Thailand, April 2020

regedit

Planning to go to Thailand in early April 2020 with our two children (16 and 13). Plan is to spend some 3 days in Bangkok and then travel to the south for an additional 7-8 days. We haven't been to Thailand before and asking friends for advice isn't proving helpful as some visited 10-15 years ago, others were there partying which is not what we want. We are hoping for a relaxing holiday.
There's no recent entries here for Thailand so I thought I'd ask. Also, any recommendations for a travel agent nationally who deals with Thailand. Going to Trailfinders on Friday but there may be others...

Uncharted

regedit wrote: »

Planning to go to Thailand in early April 2020 with our two children (16 and 13). Plan is to spend some 3 days in Bangkok and then travel to the south for an additional 7-8 days. We haven't been to Thailand before and asking friends for advice isn't proving helpful as some visited 10-15 years ago, others were there partying which is not what we want. We are hoping for a relaxing holiday.
There's no recent entries here for Thailand so I thought I'd ask. Also, any recommendations for a travel agent nationally who deals with Thailand. Going to Trailfinders on Friday but there may be others...

AFAIK Gohop do Thailand trips. In my opinion, take the time to do it all yourself,it's half the fun.


Also I think 3 days in Bangkok out of a 10 day trip is too much.

2 days is plenty,especially with kids.

Just my 2 cents. Enjoy.

pmurphy00

regedit wrote: »

Planning to go to Thailand in early April 2020 with our two children (16 and 13). Plan is to spend some 3 days in Bangkok and then travel to the south for an additional 7-8 days. We haven't been to Thailand before and asking friends for advice isn't proving helpful as some visited 10-15 years ago, others were there partying which is not what we want. We are hoping for a relaxing holiday.
There's no recent entries here for Thailand so I thought I'd ask. Also, any recommendations for a travel agent nationally who deals with Thailand. Going to Trailfinders on Friday but there may be others...

try to fit in songkran it's a huge national water festival it's april 13-15 2020
i spent one in chaing mai i think your teenagers would really enjoy it.
it would be a shame to miss it if you are going in april.

bests of luck with the planning almost all of my time was spent in northern thailand. Fantastic country.

mx5ire

regedit wrote: »

Planning to go to Thailand in early April 2020 with our two children (16 and 13). Plan is to spend some 3 days in Bangkok and then travel to the south for an additional 7-8 days. We haven't been to Thailand before and asking friends for advice isn't proving helpful as some visited 10-15 years ago, others were there partying which is not what we want. We are hoping for a relaxing holiday.
There's no recent entries here for Thailand so I thought I'd ask. Also, any recommendations for a travel agent nationally who deals with Thailand. Going to Trailfinders on Friday but there may be others...

Hi - I have a pile of information that i will send you via a PM, i have sent it to others recently on other threads, dont want to fill up the whole thread there

But in summary, April is a great time to go, it will be hot in Bangkok, circa 38 degrees, but thats fine. I would do 3 nights no problem, there is lots to do. With teens, a brilliant thing to do in Bangkok is a half or full day cycle tour, i will include some details. At that time of year Koh Samui is great weatherwise too, less rain the Phuket for example, and Yes you will get lots of comment about it being too commercial etc, but it ticks a lot of boxes, particularly if you dont stay in the busiest areas like Chaweng. Good beaches, enough to see and do, and most decent hotels have lots of water based activities, paddle boards, canoes etc.

Book yourself or travel agent ? Probably a little of both, i.e. maybe source a Bangkok hotel yourselves, flights through an agent etc. We have used Trailfinders for years for many trips, they know their stuff hands down, and are very competitive. What a travel agent like that brings is knowledge on special offers, stay 5 get 1 free etc, stuff that you wont get typically online yourself. Also general advice. Get their south east Asia brochure and use it as a starting point.

