Solo trip to Thailand - help w/ 10 day itinerary need tips
 

Hey! I'm a twenty four female, planning on taking a quick trip to Thailand. First time going solo on a trip and in this sort of backpacker style! Kinda thrilled because I'm kind of doing this rather spontaneously. I want to at least be able to hit the beach for a few days and make the most of my time to check out some of the main highlights in each place.
Since I'm located in China at the moment, jet lag won't be a issue. I've browsed through other people's posts with their itineraries and I wrote up one of mine. If any of you would be so kind and give me opinions or any suggestions of what I could do it would be awesome! I'm going to Thai in Feb. Not looking to spent a lot so accommodation is mostly guest houses. How much should I be budgeting (w/o airtkt)?


Day 1 BANGKOK
Arrival at the end of the afternoon. Perhaps check in and wander around bearby the hostel or Khao San Road, eat some authentic Pad Thai or Green Curry.

Day 2 BANGKOK
Wat Phra Kaew + Grand Palace
Wat Pho (heard you can get a massage there too)
Watch a Muay Thai Fight

Day 3 Day trip AYUTTHAYA - train
Ayutthaya Historical Park (worth going? another option would be going to Kanchanaburi instead)

Day 4 BANGKOK > CHIANG MAI - flight
Wat Prathat Doi Suthep
Visit Tiger Kingdom/Ubon Zoo
Night market (would this be doable in one day?)

Day 5
CHIANG MAI
Elephant Nature Foundation Day visit

Day 6
CHIANG MAI > BANGKOK > KRABI
Any suggestions what I could do?
Planning on taking a overnight train to Bangkok and then take a plane to Krabi in the morning. Which airlines go to Krabi? I saw that Nok Air doesn't..

Day 7 KRABI
Island Hopping and snorkeling..Ao Nang, Railay, Nopparat
need suggestions I plan to get a bit of a tan at least so what area in Krabi would ie be best for me to book a cheaper hotel? I heard about Ao Nang and Koh Lanta are pretty good..

Day 8 KRABI/ Phi Phi Islands
Day tour by longtail or speedboat better?

Day 9 KRABI/TRANG
Is Trang worth to visit? or just go to Koh lanta, a day to relax and just enjoy a more quiet beach scene.

Day 10 BANGKOK
Floating Market (would this take a whole day? could I squeeze something else?)

Day 11 Leave Bangkok afternoon
Go do some final shopping get a massage

Some other questions that I have would be regarding packing. Should I pack a normal luggage bag or invest in getting a backpacker's bag? If so, what size would be best for me to get?

Any other tips and suggestions are appreciated!

Air Asia flys to Krabi. We just took their flight and it was very efficient. I would also check them out for a Chiang Mai to BKK flight. Pretty cheap.

Your itinerary looks good, except I think there;s too much running around in the beach segment. I would suggest you give yourself a day or two of lying around at the beach.

The day you outlined in Chiang Mai is very doable and will be fun.

Two sites we use for budget accomodation are www.hostelworld.com and www.hostelbookers.com. Both are great for booking online and offer both private and dorm style accomodation and are a great place to meet other solo travellers. In Bangkok dorm rooms cost around 10-15USD and double that for private rooms. You can get a lot cheaper but the places won't be great. Room cost less outside of BKK. The reviews on those sites are usually pretty accurate.
One person could easily get by on $50 per day. Bus and train travel are really cheap and eating out at local restaurants is exceptionally good value.

With 10 days I would go with a small backpack (i.e. carryon size. I use a Lowe Alpine which is specifically designed to fit within most airlines carry on restrictions http://www.nomadtravel.co.uk/catalog...-tt-carryon-40

I agree with gpanda that there is a bit too much running around. There is more than enough to see in Bangkok so I really wouldn't bother with Ayuthaya or Kanchanaburi

For a 24 years old I would like to suggest the following changes:

Instead of or in addition to Chiang Mai go to Pai(2 hours drive from Chiang Mai).
Instead of the floating market to to Amphawa weekend market, Unesco Heritage sight but only open during the weekends.

the ao nang section of krabi is the best place for you to find budget accomodations....

definately book with air asia....but flights are not changable in any way--- you miss the flight, you forfeit the fare--no questions asked...

Slow down a bit. You can (just barely) do three locations in you 10 days. But don't try to cram so much into your time there. I assume you are going to the beach to relax... so choose one.

I also agree that there is plenty to do in Bangkok without going to Ayutthaya or Kanchanaburi, but I would recommend a day trip to Ayutthaya rather than the floating market if you aren't there on a weekend to see the Amphawa weekend market as per Hanuman's suggestion.

