We will be in Thailand for 3 weeks in February. I generally shy away from resortish such areas as the French Riviera, Costa del Sol, etc.

I have been researching the beaches in Thailand and I am having a difficult time deciding which ones to stay on. We will spend 7-8 nights in near a beach.

It seems that Phuket and Ko Phi Phi have some absolutely lovely beaches but they sound overbuilt and overcrowded.

We enjoy nightlife and a variety of restaurants but not the club scene.

I don't mean to be insensitive to all that have suffered from the devastating effects of the Tsunami but would it be safe to say that we may actually experience less crowds and enjoy Phuket or Ko Phi Phi in February of 2006? We would feel good about spending our tourist dollars where it is needed.

We are considering staying on one of these islands for 3 nights and then spend the rest of our time in Krabi or on Koh Samui.

If you Thailand experts recommend a short visit to Phuket or Ko Phi Phi which hotels would you recommend?

We don't require a lot of amenities such as fancy restaurants, several pools or huge resorts. We do want air conditioning!

We would like to stay in a smaller boutique hotel and don't mind staying a couple of blocks off the beach for nicer accomodations.

We would like to pay about $60 USD per night.

A while back I found a hotel booking site that showed list of hotels along with a side bar synopsis of which ones were open, closed, slightly damaged or destroyed. Can someone direct me to that site?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Cheers!

i was in phuket in june....most areas are mostly back to normal...they need the tourist money badly....our large resort hotel was only 45% full and one other lovely hotel we visited had on 10% occupancy...

i cannot speak for phi phi. although i do know many places were totally ruined...

the areas of phuket are quite large and spread out...samui is less so...

i personally found samui more to my liking...smaller and less hectic...

i do not think that you can compare any thai place to european places in any way...they are different all around..they are also much cheaper...

i do not find that the thai beaches are nearly as nice as what i am used to in new england.....they are nice but not fantastic...

a good hotel site is:

www.huahin.20m.com

this will take you to many thai locations using the drop down window

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the reply.

It is funny that you mention the beaches in New England. I live in Oregon and although I love the tropics, I love the rugged beauty of the beaches in Oregon more than anywhere!

home areas always condition us for what we love...just last weekend i was on nantucket and i thought to myself how much nicer the beaches there were than any i have ever seen in thailand...don't get me wrong, i still love thailand but not necessarily for its beaches....

Me too! I live in the northwest on an island now, but when I think back to what I miss most about growing up in New Jersey--it's definitely the Jersey shore! Riding those waves was the best part of the summer way back then.