Thailand newbie - help me pick a place to visit for 4 days
 

Hello everyone. My wife and I are traveling to Thailand next month (february) and we only have half our itinerary set - any advice on the other half appreciated.

We're really going to attend a friend's wedding. That event is in Bangkok and we already hotel reservations for that half of our trip. So we have 5 more days (4 nights) unplanned. I had originally thought to fly to Siem Reap in Cambodia to visit Bangkor Wat but the more I think about it the less appealing it sounds to spend 3-4 days looking at rocks. I think a beach destination may be more our speed.

I'm 40, the wife is 38 (no kids coming on trip). We speak no Thai, not a word, but I've traveled quite a bit, though never to Asia. This is a big trip for us so we're budgeting up to $300-400/night for accomodations and of course more for food, etc.

We're absolutely disinterested in go-go bars and cheesiness in general. The ideal spot for us would be beautiful, sedate, and also offer active day trips like kayaking, snorkeling and jungle tours. The beach sounds appealing but we don't want to just sit around the pool/beach and laze about.

Any help anyone can offer about a place to go to fit our needs would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Hi - Khao Lak as a beach area might suit you. We are due to go there in Feb - so am speaking from research rather than experience!!

It is quieter than phuket and lacking cheesiness and go go bars :)

However, there are lots of activities within reach - snorkelling at world class similan and surin islads, kayaking and jungle treks in khao sok national park.

Take a look at Le Meridien in Khao Lak and also the Sarojin (gorgeous, couples only). LM definitely within budget.

For further info check out khaolaklovers.com and also the khao lak forum on tripadvisor which has some very helpful posts, including lists of things to do etc. This is a recommended tour operator in the area - http://www.khaolaklanddiscovery.com/

Other alternatives might be Krabi, Phi Phi and Ko Lanta.

BB

bella offers you a very good idea....we stayed there last june and the place is fantastic...great hotel, nice beach, good restaurants, water activites are nearby for diving, etc...

you can do it for far less than $300 too...

another option is krabi, specifically the sheraton krabi or the fantastic new amari vogue, just up the road a mile...

closer to bkk and no need to fly is hua hin.....its where the king lives...the new sheraton there is fantastic.... we also like the hyatt very much, maybe even prefer it as it is closer to town....lots of restaurants at the hotel and around the area to choose from...

my #1 choic would be the hyatt...

If you think of Angkor as "looking at rocks" then definitely don't go.

The Thai beaches are nice, but won't give you much of a sense of Thailand. You'll be at an international beach resort.

Consider somewhere else in Thailand... In northern Thailand, there are a number of wonderful resorts: the Anantara at the Golden Triangle (you fly from bangkok to Chiang Rai) or the Four Seasons outside of Chiang Mai. Both are wonderful places and will give you different and more adventuresome activity options than the beach.

There are plenty of nice beach areas that although well off the beaten track of commercial tourism have 'very nice' places to stay, just be sure not to expect coffee bars, malls and burger bars ( sorry but many do ).
But some take a bit of 'getting to' as opposed to just a quick flight.
Bang Saphan takes about 5 hours by road from Bangkok ( there is a train service frequent but takes longer )
Bang Saphan area alsong the Gulf of Thailand coast is real nice. There are nice long beaches to wander, see local fishing villages. You can also snorkel off Koh Talu island, kayak etc. or dstay on the island ($40-130) but means to/from island to visit other places.
You can visit nearby prachuap Khiri Khan which is one of the most beuatiful coastal towns there are. Hilltop temples, excellent views.
You can also get easily to some unique places such as the Kui Buri Elephant reserve. No elephant rides or contact with them at all, it is a protected park where elephants roam free. You go with a warden and spot the elephants from a discreet distance.
Pity you only have 4 days.
You can national park, caves, rivers, mangrove swamps and some jungle around Pranburi, about 3.5 hours south of bangkok by road ( 1 hr from Hua Hin ) for rural coastal areas, villages, temples etc.

You won't need $300 at all but clean and comfortable air conditioned places are there, unless something like the X2 resort near Kui Buri is a class place with villas and pool villas. we stayed at the Keeree Waree on the way down to Phuket which are thatched villa rooms near the beach ($60-120 range ) but we prefer Baanklangaew ( $45-65).
These are places if you want to be away from tourist masses and get to see a more natural part of the country.

Depends how much time you want to spend getting to/from.
Another idea is to go somethwere just cab from BKK like the Hyatt Hua Hin and take the jungle trips, temples tours etc from there. You can also do the national park and visit Kui Buri for the elephants from there plus the Phetchburi temples.

Why not head up to Chiang Mai and skip beaches since you don't have a lot of time. Many countries have beaches, take the time to see what makes Thailand unique.

Chiang Mai is easy to get to. By air the ride is not long. In Chiang Mai (like Bangkok) you can get tours through travel agencies. You can take tours to Chiang Rai, Golden Triangle, different hill tribes and elephants and rafting.

Read up Chiang Mai and see if it will do. A quick Google search will give you lots of suggestions, like this one:
http://www.activethailand.com/

Good luck.

Vagabondage-

No need to spend $300-400 a night, especially if you're constantly out and about. You will find very nice accommodations at $160-200