Thailand

[Stevo985]

I'd go back, but not for a while.

 

It's not like popping over to Ireland or Spain or something, a holiday you can do again and again.

 

It's so far away and quite expensive to get to and a bit of a hassle travelling around the place that I don't think I could do it very regularly.

That being said, I've never really done a holiday like that before. The biggest holiday I've done before this (since I've been an adult and responsible for myself rather than relying on my parents) was Morocco for a week.

[Voinjama]

I've no idea how good Thailand is as I have never been, but there are so many hundreds of places I want to see before I hit the wooden box I don't think I could holiday in the same place twice.  The same country but in a different part possibly (north thailand instead of south Thailand for example)  but not the same place. 

[Xela]

Yeah, I see what you mean. You can go to Thailand 10 times and see different islands every time but seeing the same place over and over get does get repetitive after a while. However on the other side, there are places I don't tire off - Hong Kong being one example.

[Shillzz]

This may be a little controversial, but i'm not a massive fan of Thailand.

 

It's OK, nice scenery etc, but it's far too touristy for my liking. Ofcourse there are exceptions, and some amazing places, but I wouldn't be in a rush to go back there, nor would I hugely recommend it to others. Ofcourse it very much depends on what you look for in a holiday, but parts of it remind me of some of the tourist traps you find in Europe. Don't get me wrong, there are some gems, but they're fast disappearing under the vast waves of tourism that hit the country every year.

 

I recently saw this picture crop up on my Facebook feed followed by scores of people salivating over it. As beautiful as the place looks, the reality is that when you go, you'll struggle to find a spot to lay your beach towel among the hundreds, perhaps thousands of tourists you'll find here. That beautiful looking sandbar becomes a jetty for 50 or so longtail boats by day, it's covered in rubbish and is a testament to how tourism has blighted the country.

 

 

I'd be far more tempted to go to Burma or perhaps the Andaman Islands (somehow) if I were to ever head that way again.

[Stevo985]

Whilst I agree that parts of Thailand were way too touristy (Chaweng being the worst offender that I saw), every beach that I went to was really quiet.

 

Parts of Chaweng beach were busy, but if you walked 100 yards up the beach it was practically empty.

 

Loads of Thailand was super busy, but the beaches certainly weren't in my experience. Granted I didn't go at peak time but still.

[Shillzz]

There are plenty of beautiful spots in Thailand, and perhaps I was being a little unfair. While I was on the other coast to you, I still came across some amazing beaches in places like Koh Lanta, Koh Muk and Khao Lak, it was just the more touristy areas around Koh Phi Phi, Railay and Lipe that left me a little dissapointed. I just found that it was perhaps more difficult than i'd initially anticipated to get away from the tourist scene. 

 

Thailand took up a big chunk of my travelling time, and looking back, i'm a little dissapointed I wasn't more ambitious. It is a holiday makers playground, and a great place to go for a 2 week break, but it's not the travelling Mecca that it's made out to be.

[Xela]

This may be a little controversial, but i'm not a massive fan of Thailand.

 

It's OK, nice scenery etc, but it's far too touristy for my liking. Ofcourse there are exceptions, and some amazing places, but I wouldn't be in a rush to go back there, nor would I hugely recommend it to others. Ofcourse it very much depends on what you look for in a holiday, but parts of it remind me of some of the tourist traps you find in Europe. Don't get me wrong, there are some gems, but they're fast disappearing under the vast waves of tourism that hit the country every year.

 

I recently saw this picture crop up on my Facebook feed followed by scores of people salivating over it. As beautiful as the place looks, the reality is that when you go, you'll struggle to find a spot to lay your beach towel among the hundreds, perhaps thousands of tourists you'll find here. That beautiful looking sandbar becomes a jetty for 50 or so longtail boats by day, it's covered in rubbish and is a testament to how tourism has blighted the country.

 

 

I'd be far more tempted to go to Burma or perhaps the Andaman Islands (somehow) if I were to ever head that way again.

 

I do know what you mean. When I went to Maya Bay (Koh Phi Phi) years ago, for some naive reason I thought it would be just like it was in 'The Beach'. However, It was packed! Speedboats and longtails up to the waters edge and loads of tourists. Disappointing

 

But as Stevo says, there are still deserted beaches, you just have to look a little bit further than the main tourist areas.

[Shillzz]

I didn't even bother with Maya beach, I saw the ant-like stream of Longtails heading that way and quickly decided against it. 

 

But yes, there are absolutely still some great spots.

[Xela]

As a quick summary, the easier it is to get to, the more disappointing it will be! 

 

Some gorgeous islands in The Philippines, true beach paradises. Not that busy as they can be a bitch to get to! 

[Stevo985]

 

This may be a little controversial, but i'm not a massive fan of Thailand.

