Some questions about Thailand

Hi,
we (a German couple) are planning a trip to Thiland arriving Dec 24 and
leaving Jan 9.
Our main interests are nature (scenic landscape), culture ("wats" and more),
and to get a little impression of life outside the touristic places.
We don't like luxury hotels and package tours without a chance to get out of
the group. We are looking for a way to travel individually, as far as this
is possible within the short time. We don't need to travel low budget as
real backpackers do - e.g. if a flight saves time without missing s.th., we
would prefer to fly rather than using a night bus or train.

Maybe somebody could give us some heplful hints for a good preparation and
to make the best out of this short time.
Is there a FAQ site of this newsgroup, or even for Thailand questions?

Our actual plan is to stay at 3 places and make some sightseeing trips from
these.
One place (first and last) will be Bangkok and surroundings - we plan 4
nights at the start and maybe one or two at the end.

Next place could be the North (+/- 3 days):
probably Chiang Mai, what else is worth spending time and effort? Are there
some quiet tips? We will *not* go there for trekking and visiting hill
tribes.
Is Chiang Mai too crowded over New Year's Eve? I read in one guide book that
there is a "winter fair" just in that season.

Third place is the South (+/- 8 days) - we like to take the train from
Bangkok to Surat Thani and get back by train or airplane later.
What is possible to see within a week (including some relax days on the
beach...)?
Is Ko Samui still recommended and not overcrowded? Which hotel or appartment
complex is a good choice? Is it a good place to spend New Year's Eve?
Where is the best snorkeling area?
Where is a good place (quiet but enough facilities) to stay for several days
in the greater Phuket area? We like to make a boat trip to Phang Nga N.P.,
and perhaps to the Phi Phi Islands (is it worth staying there over night?)

Thanks in advance for your help!
Thomas

Good place to start with information about Bangkok is www.bangkokbob.net
There is plenty of information here about all aspects. Suggest you buy Nancy
Chandler's map of Bangkok - about 150 Thai bahts.

Hi Thomas,

I'm just back (yesterday!) from a trip to Thailand. First let me exlain what
I did. It was a very typical journey, not really off the beaten tracks!

I arrived in Bangkok, took the train to the centre (that's the cheapest way
to do, 5baths, compared to the 50 to 300baths with bus/taxi!), then went
straight from Chiang Mai from Bangkok, with the night train (750 baths maxi
for 2nd class). I stayed there for about a week, including a trekking trip.
First day was just walking around, I also took a cooking class (with 'Smart
cook', great!), and then indeed went to the trek. You seem not to be up for
it but I personnally loved it! I apparently went for a good trekking company
(some other travellers didn't have very good experience with other
companies), so I was lucky. It was Nice Place tours. Once back, I visited
the Doi Suthep temple, a must do if you're into temples or buddhism. In
Chiang Mai, I would recommend the NamKhong guest house, right next to the
Nice Place 1 Guesthouse.

Then I took the night train to bangkok then the plane to Ko Samui (4000B),
to then took the 1 hr ferry to Ko Phan Gan (100B). I stayed there for the
Full Moon Party, but if you're more up for relaxing time, I would still
recommend you Phan-Gan over Samui as it is much less touristy; then just
avoid the Had Rin beach where the party goes on (Bottle beach is great). On
Had Rin, I would strongly recommend you the Hua Laem resort. I stayed there
6 days. There you can relax on the beach, and go around the island by
motorbike (100B a day rental, a bargain!), or with a long tail boat. There
are temple, waterfall, snorkeling, etc).

Finally I went to Ko Phi-Phi, with night ferry-bus-ferry (500B). It's much
more touristy (and more expensive) but a great place for diving and
snorkeling, plus it's the most beautiful beach scenery I've ever seen!!
After that, Bangkok, and flew home.

I would suggest you to stay first for a couple of days in Bangkok, then head
north to finish with the relaxing beaches of the south. Then save a day for
shopping in bangkok (so that you don't carry heavy stuff for the whole
trip), ideally on a weekend for the Weekend Market, the biggest market in
the world.

Otherwise, avoid Phuket as it's overcrowded and over touristy. In the gulf
of Thailand, Ko Phan-Gan is probably the best, when in the Andaman sea
Phi-Phi would have been the best if it was not really touristy. I would
still suggest you to stay there or in Ko Lanta.

Oh, and one last thing: pack very light! I did, and still wished I would
have brought less stuff. You can find everything there, for about 10 times
less than in Europe, and quite nice stuff too, so you're really tempted to
buy.

If you have more specific questions don't hesitate to ask.

Tibo.

"Thomas" wrote in message
...
Hi,
we (a German couple) are planning a trip to Thiland arriving Dec 24 and
leaving Jan 9.
Our main interests are nature (scenic landscape), culture ("wats" and
more),
and to get a little impression of life outside the touristic places.
We don't like luxury hotels and package tours without a chance to get out
of
the group. We are looking for a way to travel individually, as far as this
is possible within the short time. We don't need to travel low budget as
real backpackers do - e.g. if a flight saves time without missing s.th.,
we
would prefer to fly rather than using a night bus or train.

Maybe somebody could give us some heplful hints for a good preparation and
to make the best out of this short time.
Is there a FAQ site of this newsgroup, or even for Thailand questions?

Our actual plan is to stay at 3 places and make some sightseeing trips
from
these.
One place (first and last) will be Bangkok and surroundings - we plan 4
nights at the start and maybe one or two at the end.

