Thailand holiday

[LA_Boxers]

So thinking of heading over to Thailand this year for a holiday. So have a few questions/looking for advice from anybody thats been. Ok here's my idea's/questions:-


Planning on Going Early September (once all the kids are back to school).

Going to fly into Bangkok as its cheaper.

Looking to go for a minumum of 10 days. Hopefully more though. It is worth going for 10 days?

Spend about 2 days in Bangkok before heading to Phuket and Koh Phi Phi for a couple of days each.

Then heading to Koh Samui and Koh Phangan before heading back to Bangkok to fly home.



Anybody got any pro's/cons for these places?

Any excursions not to miss out on?

Do I need any injections etc before heading out there?

Things to make sure I see / Things to make sure I dont see

[dreamizm]

Yeh I'm thinkin this too. Couple days Bangkok then out to the most chilled, nicest island or two.

Anyone any tips/recommendations for best spots - not lookin for KFC or Full-Moon, just beach huts, nice food and some sun

[daeMTHAFKNkim]

After watching some of Hangover-2 it seems like you gotta watch out for all the trannies. Gl out there

[Laszlo]

Exit Bangkok asap but visit the grand palace before you do.
If you're in the Phuket/Phi Phi area, visit the James Bond island (where Scaramanga's hideout was)
September is in the rainy season, so it might be a bit wet.
Either book all your transfers before you leave blighty or go direct to the train/bus station to get tickets when you're over there - try not to use the 'travel agents' over there as they will bring the cost of everything up a fair bit and, by all accounts, are surplus to requirement.
10 days should be OK but take in to account it can take three days to get over jet lag. Plus you'll lose about a day and a half to internal travel.
Phuket is more party orientated. Phi Phi is a lot more chilled out. Choose where you spend more time wisely.

Pros and cons of coach vs train travel when traveling from Bangkok to Phuket:
It's a long old journey so you'll need to be as comfortable as possible.
The coach will be air conditioned but the train is not.
The seats turn into beds on the train, they only recline a bit on the coach. The train is louder though.
You can get up and walk around on a train, coach, not so much.
Coach will have a 'western' toilet that will most likely get fucking aggy about two hours into the journey. The train has 'eastern' toilets (and a rope to hang onto) but they don't smell.
(Fuck. Just had a flashback of Bangkok's Hua Lamphong station toilets - without a doubt the grimmest I have seen anywhere in the world!)
Train has a dude that comes and takes you order for food and then it gets cooked for you. Coach you just stop off places and try your luck.
Trains are just a more romantic form of travel. Fuck a coach.

You probably do need some sort of injections but I never bothered.

[LA_Boxers]

Cheers Lazlo.

Some good advice there. I will probably be going with the Missus, so shouldnt have to worry too much about Ladyboys. But we've found a nice hotel in Bangkok that is 1300 baht a night including breakfast, and they pick you up from the airport for free if you book 2 or more nights. So thinking maybe 2 nights in Bangkok to get used to things and recover.

Anyone know whats the flight time from London?

[Laszlo]

Think it's about 14 hours.
(EDIT) no, sorry, it's not that long. About 11/12 hours.

Oh and don't use the tuk tuks when you're out there. They're expensive and it's smelly.

[scspkr99]

go to fewer places and spend more time chilling rather than rushing from spot to spot

Ko Samui was stunning, try spend a night or two in a top hotel in Bangkok it'll be cheaper than a 5/6 star anywhere else you'll want to go

[jigglypuff]

September is raining season in thailand if im not mistaken, the rain is usually short but it won't be sunshine all hours of the day although it will cheaper for bungalos and hotels.

Phuket is quite expensive more family oriented but some of the beaches are really stunning like karon and kata beach

Phi Phi is great

koh samui and koh phangan are good depending on what you want..

[dreamizm]

How do the islands rank in terms of commercialism/tourists and expense?

[NilsFG]

"Ladyboys are just confusing you know?"

[Neptune]

Pleeease be careful if travelling with coaches. These guys I knew got killed in a car crash there this summer.

[Electric_Head]

September is raining season in thailand if im not mistaken, the rain is usually short but it won't be sunshine all hours of the day although it will cheaper for bungalos and hotels.

