Demitri_C Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 Looks like our iternary has changed yet again 2 days pattaya 4 days koh chang 1 day back at pattaya then 2 nights phi phi (do island hopping for one of the days go see places like krabi) 4 phukett 1 bangkok is 2 nights too much for phi phi? my mate really wants to go but from what i have read its abit crap for nightlife Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 14 hours ago, Demitri_C said: Looks like our iternary has changed yet again 2 days pattaya 4 days koh chang 1 day back at pattaya then 2 nights phi phi (do island hopping for one of the days go see places like krabi) 4 phukett 1 bangkok is 2 nights too much for phi phi? my mate really wants to go but from what i have read its abit crap for nightlife Phi phi night life is good, I was there this time last yr and there beach parties all night Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 You may want a few easier nights on your holiday... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted December 26, 2015 Share Posted December 26, 2015 On 21/12/2015 at 09:32, Demitri_C said: Looks like our iternary has changed yet again 2 days pattaya 4 days koh chang 1 day back at pattaya then 2 nights phi phi (do island hopping for one of the days go see places like krabi) 4 phukett 1 bangkok is 2 nights too much for phi phi? my mate really wants to go but from what i have read its abit crap for nightlife I'd do... 2 nights Bangkok 3 nights Koh Chang 2 nights Pattaya 6 nights Phuket/Phi Phi (split accordingly) 1 night Bangkok Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 On 12/26/2015 at 17:19, Xela said: I'd do... 2 nights Bangkok 3 nights Koh Chang 2 nights Pattaya 6 nights Phuket/Phi Phi (split accordingly) 1 night Bangkok the only thing with that way is my friends are insistent they want to do 4 days koh chang. they absolutely love it there for some reason even though its so bloody far away. and for some reason they only want to do 1 day bangkok. one of my other friends says 5 nights in phuket is too much as well. so its abit annoying having all these conflicting opinions from some of my group! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 5 nights in Phuket is definitely too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 On 12/30/2015 at 00:25, Wainy316 said: 5 nights in Phuket is definitely too much. How many would you suggest? I think we are doing 4 Anyone who ha sbeen phi phi know any decent hotels? Hotels are looking quite pricey there which is abit annoying Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villadude Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 Personally I'd drop Phuket off the list, never liked the place, way too many rip off artists in the tourist areas. Kanchanaburi is my favourite place in Thailand, beautiful place with loads to do by day, and more than enough bars to enjoy by night... Great place to stay for 2-3 days. I've just got back today from a three day motorbike trip to Trat / Koh Chang , it was the first time I'd ever been there and loved it, we stayed in the White Sands area, if it's nightlife you want then you'll love it there. But sounds like your mates already know the crack out there, so my advice would be to follow them and keep your eyes and ears open, and your wits about you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcarpet Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 I need your thoughts & opinions guys. Me and the missus are going to head over to Thailand for our honeymoon next January. Our plan is at the moment; 2 nights in Bangkok - this is so we can see the city & see some of the buddha's etc 2 nights with the Elephants - not sure where is the best to go for this, but looking here there seems to be a few options? we'd like to do it somewhere its ethical and not hurting the elephants! (I'm sure we've all seen the tiger video on facebook recently), so if anyone has done this I'd love to hear your opinions! 7-10 nights of luxury relaxation in a quiet island somewhere that isn't too touristy, it seems very difficult to know where to pick though at the moment. We are more than open to other ideas on what to do or where! ideally we don't want to be constantly travelling for the two weeks as we would like at least 5 nights where we are settled and relaxing at the very end. Any recommendations for who to book it all with? As its the honeymoon (and our first time to a country not using 'our' alphabet) we don't want to be overly adventurous in the 'backpacking part' (i.e we don't want to do 5 hour bus journeys which includes buying our tickets while we are out there etc), we would rather have it all booked as a package type holiday before we traveled with all transfers sorted. I'm worried if we book with someone like Kuoni or Virgin etc we are almost adding an extra 30% in cost onto it! We have a decent sized budget for this but one of the reasons we've chosen Thailand is because its relatively cheap we might be able to afford in some slightly better places than usual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 I did a week at Elephant Nature Park Chiang Mai, the women who runs it, Lek, is pretty famous, she was one of the first to encourage fair treatment of elephants, it's a good visit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 On 1/23/2016 at 14:49, villadude said: . I've just got back today from a three day motorbike trip to Trat / Koh Chang , it was the first time I'd ever been there and loved it, we stayed in the White Sands area, if it's nightlife you want then you'll love it there. But sounds like your mates already know the crack out there, so my advice would be to follow them and keep your eyes and ears open, and your wits about you. Yeah my mates rave about how Koh Chang is absolutely fantastic. Out of all the places I think Koh Chang is the one I am looking forwrad to most. Shame you have to get a bloody flight there or 5 hour coach journey. I think we decided on the coach journey (as via the route we are taking there was no difference in time travelling back to where we needed to go) At leats coach journey will give me 5 hours to catch up on some sleep! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 10 hours ago, Demitri_C said: At leats coach journey will give me 5 hours to catch up on some sleep! You'll barely sleep. The drivers are nuts. Overtake on blind bends on completely the wrong side of the road, massive potholes they just drive through.Its really not that comfortable. Plus they stop a lot to take you to the tourist shops.. Probably sounds common sense as well but make sure you keep valuables like wallet phone and passport on you and not in your bag as they do go through then in the "boot" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 14 hours ago, mikeyp102 said: You'll barely sleep. The drivers are nuts. Overtake on blind bends on completely the wrong side of the road, massive potholes they just drive through.Its really not that comfortable. Plus they stop a lot to take you to the tourist shops.. Probably sounds common sense as well but make sure you keep valuables like wallet phone and passport on you and not in your bag as they do go through then in the "boot" Thanks for the heads up. The one my mate suggested is private hire where it would just be six of us (from what he said there are no stops) Thanks for that tip ill make sure I carry those items in my man bag on my lap. i heard Thailand is pretty bad for pick pockets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted February 11, 2016 Author VT Supporter Share Posted February 11, 2016 On 2/9/2016 at 20:34, bcarpet said: 2 nights with the Elephants - not sure where is the best to go for this, but looking here there seems to be a few options? we'd like to do it somewhere its ethical and not hurting the elephants! (I'm sure we've all seen the tiger video on facebook recently), so if anyone has done this I'd love to hear your opinions! 7-10 nights of luxury relaxation in a quiet island somewhere that isn't too touristy, it seems very difficult to know where to pick though at the moment. Regarding the elephants, we went for this tour. It was excellent. They picked us up from our hotel in bangkok in the morning (early!) in an airconditioned people carrier. It was only me and my gf but we had our own personal driver who provided snacks and drinks. The car was huge, reclining seats, air con, leather, everything. So super comfy, which is good because it's a long trip. He drove us to some floating markets where a guy punted us round in a boat for about an hour. That was cool to experience especially if you want to buy some tat! From there we went to the bridge over the river kwai where we were met by our own personal tour guide. She showed us round there for about an hour and gave us the history and stuff. It was ok, but nothing amazing. but it came as part of the tour so **** it. From there we went to a restaurant where we got a free buffet lunch. Then finally to the elephants where we got a half an hour stroll around the fields. Then afterwards they took us down a huge river where we swam with the elephants. That was incredible. They were picking us up with their trunk and flipping us over their heads. One of the best things I've ever done. Then from there the long drive back to bangkok (about 2 and a half hours I think) but the car was so comfy we slept most of the way. We had to tip our tour guide and driver (well, didn't have to, but it's the done thing) but the whole day was £90 each for everything. Honestly a complete bargain. I'd do it again tomorrow. As for it being ethical, I'm not sure. When we got to the elephants it all seemed fine. Some were roaming around free, they weren't being treated badly and everything seemed ok. The Elephants seem to enjoy the water, although obviously it's hard to tell But last thing before we left we had a bit of a look around and saw a couple of elephants tied up who didn't look very happy. So I can't say. But I think anywhere you do those Elephant trips there's going to be some element of un-ethical stuff. As far as I could tell there wasn't anything terrible about this one. Sounds cheesey, but it was probably one of the funnest days of my life. As for the quiet luxury island, Koh Tao was the best one we visited. It was the quietest and the most unspoiled by tourism (although we only went to three so don't have loads to compare it to). We stayed at View Point in the south and it was amazing. It had it's own small beach area and was a short walk to the main beach in the south which was stunning. We were in one of their bog standard cabins. It was great, don't get me wrong, but they have some more expensive Villas that, if you can afford them (they're not massively expensive, but in terms of the prices in Thailand they were a bit pricey) then they're very luxurious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcarpet Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 On 11/02/2016 at 12:30, Stevo985 said: Regarding the elephants, we went for this tour. As for it being ethical, I'm not sure. When we got to the elephants it all seemed fine. Some were roaming around free, they weren't being treated badly and everything seemed ok. The Elephants seem to enjoy the water, although obviously it's hard to tell But last thing before we left we had a bit of a look around and saw a couple of elephants tied up who didn't look very happy. So I can't say. But I think anywhere you do those Elephant trips there's going to be some element of un-ethical