Next place could be the North (+/- 3 days):
probably Chiang Mai, what else is worth spending time and effort? Are
there
some quiet tips? We will *not* go there for trekking and visiting hill
tribes.
Is Chiang Mai too crowded over New Year's Eve? I read in one guide book
that
there is a "winter fair" just in that season.

Third place is the South (+/- 8 days) - we like to take the train from
Bangkok to Surat Thani and get back by train or airplane later.
What is possible to see within a week (including some relax days on the
beach...)?
Is Ko Samui still recommended and not overcrowded? Which hotel or
appartment
complex is a good choice? Is it a good place to spend New Year's Eve?
Where is the best snorkeling area?
Where is a good place (quiet but enough facilities) to stay for several
days
in the greater Phuket area? We like to make a boat trip to Phang Nga N.P.,
and perhaps to the Phi Phi Islands (is it worth staying there over night?)

Thanks in advance for your help!
Thomas

"Tibo" wrote:
I would suggest you to stay first for a couple of days in Bangkok,
then head north to finish with the relaxing beaches of the south.
Then save a day for shopping in bangkok (so that you don't carry
heavy stuff for the whole trip), ideally on a weekend for the
Weekend Market, the biggest market in the world.

We plan to start in Bangkok (on a weekend), then north, then south, but
I don't want to end our trip with several days in Bangkok.

Are there secure lockers at the airport where you can leave things for
a few days to a week or two? I'd like to be able to do some shopping
in Bangkok, then leave all that stuff at the airport when we go to CM,
then drop all CM purchases and warm-weather clothing at the airport
before we head to the beaches. Is this possible, and safe? I wouldn't
leave anything extremely valuable in there, but it would be nice to
reduce the amount of stuff we need to lug around. We'll also have
books and gameboys/etc to keep us and our kids entertained on the 25hr
flights to/from BKK, and I don't want to have to carry that around the
country either.

Gary

"Tibo" schreef

Oh, and one last thing: pack very light! I did, and still wished I would
have brought less stuff. You can find everything there, for about 10 times
less than in Europe, and quite nice stuff too, so you're really tempted to
buy.
If you have more specific questions don't hesitate to ask.
Tibo.



Yes, actually I do have such a question:
did you bought such an imitation watch (Breitling or other) on the night
market in Chang Mai ?

On 18 Nov 2003 22:28:25 GMT, Gary Fritz wrote:

"Tibo" wrote:
I would suggest you to stay first for a couple of days in Bangkok,
then head north to finish with the relaxing beaches of the south.
Then save a day for shopping in bangkok (so that you don't carry
heavy stuff for the whole trip), ideally on a weekend for the
Weekend Market, the biggest market in the world.

We plan to start in Bangkok (on a weekend), then north, then south, but
I don't want to end our trip with several days in Bangkok.

Are there secure lockers at the airport where you can leave things for
a few days to a week or two? I'd like to be able to do some shopping
in Bangkok, then leave all that stuff at the airport when we go to CM,
then drop all CM purchases and warm-weather clothing at the airport
before we head to the beaches. Is this possible, and safe? I wouldn't
leave anything extremely valuable in there, but it would be nice to
reduce the amount of stuff we need to lug around. We'll also have
books and gameboys/etc to keep us and our kids entertained on the 25hr
flights to/from BKK, and I don't want to have to carry that around the
country either.

There are baggage storage facilities in both international terminals
and the domestic. I've used them many times and they are secure. Cost
is 90 Baht a day per bag. You'll need your passport with you to
deposit and retrieve your things.

Chris

Chris Blunt wrote:
There are baggage storage facilities in both international
terminals and the domestic. I've used them many times and they are
secure. Cost is 90 Baht a day per bag. You'll need your passport
with you to deposit and retrieve your things.

Perfect. That's a bit more expensive than sticking a couple of
quarters into a locker, but it will do nicely. Thanks much, Chris!

Gary

"The Man"

Yes, actually I do have such a question:
did you bought such an imitation watch (Breitling or other) on the night
market in Chang Mai ?


How much did you pay for a ST ??


what the hell is a "ST" ?

"Dieter A" Dieter wrote in message ...
"Tibo" schreef

Oh, and one last thing: pack very light! I did, and still wished I would
have brought less stuff. You can find everything there, for about 10 times
less than in Europe, and quite nice stuff too, so you're really tempted to
buy.
If you have more specific questions don't hesitate to ask.
Tibo.



Yes, actually I do have such a question:
did you bought such an imitation watch (Breitling or other) on the night
market in Chang Mai ?

Hello Dieter,

I suggest you check out this site - http://bangkok-thailand.info
to get some great info about thailand. Also, regarding the watch
replicas, forget the night market in Chiang Mai...you can find them in
Bangkok for cheaper (1,500 baht) - check around Sukhumvit Soi 7 or at
the MBK shopping mall.

cheers

"Ken" schreef in bericht
om...
"Dieter A" Dieter wrote in message
...
"Tibo" schreef

Oh, and one last thing: pack very light! I did, and still wished I
would
have brought less stuff. You can find everything there, for about 10
times
less than in Europe, and quite nice stuff too, so you're really
tempted to
buy.
If you have more specific questions don't hesitate to ask.
Tibo.



Yes, actually I do have such a question:
did you bought such an imitation watch (Breitling or other) on the night
market in Chang Mai ?

Hello Dieter,

I suggest you check out this site - http://bangkok-thailand.info

why should I ?

to get some great info about thailand.

what kind of info ?

Also, regarding the watch
replicas, forget the night market in Chiang Mai...you can find them in
Bangkok for cheaper (1,500 baht) - check around Sukhumvit Soi 7 or at
the MBK shopping mall.

was there two weeks ago


Do you also have some answers ?