Thinking Thailand - Where should I start.

WAYT

moneysavvy35 wrote: »

Thank you. The £1200 is probably for flight & accomadation only. Then say a separate £500 for spends. I have seen flight and hotels deals for less than £1000 but then this is to stay in just the one place when I really want to try 2 places. Think did look at multi centre trips but as most of you guys are saying these are based mostly on 14 nights & longer.

In this case you will do fine. £1400 for accommodation and internal flights will do nicely. £70 per night for accommodation is a good benchmark. Leaving you with £700 for insurance, internal travel and incidentals.
You'll be arriving just after Chinese New Year. So forward planning is a good idea.
Staying close to the river is a good idea for when it comes to Bangkok and travelling along the river the best way to visit the sites.

Examples of an excellent location, next to the river and overhead transit at different price points;

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/19478863
https://www.centrepoint.com/silom Of course much cheaper via Trivago and the like.
http://www.shangri-la.com/bangkok/shangrila/

All three in the same area. Walking distance to the 15 baht river taxi pier(Sathorn) or BTS SkyTrain station(Saphan Taksin). http://www.chaophrayaexpressboat.com/en/home/
http://www.transitbangkok.com/images/BTS_MRT_Chao_Phraya_Express_Khlong.png (Useful map of all of the main public transportation systems)

Personally, I would go for the least expensive option in order to use the money saved, on breakfast, at/on The Verandah at the nearby Mandarin Oriental https://www.mandarinoriental.com/bangkok/chao-phraya-river/fine-dining/restaurants/international-cuisine/the-verandah and perhaps drinks at the Sky Bar at Lebua; http://www.lebua.com/sky-bar or dinner at Sirocco. http://www.lebua.com/sirocco
If Lebua is too expensive, then perhaps the Moon Bar and/or Vertigo at the Banyan Tree; http://www.banyantree.com/en/ap-thailand-bangkok/vertigo-and-moon-bar

Save on the one hand so that you can splurge with the other.

ruperts

Another recommendation for doing it independently here.

Definitely stretch the duration as far as you can take it because the door to door it's a long trip and you'll likely need a bit of recovery time on arrival.

It's hard to recommend places, especially beaches because there are so many and such a huge variety of options. We've enjoyed Ko Samet (which you can get to by road and ferry in a few hours from Bangkok), Ko Lanta, Phi Phi, the quieter parts of Phuket and Ko Pha Ngan. Didn't really like Ko Samui, Pattaya, Hua Hin but it's all personal preference. Our favourite place is the north, but you probably won't have time to get there.

bigadaj

I think some of the Middle East airlines, like Qatar, Emirates, etihad etc, will do flights in and out of Phuket as well.

So there might be the option to fly into Bangkok, travel down to the beaches, by flights, train, bus etc and then fly out without having to backtrack.

The reverse is also possible too of course.

Doshwaster

bigadaj wrote: »

I think some of the Middle East airlines, like Qatar, Emirates, etihad etc, will do flights in and out of Phuket as well.

So there might be the option to fly into Bangkok, travel down to the beaches, by flights, train, bus etc and then fly out without having to backtrack.

The reverse is also possible too of course.

Emirates is an especially good choice if you are close to a regional UK airport so you can avoid having to travel to London.

You could do UK -> Bangkok and then Phuket -> UK as an open jaw. Maybe fly down to Krabi, spend a few days there and take the boat to Phuket via Phi Phi - though that might be too tight for your schedule.

andrewf75

Make sure you do your research on the resorts as they tend to get overdeveloped and spoilt. My knowledge is well out of date but Pattaya is known as an absolute dump and some other places that were once paradise may not be any more...

PompeyPete

For your beach time, why not try and avoid the main touristy places? We are regular visitors to Thailand, and while we aren't beach people we decided to have a week down the Gulf Coast at Prachuap Khiri Khan...

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Prachuap_Khiri_Khan

We went there in March a couple of years ago and had a great time. We were lucky to hit the place for their Spring Festival, which is basically held at the same week every year, and lasts all week...

http://www.tatnews.org/event/prachuap-khiri-khan-tourism-festival-red-cross-fair-2017/

We stayed at the Golden Beach Hotel, family run, sublime views from all of the rooms which have floor to ceiling panoramic windows, excellent vfm, and only a short walk north from the centre of town...

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g1825963-d2490308-Reviews-Golden_Beach_Hotel-Prachuap_Khiri_Khan_Prachuap_Khiri_Khan_Province.html

We got around on hired push-bikes.

There's an amazing beach v.closeby called Ao Maneo...

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g1825963-d2665205-Reviews-Ao_Manao-Prachuap_Khiri_Khan_Prachuap_Khiri_Khan_Province.html

...which is just on the southern edge of town. It's inside the Wing 5 Thai Royal Air Force Base which is a unique location. All you need to get inside is some ID, you sign in and out at the Main Gate. You even have to cycle across the Airfield Runway to get to the beach, so make sure you've got a green light. If you don't want to hire a pushbike, a tuk tuk will take you all the way to the beach.

There's a food court opposite the beach, and they deliver to your sunbed. You can hire sunbeds for about 10 baht, and there's plenty of shade if you need it. The beach is in a very picturesque bay, and is great for swimming.

The best time to visit Ao Maneo is Monday to Thursday, as like a lot of popular places it gets invaded by Bangkok weekenders from Friday to Sunday.

