Need Advice on Thailand!

[Mony]

My future hubby and I are planning to take our honeymoon in Thailand in Sept 2013. Anyone been?

First, I'm just wondering if going in September is just asking for us to be rained on the entire time and stuck indoors? Additionally, what are some of your must-see sights, cities, and excursions? We're going for 3 weeks, I think.

If you have visited, I'd love to see some pictures if you're willing to share! Thanks!

[Pat G]

Where are you flying in to? Bangkok or Phuket? If you're going to Phuket, make sure you get onto the east side of the island away from Patong, (BONUS: grab yourselves some scooters and have a day trip around the island), also i could recommend time in Krabi just east of Phuket, beaches, rock climbing, less busy/seedy than Patong.

Probably not a tourist destination, staying down south, in the middle of no where is Kura Buri, a 2 1/2 hours north of Phuket, hardly any or no westeners, place is only tiny, but if you want a lonesome place to get away to, look at some of the bungalows you can hire cheap there. I stayed there for a building project and enjoyed it.

Up north you could go to a resort town called Cha Am, not as dense or as touristy as Pattaya but nice, and still relatively cheap for awesome beachside villas/rooms.

[MuayTyson]

I lived there and had a business for 5 years. I don't know much about the islands as I was Bangkok based and now I'm in South Korea but if you need info on Bangkok or the surrounding area please just ask. Sounds like Pat G knows the islands. I very much enjoyed Ayutthaya the old capitol outside of Bangkok and can be done in a weekend. My wife really loves Hua Hin it is about 3 hours outside of BKK and it a very quite beach. The King has a vacation house there so there is very little night life but lots of fun wholesome activities. You are there long enough to catch a flight to Changmai which is again slower than BKK or Pattaya.

[tepidreception]

What kind of atmosphere are you looking for? I lived on the island of Koh Tao on the Gulf (east) coast for a year. Rainy season shouldn't start in earnest until November, so you should hopefully have good weather if you go east. It's a small island, mostly catering to SCUBA diving tourists, with accommodations ranging from cheap dingy bungalows to very nice resorts. FAR FAR smaller and quieter than Koh Samui (still only one unpaved road!), plenty of places to eat and drink at night but not the total debauchery of neighboring Koh Phangan. Basically, you can make of it what you want. And the most beautiful sunsets! Feel free to message me if you have any questions. If you're not all about spending the whole time on the beach, I'd also heartily recommend Chaing Mai. Or for a very remote island not far from Bangkok, some friends have visited and raved about the island of Koh Kut, which is somewhere up near Pattaya I think (AVOID PATTAYA).

Have fun!!

[Mony]

Ok sorry for the super-delayed responses....

 

@Athena: Thank you for the links, I will definitely check those out!

@tepidreception: we are definitely looking for relaxation and not a party town. sounds like Patong and Pattaya should be avoided...? I'm hoping we can start in Phuket, do a couple days in Bangkok and then visit Chiang Mai. I have my heart set on visiting an elephant nature preserve (not the ones where tourists ride the elephants that are basically a step up from a circus, but a real preserve where the elephants' well-being is priority 1... i hope that's possible.)

 

Everyone, how did you get around in Thailand?? Domestic flights, rent a car (actualy, I don't think I'm brave enough for that), cabs, trains??

 

Thanks again!

[ceethegreat]

I LOVE Bangkok! Besides the traffic, the people are friendly and the food is amazing. You must must must see the Temple of the Dawn. Preferably at dawn, but any time it's amazing. There are several other temples, plus the leaning Buddha which are don't miss tourist sites. Went to the Ancient City too where I got to ride an elephant! 

 

Can't offer advice on getting around, though, since we were visiting family both times I went so either they drove or otherwise and put us at an advantage getting cabs. Took a took took, though, which was fun, but only for a short distance. 

[AWMorris1]

I visited Thailand for 3 weeks a couple of years ago, all of which was spent in Chiang Mai (apart from 24 hours in Bangkok on the way to Cambodia).  Due to a cancelled bank card I had to sit tight until the new one was sent out to me, hence the long time.

 

I have to admit, Chiang Mai is one of my favourite places that I have ever visited.  The ambience there is so much more relaxed than the likes of Bangkok, and it definitely gave the feeling of the "road less travelled".  There's still plenty to do, mind - rent a scooter and go up some of the mountain routes!

 

As for getting around, I was being a full on backpacking cliche at this time so I was all about getting up at 4am to catch the buses everywhere I went.  But Air Asia do a lot of the domestic routes for Thailand, and internationally around South east Asia.

[Ananke86]

My boyfriend and I have been about 5 times in the last three years. We speak pretty good Thai and have a number of friends that we visit with and go on day trips together. We use Pattaya as our base because it has become so familiar to us that we don't really have to think about where we are going etc and we know where to eat and shop. Pattaya CAN be sleazy and a bit nasty but usually only in the beer bars and Walking Street, but there is a whole other side that is only a short walk away and often overlooked. 

 

Ao Nang and Krabi are more for people who are happy to go adventuring and speak some Thai, as the tourist beach area of Ao Nang has been catering and learning some English but the tourist traps can be disastrous. We hired a scooter for around AUD$30 for the week and fuel was so cheap it's not even worth mentioning but because of the remoteness of some of the areas we visited, if my boyfriend had been a less experienced bike rider and we needed medical help..... lets just say it would have been a painful ride while trying to find a hospital. 

 

Visiting Patong was a lesson in patience, since we had seen more of Thailand we found the "ex-pats who have claimed the town as a new area of their original country" to be overbearing and kinda ruined the holiday. When we dared to compare (compare mind you, not complain) it to less tourist run areas we were constantly told something along the lines of "if you don't like it f**k off", even when it was just the two of us talking and we hadn't involved anyone else in the conversation. 

 

Bangkok is a pass through area for us because I find the pollution a little much but the next time we go we will try to see the sights and spend some time there to enjoy it before moving on. However, places like Skybar and Blue Elephant really are to die for and ditch the diet for a night (or three). If you can find a friend of a friend or even a translator/guide who will help with navigation, having someone who is more aware of the tourist traps and dangers of such a big city can be a massive help. 

[HansBraggart]

a co-worker of mine is a British expat living there, and he advised me to visit between the months of October and April.

[squawk87]

I went to Thailand for 2 weeks a couple of years ago. It's one of the best holidays I've ever been on. Chiang Mai is probably my favorite place in the world. The people are lovely the food is delicious and there is so much to do (temples, elephant riding, markets and if you want to go a little further north you can even go white water rafting on some pretty good rapids). I don't know what the weather is like that time of year but when i was there even if it rained it was still warm so you could still go out and do things  It'll be a great place for a honeymoon.

[Ananke86]

Between October and April is known as "peak season" and it's often more expensive for accommodation and I've known some food places to up the prices for this time also. This is because the weather is nicer and the time of year a lot more people go to visit. 

[ComancheD]

watch out for the prostitutes, I've heard the most beautiful ones often turn out to be men!!