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#1
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Thailand family trip help?
I've been digging through piles of archives of past discussions, and I'm
just overwhelmed. I wonder if the kind folks here could give me a few pointers to work on. (I'm getting some great ideas from the thread at http://groups.google.com/groups?thre...c619cb8%40post ing.google.com, since his desires are very similar to mine, but more ideas are always welcome!) We (me, wife, boys aged 6 & 8) are planning a trip to Thailand this January. We plan to spend maybe 2 days in Bangkok, 5-7 days in the north hill country, and 5-7 days on the southern beaches. North: like every other tourist going here, we would like to see the hill tribes. Like every other tourist, we'd like to avoid the touristy areas. :-\ We also want to be sensitive to the people in the villages, not contributing to their problems, á la http://search.bangkokpost.co.th/bkkp...24/news/24Jan2 003_news26.html Especially for our kids, we want to do the fun experiences like the elephant rides, the bamboo raft trips, just like everybody else. Can anyone recommend a good plan of attack? Since we're travelling with our kids I'm tempted to find a small package tour, so we don't have to deal with logistics of transportation, finding our way around, etc and can just enjoy the experience. Naturally that would tend to put us right in with all the rest of the touristy types. Any ideas? I've been told the Chiang Rai area is nicer than Chiang Mai, "like Chiang Mai was 15 years ago," so that's a definite possibility. Should we just go to Chiang Rai and figure it out from there, or...? South: when we first started thinking of this trip 3 years ago, I found a website for the "Dawn of Happiness" resort near Krabi. It sounded absolutely perfect: small, quiet, laid-back, family-style, right on the beach. They encouraged you to interact with the staff & locals, helping to catch fish for dinner, learning to cook the Thai dishes, help drive the water buffalo or plant rice, whatever. Genuine "Thai flavor" instead of Waikiki-beach-hotel. The local activities would be fabulous for our kids. Unfortunately I've spoken with someone who is a minor partner in the place, and he says he can no longer recommend going there; a very noisy disco has opened next door and it's "not a happy place any more." What a shame. So I'm starting from scratch to find a good place to spend a week on the beach, as far from the "mega-resort" experience as we can get. We don't require 3rd-world conditions, running hot water & AC is good, but we don't want to be in some glitzy hotel, and we'd like to avoid being near one if possible. We don't need night life, just a quiet beach, some good places to eat, and some things to do when we're not vegging out. Good snorkeling, kayaking opportunities, etc would be a plus. A tiny island might not be good if there's *nothing* to do but swim and lie in the sun. It would be fabulous if we could find a place that encouraged interaction like the Dawn used to. Any recommendations? It doesn't have to be around Krabi if there are other great beach areas. Ao Nang, Railay, Phra Nang, Koh Lanta, Hua Hin, Koh Tao, ...??? We had assumed we would fly from Bangkok to Krabi and go wherever from there, but now I'm wondering if an overnight sleeper train would be a better choice. We'd save a night's hotel fee, we'd travel at night instead of spending a day going down & back, etc. Can you really sleep on these trains (I'm 6'4"!) or are they too noisy and bumpy for sleep? Assuming we go to Krabi, does the 3hr bus ride from the train to Krabi negate the advantages of travelling overnight, so we should just take the plane? Many thanks, Gary |
#2
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Thailand family trip help?
I haven't been to Thailand for a long time, but here goes ...
"Gary Fritz" wrote in message ... I've been digging through piles of archives of past discussions, and I'm just overwhelmed. I wonder if the kind folks here could give me a few pointers to work on. (I'm getting some great ideas from the thread at http://groups.google.com/groups?thre...c619cb8%40post ing.google.com, since his desires are very similar to mine, but more ideas are always welcome!) We (me, wife, boys aged 6 & 8) are planning a trip to Thailand this January. We plan to spend maybe 2 days in Bangkok, 5-7 days in the north hill country, and 5-7 days on the southern beaches. North: like every other tourist going here, we would like to see the hill tribes. Like every other tourist, we'd like to avoid the touristy areas. :-\ We also want to be sensitive to the people in the villages, not contributing to their problems, á la http://search.bangkokpost.co.th/bkkp...24/news/24Jan2 003_news26.html Especially for our kids, we want to do the fun experiences like the elephant rides, the bamboo raft trips, just like everybody else. Can anyone recommend a good plan of attack? Since we're travelling with our kids I'm tempted to find a small package tour, so we don't have to deal with logistics of transportation, finding our way around, etc and can just enjoy the experience. Naturally that would tend to put us right in with all the rest of the touristy types. Any ideas? I've been told the Chiang Rai area is nicer than Chiang Mai, "like Chiang Mai was 15 years ago," so that's a definite possibility. Should we just go to Chiang Rai and figure it out from there, or...? There are a million local tour operators in both places. My preference if I was travelling with small children (and hence not part of the backpacker mainstream) would be to visit the larger city - Chiang Mai - as it would have better infrastructure which might make it a bit easier. The tours out of either city would be the same - the only difference is how long the minibus ride at the start is. With 4 of you, I bet a tour operator would run a little tour just for you if you wished - certainly you will have the buying power to get exactly what you want, but you will need to be there to negotiate that. South: when we first started thinking of this trip 3 years ago, I found a website for the "Dawn of Happiness" resort near Krabi. It sounded absolutely perfect: small, quiet, laid-back, family-style, right on the beach. They encouraged you to interact with the staff & locals, helping to catch fish for dinner, learning to cook the Thai dishes, help drive the water buffalo or plant rice, whatever. Genuine "Thai flavor" instead of Waikiki-beach-hotel. The local activities would be fabulous for our