 

It's OK, nice scenery etc, but it's far too touristy for my liking. Ofcourse there are exceptions, and some amazing places, but I wouldn't be in a rush to go back there, nor would I hugely recommend it to others. Ofcourse it very much depends on what you look for in a holiday, but parts of it remind me of some of the tourist traps you find in Europe. Don't get me wrong, there are some gems, but they're fast disappearing under the vast waves of tourism that hit the country every year.

 

I recently saw this picture crop up on my Facebook feed followed by scores of people salivating over it. As beautiful as the place looks, the reality is that when you go, you'll struggle to find a spot to lay your beach towel among the hundreds, perhaps thousands of tourists you'll find here. That beautiful looking sandbar becomes a jetty for 50 or so longtail boats by day, it's covered in rubbish and is a testament to how tourism has blighted the country.

 

 

I'd be far more tempted to go to Burma or perhaps the Andaman Islands (somehow) if I were to ever head that way again.

 

I do know what you mean. When I went to Maya Bay (Koh Phi Phi) years ago, for some naive reason I thought it would be just like it was in 'The Beach'. However, It was packed! Speedboats and longtails up to the waters edge and loads of tourists. Disappointing

 

But as Stevo says, there are still deserted beaches, you just have to look a little bit further than the main tourist areas.

 

Thing is I didn't look too far afield.

 

Beaches I went to mainly were Ban Tai in Koh Phangan, Chaweng in Koh Samui and a little one on the south of Koh Tao which I can't remember the name for.

All of them were either quiet or had quiet areas.

 

I can imagine places like Phi Phi and Phuket are busier though, and I didn't visit them.

 

But it's definitely fair to say Thailand has been fairly blighted by tourism.

[donnie]

I wonder how much an impact the film 'the beach' had on places like phi phi. I know

after watching it I thought 'I want to go there!'. Im guessing every other schmuck thought the same and thats why it has been ruined by the flood of tourists.

[Shillzz]

Aye, it's one of those things you learn with experience eh. 

[Xela]

This is always one of the favourite Thai Island photos they use - and it does look amazing

 

Koh Nangyuan 

 

[chappy]

I agree it is probably a better place to go for a two week holiday than to travel around as part of a trip. There's Cambodia/Vietnam/Burma to spend more time in in close proximity.

I'm going for two weeks next Easter, haven't decided which islands to go to yet (only saw Bangkok and the north as part of my trip last year) but will spend a couple of days up in Pai before heading down to the tourist centric areas.

[Lombardo]

Borocay in the Phillippines is up there with one of the best beaches I've ever been to. I was also at Maya beach 7 years ago, longboats weren't allowed to come right up to it. We had to swim in. It was spectacular back then.

[mikeyp102]

Right so it's less than 90 days til I go travelling. Some really helpful stuff on here thanks.

 

Would people recommend booking flights etc? I'm flying into Bangkok so will stay there for a few days and then see what happens. Obviously want to get down to the islands and the full moon party, before heading up to Chiang Mai to do a week volunteering at an elephant sanctuary (if I can get in). Is it recommended to book accommodation for the FMP as well?

 

I'm sure someone mentioned scuba course anyone point me int he direction of that?

 

Thanks as ever guys.

[chappy]

If you're looking to stay in hostels check out Julie's in Chiang Mai, unless accommodation is included at your volunteering.

And I didn't go to one but think you do need to book accommodation for the FMP yeah, and I think there's a minimum amount of days you can book for, maybe 3?

[Xela]

Right so it's less than 90 days til I go travelling. Some really helpful stuff on here thanks.

 

Would people recommend booking flights etc? I'm flying into Bangkok so will stay there for a few days and then see what happens. Obviously want to get down to the islands and the full moon party, before heading up to Chiang Mai to do a week volunteering at an elephant sanctuary (if I can get in). Is it recommended to book accommodation for the FMP as well?

 

I'm sure someone mentioned scuba course anyone point me int he direction of that?

 

Thanks as ever guys.

 

Well, yes, I would recommend booking flights at some point or you'll never get anywhere 

 

Seriously though, its difficult to say when is the best time to book. Just have a look around and if you see a decent price then book it... i wouldn't run the risk of leaving it too close to departure to book as they may go up quite a bit.

 

I would recommend getting your accom sorted for the FMP on Koh Phagnan as it will get packed.. chappy is right, most places require a minimum commitment of about 3 nights booking around FMP time. 

 

Scuba courses are usually Koh Tao if i'm not mistaken? Next island along from Phagnan

[Wainy316]

Yeah Koh Tao for diving. The course takes 5 days I believe.

[Stevo985]

DEFINITELY book your accommodation for the FMP.

 

Most places on Koh Phangan insist on you booking 3 nights around FMP (some insist on 4 or 5) and it's very busy.

 

Also, book your ferry to and from the island as early as possible. There's only a certain number and they fill up really quickly. 

The day after the FMP we tried to book our ferry (to leave 2 days after FMP) through our hotel front desk and every ferry from every company was full.

It's only because we chanced driving down to the pier and asking the company directly that we found out that they'd put one extra ferry on and managed to get a seat on that.