Thailand 1st timers
May 26th, 2006, 04:18 AM
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Thailand 1st timers
Hi me and my boyfriend (20 and 22 years old)are travelling to thailand on 13/06/06 for 3 weeks staying 4 nites in bangkok, 7 nites in koh samui, 5 nites in hua hin and 5 nites in chiang mai. Were both anxious to do and see as much as possible. we would really appreciate any ideas in how to spend our time in each place and any recommendations of places not to be missed. Thanks
May 26th, 2006, 05:48 AM
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first, if you have not done so already, you need to buy yourself one of the regular guidebooks for thailand: fodors, frommers, let's go, access...this will answer most of your questions...
there are the standard places in bkk often mentioned here:
grand palace
wat pho
wat arun
jim thompson house
v-mark palace
suan pakkard palace
klong tour by long tail boat
prasart museum
shopping shopping shopping
faboulous eating
samui is more of a relaxing place with not much to see...
other will tell you about CM as it is not a favorite of mine
i think you will want more days in bangkok then you have planned...i would cut hua hin and samui both back....HH is quite boring, but has a nice beach.../
choose your hotels carefully, it can make or break your vacation...i use www.huahin.20m.com for hotel booking for best prices..
there are the standard places in bkk often mentioned here:
grand palace
wat pho
wat arun
jim thompson house
v-mark palace
suan pakkard palace
klong tour by long tail boat
prasart museum
shopping shopping shopping
faboulous eating
samui is more of a relaxing place with not much to see...
other will tell you about CM as it is not a favorite of mine
i think you will want more days in bangkok then you have planned...i would cut hua hin and samui both back....HH is quite boring, but has a nice beach.../
choose your hotels carefully, it can make or break your vacation...i use www.huahin.20m.com for hotel booking for best prices..
May 26th, 2006, 05:57 AM
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Hi Becca. I'm a 23yr old, so similar age group. I've been to thailand twice. And just spent a month there with my 2 best friends.
Bangkok, i think you're going to need a lot more time but oh well next time you go. Bangkok, the grand palace is a must, then you can walk to wat po to see the reclining buddah and visit the thai massage school. At night they have a ministry of sound, or go visit the bangkok bar on weekends. All the fun bars are in the Sukhimvhit area of bangkok. The weekend market is a fun shopping experience, or the MBK to get that market experience in air conditioned comfort. I should point out that all these places are within short walking distance from river taxi's or sky trains. That might kill your time in Bangkok. Also i will point out any taxi you take in bangkok make sure they use the meter. If not just get out and take a new one, it probably won't be an issue.
Koh Samui has the full moon parties, simply amazing. Hopefully you're there on a full moon or a change of moon phase to party it up.
It's too bad you're not going to the Phi Phi islands. In all of thailand there is no place where you'll find more people your age group to party with. It's like a rule that you have to be under 30 to be on phi phi islands. If you do decide to go, Reggae's bar is tons of fun. You can also rent long tail boats and go snorkeling and sight seeing on phi phi lay, which is where the movie "the beach" was filmed. You can also do scuba diving, bunjee jumping and good old fashioned drinking.
During the rainy season i think chiang mai tends to experience a lot of rain, but there is ample fun up there. Sadly i think older people tend to like it more. If i'm not mistaken there is an elephant reserve or something cool up in chiang mai. Some other really cool party spots for people our age are krabi, and rei lay beach. Having just come back from thailand last weekend i can say 100% that the phuket area has experienced the least rain of thailand thus far. Perhaps Bangkok as it is so massive that it only ever rains in parts of the city and usually for 20 min a day.
Hope you have a wonderful time
Bangkok, i think you're going to need a lot more time but oh well next time you go. Bangkok, the grand palace is a must, then you can walk to wat po to see the reclining buddah and visit the thai massage school. At night they have a ministry of sound, or go visit the bangkok bar on weekends. All the fun bars are in the Sukhimvhit area of bangkok. The weekend market is a fun shopping experience, or the MBK to get that market experience in air conditioned comfort. I should point out that all these places are within short walking distance from river taxi's or sky trains. That might kill your time in Bangkok. Also i will point out any taxi you take in bangkok make sure they use the meter. If not just get out and take a new one, it probably won't be an issue.
Koh Samui has the full moon parties, simply amazing. Hopefully you're there on a full moon or a change of moon phase to party it up.
It's too bad you're not going to the Phi Phi islands. In all of thailand there is no place where you'll find more people your age group to party with. It's like a rule that you have to be under 30 to be on phi phi islands. If you do decide to go, Reggae's bar is tons of fun. You can also rent long tail boats and go snorkeling and sight seeing on phi phi lay, which is where the movie "the beach" was filmed. You can also do scuba diving, bunjee jumping and good old fashioned drinking.