PM to follow...

regedit

mx5ire wrote: »

Hi - I have a pile of information that i will send you via a PM, i have sent it to others recently on other threads, dont want to fill up the whole thread there

But in summary, April is a great time to go, it will be hot in Bangkok, circa 38 degrees, but thats fine. I would do 3 nights no problem, there is lots to do. With teens, a brilliant thing to do in Bangkok is a half or full day cycle tour, i will include some details. At that time of year Koh Samui is great weatherwise too, less rain the Phuket for example, and Yes you will get lots of comment about it being too commercial etc, but it ticks a lot of boxes, particularly if you dont stay in the busiest areas like Chaweng. Good beaches, enough to see and do, and most decent hotels have lots of water based activities, paddle boards, canoes etc.

Book yourself or travel agent ? Probably a little of both, i.e. maybe source a Bangkok hotel yourselves, flights through an agent etc. We have used Trailfinders for years for many trips, they know their stuff hands down, and are very competitive. What a travel agent like that brings is knowledge on special offers, stay 5 get 1 free etc, stuff that you wont get typically online yourself. Also general advice. Get their south east Asia brochure and use it as a starting point.

PM to follow...

Thanks a lot for the detailed information mx5ire

regedit

pmurphy00 wrote: »

try to fit in songkran it's a huge national water festival it's april 13-15 2020
i spent one in chaing mai i think your teenagers would really enjoy it.
it would be a shame to miss it if you are going in april.

bests of luck with the planning almost all of my time was spent in northern thailand. Fantastic country.

Thanks pmurphy00

corm500

mx5ire wrote: »

Hi - I have a pile of information that i will send you via a PM, i have sent it to others recently on other threads, dont want to fill up the whole thread there

But in summary, April is a great time to go, it will be hot in Bangkok, circa 38 degrees, but thats fine. I would do 3 nights no problem, there is lots to do. With teens, a brilliant thing to do in Bangkok is a half or full day cycle tour, i will include some details. At that time of year Koh Samui is great weatherwise too, less rain the Phuket for example, and Yes you will get lots of comment about it being too commercial etc, but it ticks a lot of boxes, particularly if you dont stay in the busiest areas like Chaweng. Good beaches, enough to see and do, and most decent hotels have lots of water based activities, paddle boards, canoes etc.

Book yourself or travel agent ? Probably a little of both, i.e. maybe source a Bangkok hotel yourselves, flights through an agent etc. We have used Trailfinders for years for many trips, they know their stuff hands down, and are very competitive. What a travel agent like that brings is knowledge on special offers, stay 5 get 1 free etc, stuff that you wont get typically online yourself. Also general advice. Get their south east Asia brochure and use it as a starting point.

PM to follow...

Please could you forward the info to me too. We are planning to visit Karon beach in early April for two weeks. We have an 8 year old and we love snorkeling. Any advice much appreciated.

regedit

FYI, we booked our holiday with Trailfinders and the booking experience was excellent. It was the first time we used them and previously had either done our own thing or travelled with Falcon/Tui. This experience was so much better.
We opted for 3 days in Bangkok (Banyan Tree) and then a short flight to Phukett and staying in Kata Noi Beach (Katathani Phuket Beach Resort). Flight out with Qatar and the internal flight with Bangkok Airlines.

blowin3

regedit wrote: »

FYI, we booked our holiday with Trailfinders and the booking experience was excellent. It was the first time we used them and previously had either done our own thing or travelled with Falcon/Tui. This experience was so much better.
We opted for 3 days in Bangkok (Banyan Tree) and then a short flight to Phukett and staying in Kata Noi Beach (Katathani Phuket Beach Resort). Flight out with Qatar and the internal flight with Bangkok Airlines.

Banyan Tree class hotel in BKK but never stayed as it would be out of my league lol. I am married to a Thai and have being traveling there for years. The month of April is hot hot and can be quite humid. We were there this April and it went to mid 40s but you just stay in shade. Someone recommended Songkran 13 of April is great fun and your teenagers would love it. The only negative is Phuket it can get very crowded and is mass tourism at it worst. But I am sure you will plan side trips to the islands and Koh Sok is very beautiful and not too far from Phuket.

