famtraveler

We are a family of 5 with 3 kids ranging in age from 14-8. We would like to have some cultural/educational experiences and then spend 4-5 days at a beach resort. We are planning to go the last two weeks of August. Interests include history, art, cooking, and outdoor adventures.

KimJapan

These three reports, one mine and two others', should give you some ideas to start.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34955704

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34734627

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34970163

These places might interest you.
www.changthai.com

www.joyshouse.net

http://goldentriangle.anantara.com/ and http://www.helpingelephants.org/

www.alotofthai.com

http://www.jwmarriottphuket.com/

http://www.boathousephuket.com/

http://www.gerd-noi.com/

rhkkmk

a great family hotel in bkk is the marriott resort and spa....kids pool...small market area in front of hotel to hold kids interest as well...

a serviced apratment might be good for you also...check out center point silom...

kaneda

Weather in Thailand in August can be nice or very wet. Changeable.

travelduo

Let me know how the 8 year old does in thailand. Our son is the same age and keeps begging us to take him next time! I think he might starve to death after his bag of doritos runs out! Or maybe since we always stay at the Marriott and they have such a wonderful asian/american breakfast, I could really fill him up in the morning and hope he lasts all day Jeffrey

Scotters

It would also help to know what hotel price range you are thinking of. In bangkok there are great luxury hotel such as the Peninsula at over $200 or good mid-range hotel well under that. In the north around Chiang Rai there is the luxurious Anantara Resort or just down the road a good hotel for 2/3's less.

KimJapan

We've taken our daughter, now 8, to Thailand 4 times, Bali and multiple trips to the US. She hasn't starved yet. Thailand is very easy in terms of food for kids whether they are adventurous or not. Restaurants are more than willing to make special orders, and an order of rice and steamed veggies and grilled/steamed chicken is easy. Pad Thai is always a hit, as is simple fried rice. Fried chicken is great for chicken eaters. Shrimp. Pizza, pasta and burgers are options in just about every big restaurant that caters to tourists. If it's food that's holding you back on taking your kids, give it no further worry and just go.

famtraveler

We are getting close to having an itinerary based on the wonderful responses. We will spend two evenings in Bangkok probably at the Marriot which is less expensive than the Oriental or Penninsula. Our thought is to stay in 5 star locations for some portions of the trip and mid range for others. We will head to the Golden Triangle and stay at Anantara for probably 4 nights. This leaves us ten days. My husband would like at least 5 of those to be on a beach. We are also thinking of heading to Angkor. We have looked at Ko Samui for beach accommodations that are quiet and peaceful with a swimming beach. We are having a hard time finding something less than $800./night to accommodate 5. We would like to be at $500 or below. I have read some suggestions that heading to Malaysia may be a better bet at this time of year.

Any thoughts?

As for travel with the 8 year old. We may not be a good indicator as our very picky eater's favorite food is Thai. She loves chicken satay, white rice, and oyster beef. We live in the PNW so there are lots of Thai restaurants here that are excellent.

Thank you so much for all of your posts.

rhkkmk

you might look at the sheraton resort on langkawi, malaysia,,,

jw marriott at phuket

sheraton @ jontien/pattaya

but best of all is hyatt at hua hin...

JamesA

Do you mean USD 800/500 for a night for 5 ?
That is a huge amount, if you have one room and the kids have another with 1 extra bed I am guessing that should be fine, the only problem with Samui is you are going to have adult fares for over 12, so you could end up paying 4 adult returns and 1 child return, as bangkok Airways is the only airline it is that 'flight' which is going to hike up the costs.
However, if you are going to the North of Thailand then using the bangkok Airways Discovery pass could cushion that fare, if you used bangkok Airways for your domestic flights ( though they do not go Chiang Rai ( for Anantara Golden Triangle ).

