah i know that theres flight to there, but what about bus and trains? which ones would you suggest to use, thanx

number66

Hope you have a great time. Thailand is a lovely place. I recommened reading the US travel advice about thailand (http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1040.html) It should help you avoid some of the possibale pitfalls.

Regards

Tipperary animal lover

Go by train, have a look at seat61.com gives you all the times prices etc... Enjoy