Enjoy life will never be the same once you go to Thailand you always dream of going back.

Uncharted

blowin3 wrote: »

Enjoy life will never be the same once you go to Thailand you always dream of going back.

This. X 1000.

mx5ire

regedit wrote: »

FYI, we booked our holiday with Trailfinders and the booking experience was excellent. It was the first time we used them and previously had either done our own thing or travelled with Falcon/Tui. This experience was so much better.
We opted for 3 days in Bangkok (Banyan Tree) and then a short flight to Phukett and staying in Kata Noi Beach (Katathani Phuket Beach Resort). Flight out with Qatar and the internal flight with Bangkok Airlines.

Glad you found Trailfinders good, i think that they are excellent and for long haul they are an entirely different level to 'normal' travel agents.

If you haven't settled on and paid for Karon beach, one other option that i didnt mention previously is Khao Lak, which is off Phuket island on the mainland and about the same distance as the Katathani from Phuket airport. The JW Marriott or Renaissance are gorgeous hotels, the JW is particularly cool with its incredible snaking pool layout and some great little restaurants along the beach just outside the hotel. And the beach goes for miles and not remotely crowded. Probably more money than the Katathani though.

However, the Katathani is very very nice, its quite spread out, particularly if you end up in the Bhuri wing, which isnt directly on the beach itself but does have a pool area. But the beach is just cross the (quiet) road. The beach is lovely, its not that long, maybe 800 meters i think, and there a few restaurants outside the hotel which were good. The Kata Noi area is quieter than the main Kata / Karon area, but you can get cabs easily into the larger Karon/Kata area for cheap money. I cannot remember if the hotel did a shuttle.

We have flown Qatar on the Dub - Doha - BKK route and they were very good, planes are all relatively new and the food is as edible as it gets in economy. Doha is smaller than Dubai to transfer in as well, so nice and easy. They dont seem to fly the A380 from Doha to Bangkok at the moment, which is a pity, but their inflight entertainment is great on all planes.

As others have said, you will be hooked on Thailand afterwards, and make sure to immerse yourself in it. Do a cycle tour or two in Bangkok, eat in Chinatown, dont be afraid to eat street food everywhere, do boat trips from Phuket for snorkelling and go to Phi Phi, despite how busy it can be.

theguzman

Uncharted wrote: »

This. X 1000.

I have been to Thailand several times, believe me it does wear off, the blatant racism against Farangs, the mafia in Phuket charging New York style prices, been seen as a walking ATM.

Countries like Vietnam, the Philippines, South American countries (Brazil especially) are all nice and equal alternatives, Thailand is totally overrun by obnoxious Swedish feminists and their beta Scandinavian cousins, it is ruined by mass tourism for me now and I haven't set foot in Thailand with six years and don't have any future plans to either.

Uncharted

theguzman wrote: »

I have been to Thailand several times, believe me it does wear off, the blatant racism against Farangs, the mafia in Phuket charging New York style prices, been seen as a walking ATM.

Countries like Vietnam, the Philippines, South American countries (Brazil especially) are all nice and equal alternatives, Thailand is totally overrun by obnoxious Swedish feminists and their beta Scandinavian cousins, it is ruined by mass tourism for me now and I haven't set foot in Thailand with six years and don't have any future plans to either.

Iv been 5 times,my last trip was 2012.

Even then,Phuket was slipping into all the makings of being a tourist cesspit. ATM on legs if you were dumb enough to fall for it all. It's a real shame. There are many more beautiful parts to Thailand. I'm due to head back next April for a month. Both Vietnam and Thailand are on the itinery.

mx5ire

Uncharted wrote: »

Iv been 5 times,my last trip was 2012.

