Going to Thailand for the first time for only 5 days. Would love to know the "can't misses", "gotta sees", and "most memorables" from anyone who's been there and got a story to tell.

Adventure-minded travelers encouraged!

We were in Thailand in the last part of November this year. We found Bangkok very interesting and would especially recommend a canal tour, Grand Palace and Wat Poh. Also, the barbecue dinner at the outdoors restaurant of The Oriental is excellent. We also found Chiang Mai interesting. If you go there, you should really take a one-day tour to the elephant camp Chiang Dao. For swimming and relaxing, Koh Samui is quiet, while Phuket is more lively. Both have excellent beaches. Please let me know if you need more info. Merry Christmas! Kjell (Norway)

Hi Kjell:
Thanks for your information. Do you have any suggestions for good places for sampling the national dishes of Thailand please?
At Chiang Mai, we will be visiting an elephant camp, "local industries" and the Golden triangle however we also have a "spare day" there - any sugeestions would also be appreciated.
Best wishes and happy travels for 1998.John (Canada)

It was great to hear your suggestions. We'll be going in early April. Can you suggest some places to stay in Bangkok, Chang Mai and the south of Thailand? It would be greatly appreciated..any other info would also be helpful. Thanx!

I'm sorry I can't recommend any particular restaurant for trying local dishes, but my general rule is to avoid McDonald's and Sizzlers and to try local restaurants instead. As long as there are other people dining there, the food should be OK for "western stomachs", and it is usually very good and cheap.
Reg. what to do in Chiang Mai, I would suggest a half-day guided tour to some of the temples in town. There are lots of opportunities for guided tours, just ask at your hotel.
In Chiang Mai, we stayed at Royal Princess. It has an excellent location next to the night market.
In Bangkok, we stayed at The Royal River, which is a bit outside of downtown. However, the hotel runs a shuttle boat several times a day to downtown, a trip that takes about 1/2 hour.
In Koh Samui, we stayed at The Euphoria on the northern part of the island. Nice and quiet, excellent beach. If you want more "action", the beach of Chaweng is probably better. Kjell

Man, if you want to RAGE! I was in Thailand a few years back and I went to a great party in Koh Phan Gan. It's called the full moon party and definitely worth the visit! Tons of luscious backpacking babes and the place goes off with heinous amounts of drugs and alcohol. I don't know if thats your scene, but the island is definitely worth it for the beaches alone.

Had a great time (second trip to Thailand) on last visit - mostly enjoyed Chang Mai. Stayed at the old Changmai Hotel (which reputedly has best coffee shop in Thailand) this hotel next to night market - f a n t a s t i c - People are wonderful.
We ate in our hotel mostly and enjoyed the buffet breakfasts of Thai and European. Lunch was superb - especially a dish of chicken soup with noodles (hot but cannot find a dish like here in Australia) and coriander - wonderful. Dinner was another experience. Cost $Aust !5.00 a day for meals and couple of drinks. Cannot recommend Changmai enough. Bangkok - stayed at the Menim on the river - as previous message said river shuttles all day long no cost as hotel guest. Food cheap but not as spicy as northern Thai. Shopping great, tours great. Country/people great. Out of Changmai went to a village where the Mao (?) lives (out of Laos originally) and the oldies are really high. Young seem to know better. Conditions they live in are terrible (5 years ago now). Have ag reat time

The Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha are not to be missed. Also enjoyed a visit to the Rose Garden and its Thai Cultural Show. We had a great dinner at Ban Kun Phor in Siam Square - multiple course and beers for 2, about $16 U.S. The restaurant was recommended to us by the owners of our favorite neighborhood Thai restaurant. Thailand is a wonderful place and full of friendly, helpful people.

Bonjour.
Just came back (last week) from a 4 weeks trip in amazing Thailand. In Bangkok (watch out for the scheme from the tuk-tuks) stayed at The Royal hotel which is located near the Grand Palace, Wat Po, Khao San Road,. Clean and not expensive with much of local atmosphere, well located. Have diner at "Panee" near the Pizza Hut on Rambutri road. You must try to experience of an evening of Thai boxing.
In Chiang Mai we stayed at the Porn Ping hotel also well located by the night market. Don't miss the Warorot market early in the morning where you will see what living in Thailand is all about. Have many many more suggestions since we travelled on our own and where very open to experience fiendly contact with the people of the land of a thousand smiles . Don't hesitate to contact me.
Daniel

I can also recommend the Royal Hotel in Bangkok--not fancy, but centrally located. It's one of the few hotels located within walking distance of sights you'd want to see (Royal Palace, Sanam Luang, National Museum, Wat Pho, and it's close to a riverboat stop). In Chiang Mai, I'd recommend the Top North Guest House--small, friendly, has a pool, centrally located within the old walled city. Try to make a side trip to Mae Hong Son--a good base for trekking, attractive Burmese style architecture.