It's easy to reach Prachuap Khiri Khan by train from Bangkok's main station called Hualamphong. There's several trains a day, the best one is Train 43. The train leaves Hualamphong at 0805, and arrives at Prachuap Khiri Khan at 1230. The fare's about 450 baht and includes a meal and soft drink. Best to book in advance as that train only has 2 carriages. How to book tickets...

http://www.train36.com/train-from-bangkok-to-prachuap-khiri-khan.html

Getting to Hualamphong train station is easy. It's at the end of the Underground Line [MRT], which links up with the Skytrain [BTS].

KittenChops

Check out Koh Lanta... you'd probably fly down from Bangkok (although probably not from Suvarnabhumi which is where your international flights will be in / out of, but from Don Muang, as someone else mentioned earlier) to Krabi and then take a ferry across to the island - easy to organise when you arrive at Krabi airport.

Personally, I'd avoid Pattaya and Phuket Town.

As far as hotels and attractions go, TripAvisor is brilliant for checking them out. Ignore any overly positive or negative reviews from people who have only left one or two reviews on the site. If you visit any animal attractions, remember that this is Asia; sadly a lot of places leave a lot to be desired in terms of animal well being - again, TripAdvisor will be your friend.

We visited the night safari in Chang Mai, thinking it was affiliated with Chang Mai zoo - it wasn't and we left quickly, hating ourselves for having given money to somewhere like that :-(


ETA - when booking island accommodation, sometimes the clue is in the name. On my first visit to Koh Phangan, we booked somewhere thinking it had a lovely sandy beach which was called something along the lines of 'Sea View' - with hindsight we should have booked something with the word 'beach' in the name!

moneysavvy35

richardw wrote: »

Where in the UK are you?

Im in london - happy to travel to other airports not to far out if I can get the flight cheaper.

bigadaj wrote: »

I think some of the Middle East airlines, like Qatar, Emirates, etihad etc, will do flights in and out of Phuket as well.

So there might be the option to fly into Bangkok, travel down to the beaches, by flights, train, bus etc and then fly out without having to backtrack.

The reverse is also possible too of course.

yes this sounds like a good idea also

PompeyPete wrote: »

For your beach time, why not try and avoid the main touristy places?

We stayed at the Golden Beach Hotel, family run, sublime views from all of the rooms which have floor to ceiling panoramic windows, excellent vfm, and only a short walk north from the centre of town...

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g1825963-d2490308-Reviews-Golden_Beach_Hotel-Prachuap_Khiri_Khan_Prachuap_Khiri_Khan_Province.html

We got around on hired push-bikes.

There's an amazing beach v.closeby called Ao Maneo...

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g1825963-d2665205-Reviews-Ao_Manao-Prachuap_Khiri_Khan_Prachuap_Khiri_Khan_Province.html


There's a food court opposite the beach, and they deliver to your sunbed. You can hire sunbeds for about 10 baht, and there's plenty of shade if you need it. The beach is in a very picturesque bay, and is great for swimming.

The best time to visit Ao Maneo is Monday to Thursday, as like a lot of popular places it gets invaded by Bangkok weekenders from Friday to Sunday.

It's easy to reach Prachuap Khiri Khan by train from Bangkok's main station called Hualamphong. There's several trains a day, the best one is Train 43. The train leaves Hualamphong at 0805, and arrives at Prachuap Khiri Khan at 1230. The fare's about 450 baht and includes a meal and soft drink. Best to book in advance as that train only has 2 carriages. How to book tickets...

http://www.train36.com/train-from-bangkok-to-prachuap-khiri-khan.html

Getting to Hualamphong train station is easy. It's at the end of the Underground Line [MRT], which links up with the Skytrain [BTS].

as this will be our 1st time to a place like this I think I would prefer to stick to the tourist bits..I know im being a woss but i dont know if im ready to venture outside these parameters....i'm becoming more open though as the whole place sounds amazing.

Thanks so much, got a lot of research to do...gonna start playing around with dates.

Which has more cultural things to do in terms of beaches of thailand & central bangkok?

moneysavvy35

Just done a dummy run on opodo £536 with Thai Airways - this is just a quick search I will be looking at all kinds of options...what do you think about this on price though?

LHR 11:50 - 11h 25m DIRECT 26/02
06:15 +1 BKK
Bangkok

BKK 22:40 - 23:59 HKT 02/03
Phuket

HKT 21:25 08/03
Phuket
15h 55m
1 STOP
06:20 +1 LHR
London

WAYT

moneysavvy35 wrote: »

Im in london - happy to travel to other airports not to far out if I can get the flight cheaper.



yes this sounds like a good idea also



as this will be our 1st time to a place like this I think I would prefer to stick to the tourist bits..I know im being a woss but i dont know if im ready to venture outside these parameters....i'm becoming more open though as the whole place sounds amazing.

Thanks so much, got a lot of research to do...gonna start playing around with dates.

Which has more cultural things to do in terms of beaches of thailand & central bangkok?

Stick to my Bangkok location for all things to do with culture. The river Express boat will take you to the main places around the old city. The Skytrain will take you to the new city.

The islands are not about culture, but nature.

I'd say at least three nights in Bangkok. I don't necessarily agree with those who state that you should stay overnight in Bangkok the day before your flight.
Best to look at that once you decide on the best use of your time.