Even then,Phuket was slipping into all the makings of being a tourist cesspit. ATM on legs if you were dumb enough to fall for it all. It's a real shame. There are many more beautiful parts to Thailand. I'm due to head back next April for a month. Both Vietnam and Thailand are on the itinery.

While i agree on some of this, Thailand is far from being alone on this stuff. Not all of Phuket is horrid, but places like Pattaya are. But are they any different from Magaluf, or parts of the Costa Del Sol ? Absolutely not. But there are many other places that are just beautiful, where you can eat and drink well for relatively cheap costs, without feeling ripped off. Yes 4 and 5 star hotels are priced at 4 and 5 star prices, but compare a lot of them to their Caribbean (Antigua, St Lucia, Granada, Barbados) equivalents and you can still get very good value in Thailand and the East in general compared to other parts of the world.

I have going all over south east asia for over 20 years, both in our party days and now with kids, and i still love that part of the world. Has it gotten more expensive ? Yes it has, but everywhere has. The old days of buying beer for 0.0001p per pint are long gone, as they are all over both western and eastern europe. Pick and chose where you go and where you stay, and what you spend your money on. You dont have to be ripped off. Nowadays we stay in the better hotels, eat cheaply outside those hotels, and pick and chose carefully what we spend our hard earned on. No where is perfect.

By way of price comparison, we are off on another summer Eurocamp type trip soon (purely for the sake of our daughter) with a few other families. By the time we add in mobile home cost, car rental, flights, doing our own shopping at european prices, and european restaurant prices we are rapidly approaching and very close to the price of 12 days on the beach in Thailand or Vietnam, yet we are sleeping on a glorified camp bed and making our own food, and washing our own dishes. Try a holiday in the US, it will cost you a damn fortune. Now that's a country that knows how to charge.

The reality is that if you let it, you will get fleeced in many many parts of the world, our own glorious country included. I have been away twice here recently and been well and truly shocked at some of our homegrown tourist price gouging.

MillField

Uncharted wrote: »

Also I think 3 days in Bangkok out of a 10 day trip is too much.

2 days is plenty,especially with kids.

Just my 2 cents. Enjoy.

+1 for this. Two nights should be plenty in Bangkok. There are much nicer places to see in Thailand.

Uncharted

mx5ire wrote: »

While i agree on some of this, Thailand is far from being alone on this stuff. Not all of Phuket is horrid, but places like Pattaya are. But are they any different from Magaluf, or parts of the Costa Del Sol ? Absolutely not. But there are many other places that are just beautiful, where you can eat and drink well for relatively cheap costs, without feeling ripped off. Yes 4 and 5 star hotels are priced at 4 and 5 star prices, but compare a lot of them to their Caribbean (Antigua, St Lucia, Granada, Barbados) equivalents and you can still get very good value in Thailand and the East in general compared to other parts of the world.

I have going all over south east asia for over 20 years, both in our party days and now with kids, and i still love that part of the world. Has it gotten more expensive ? Yes it has, but everywhere has. The old days of buying beer for 0.0001p per pint are long gone, as they are all over both western and eastern europe. Pick and chose where you go and where you stay, and what you spend your money on. You dont have to be ripped off. Nowadays we stay in the better hotels, eat cheaply outside those hotels, and pick and chose carefully what we spend our hard earned on. No where is perfect.

By way of price comparison, we are off on another summer Eurocamp type trip soon (purely for the sake of our daughter) with a few other families. By the time we add in mobile home cost, car rental, flights, doing our own shopping at european prices, and european restaurant prices we are rapidly approaching and very close to the price of 12 days on the beach in Thailand or Vietnam, yet we are sleeping on a glorified camp bed and making our own food, and washing our own dishes. Try a holiday in the US, it will cost you a damn fortune. Now that's a country that knows how to charge.

