I've been madly reading everyone's reports and suggestions, trying to hone down our itinerary. All of our trips center around liveaboard diving, but we try to get some land time in too. We are diving Thailand again in April (I know that's HOT on land, but the diving's good), and have set aside April 1st - April 9th for Bangkok and close by, before meeting the dive group in Phuket.

Last time we stayed in Bangkok for a few days splurging at the Penn and loved it, but the price has increased significantly, so not sure about that. We saw the usual wats. Jim Thompson's and walked a lot, all of which we loved, then went to Chang Mai. This time I've read a lot about Ratt and Tong. So, the question is, with this amount of time and really liking walking and cultural stuff, what would be the best use of these drivers/guidesand for how long? Would this be enough time to branch out to Ayutthaya and Sukothai, as well as maybe seeing the Prasart and the fishing village all have been raving about? We took the express boat to get to wats, but never an actual klong tour. Any suggestions re priorities would be great.

BTW, this forum is where I got Putu's name for Bali and that worked out great both times we used him, so I trust your opinions on how to maximize this trip will be good. Thanks!

I can highly recommend Tong. She can be reached at TourwithTong.com. We've had the pleasure of two days with her and each was very special. We also met some other guides from her team and they seemed very good as well. First step is to book a day or two with her and then you can work out an itinerary.

tong is quite fantastic...i also believe she is the only one with access to the "fishing village"...

Could we have some information on this fishing village? (Why is it in quotes?) I might be interested in visiting with Tong but would love to hear more about it..where is it? How can someone control access to a village?

eks - the "fishing village" aka "the secret place" has been written about by many who have used Tong, Bob and Andy, ElizabethS, etc. If you do a search you'll find more about it. Essentially, she has a friend living in a fishing village and will take you there with monkey feeding along the way, and Reed cooks you freshly caught fish and you get a close-up glimpse of a different kind of life.

sus, I agree that a couple of days with Tong sounds like something you'd enjoy. I'd also recommend an excursion to Ayutthaya (Sukothai is much farther away, not a day trip). And the Prasart is really worth a half a day.

There is lots more you can do on your own in Bangkok. Let us know what you are interested in. For instance, if you like house museums, there are several that are well worth your time. If you would liike to see more wats, there are hundreds in Bangkok, most of them entirely off the tourist track.

Of course, a klong tour can be done on your own and is well worth your time.

If you spend the week before your diving in Bangkok, you can accomplish all I mentioned and have time to meander in Bangkok, enjoy massges, shopping and lazing at your hotel.

Thanks, Kathie. I have never managed to find an actual description of what a visit to this village is like..I do see many references to it but no actual discussion...

How far is this place from Bangkok?

I just want to thank you again for all of your help in answering my incessant questions..

Kathie...Shame on me! I did another search and found this, from ElizabethS:


http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34998189

Thanks Kathie and all. I do plan to use Tong in the first day or two. Have you found that she has suggestions for you to follow up on for the days after her tour? Yes, I think I would enjoy house museums (are you referring to Kekrit (sp?)) or do you have other ones to recommend. I also thought MichaelBKK's report on a walk he took recently sounded like a good path to follow.

Since we often spend all day out walking, we never end up anywhere at night as we're exhausted, but some of the reports re night market and puppet theatre sounded interestingly different for us. Any idea anyone, whether it will still be around in April?

Finally, if we do go to Ayutthaya, preference for day trip or o/n? If we do this, would it still be worth doing o/n to Sukothai as well? That would leave us 4 days Bangkok and 3 days out and about.

And finally, finally, opinions on Sukothai v. going to a national park area (I can't remember the name, but it's west of Bangkok and has waterfall) for an o/n instead. Anyone done this?

Thanks again.

What are your interests? I actually think an interesting o/n would be kanchanaburi and maybe a second night at sukothai/mae sot area. One gives you nature, history (bridge on river kwai etc) and also there is supposedly a wonderful orphanage there. Sukothai to my mind is MUCH more interesting than Ayutthya and the area borders Burma so you could visit burmese refugee camps, projects if you're interested. The Mae Sot area feels very different from other parts of thailand.

Glorialf, that may be a good thought, with 7 1/2 days, how would you section it out? How much time would it take for transportation and seeing the sights adequately? Best means of transportation? Any suggestions on where the o/n should be and/or hotel recommendations?

Another house museum I highly recommend is the Suan Pakkard Palace. It has the famed Laquer Pavillion.

With just 7 days, I'm not sure it's realistic to go to Sukothai and Mae Sot. Gloria is right, it would be very interesting, but with your limited time, I think you are better off staying close to Bangkok.

So day trips outside of Bangkok might be Ayutthaya, and you could make Kanchanaburi either a day trip or an overnight.

Just topping this up to see if people agree with Kathie or whether 7 1/2 days enough time to take Glorialf's suggestion above? If so, how best to get there?

Thanks again for the help.

Are you going to be in BKK for 7 1/2 days? If so, spending a night in Kachananburi might be fun. Tong has an overnight trip out that way. However, she is booked far in advance. You should contact her immediately.

Gpanda-
Thanks. I have contacted her and told her that I might like to go to the fishing village and/or the tiger temple. I have mixed feelings about a place with captive animals, but looking at some of the photos posted through this site I am kind of intrigued (in spite of our local mauling!). Have you done this, or if not, what do you think is most interesting in that area?

And yes, we have 7 1/2 days to use however. So needed advice on best way to parcel it out. Any suggestions other than beaches appreciated!

sus, Sukothai is not a day trip from Bangkok. Take a look at a map, it's a long way away. You'd want to fly and last I checked, the flights were not every day. So you'd eat up a fair amount of your time getting to/from Sukothai.

If you were really interested in ruins, you should plan a trip around spending at least three full days in Siem Reap, Cambodia to visit the temples at Angkor. Unless you can add time to this trip, it doesn't look realistic for this time around.

With 7 days, two day trips outside the city will be plenty.

Kathie - Yes, I agree that Sukothai may take up too much time on this trip. My last post was re Gpanda's post on Katchananburi. That seems a little closer and do-able? Have you been there and what did you think?

I do intend to take a MUCH longer trip for Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, but that's later. First I have PNG again for more diving!

I would first see if Tong is available for your dates. Then you can E-mail her and work out your exact itinerary. We will be glad to make recommendations. I can assure you that any time with Tong will be fun.

sus, I've not been to Katchananburi, but many regulars have been most peopple do it as a day trip (a long day) but some do an overnight. A search here will turn up lots of reports.