kids. Unfortunately I've spoken with someone who is a minor partner in the place, and he says he can no longer recommend going there; a very noisy disco has opened next door and it's "not a happy place any more." What a shame. So I'm starting from scratch to find a good place to spend a week on the beach, as far from the "mega-resort" experience as we can get. We don't require 3rd-world conditions, running hot water & AC is good, but we don't want to be in some glitzy hotel, and we'd like to avoid being near one if possible. We don't need night life, just a quiet beach, some good places to eat, and some things to do when we're not vegging out. Good snorkeling, kayaking opportunities, etc would be a plus. A tiny island might not be good if there's *nothing* to do but swim and lie in the sun. It would be fabulous if we could find a place that encouraged interaction like the Dawn used to. Any recommendations? It doesn't have to be around Krabi if there are other great beach areas. Ao Nang, Railay, Phra Nang, Koh Lanta, Hua Hin, Koh Tao, ...??? Any of these places. There are lots of "resorts" exactly as you described right around the coast. Small, friendly places, A/C, hot water, maybe a pool, surrounded by restuarants. Not big enough to have internet sites or even really arrangements with overseas tour/travel operators. Its a hassle lining up accomodation when you are their - particularly with small kids - you may have to check into the first place you find when you arrive and you head off the next morning to find a place for the rest of the stay - not such a problem with all the choices available. And certainly an inexpensive option. We had assumed we would fly from Bangkok to Krabi and go wherever from there, but now I'm wondering if an overnight sleeper train would be a better choice. We'd save a night's hotel fee, we'd travel at night instead of spending a day going down & back, etc. Can you really sleep on these trains (I'm 6'4"!) or are they too noisy and bumpy for sleep? Assuming we go to Krabi, does the 3hr bus ride from the train to Krabi negate the advantages of travelling overnight, so we should just take the plane? Take the train if your children (or you) enjoy train travel. If this is part of the holiday, enjoy it. If its just a way to get to Krabi, don't blow your holiday time on something you don't want to do - just fly down. Many thanks, Gary |
#3
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Thailand family trip help?
Hi Gary,
I agree about the Chiang Mai part, Chiang Rai is gorgeous but for the trips etc it may be easier from Chiang Mai. There are some wonderful hotels who offer a real taste of Thailand without sacrificing the things us Westerners need such as a/c! I'd recommend taking a look at www.differentworld-thailand.com where you can request help with trip planning, free advice and good suggestions. Hope this helps! "Gary Fritz" wrote in message ... I've been digging through piles of archives of past discussions, and I'm just overwhelmed. I wonder if the kind folks here could give me a few pointers to work on. (I'm getting some great ideas from the thread at http://groups.google.com/groups?thre...c619cb8%40post ing.google.com, since his desires are very similar to mine, but more ideas are always welcome!) We (me, wife, boys aged 6 & 8) are planning a trip to Thailand this January. We plan to spend maybe 2 days in Bangkok, 5-7 days in the north hill country, and 5-7 days on the southern beaches. North: like every other tourist going here, we would like to see the hill tribes. Like every other tourist, we'd like to avoid the touristy areas. :-\ We also want to be sensitive to the people in the villages, not contributing to their problems, á la http://search.bangkokpost.co.th/bkkp...24/news/24Jan2 003_news26.html Especially for our kids, we want to do the fun experiences like the elephant rides, the bamboo raft trips, just like everybody else. Can anyone recommend a good plan of attack? Since we're travelling with our kids I'm tempted to find a small package tour, so we don't have to deal with logistics of transportation, finding our way around, etc and can just enjoy the experience. Naturally that would tend to put us right in with all the rest of the touristy types. Any ideas? I've been told the Chiang Rai area is nicer than Chiang Mai, "like Chiang Mai was 15 years ago," so that's a definite possibility. Should we just go to Chiang Rai and figure it out from there, or...? South: when we first started thinking of this trip 3 years ago, I found a website for the "Dawn of Happiness" resort near Krabi. It sounded absolutely perfect: small, quiet, laid-back, family-style, right on the beach. They encouraged you to interact with the staff & locals, helping to catch fish for dinner, learning to cook the Thai dishes, help drive the water buffalo or plant rice, whatever. Genuine "Thai flavor" instead of Waikiki-beach-hotel. The local activities would be fabulous for our kids. Unfortunately I've spoken with someone who is a minor partner in the place, and he says he can no longer recommend going there; a very noisy disco has opened next door and it's "not a happy place any more." What a shame. So I'm starting from scratch to find a good place to spend a week on the beach, as far from the "mega-resort" experience as we can get. We don't require 3rd-world conditions, running hot water & AC is good, but we don't want to be in some glitzy hotel, and we'd like to avoid being near one if possible. We don't need night life, just a quiet beach, some good places to eat, and some things to do when we're not vegging out. Good snorkeling, kayaking opportunities, etc would be a plus. A tiny island might not be good if there's *nothing* to do but swim and lie in the sun. It would be fabulous if we could find a place that encouraged interaction like the Dawn used to. Any recommendations? It doesn't have to be around Krabi if there are other great beach areas. Ao Nang, Railay, Phra Nang, Koh Lanta, Hua Hin, Koh Tao, ...??? We had assumed we would fly from Bangkok to Krabi and go wherever from there, but now I'm wondering if an overnight sleeper train would be a better choice. We'd save a night's hotel fee, we'd travel at night instead of spending a day going down & back, etc. Can you really sleep on these trains (I'm 6'4"!) or are they too noisy and bumpy for sleep? Assuming we go to Krabi, does the 3hr bus ride from the train to Krabi negate the advantages of travelling overnight, so we should just take the plane? Many thanks, Gary |
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