The reality is that if you let it, you will get fleeced in many many parts of the world, our own glorious country included. I have been away twice here recently and been well and truly shocked at some of our homegrown tourist price gouging.

Couldn't agree more.

Just to clarify,perhaps my post was unclear,I'm not slagging off Thailand,I'm merely saying it's sad to see it's soul bring ripped out by sex mongers and Russian gangsters.

Pattaya as the most extreme example, is beyond all hope,between the horrific levels of pollution and sex trafficking. It's a human toilet.

The rest of Thailand,not molested by commercialism is jaw dropping and will always have a place in my heart. My wife and I were engaged on Koh Samui in 2010. We both love the place.
Roll on next April

mx5ire

Oh don't worry - i didn't take it that way, i hear exactly what you are saying.

As my own daughter gets a little bigger, we are starting to go a bit more off the beaten track and it just gets better every time. The friendliness of the people in the face of some of the nasty behaviour that visitors to their country carry on with always staggers me. I would be far less tolerant. After 10 days touring China this year, we spent 4 days in Bangkok where the contrast in general friendliness between those two countries was startling.

Clonmel1000

Sorry to piggyback on this thread but looking for some advice please.

Planning to head to Thailand with my wife in September for 2 weeks. Rough plan is Koh Samui Ko Phangan and Bangkok. Just wondering what people’s thoughts are on this itinerary and how long would you recommend giving in each. Thanks

MillField

Clonmel1000 wrote: »

Sorry to piggyback on this thread but looking for some advice please.

Planning to head to Thailand with my wife in September for 2 weeks. Rough plan is Koh Samui Ko Phangan and Bangkok. Just wondering what people’s thoughts are on this itinerary and how long would you recommend giving in each. Thanks

I was in Thailand with friends last year for 2 weeks.



Our itinerary:

• 2 nights Bangkok
• 3 nights Chiang Mai
• 1 night Koh Samui
• 2 nights Koh Pha-ngan
• 5 nights Koh Tao

We all felt that we had spent the time wisely. 2 nights in Bangkok was plenty, Chiang Mai was a highlight and would definitely recommend going there for a few nights. It's a bit more authentic than the islands and there are day trips to animal sanctuary's and the like.


The reason we only spent 1 night in Koh Samui is because we were eager to get to the full moon party at Koh Pha-ngan. It would have been nice to spend a bit longer there.


5 nights in Koh Tao was probably a day too long so I would have shortened that, but it was a relaxing way to end the holiday with great beaches.

Minime2.5

Uncharted wrote: »

Couldn't agree more.

Just to clarify,perhaps my post was unclear,I'm not slagging off Thailand,I'm merely saying it's sad to see it's soul bring ripped out by sex mongers and Russian gangsters.

Pattaya as the most extreme example, is beyond all hope,between the horrific levels of pollution and sex trafficking. It's a human toilet.

The rest of Thailand,not molested by commercialism is jaw dropping and will always have a place in my heart. My wife and I were engaged on Koh Samui in 2010. We both love the place.
Roll on next April

I think you've been misinformed, whilst there is a lot of prostitution 99% of it is the persons own choice

Uncharted

Minime2.5 wrote: »

I think you've been misinformed, whilst there is a lot of prostitution 99% of it is the persons own choice

Thai girls perhaps.

Russian and eastern European prostitutes are not there of their own free will.
Its evident to anyone with a brain.

They are mind numbed zombies.

I'm not misinformed at all, I'm referring to my own memories of the place.

JohnCleary

Uncharted wrote: »

Thai girls perhaps.

Russian and eastern European prostitutes are not there of their own free will.
Its evident to anyone with a brain.

They are mind numbed zombies.

I'm not misinformed at all, I'm referring to my own memories of the place.

While I can't disagree with you as I have no experience, it's easy to avoid seeing this. Just avoid Pattaya.

I can't say if they're trafficked or not. It's a depressing thought, but happens the world over. The only way to stop it is to stop the demand for it.