Phuket is quite expensive more family oriented but some of the beaches are really stunning like karon and kata beach

Phi Phi is great

koh samui and koh phangan are good depending on what you want..

It is very rainy in September.
I personally loved Bangkok.
I don`t have much issue with lady boys.
They all seemed to like me and sold me goods cheaper hahahaha.
"Hello mista"

Phuket is cool but kayaking in the Andaman Sea for a week was the highlight of our trip.
We stayed on an awesome Muslim fishing island, very quite tourist free.
Mostly adventure seekers looking for cool things to do.
maybe 6 bungalows on the beach and a bar.
That`s all.
Best Seafood ever.
Plus I love Thai food and chilli.

I would go back and do the sames things again.
Awesome country.

f-ing hot

[dreamizm]

We stayed on an awesome Muslim fishing island, very quite tourist free.
Mostly adventure seekers looking for cool things to do.
maybe 6 bungalows on the beach and a bar.
That`s all.
Best Seafood ever.

U remember the name of the island boss?

[icanicant]

Try to go for more than ten days if you can. If you get hit by jet lag then that would be a large portion of your trip gone.

I would disagree about paying for anything before you get out there. Everyone I know who pre booked things got ripped off. You just have to do a bit of shopping around Khao San rd (the main tourist road). Although if you are only going for a short amount of time you might be better to accept that your gonna pay a bit more but not waste time trying to find the very best deals. It is all pretty cheap.

Don't stay in bangkok for long. 2 days is definitely the maximum. 3 things to do there
1)Grand palace
2)Giant Golden Buddha Statue (summat like 50m tall)
3)haggle and buy shit loads of cheap clothes that will shrink when washed a few times

Personally I went to Ko Tao and Ko Phangan.
-Ko Tao is where to go for a bit of diving / snorkelling (very highly recommend this)
-Ko Phangan is where to go to get pissed and go to a full moon/ half moon party. The full moon party is pretty cool just because of the sheer size of it. Drink lots of m150's. Also go to mushroom mountain if your into tripping.
both of the above is very touristy but pretyt much all the islands are

I didn't go to the below but from what I heard...
Ko Samui is a bit more upmarket /commercialised and more family orientated. Also more expensive
Ko Phi Phi is meant to be pretty idyllic and all my mates seemed to enjoy it
Phuket is where lots of old men go to get young prozzies. Happens all over thailand but here is apparently the worst.

Like the other person said I would try to do less and enjoy each place more. Travelling takes quite a bit of time and there is no point going to lots of places just to cross them off a list.

One time I went was in the rainy season and there was about an hour or two each day where there was literally no point going outside but it was still awesome.

Feel free to PM any questions if you want

[Motorway to Roswell]

read this -

http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.p ... 65588&hili

[capo ultra]

don't go grand palace, waste of dosh

[LA_Boxers]

What airlines are usually best/cheapest to fly with??

Eithad have a sale on for the next couple of days for about £480 return.

[Electric_Head]

don't go grand palace, waste of dosh

Grand palace wasn`t that expensive and imo, worth it.
I will add I`m anti tourist soI tend to stay away from anything tourist related.
We had to do the palace tour and reclining Buddha though, it`s a must.

One of the main highlights was a canopy tour in the Jungle called Flight of the Gibbon.

[Mammoth]

If you dive go to koh Tao. Muuuuuuuuuuuch better than koh samui. Even if you snorkel too.

[capo ultra]

don't go grand palace, waste of dosh

Grand palace wasn`t that expensive and imo, worth it.
I will add I`m anti tourist soI tend to stay away from anything tourist related.
We had to do the palace tour and reclining Buddha though, it`s a must.

One of the main highlights was a canopy tour in the Jungle called Flight of the Gibbon.

nout to see unless you're a buddhist, people ouside hassling you, tourist trap imo, can't see the attraction apart from cos it's something people do

flight of the gibbon is something all the tourists do but you can't go wrong with shit like that really

I've tried to stay away from the tourist spots last few months, might venture a trip up to Laos and Vang Vieng for a bit of Tubing even though it's meant to be like constant Spring Break and full of foreigners