Honeymoon in Thailan
 

Hi all,

I am planning my honeymoon in Thailand for the beginning of August. We will have 14 days in Thailand total. Because it is supposed to be monsoon season I have tailored my itinerary to the areas that are supposed to receive the least rain in August.

2 days in Bangkok
(Have been looking at both Anantara Riverside Bangkok Resort and the St. Regis Bangkok)
5 days in Koh Samui
2 days in Koh Phangan
2 days in Ko Tao (hoping to get in some scuba diving here)

Any recommendation for activities (cooking schools, massages, scuba diving, temples, shopping, anything else really), restaurants, bars for drinks, hotels? We were hoping to keep the activities and the hotels "honeymoon style". I've never been to Thailand before, so really no idea where to start!

Thanks in advance for all your help!

Please excuse to typo! **Thailand

You have three beach areas listed. I usually recommend that people choose one, but in your situation, I'd choose one or two. You end up losing at least half a day each time you change locations. So choose Koh Samui and perhaps one of the other two.

In Bangkok (and I don't think you have enough time there), stay along the river. The Anantara is very nice. Bangkok has endless numbers of temples, plus bars and restaurants. Do you have two full days in Bangkok? It takes three nights somewhere to get two full days.

Beach areas in Thailand, as lovely as the are, will not give you much of the culture - they are, after all, international beach resorts. You will get the culture in Bangkok. So consider that when you cut one of the three beach areas, you may want to move those days to Bangkok, or, at the very least, move one day to Bangkok and the other to the other beach area.

Thank you Kathie, your advice is much appreciated.

Yes, I will have 3 nights in Bangkok currently, but I could switch that to four nights.

If I chose two beach locations, I might just stick with Koh Samui and Ko Tao. I hear that Koh Samui is very busy in August, so Ko Tao will be a nice change of pace since there is supposedly little action going on in Ko Tao.

Has anyone here been to Koh Phangan or Ko Tao? Thoughts as to which one I should chose for 3 days (we would like to go scuba diving, so I'm not sure which one is better for that)?

So the revised itinerary would be:

3 days, (4 nights) in Bangkok
3 days in Ko Tao
5 days in Koh Samui

Does this sound better?

It sounds better to me. You will have less moving around, more time to enjoy.

Ko Tao is known for diving. I'm not a diver and haven't been there, so I don't have first-hand experience.

Have a wonderful honeymoon!

Thanks a ton!

imo, you never have enough nights in Bangkok.

I have stayed in both bkk hotels. the st regis is a very upscale hotel in the middle of the city near to shopping and restaurants---it is a city hotel for sure. it has a lovely roof pool.
I stay every year at the anantara. it is an oasis in a busy city. it is directly on the river which is a plus. it has a free boat to the skytrain. it has the largest and nicest pool (a must in bkk) in bkk. it has several good restaurants. get a rate that includes breakfast.
the rooms have all been recently renovated.

if you were staying in bkk twice, beginning and end of trip, I would stay at st regis for my last nights in bkk.

Another vote for the Anantara in BKK. We stayed there last year at rhkkmk's suggestion, to celebrate my in-laws Golden Wedding anniversary. Mentioned it to the hotel manager when booking (and dropped rhkkmk's name :-) ) and got an upgrade to a fantastic suite! Worth a shot as its your honeymoon.

Koh Tao is definitely better for diving than Phang Nang. We have dived there a couple of times a few years back. The diving was pretty good for all levels of experience and the safety standard reasonably high. It was quiet back then but my understanding is that it has got a lot, lot busier in recent years so choose your accomodation wisely. Still quieter than Koh Phang Nang though which is still renowned for its full moon parties. Although I think both islands have moved upmarket in recent years.

PS? Bob - all settled into the new house now??

After lots of thought and research, the new itinerary is:

2 days bangkok, 3 days koh tao, 4 days koh samui, and 3 days Chiang Mai. Has anyone done a similar itinerary to this one?

Any comments/thoughts would be much appreciated. I was able to book the St. Regis Bangkok on points, so I picked that once since its free. Was hoping to stay an the Anantara in Koh Samui though since I've heard so many great things about the Anantara hotel line.

Has anyone stayed at the Anantara Lawana Koh Samui?

Also, does anyone have hotel recommendations in Chiang Mai. I was looking at the 137 pillars hotel, it looks beautiful.

Thanks again.