maisymoo

James you posted a reply to travelling in August that appealed to me. We were goiong to BKK-Samui-koh phangan-koh tao - samui

I liked your idea of going by road

BKK-river Kwai-hua hin-koh tao- koh phangan-koh samui fly bkk and then home.

How would I go about organising road transport between these places. Is it easier to do as one goes or pre book. Any ideas

JamesA

From BKK to River kwai yuo have options, there are air conditioned buses if you are on a tight budget, you can also go by train ( hotel desk would book ) but I think the easiest and fastest is simply to go by road. Now any taxi would take you but you are much better off simply asking the hotel travel desk or conciere/head porter to sort a car for you, this will usualy be bigger than a normal taxi. Fuel has increased so a rough ball-park say THB 2,500 should easily cover it. You can time your departure perhaps 10.20/11 so no rush and you avoid early and late traffic.
No need to book ahead of arrival but do let the hotel in BKK know when you want the car, it is a highly used form of transport and it works well and easy. Concierges/travel desk have their own regular contacts.

Same applies from River Kwai to Hua hin, again about same price, just let your hotel know and it works like clockwork.
On the way from River kwai to Hua hin you might want to stop at Phetchaburi and go up the fernicular cable thing to the old palace, amazing views ( naturaly take valuables with you), give the driver a couple of hundred baht extra, otherwise straight through 3 hours easy and plenty of service stops of the way for a cold drink/bathrooms (take own tissues), usual to invite driver to have a cold drink with you.

From Hua Hin to Koh Tao you can again take a car and driver, again ask the hotel to arrange, should be about THB 2,500-3,000 to the boat at Chumphon.
You can also take twice daily the Lomprayah Service which is large a/con express bus which connects with their Jet Catamaran, either daytime or night.
They are located near the Hilton doen one of the sois. Another option if you want to go by car is to ask 'them' to sort you a car plus the boat ticket as opposed to using the bus.
Lomprayah and other operators ply from Koh tao to Koh Phangan and from Koh Phangan lots of boats, again, just ask hotel to sort.

This is a good map and info which makes sense of the routings:

http://www.lomprayah.com/E/route.html

Lomprayah office locations:

http://www.lomprayah.com/E/contactus.html

http://www.lomprayah.com/E/facilities.html

Book your Samui-Bangkok with bangkok Airways ahead of time ( www.bangkokair.com )

I know the area well so if you give us your budget I and others can give ideas of places to stay, along the coast you can get anything from low cost nudget, guesthouses / B&B, boutique places, mid range accommodation right up to luxurious pool villa resorts all along the coast.
Our own personal budget is usualy in the B 1,400-1,800 range ( USD 35-45 ) and that always gives us nice comfortable a/c places no problem.

www.beachsiam.com/sunrise_coast.html

has ideas and pics of the coast, also River kwai places.

If you wanted to overnight between Hua hin and the Chumphon pier ( for Koh tao ) with Dolphin Bay resort if you are into National Parks/Farmlands/Caves etc or the Banito resort for a quiet rural beach place to stay.

Phetchaburi if you wantd that stop on the way:

http://www.tyha.org/image/place%20of%20interest.htm

maisymoo

Thanks JamesA never ceases to amaze me at the wealth of knowledge that fodorites have.

I am thinking to save cost we might use a bus from bangkok and then decide as we go from there on.

Am interested in doing a quiet beach stop between Hua Hin and Chumphon maybe for two nights so any recomendations will be welcome. We have champayne tastes on a beer budget unfortunately. Probably up to 3000 Baht on average a night is our limit. We do love the beach front or seaview type places so recomend away. we are going for most of August at this stage. Thanks

Bella_Bluebell

Maisymoo - I think we are going to be in Thailand at the same time. We are going from 21st July to 27th August. We are down on the islands (Samui, KPG and Ko Tao) from 3rd Aug to 24th Aug.

Have you decided on your Ko Tao accommodation yet?

maisymoo

No not yet really wanted to stay in Jamahkiri but it is a bit expensive for us. Can you recommend nice resort beach front a/c rooms with pool in quiet part of island. Thanks

JamesA

Just like anywhere a lot of new places are opening up, I think if you are going to a place for the very first time it is often a wise idea to go for what could be loosy called "the good solid established' places that are well known, Sensi Paradise and the Coral grand are 2 such places, it's a while since I was down there but the Coral Grand was one of the 'originals'.

Here are some recent reviews for Koh Tao:
http://www.res24.com/review/posts.ht...=beachsiam.com


Specific for Sensi:
http://www.r24.org/beachsiam.com/kohtao/sensi/review/

Coral Grand:
http://www.r24.org/huahin.20m.com/ko...lgrand/review/

JamesA

Maisymoo, along the coast between Hua Hin and Chumphon there are some nice top level places like the Aleenta at Pranburi and the Evason and Evason Hideaway, but they are quite expensive, nearest to that range would be the Evason Resort at about B 3,500, but there are lots of more mid range places like the Banito Resort at bang Saphan where we were recently, B 900 - 3,000 ( duplex suite )in August ( weekday prices, rates go up at weekends for us weekenders! ), quiet and relaxing, English quite lacking but you can easily get by, but these areas are very local so don't expect a choice of restaurants or entertainment, they are quiet and relaxing coastla beaches

http://www.r24.org/huahin.20m.com/hu...beach/details/

Another at Bang saphan which is very very good value is Baan Klangaew resort, that's about B 1,300 a night twin
http://www.r24.org/huahin.20m.com/th...ngaow/details/

What you 'could do' is cut back on accommodation rate in Hua Hin by staying somewhere like the Ocean Breeze ( about B 1,650 ) which is Boutique stylish B&B and then perhaps treat yourself to the Evason at Pranburi ( about 3,500 ).

If you like national parks ans scenery then the Dolphin Bay resort about 1 hour south of Hua Hin is 2 star style, but a bargain at about B 1,450 including breakfast.
In Chumphon area the Cabana Resort has a top price of about B 1,500, my most recent visit there has memories of loster BBQ on the beach! If you really want to 'get away from it all' but also like some soft adventure or learn to snorkel before heading to Koh Tao it's nice.

http://www.r24.org/huahin.20m.com/ch...abana/details/

Just remember that road straight Hua hin to the Chumphon pier is about 3 hours so it's no great distance ( about 260 km / 165 miles )

Bella_Bluebell

Re. Ko Tao, the place we are staying at which has beach front accommodation with a/c and a pool. The beach is probably the second busiest beach after Mae Haad/Sairee but compared to the beaches in Samui it is much quieter! Just around the bay from the beach it is on is Shark Bay where I know you wanted to stay. The beach is called Chalok Baan Kao and the resort is Ko Tao Resort - http://www.kotaoresort.com/.

A couple of people on tripadvisor stayed there (having moved from Anankhira after a disastrous experience) and spoke very well of it. If you do a search there you should find their comments - they were on the Ko Tao forum rather than the review section. They also sent me photos - they are on my other computer but if you send me your email I can forward them to you. I also have some video footage too. [email protected]

There are still not that many places on Ko Tao with pools. Coral Grand has one and is nr the beach; Thipwimarm (i may have spelt that wrong) also has a pool but is up on the cliff. It is lovely there though and they do free trips down to the beach - the views from up there are amazing and it is really tranquil. Sensi is meant to be fab - doesn't have pool but does have air con.

Bella_Bluebell

Here is the link to the comments on Ko Tao Resort:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...as-Ko_Tao.html

Bella_Bluebell

Recent comments on Coral Grand:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...ed-Ko_Tao.html