During the rainy season i think chiang mai tends to experience a lot of rain, but there is ample fun up there. Sadly i think older people tend to like it more. If i'm not mistaken there is an elephant reserve or something cool up in chiang mai. Some other really cool party spots for people our age are krabi, and rei lay beach. Having just come back from thailand last weekend i can say 100% that the phuket area has experienced the least rain of thailand thus far. Perhaps Bangkok as it is so massive that it only ever rains in parts of the city and usually for 20 min a day.
Hope you have a wonderful time
May 26th, 2006, 12:22 PM
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Hua Hin's not "that boring' ! It's not Bangkok I grant you but when we are down there it's plenty busy for us.
Maybe a few years back I admit is was fairly quiet but certainly not these days, the biggest problem now especialy at weekends is getting somewhere to stay and getting through the traffic through town!
But it comes down to how you want to spend your time.
becca, from Samui you can get a thru ferry/bus ticket to Hua Hin, from Surat Thani on the mainland it takes about 5 hours. Another more scenic route is to take the JetCat high speed that hops from Samui to Koh Phangan and koh Tao to Chumhon, they then transfer you to an express bus ( a/c, TV etc ) to Hua hin, that's about 3 hrs 30 from Chumphon pier. Any travel counter in Samui will do that for you, about USD 22-24 to HH, goes twice a day.
That is with Lomprayah.
http://www.lomprayah.com/E/route.html
In Hua Hin you can visit the Elephant Village or spend a day at the Elephant Sanctuary where you work with the elephants, feed and wash them and in general have a fun day in the jungle. There are quite a lot of temples around ( none charge or anything ), you don't have the nightlife of Chaweng but if you want bars there are plenty around the Hilton, also 2 Thai shows in town, Sasi near the Hyatt and the Hua hin Show near the night market. You can also do a trip around the Sam Roi Yot National Park, caves and things, go fishing, or laze around the pool. Night markets are cheap.
I would though say that you could also spend a night or so along that route, perhaps on Koh Tao or Chumphon, also about 1 hr 30 north of Chumphon and 2 hours south of Hua Hin is a place called Bang Saphan that has long quiet beaches, some offshore snorkeling, a great place to get off the beaten track without roughing it, bbq prawns over an open fire on the beach Thai style and stuff, quite nice. Banito resort is cheap and nice. In Chumphon the Cabana is also nice and laid back.
http://www.r24.org/beachsiam.com/chu...abana/details/
Maybe a few years back I admit is was fairly quiet but certainly not these days, the biggest problem now especialy at weekends is getting somewhere to stay and getting through the traffic through town!
But it comes down to how you want to spend your time.
becca, from Samui you can get a thru ferry/bus ticket to Hua Hin, from Surat Thani on the mainland it takes about 5 hours. Another more scenic route is to take the JetCat high speed that hops from Samui to Koh Phangan and koh Tao to Chumhon, they then transfer you to an express bus ( a/c, TV etc ) to Hua hin, that's about 3 hrs 30 from Chumphon pier. Any travel counter in Samui will do that for you, about USD 22-24 to HH, goes twice a day.
That is with Lomprayah.
http://www.lomprayah.com/E/route.html
In Hua Hin you can visit the Elephant Village or spend a day at the Elephant Sanctuary where you work with the elephants, feed and wash them and in general have a fun day in the jungle. There are quite a lot of temples around ( none charge or anything ), you don't have the nightlife of Chaweng but if you want bars there are plenty around the Hilton, also 2 Thai shows in town, Sasi near the Hyatt and the Hua hin Show near the night market. You can also do a trip around the Sam Roi Yot National Park, caves and things, go fishing, or laze around the pool. Night markets are cheap.
I would though say that you could also spend a night or so along that route, perhaps on Koh Tao or Chumphon, also about 1 hr 30 north of Chumphon and 2 hours south of Hua Hin is a place called Bang Saphan that has long quiet beaches, some offshore snorkeling, a great place to get off the beaten track without roughing it, bbq prawns over an open fire on the beach Thai style and stuff, quite nice. Banito resort is cheap and nice. In Chumphon the Cabana is also nice and laid back.
http://www.r24.org/beachsiam.com/chu...abana/details/
May 26th, 2006, 12:41 PM
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May 28th, 2006, 09:25 PM
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First I would cut the number of days in Hua Hin. Its really nice and the train station is beautiful but there really isn't that much to do.
Second, 7 days in Samui is also a bit much. However, if you like the beach it should be OK. I might suggest only a couple of days in Hua Hin or consider a place like Krabi which geographically is much more stunning. Also, maybe add an extra day to Bangkok and do a side trip to Ayutthaya.
I hope that helps. Enjoy
Second, 7 days in Samui is also a bit much. However, if you like the beach it should be OK. I might suggest only a couple of days in Hua Hin or consider a place like Krabi which geographically is much more stunning. Also, maybe add an extra day to Bangkok and do a side trip to Ayutthaya.
I hope that helps. Enjoy
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