Yup, I'm with the majority. Leave Ayutthaya or Kanchanaburi out of it. For a 24 year old, neither of them are really thrilling. You'll meet people, particularly on the beaches unless you're super shy. Give yourself a bit of time to go with the flow - and your new friends. The real clue here will be finding the right hotels - go for somewhere right in the middle of things. Everything will flow from there. Dunno whether a dorm is the right move, tho'. That might be a bit TOO backpackery. What a great adventure you'll have.

Wow, guess I was just overexcited with the idea of visiting Thailand and so trying to cram too much in little time. From your posts I can tell there is a lot to see but I have to prioritize. Thanks all for your advice and links! They are very useful. haha too backpackery. hope I can handle it! since I want to save on accommodation at first I might look for better ones when I'm in the beach areas.

What I think I will be changing is on day 2 taking overnight train to Chiang Mai. Think I saw on the train website that I could book already..

AoNang, Amphawa weekend market are down on my to-do list!

I altered in sketch is now:
2days Bangkok > overnight train Chiang Mai 3 days > flight from CM to Phuket stay 1 day > ferry 1 day to PhiPhi Islands > 2 days Krabi to relax > back to Bangkok.

Anyone else has tips on what other little things are a must do? Discounting eating bugs..are massages and shopping cheaper in Bangkok for example?

Depending on where you shop, you can get some great deals in Bangkok. I always enjoy the various markets. If you are here (I'm in BKK right now as I type) on a weekend, you should have a jaunt around the huge weekend market. It opens about 10am Saturday and Sunday. Many here say to go early. I've gone anywhere from 10am to 2pm. It's always crowded!!! You will find everything from soup to nuts, from clothing to tapestries to jewelry to pets to musical instruments, home furnishings, dishes, cookware, etc etc etc... You get the idea. EVERYTHING is at the weekend market. The name is Chatuchak, also called CC. Next door to CC is a mall, called JJ Mall. IMO it is worth a good look. You will appreciate the air con after walking around CC for a while.

You mentioned a massage at Wat Pho. Yes, it is the massage school, so give it a try. Very cheap.

Have a great time.

Carol

Too many places in too few days.

I'd skip CM and do Krabi, Phi-Phi, and BKK.

Massages will be available everywhere and they are one of the delights of Thai travel. There will be massage stores everywhere, but better ones are available in spas. Some are very expensive, but others are much more reasonable. In BKK, you can call the Wat Pho School of Massage and they will come to your hotel room. Also, you can= get a massage when you're at Wat Pho.

I just returned from a solo trip to Thailand and I spent time in Bangkok, Phi-Phi, and Patong.

In Bangkok, don't let them fool you into thinking the temples are closed midday for the "Thai people" to pray with the monks. That's a scam to get you to go shopping.

Some people do not like Phi-Phi as it has been overrun with tourists. However, I spent a 2 nights on the island, which gave me a full day to take an island tour on a longtail boat. Snorkeling was pretty good and the views and Maya beach were really spectacular. It also has some fun beach parties at night which make it a stop for many backpackers. Some of these backpackers that I met came back to Phi-Phi for a second go-around on their long journey because they liked it so much.

I'm 25, and was on a two-week vacation, so not technically a backpacker but I enjoyed my short time in Thailand. I just brought a rolling suitcase which worked out fine, except for a few backpackers making fun of me. Air Asia is a cheap option to fly around Thailand, and they were "relatively" on-time during my trip.

You are jumping around to three different beach areas. Each time you change locations you lose a good part of a day. I'd really encourage you to choose just one beach location.

Thanks for the advice about the scams and PhiPhi! Guess I'll have to keep pretending that I don't speak English so they can't scam me.haha I'm no backpacker either, this whole going to Thailand solo is a spur of a moment thing since people in China will be busy celebrating Chinese New Year while I want to catch up on a tan..

Anyone heard about the amulet market? Saw something that it's near Grand Palace?

From everyone's advice I tweaked it again..

1 Bangkok
2 Bangkok then overnight train to Chiang Mai
3 CM
4 CM
5 Chiang Mai overnight train to Bangkok + flight to Krabi
6 Krabi
7 Krabi
8 Krabi
9 Krabi then fly back to Bangkok evening
10 BK
11 leave BK

Any suggestions about accomodation or which beaches to stay around? I'm still wondering if one of the days in the Krabi area to spend 1 night in Koh Lanta..

After doing a lot of research, we chose Ko Lanta as our beach destination in Thailand and it seems a bit hard to get to, since you need to take a three-hour ferry or van ride from Krabi airport to Ko Lanta, so maybe it's better not to try scoot out there for just one day.