Hello, I'll be visiting my sweetie in Phuket in November. Can anyone recommend any inexpensive side trips we can do together? She has her passport, and the country we go to should be easy for a Thai national to visit on holiday. I'm from the US. My Thai base of operations will most likely be Phuket, but to make things easy leaving from Bangkok is fine.

Any ideas? Suggestions? Special package deals I should look at or airlines that offer discount air fares?

Penang. But then why not see some more Thailand? More to it than Phuket.

I think you can fly to Singapore from Phuket

Shopping puts a smile on any girl.... and we all know what that means

I think you can fly to Singapore from Phuket

Shopping puts a smile on any girl.... and we all know what that means

yep, a massive credit card bill to pay off next month

Firefly flies Phuket-Penang

Tiger flies Phuket-Singapore

AirAsia flies Phuket-Kuala Lumpur

Penang. But then why not see some more Thailand? More to it than Phuket.

Who says I haven't?

could pop down to bali, too.

could pop down to bali, too.

Yeah, I was thinking of doing that. I don't know anyone that's been before. How many days and how much money do you think I would need?

could pop down to bali, too.

Yeah, I was thinking of doing that. I don't know anyone that's been before. How many days and how much money do you think I would need?

How much money depends on what you like to do. All in all Bali is pretty cheap even compared to Thailand. I've spent 2 weeks at a time on Bali on several occasions and don't get bored moving all around the island. If you like to surf then your in for a treat! I didn't really enjoy the ultra-touristy region around Kuta myself and it is also the most expensive area. Ubud was cool and there are some more relaxed beaches and some good resorts on the north side of the island.

I'm pretty sure that Thais can travel to any of the ASEAN countries with no hassle.

Its not that expensive to get to vietnam, HCMC, my wife enjoyed it there.

In fact why not Phuket-BKK-HCMC-SIN-PHUKET......cheap airlines the whole way (Tiger, Air Asia etc), Thais don't need a visa into 'nam. A few days in each, bit of a SEAsian Grand Tour.

or BKK-Hanoi-HCMC-BKK. Theres a few flights to vietnam - be sure to look at Air France, lufthansa etc - the flights are cheap as they are flying from Europe to BKK to Vietnam and most people get off in Thailand, so they want to fill the seats.

Langkawi from BKK on Air Asia - some deals on for Bt88 before. Don't fly everyday though.

Thanks everyone!

Don't forget that you can snag cheap tickets via TG if you are flying into Thailand. Thai Airways offers all sorts of deals on their website for foreign travelers. I used it to visit Penang and Langkawi. (I loved Langkawi, been 4X, hassle free, quiet, beautiful clean beaches whereas Penang is overdeveloped now and the beach is dirtier & crowded than the pictures in travel guides indicate.)