First time to Thailand- 7 destinations in 19 days is this realistic? What would be the best route?
 

HI- I am going to Thailand for the first time and am trying to nail down the best travel itinerary. I am going with 2 friends and we want to hit the following places but not sure which order would be best to eliminate a lot of ‘travel’ time.

Our first & last destination will be Bangkok.
How should we order the following destinations.

Beaches: Phuket, Ko Phi Phi, Krabi (Raily Beach), Ko Somui
Siem Reap (Angkor Watt)
Chang Mahi

Any feedback is appreciated! THANKS!!

That's a lot of places! - I would probably cut it down and I'm sure others will give you advice on the number of days you need for Siam Reap (3 minimum I think?) so you will need to factor that in. Also, where are you coming from? You need some time to get over jetlag at the beginning.

When are you going? The beach resorts have different weather seasons - if you were going late Nov to April I would cut Samui and focus on the west coast (phuket, phi phi, krabi). You could go to phi phi as a daytrip from Krabi or phuket. What kind of things do you like doing on the beach, what age group are you and what kind of atmosphere do you like? I suspect if you are interested in Railay Beach there may be many places on phuket you would not like so much - you could give that a miss and focus on Krabi area, including phi phi and railay.

Possible trip
BKK (3) - fly to Siem Reap (4)- fly back via BKK - onto Chiang Mai (3) - fly direct with Thai to Phuket and onto Phi phi (3/4)- Railay (3)- boat back to Krabi and fly Krabi to BKK (2/3)- home

I think to go to Siam Reap you have to transit through Bangkok although stand to be corrected. Thai fly direct from Chiang Mai to phuket but if you use another airline you will have to route through Bangkok again. Others can give you better advice as to who to fly with to give you the best price - Bangkok Air to a well priced air pass but I don't think they would fly direct from Chiang Mai to phuket.

That is still a lot of moving around though, but if you are energetic enough you will be fine, we certainly moved around to that extent when we travelled without children. Bear in mind if you have 3 nights somewhere, that is only 2 days to look around really. If you wanted to do things like an overnight jungle trek in Chiang Mai, you would need more time there as well.

If you are going after April, that is green or low season for phuket etc - and you may experience rain and also the seas can be quite rough, boats don't always run, beaches are closed for swimming. But many like that season and you can get some great bargains at hotels. If you were after definite sun, you could turn your attentions to ko samui, ko pha ngan, ko tao and closer to bangkok ko chang and ko samet.
Hope this helps as a starter
BB

Every time you change locations, you lose at least 1/2 day in travel time. You are much better off picking four destinations and arranging your itinerary based on those.

You will be flying in and out of BKK, so you should have a few days at the beginning and a few at the end for BKK. At least five days.


Siem Riep should have at least three full days to see the major temples.

In Northern Thailand, you can see both Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai with five days.

That leaves six days for your beach destinations. BB has given good advice about the weather. It's rarely good on both the east (Ko Samui) and the west (Phuket, Phi Phi and Krabi). You should pick the coast dependent upon your travel dates.

Relax and enjoy Thailand, you will be rewarded for taking things slowly.

i would choose only one beach area and choose the one with the best weather for that time of year--note either east or west side....

phuket and phi phi are on the same side, samui on the other side...

my suggestion:

bkk/4 days-----SR/4 days-----beach/5 or 6 days----bkk remainder

Hi

I think it sounds too much with 7 destinations in 19 days...remember this is a vacation and you are supposed to also have some time to relax ;-) I have been to Thailand a few times on vacation and I would advice you to have a few days in Bangkok as it is a fascinating city. Here is a trip report with some pictures from when I went there in 2007: http://gardkarlsen.com/Bangkok_trip_report_2007.htm . On that trip I also went to Samui and that was also very nice :d Check out my trip report on http://gardkarlsen.com/Bangkok_trip_report_2007.htm .

Good luck with the planning...but remember that you can't cover everything in just one visit ;-)

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

If you have any interest in experience Thailand rather than just passing through one destination to another you'll need to cut destinations.

First, pause and consider what you want to do/see/experience on this trip.

I notice your itinerary does not include Bangkok and it includes 4 beach areas. The two places you include that have more cultural experiences available are Angkor Wat (which I assume you know is in Cambodia and will require a visa) and Chiang Mai. Note that you need a minimum of three full days just to see the major temples. There are many dozens of accessible temples and you'll just see a few.

I'm not sure why you've chosen Chiang Mai. It is the place to go for visiting the Thai Elephant Conservation Center, and there is a lovely wat, Doi Suthep, on a hill over looking the town that is well worth a visit. But Cm is a large city (second largest in Thailand) with a terrible case of urban sprawl, no public transport (you'll have to hire a car and driver to get almost anywhere) and significant air pollution. People either love it or hate it (I'm in the second camp).

I can't imagine going to Thailand without spending some time in Bangkok. It's an amazing city filled with gilded wats, great shopping, wonderful food, fabulous spas, and luxe hotels for reasonable prices. It is the cultural and political center of Thailand, and has the holiest site in Thailand, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.

Now, as for all of your beach areas, what is it you want to experience here? As Bella says, you do have to consider the monsoon patterns. She has given you a very sensible suggestion for an alternative itinerary. It is still fast-moving, but at least you'll have time to have some small sample of what these destinations have to offer.

Kathie - I nearly missed it too, but Christina does plan on staying in BKK - it says 'our first and last destination will be bangkok' before asking how to order the other destinations. but definitely agree - time should not be cut short in bangkok!

Oops - I did miss it, Bella. Christine, I think it's a good idea to have some time at the beginning and the end in Bangkok, as you have done. I tell people to slow down in their travel - I need to slow down in my reading!

Unbelievable. Is this a,"If It's Tuesday, It Must Be Belgium" schedule? Way too many destinations and what do you expect to really experience, from Thailand, running around like this? And what's with all of those beaches? Happy Travels.

Hi Christine,
I went to Thailand for about 21 days with friend about 3 years ago. I didn't hit Chaing Mai or Angkor Watt at all.. so I can't really comment.

But the beaches in Thailand... my opinion - totally amazing. The best was definitely Railay Beach/Krabi. Hands down. Ko Phi Phi - also amazing. I would spend maybe 3-4 days in Bangkok .. I didn't need more than that. It is very polluted, and aside from some temples, floating markets and the great shopping (we had time to get some clothes custom-made), we found that we didn't need much more time.

Enjoy Thailand.. in all of my travels, it is one of my favorite places on earth.

Christine- the amount of time you spend at Angkor Wat depends on how much you and your friends like temple viewing. Some take 3 days to see all the temples- some do it in a day- and yes some get templed out after a few hours.