lloydboy

I'm getting married June 3rd ( Yay !!! ) and am planning a honeymoon in Thailand. We want about 3-4 days in and around Bangkok for sightseeing and dinner cruises and stuff. We also have about 4 days for beaches, islands and lazy luxury type stuff. We have a Fodor's Thailand and have looked around the 'net some. We were thinking Phuket or Krabi... any ideas or suggestions? ( general or specific appreciated ).

Thanks

JamesA

First things first, congratulations, next thing, Thailand has 2 weather patterns in June, the Andaman ( south west ) area which includes Phuket, krabi, Koh Lanta, Phi Phi etc June is monsoon season, so the best bet is to stick with the Gulf side of thailand which enjoys relatively fine weather in June.
The Andaman area is affected by climate in the Indian Ocean and more specificaly the bay of bengal and receives the balance of the Indian Monsoons.
The Gulf side is affected by the China Seas, so very different.

There is a very large choice of beaches and islands, this is very very rough but gets you on the way:
Koh Samui : lively and busy tropical island, lots of accommodation choice, restaurants, somwhat touristy though that has pluses too.
Koh Tao: Quiet, ideal for avid divers, short on top accommodation, no nighlife but being quiet appeals to many.
Koh Chang: Up and coming, quiet, reasonable choice of nice resorts
There are others slong the Sunrise Coast etc.

My humble personal opinion would be to go for somewhere romantic on Samui, Sala Samui, Sila Evason, perhaps Anantara Samui.

Before giving more specifics if you can let us all know how quiet/busy you want and also please give an idea of budget, whether you want $100 or don't care if it's $750, much better than wasting time suggesting too costly or otherwise too basic.

Also tell us same for bangkok so we know if you want top Penn / Oriental, mid range or whatever, for honeymoon I would go for something with a river view, the new Millennium Hilton, Marriott resort etc, you will get lots of ideas for dinner cruises, recommendations for guides etc for Bangkok.

Give us more and more we can give back!

lloydboy

We would prefer being a little more frugal for the sightseeing part in Bangkok ( in terms of accomodations ). Say from$50- $100 US per night.
For the beaches & islands part a little splurging would be fine, say $100- $150 US per night. From what I've seen this should be more than ample for a nice vacation for a waiter from Redwood City CA...yes?

rhkkmk

may i suggest that just at the $100 rate for bangkok that you consider the marriott resort and spa....all inclusive tax/service and breakfast just about $100 per nite...use this site:

www.huahin.20m.com

also for a slight more splurge on koh chang may i suggest the amari emerald cove resort...new last year and quite nice...excellent food...

you will want to sample some of bangkok's excellent restaurants...i have a list...ask me for it at [email protected]
and i will be glad to send it along..

restuarnts that you pay upwards of $200 for dinner in Ca would be $50-60 in bkk....tons of excellent choices..

we love to assist so once you have your hotels let us know and ask tons more questions...

JamesA

Don't worry, the BKK hotel experts will come up with the best, should be able to give ideas on the River within that, if you are doing sightseeing etc would you tend to want to be more close to the center of things or prefer river view for the romantic atmosphere? That range is OK.

For Koh Samui if you want a lively place or Koh Chang if you want quieter $100-150 is fine.

Now Chaweng on Samui is the busiest beach, some feel it's 'over the top' ( weel, I do ), Bophut is quieter but nice and easy to get into Chaweng for those evenings when you want something lively and some nightlife.

Lawana allows guests from Redwood City,
gives you an idea of what you get for those hard earned bucks:

and some reviews:
www.r24.org/beachsiam.com/samui/lawana/review/

take a look at the photos and considor a price of about USD 115 including breakfast, service and tax for a 'Suite' !! For a young honeymoon couple it's great value.

www.r24.org/beachsiam.com/samui/lawana/details/

You can follow the links, there are so many, but you will begin to see what you can get for your money.

One important point, to get to Koh Samui from bangkok there is only 1 airline, Bangkok Airways ( you can get the tickets from NYC, others will give you the numbers ), but expect to pay around USD 175 return each for the flight(!) You can all day or overnight bus and Jet-Cat or bus/ferry for about USD 50 return, but I really would fly, but budget that relatively high airfare against accommodation and I would say fly, even if you cut back from some beachfront view to a garden view, or whatever, $100 though should be you nice.


Will give you some basic ideas for samui to look at over the weekend to get ideas of different beaches and what you get for your buck. Take a look at Koh Chang, very different island altogether and maybe I am thinking perhaps a little 'too' quiet, unless that is what you are after.

JamesA

lloydboy, rhkkmk ( Bob ) has been to all these too, the Amari on Koh Chang is about USD 120, but the 2 islands are very different, you can fly to nearby mainland airport from Bangkok also Bangkok Airways or you can bus/ferry if more adventurous, guess 5/6 hrs, but it it very much quieter than Samui but both have their pluses

This gives you pics of Amari on Koh Chang

www.r24.org/huahin.20m.com/thai/emerald/details/

Bob -I am working on your HH restaurant list, until a week back I was up and down to Phuket and HH mad rush but now some quiet time, new HH Mega mall near Marriott is BIG, lots of restaurants there too!

rhkkmk

thanks james....i hope we will be finally able to meet up this time, either in HH or in pattaya---we have 4 days in each...

bob

lloydboy

Thanks...you guys rock !!!
My budget isn't so tight as to not allow for extravagances... $100 here and there isn't a problem.
I just want to set a rough limit so I don't wind up in the $500 a night range. We gotta have some for trinkets an' such ya know !!!
This is like buying aspirin at a grocery... too many choices.

Kathie

Lloyd, Bob's suggestion of the Marriott Resort and Spa in Bangkok is excellent. You really want something on the river for a honeymoon stay, I think. If it's just a bit above your budget, the other place near the river that gets good reviews in that price range is Centre Point Silom, which are serviced apartments. Several Fodorites have recently stayed there and gave it good reviews (you can look for the reviews by doing a search here).