August is a 'peak season' month on Samui. But if you are looking for a beach vacation bungalow style resort 3 star range for a family you should be, even in August fine in the USD 1010-140 range easily, unless you are going for top luxury. deluxe garden at peace Resort in the $195 range ( yes, Samui in August is 'really expensive these days ' ).
Samui is a busy and lively island catering for tourists, if you want something different there are plenty of other options, Koh Chang is much quieter and not as developed, you can get to smaller islands nearby to snorkel, more laid back and dare I say more rustic than Samui but you are not hitting those high rates ( Samui gets packed August with many visitors to Europe heading there )
for example if you went for a class place on Koh Chang like the Amari Emerald Cove even that is about $150-160 range for a twin/double ( then just add 1 extra bed to one room ), you are not going to find restaurants and shopping/nightlife like Samui but if it's for R&R and perhaps some off-island snorkeling etc then might be ok. The Amari is one of the very top places. Drop down to somewhere like the Barali and you are in the $85 a night range.

It does though make place like the Hyatt Regency ( Hua Hin ) at USD 117 range including tax, service and breakfast seem downright 'cheap(!) You are not going to find such good beach as Samui or Koh Chang but pricewise for hotels is inexpensive. (Marriott around $110)

It really comes down, on the beach side, to whether you want a quiet or busy place, if you want a busy and lively place then Samui is a good choice, perhaps though think of a smaller beach place,
Aloha Resort & Spa around $80 for a seaview twin, family suite for 4 around $ 138, Grand deluxe seaview twin $ 105, for a family that should be fine.

tell us more your vision of the beach and that helps give more precise ideas, if I had to make a choice I would probably go with Samui if you want lots to do but go for somewhere like the Aloha. If you want quieter and that is ok with the kids who are happy to spend a day on a snorkeling trip and just hang around quieter beach then think about the Amari on Koh Chang. If you want something just cab from bangkok think about Hyatt, good for national parks etc but not for snorkeling, gtreat pools but the kids might get bored.

Koh Chang you can fly or take a van and go by road, quite a journey but you can stop on the way, you can even overnight on the way perhaps Novotel at Rayong if you wanted not such a long road journey in one go.

gard

Hi

Well, first of all...Thailand is a nice vacation destination. My wife and I went there for the third time in May. Here is a trip report from our last trip http://gardkarlsen.com/thailand2002.htm and maybe you can find some useful info there. When it comes to weather check http://www.weatherbase.com . Don't miss out on Bangkok

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

althom1122

Your itinerary is shaping up nicely, but I would add a night to Bangkok. There's plenty to do and if it's your first stop, there's jet lag to recover from - 2 nights is too short. I also like your idea of adding Siem Reap. Would give it four nights. That would allow a good overview of the temples plus a school visit and also an excursion to Tonle Sap lake, all of which the kids would enjoy. Best of luck!
Karen

KimJapan

Here's what we are doing with our 9 year old for the month of August.
6 nights Singapore Four Seasons
6 nights Siem Reap Victoria
3 nights Bangkok Peninsula
6 nights Phuket JW Marriott
5 nights Anantara Golden Triangle
3 nights Bangkok Oriental

For Koh Samui, are you saying you need to spend $800/night? I'm sure you can do much better than that, even though it's high season in Koh Samui. You will need two rooms in most cases, but that still shouldn't work out so expensive at most places. Have you looked at Rocky's Resort or Coral Bay, Peace Resort?

You might also consider the JW Marriott Phuket...they have 2 bedrooms units in the Beach Club that start at $159.00/night. This place is isolated from the main tourist areas, but for us, that is a big positive, as we really don't care for those areas at all...too noisy, dirty, tacky for our taste. Some people love being amongst lots of shops selling copy this and that, restaurants and markets...but for our beach holiday, we don't like that atmosphere. For $159.00, you get the two bedrooms, a kitchen and living, and as it's part of the resort, you get all the benefits of staying in the hotel. This place has amazing activities for all ages and an excellent spa. The package that we booked directly with them for the hotel includes breakfast, transfers, 2x Thai massage in the spa, 2x cooking classes and the price is much better than if you paid seperately for these things. The hotel has connecting rooms if you prefer hotel over time share. Since your interests include art and cooking, it might be ideal. On their website, there is a weekly schedule of their activities you can look at, as well as a resort map.

