I am planning a February trip to Thailand with the first few nights in Bangkok allready booked. My intention is to travel to other destinations in Thailand. My question is, what is the best way to book hotels in other cities after one has arrived? Also, is there a need to book in advance?

If you want to make sure you can stay where you want and won't waste time looking for a place I would book in advance. Yes, you will be able to book when you get there but you may not be able to stay where you want to. I always book in advance.

You can always find accommodation but the question is getting the place you want, if you have booked into Bangkok for 3 days you can then browse what is available once there and book 1 night at your next destination and then either stay on there or look around, using local booking agents gives you the best choice, use local operators/sites that go thru Sawadee/R24 for example and you get everything from the top hotels right down to $10 a night guesthouse/cabins etc, priced in Thai Baht, you also find lots of accommodation you just don't find elsewhere, I would go for local orientated sites for each place so you can find the local information about locations etc.
If you know which destinations you are thinking of we can suggest local sites for those places.

i know other posters here book after they get to bangkok. is there a price advantage for doing this? for me, i always have res. so i don't end up staying under a bridge on the river.

I was posting as Gloria was! If you already have a schedule you won't gain much waiting and then perhaps loosing out on somewhere, if you know where you are heading by having a good look thru places available ( and asking like you are on this site ) you can find ideal places within your budget.
The whole concept of arriving somewhere off a plane/train bus to find accommodation almost always ends up with you having to take advice from local taxi/tuk tuk driver who 'knows' just the place for you ( his commission in the bag!) or wandering with baggage in tow place to place.
If you 'have' a fixed schedule plan now, but if you want to remain flexible and not too fussed over an exact hotel then you should be ok, but heading into an internet cafe and using the likes as I suggested will be the best way, the ones I use confirm within Thailand almost immediately and I even get that straight to my cellphone.
Calling hotels I would forget.

I always seem to go with only my room for the first night or two in BKK reserved. I (we) have not had any problems getting what we want in other destinations in-country. We book with a local travel agent. That includes flights to and from, plus hotels. We don't know when we are going to want to go to Phuket or Chiang Mai, for example, until we get to Bangkok and see what our schedule will permit.

It can be done. I think we do save a bit by booking in-country rather than ahead of time. The only time this does not work is during peak holiday season. The places we like seem to get booked up nearly a year in advance, as a lot of repeat customers go to Phuket for Christmas/New Years Eve.
Carol

i always book in advance for organization planning and to avoid disappointment....i use the agency james suggested to me a few years ago:

www.huahin.20m.com

i have done it even up to 2 days before with them...

why waste any time looking around once you are there...

paying in advance is the negetive if you then decide you want to change...

thailand is not like europe where you have state sponsored hotel finders in evey location....

It also looks like a boom season this year, we should remember that a large number of people put-off trips in January this year, so not only normal yearly travelers but also all those numbers of people who 'put off' visiting, from what I hear bookings are already getting tight, a coupl of places near us have said they are even at this time 80-90% booked for Dec and Jan!

Thanks for your responses re booking hotels - very useful. Besides the internet sites, does anyone have the name of a reliable local travel agent in Thailand/Bangkok that you would share?

Seatours I find excellent, use them for all my flights, however, in Thailand 'travel agents' in my experience are not good for hotels, over the years when I have checked prices they are not good at all.
I also still use www.huahin.20m.com and have done for many years, never a problem, they also now have a newer site www.nongasia.com, they have a huge range of places, over 120 for Samui, same number for Phuket, about 60 for Chiang Mai etc

If you wanted the travel agent for 'domestic flights' the best fares are with the budget carriers. Travel agents are more orientated towards group tours and flights/packages 'from' Thailand.

i have had very good luck with eddie at sea tours....it is an american express agency....they have not up charge on credit card usagae either which is nice

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