stuff. As far as I could tell there wasn't anything terrible about this one. Sounds cheesey, but it was probably one of the funnest days of my life. That tour has excellent reviews, and looks nice with the added extra bits like visiting the floating market! Its certainly something to consider and if we went for it we went just have to extend out our stay in Bangkok. The price is good to by the sounds of it at £90! On 11/02/2016 at 12:30, Stevo985 said: As for the quiet luxury island, Koh Tao was the best one we visited. It was the quietest and the most unspoiled by tourism (although we only went to three so don't have loads to compare it to). We stayed at View Point in the south and it was amazing. Those photos look fantastic! its fair to say that's probably the sort of place we would like to stay. It looks quite easy to get to as well as it seems two different local airlines fly to Chumphon from Bangkok and you just get a boat from there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted February 14, 2016 Author VT Supporter Share Posted February 14, 2016 (edited) It's not a hugely easy journey. We flew to Surat Thani airport, then got a ferry. But I don't think there is a direct ferry. It goes to Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and then Koh Tao. We went to all three islands so it wasn't an issue for us, but it's probably a couple of hours on the ferry if you're going the whole hog. The ferries are a nightmare, I'm not gonna lie. But it would be worth it I don't know about to Chumphon but from looking on the map if there's a ferry from there and you're only doing Koh Tao then that may well be your best bet. Having had a look at their website, it seems View Point may have had a bit of a refurb since we were there. Looks like the cheap cottages we stayed in may have been upgraded and aren't so cheap anymore. Still only about £80 a night, which isn't expensive for hotel rooms elsewhere in the world, but in Thailand that's a pricey room. But I'd advise you to give it a look if you're thinking of Koh Tao, it was really excellent. Edited February 14, 2016 by Stevo985 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 We slummed it to get to the islands. Paid to go on an overnight cargo boat from Surat Thani. Got a (not so) nice little mattress each. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 On 2/11/2016 at 12:30, Stevo985 said: Regarding the elephants, we went for this tour. It was excellent. They picked us up from our hotel in bangkok in the morning (early!) in an airconditioned people carrier. It was only me and my gf but we had our own personal driver who provided snacks and drinks. The car was huge, reclining seats, air con, leather, everything. So super comfy, which is good because it's a long trip. He drove us to some floating markets where a guy punted us round in a boat for about an hour. That was cool to experience especially if you want to buy some tat! From there we went to the bridge over the river kwai where we were met by our own personal tour guide. She showed us round there for about an hour and gave us the history and stuff. It was ok, but nothing amazing. but it came as part of the tour so **** it. From there we went to a restaurant where we got a free buffet lunch. Then finally to the elephants where we got a half an hour stroll around the fields. Then afterwards they took us down a huge river where we swam with the elephants. That was incredible. They were picking us up with their trunk and flipping us over their heads. One of the best things I've ever done. Then from there the long drive back to bangkok (about 2 and a half hours I think) but the car was so comfy we slept most of the way. We had to tip our tour guide and driver (well, didn't have to, but it's the done thing) but the whole day was £90 each for everything. Honestly a complete bargain. I'd do it again tomorrow. As for it being ethical, I'm not sure. When we got to the elephants it all seemed fine. Some were roaming around free, they weren't being treated badly and everything seemed ok. The Elephants seem to enjoy the water, although obviously it's hard to tell But last thing before we left we had a bit of a look around and saw a couple of elephants tied up who didn't look very happy. So I can't say. But I think anywhere you do those Elephant trips there's going to be some element of un-ethical stuff. As far as I could tell there wasn't anything terrible about this one. Sounds cheesey, but it was probably one of the funnest days of my life. As for the quiet luxury island, Koh Tao was the best one we visited. It was the quietest and the most unspoiled by tourism (although we only went to three so don't have loads to compare it to). We stayed at View Point in the south and it was amazing. It had it's own small beach area and was a short walk to the main beach in the south which was stunning. We were in one of their bog standard cabins. It was great, don't get me wrong, but they have some more expensive Villas that, if you can afford them (they're not massively expensive, but in terms of the prices in Thailand they were a bit pricey) then they're very luxurious That elephant tour looks really good. i am going bangkok for the final two nights before returning to London. i might try this out although I am abit of a coward I am bit scared of the elephant turning on its owner and you get trampled on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 I'm no animal activist or anything but I'd seriously say don't go to places that do elephant rides.. It's really horrific what they do to them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Not all, you just have to do your research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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