susanlea

You would never be happy unless it is a cheap quiet place with little concrete. But most people aren't like you. They want malls, restaurants and swimming pools.

It looks like there is more sand there now. Could see the tide lines and room still left on the beach. Sai Noi beach would suit you.

That beach could be anywhere. If you are self motivating you would be on a Thai island now rather than telling me how to live. Hua Hin is a quiet place not known for nightlife. The southern bays are similar to above but have restaurants. Maybe you don't like food either.

We didn't get ear infections. I've seen more dirty water in Phuket. Ear infections are more common in pools I believe. Anyway it depends what you want. The remote beaches on Samui, Koh Pha Ngan and Chang will provide a more exotic trip but you pay more and use up more time. In Hua Hin I could do gym, pool, beach and mall in 1 day. VIP bus to Bangkok 290 baht very efficient. Airport has cheap flights to Chiang Mai. I wish they had flights to Chiang Rai as well. Under used airports. I can't understand why they don't make Chiang Rai a major airport. The Hua Hin airport should be south of town to service the mid coast. Not good planning.

Was there last month. We walked for kms on the 2 large bays. Beach is far better than the rubbish beach in front of Prachuap Khiri Khan or Pattaya. Also nicer sand than Ao Manao. The south might have some better but then you have Russians or inconvenience going to remote beaches.

That's good to hear. Been a problem often but not always.

The south headland is really nice spot to eat and drink and admire the view. Some of the sois have development at the beach end but you can walk through cafes which is what we did.

Hua Hin has 15km of beaches that don't disappear at high tide.

14 years is a long time. I can tell you Hua Hin is much better than Lanta. Anywhere from Cha-am down the coast will be better for a beach experience. The bay south of the main beach at Hua Hin is about 8 to 10km long. Hardly any people on it. A few areas with Thai food. The next bay is small but nice beach and good food. Called Sai Noi or something like that.

I would choose an island bases on beaches, convenience, activities, gyms, hotels, cost and food. I want to eat good food but pay a fair price. When was the last time you visited a Thai island? I visited some last year.

I see you like visiting Tripadv to get ideas.

Same issue with Lanta and Phi Phi in some areas. The ferry to islands is often the highlight. That's why I stopped visiting. I would give the largest island another visit but the smaller ones aren't worth the cost and time. Today I did a search for hotels with pools and gyms in many cities to see what value can be found. Hua Hin was only beaten by Chiang Rai for price however the Chiang Rai options looked older.

Five star hotels have good restaurants but a 3 week holiday eating in them is expensive. Most of your list is on the larger islands as I said. You couldn't name 1 on Phi Phi or Lanta.

Does the average dish cost more than 200 baht?

Which are the great restaurants on Phi Phi and Lanta?

Name these great restaurants, price and location.

All over the south. Didn't notice them in Hua Hin.

That's true if you have the budget for it. It will likely cost 2000-4000 baht a night though for beachfront with good pool and food. I stayed in 5 hotels in different areas and totally enjoyed seeing different parts of the city and all the rooms were inexpensive. Got to see all the markets, local areas. Visited 5 beaches in 7 days. Having done that I would do it again. Moving hotel is easy. Check out noon, take a Grab to new hotel and often early check in is allowed if not have lunch then check in. Staying in 1 hotel on 1 beach I would find less interesting. If I was visiting Samui again I would totally stay near 5 different beaches. I would do that with Pattaya as well. The cleaner should have moved around like that. Go see Rayong too.

If you want to visit a few places then Cha-am, Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Ban Krut, Bang Saphan, Chumphon can all be visited by train at low cost. Going to multiple islands is more difficult.

Hard to find good Thai food on islands apart from Phuket, Samui and Chang. The minor islands aren't known for good food and mostly cater to western taste which means bland Pad Thai and things like that.

Lanta is not good at all unless you want to be surrounded by lots of Russians, similar to Phuket. Chang would be better but coming into wet season.

I guess you have not been to many islands. A lot of them have rubbish collecting on the beaches when it is not busy. Most of the beaches are not that good anyway and food is usually disappointing.

That is not the case at all. You can stay anywhere and access the beach via various sois.

Tamarind night market is the best one for food. The main night market near the train station has nowhere to sit apart from overpriced restaurants nearby. Baan Khun Por would be the second best night market.

I visited Khao San last month. It wasn't very busy. I stayed about 20 minutes north of there and hardly saw any tourists. In Hua Hin I only saw lots of tourists in the night markets. Many of the beaches there were hardly any. Mid year Thailand is quiet mostly outside a few popular spots. In Bangkok it is so easy to avoid tourists. Anywhere from 500m north of Khao San to Don Muang you won't see many at all.