KimJapan

I would recommend against Koh Chang in August, as it has 700mm of rainfall on average. While it might not rain every day, 700mm/month is very rainy. For comparison, Phuket gets about 250mm average in August, and Samui about 150mm average.

tnnc

Kim, Do you know what the rainfall is for Koh Chang in July? Is it as rainy as Aug?

famtraveler

We have been continually reading posts and working on this all day. All of the comments are very helpful.

Here is what we have right now:

Bangkok-Marriot 2-3 nights
Anantara Golden Triangle 4 nights
Angkor
Hyatt Hua Hin

I am still not sure of the best way to get from the Ching Rai to Siem Reap. Any thoughts?

It appears that Hua Hin may be a better option than Phuket due to weather conditions/ rain fall.

Is it worth it to do Thai Air "Discover Thailand " air package?

rhkkmk

given this routing, i would think the pass makws sense..

from CR to SR, transfer through bkk

famtraveler

We have been unable to find a flight to Siem Reap for under $358 which seems a bit steep for the short time that we would be there. Thinking of adding a stop at Lisu lodge and Lanna cooking school outside of Chiang Mai en route to Anantara-- what do you think?

It looks like the cooking and elephant experiences in these hill areas would be considerably less than through Anantara...

Has anyone had experiences with these?

I recognize we have a fair amount of movement, but hopefully the longer stays in Ananatara and at the Hyatt in Hua Hin will balance the brief stays at the beginning of the trip.

I would love to hear insights.

KimJapan

We did an excellent custom cooking class in Chiang Mai for just my daughter (then 7), my husband and myself with www.alotofthai.com. Excellent. And reasonable. The whole day, 9 - 6, with market visit, cost us about $100.00 total. We chose some very complicated dishes as well.

As far as elephants go, the Anantara's program is priced pretty well for the 3 day mahout package, considering you get a real hotel with real beds, air con, pool and spa. We did the 3 day mahout training at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center 1 1/2 years ago, and while it was outstanding, this time around my daugther and I decided that a few comforts wouldn't be a bad thing. The TECC is cheaper, at 8000 baht per person for 3 days and 2 nights, but the comfort level is pretty low. If you are ok with that, then it is a great program. www.changthai.com You can also just drop in there if you don't want to do a program. They offer elephant rides, too. So does the Anantara.

Other places that offer elephant rides...they range from quite ok to quite sad. You can tell right off though...wilted looking eles with sad eyes and bored and defeated looking mahouts. Unfortunately, these places exist. I would strongly recommend supporting the TECC or the Anantara, or perhaps the Elephant Nature Park...no riding there, but your visit helps them continue to keep injured and abused eles in refuge there...but take their presentations with a healthy grain of salt, as they like to impress on guests that eles should be free and wild and not have to give rides or do tourist work. Unfortunately, the reality of the modern world is that there is little else for domesticated eles to do, setting them free would be disastrous on many levels (not enough land, not enough food, damage to crops, lack of know how as to how to survive in the wild to name a few).

Hua Hin is drier in August than Phuket or Samui. It is not the kind of ideal beach resort place that you might be imagining, though. Not a fantastic beach, but plenty of restaurants and shops. Hyatt is supposed to be a great hotel for families with great pools so you likely won't mind that the beach isn't great.

http://english.wunderground.com/NORM...amp;Units=both July is very rainy in Koh Chang, with average 440 mm of rain.

Because Bangkok Air has a monopoly on the BKK - REP route, their price is the only price. We have paid $368 for 2 adult and 1 child one-way tickets REP - BKK, and haven't seen it for less. Were you to have 3 flights on Bangkok Air, you could save a bit by using their Discovery Airpass, but destinations other than Samui are serviced by low cost carriers like Air Asia, Nok Air and 12Go that might balance out or outweigh any benefit of the Discovery Airpass.

It's possible to fly BKK - Phnom Penh on Air Asia for quite a bit less than to REP on Bangkok Air. Then the bus to Siem Reap takes about 4 - 5 hours and costs about $9.00/per person...don't know if you have the time or energy for that.