Planning a trip to SE asia next month. This board has been a great resource for past trips and I once again need advice.

Right now we are looking at

4 days Bangkok
3 days Angkor Wat


The other 4 days are a toss up...beach at koh samui vs. exploration at chang mai... we love snorkelling, surfing and such so I'm leaning toward the beach! What would we miss by leaving out Chang Mai? OR should we forget about Angkor and do Chang Mai instead?

It is soooo hard to pick when you only have a short time in the area! We are arriving from Hong Kong so jet lag won't be a huge issue.

If we decide on Koh Samui, we would want to stay at a mid-range place that is clean, quiet (not on a busy road or anything) and close to the town...I guess chewang is best for that. Any recommondations?

My last question is regarding the other islands in the area (ko tao, ko phagnen) Can one access these through day-trips or over night trips on ferry? I have heard the snorkelling and beaches are great on these islands and I thought it might be fun to ferry out to an island, stay the day and night and ferry back... any info would be much appreciated

I would stay with Koh Samui. After hectic city life in Bkk and hectic temple sightseeing at Angkor some beach down time will be just the thing. I like Chiang Mai but for me a large part of the draw was some amazing shopping I did there - which I assume is not on your agenda.

thanks for the quick reply! actually, I LOVE to shop. But I am assuming that BKK will address those needs?

Hi Corgie,

Why don't you try Koh Tao? It's more tranquil than Koh Samui. But if you are a culture seeker, opt for Chang Mai. Chaweng is definitely NOT quiet, and it IS close to a big road.
I think 3 days are not enough for Angkor temples: you'll see the most important ones, of course, but you'll be in a rush... Even doing nothing, but doing nothing surrounded with such a scenery will make you feel stay longer anyway...

Don't miss Angkor - it's incredible. Three days is enough to see the major temples, but you'll miss many of teh smaller temples where you may be the only visitor.

I'm not fond of Chaing Mai. It has good shopping and there are a couple of wats well worth visiting, but other than that... Some others here like CM more than I do.

The beaches in Thailand are lovely, but you won't get much flavor for Thai culture at the beach.. If you just want some time to rest after Bangkok and Angkor, the beach would be fine.

My husband and I were in Koh Samui, Angkor Wat, Chiang Mai, and Bangkok on our honeymoon in 2003. The only place we were disappointed with was Chiang Mai. We did a trek that was nice, but found the city not very interesting and much bigger feeling than we expected. If we had to do it again we would go somewhere else. We loved Angkor Wat. I think we had 3 full days there and I think that was enough to see a nice variety of temples. Koh Samui was beautiful. After time in Bangkok, the beach will be nice.

4 days is way too much for Chiang Mai. That being said, we found the following activities as worthwhile as anything we did on our Bangkok - Chiang Mai - Chiang Rai - Koh Samui trip:

1. Excellent(!) shopping in the crafts villages along San Kamphaeng Road east of the city.

2. Low-key riverside dining

3. Wat Doi Su Thep (Lanna architecture)

4. Riding an elephant at the camp north of the city

All of the these can easily be accomplished in 2 days.

Hope this helps.