John: In Chiang Mai, if you would like to take in a cultural show as well as try some of the local northern dishes, then you can try what is called the "Kan Tok". Your hotel should be able to make the arrangements for you. If you have not already planed a day visiting the hilltribe people then I would also recommend it. For more information on the to do's you can visit the Tourism Authority of Thailand website at www.tourismthailand.org.
Have a great trip!

Hello! Just back from 6 wonderfull weeks of Amazing Thailand. We loved everything, if you want more little details, feel free to e-mail me. If you have a free day or so in Chiang Mai, make sure to go to a cooking class. It is great fun for everybody, also for the kids. Do not go to the big school at the main gate, the classes are too big and you mostly watch. We discovered a small private school, held by "Tim", who used to live in canaca, so his English is really good. He knows his stuff and will be able to tell you about the substitutes for the foodstuffs that you could not find at home. His phone is (053)219896. We stayed the full three days and had the most fun ever, but you could also stay only a day.
All the best, Olja

We're headed to Thailand in a few weeks and are looking for a nice, relatively inexpensive place to stay on the beach (thinking Chaweng north or south) at Koh Samui. Any ideas?

Also looking for ideas for day trips/excursions on the islands. Thanks for previous suggestions about Chiang Mai - very helpful.

We are planning a holiday in May to
1)Thailand 5days
2)Malaysia 7days
3)Singapore 4days
We would really appreciate any information,tips,must do or see sugesstion.

Merhaba!just returned from Bangkok.We stayed at 'Samran Place' hotel.It's a new hotel and 15 from siam square.You can find info about this hotel on the asiatravel home page.we did also our reservation on this page.Price for dbl. room was 25 USD. a few weeks ago.I recommend also Ban Kun Phor rest. in Siam Square.But the 3rd floor because there is a live music if you enjoy.Monuments like grand palace and others are very interesting but don't visit earlier in the morning because groups visit also on the same time.I recommend also the teak palace and Jim Thompson's house.avoid touk-touks.

We visited Thailand in 1995 and went to Hua Hin (to avoid the sex industry for our teenage daughters.) It was a great wee town - very friendly with a great range of hotels and restaurants, esp seafood. We stayed in the Sofitel Central - sheer luxury.

PS Winelovers - don't hold out any hopes; stick to the beer.

Form Bangkok a trip to Dameon Sonkrak--or something like that--there are tours; it's a lovely water market and neat boat trip. I personally hate the Rose Garden. Don't miss Malacca (also spelled Melaka) in Malaysia. It's a delightful old city with a history of Portuguese, Dutch, Chinese and Malay inhabitants. Central Market in Kuala Lumpur is good for shopping. Jim Thompson's House in Bangkok is lovely. If you want to spend big bucks the Shangri-La Hotels in Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur are the loveliest in the world. Clark Quay and Boat Quay, Chinatown and the river trip in Singapore are great. Have fun!

Just come back from trip in Phuket and Koh samui. In Koh Samui stayed at Le Royal Meridien and Santiburi Dusit Resort, in Phuket at Dusit Laguna and Royal Meridien yacht Club & Resort. Great places, well located with excellent sea food. Cannot recommended Patong Beach on Phuket: DIRTY, noisy and crowdy.

Just come back from trip in Phuket and Koh Samui. In Koh Samui stayed at Le Royal Meridien and Santiburi Dusit Resort, in Phuket at Dusit Laguna and Royal Meridien Yacht Club & Resort. Great places, well located with excellent sea food. Cannot recommended Patong Beach on Phuket: DIRTY, noisy and crowdy.

looking for recommendations of the best places to
stay in koh samui. are now entertaining friends
from states who want the ultimate beach holiday
in thailand. resorts on chaweng beach?
any info would be helpful. thanx!!