MaRiaCriStiNa

Hello everyone!

Me and my friend going for an 18 day getaway and see the beautiful neighboring Asian countries this coming March 2012. I am most interested to explore Thailand, its people and culture and nice beaches. At the moment I am absolutely clue less which to go first and if Cambodia , Vietnam and Laos will be worth seeing. I hope someone would be nice enough to guide me where to go especially in Thailand.

Thank you in advance!

rhkkmk

for sure some time in bangkok...it is a fantastic huge diverse city... tell us your hotel budget and we can suggest hotels for you, as i find your hotel makes all the difference if you enjoy bkk or not... many of us prefer riverside hotels, but they are perhaps the most expensive...

there are many beach areas you can visit... most involve a flight from bkk... krabi, phuket, khao lak, koh chang, koh samui.... hua hin and pattaya are a couple of hours drive from bkk. pattaya is not that nice and is known for the sex trade there.

air asia offers cheap internal flights in thailand.

main things to see in bkk:

grand palace
wat pho
wat arun
jim thompson house
klong tour by boat
v-mek teak palace
shopping all over town
fabulous restaurants at all price levels representing the world's cuisines at reasonable prices.

many like chiang mai 400 miles north of bkk but personally i do not like it.... further north the golden triangle area is rural and lovely

MaRiaCriStiNa

We are on a budget trip since we will be staying there for 18 days, not that particular with the hotel as long as its clean, and decent to stay and secured only need it to leave my stuff during the day and a place to sleep at night.

Thats really nice of you to give me the list to see in Bkk and glad there's few Temple in it as I love to see a real monk. I am also interested to see Muay Thai School, do you happen to know an accessible one? Have you gone as far as Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos? Do you think its worth travelling or just stay in BKK?

Kathie

With 18 days, you'll want to visit a few places. You can't do all the countries you've listed in 18 days, but you could certainly choose two.

Are you interested in seeing Angkor Wat? If so, then that makes your decision of where to go.

BTW, you'll see monks all over Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.

Take a look at some of our photos, which may help you make a decision of where to go: www.marlandc.com

MaRiaCriStiNa

Thank you for the link Kathie. I will let my friend (travel companion) see this if you don't mind. All your pictures looks great. Malaysia and Indonesia looks interesting as well.

That's good to hear about the monks.

rhkkmk

yes i have been to all of those places from bkk in the past...it is very easy and cheap using air asia and other discount airlines..

can you tell us a range of price you wish to pay for hotels?

MaRiaCriStiNa

For the accommodation I am only willing to pay for around 1000Baht. Do you reckon I can find a decent place to stay within my budget?

From reading stories about the other places, I find Thailand most interesting and would love to see more of it. I do want to go to Phuket though as I have a friend who works in Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa, we used to work in Shangri-La so it will be nice to see her when I get there, probably surprise her.

At the moment my itinerary are the ones you have recommended.
Thanks much and if you think there are still more to see in Thailand I would deeply appreciate it.