Trip To The Seaside From Chiang Rai, Any Ideas?

[bifftastic]

Hi,

firstly, I do realise that Chiang Rai is about as far from the sea as you can get, and no, I wouldn't choose to start a trip to the beach from there!

I will be there in January and want to take g/f and two children (girls 8 and 6) to the seaside for a couple of days as the girls have never been to a beach.

I'm thinking fly to Bangkok and drive/taxi/bus whatever down to Cha Am/Hua HIn? But that's just off the top of my head and from looking at the map!

Anyone else got any better ideas? Experience of doing something similar? Places to avoid? Recommendations for hotels etc?

Nothing fancy, just for 2 or 3 days somewhere near a nice safe beach. Don't need nightlife/restaurants/bars etc. Clean rooms,Thai food and a beach will do just fine.

Thanks

[ThailandLovr]

I highly recommend Chao Lao Beach near Chanthaburi. Very clean and not expensive with many new beautiful Thai style bungalow resorts. This area is up and coming and thanks to a new development project has a new road through the city, lighting, etc, etc. But it is currently almost 100% Thai, so if you are looking for english TV or western food this is not for you.

We lived at a resort there for 4 months last year and recommend it highly. It is ideal for families as there are no lady bars, etc. Just clean resort fun.

Alternately you could fly to the airport near Pattaya rather than BKK and take a minibus or taxi from there. It is conveniently close to the Chanthaburi area.

Edited November 6, 2009 by ThailandLovr

[KhunDave]

My favourite for a quick beach trip from Chiang Mai is the area around Mae Phim near Rayong. Good beaches for kids, great seafood, and only a couple of hours' easy drive from Suvarnabhumi.

[SantiSuk]

Koh Samet. Has that tropical island allure of places much further south, but is easily accessible from Bangkok. Quiet Thai feel during the week (with good accommodation prices to match) and nice soft sand for the kids. The kids will love going to an island on a ferry. Maybe there is the odd beer bar around but they seemed very low key to me, certainly no girlies in your face.

For heaven's sake don't go to Koh Chang with its horrible gerry-built resort towns.

[vera5212]

Other members gave ideas on Koh Samet and Mae Phim, both close to Rayong. You can also go to Mae Ramphung - also close to Rayong and close to the boat transfer to Koh Samet.

Rayong is easy to go to from Bangkok. Bus is leaving on regular hours from Bkk Ekamai station. The bus trip will take you about 3 hrs and the price of the ticket in the range of 200 Baht/person. From the busstation in Rayong you can take small taxi-bus to all the neighbouring beaches.

Mae Ramphung is very Thai, nice small restaurants, nice beach and bungalows in all different price ranges.

As it is close to Koh Samet you can easily stay at Mae Ramphung and take the family out for one day to Koh Samet. Your children will certainly love the boat trip as well.

Boats for Koh Samet depart from Ban Phe (also reachable by direct bus from Ekamai) and if you are in Ban Phe, don't forget to go and visit the aquarium

which is 'not that big' but certainly worth a visit.

[bifftastic]

Thanks for all the replies, some great sounding places.

Do you reckon we can just turn up and find a hotel? I must admit I'm a big fan of booking in advance, specially with the nippers in tow.

Flights seem easy to sort out, minibus/taxi from BKK sounds like the best way, i did try to look for flights chiang rai to airport near pattaya but couldn't find anything sensible so i reckon it'll be swampy.

Anyone recommend any specific hotels?

Cheers

[Xonax]

We stayed in Springfield Beach Resort (between Cha-Am and Hua Hin) a few weeks ago. Lovely hotel with large rooms in a very quiet place directly at the beach. Every room on the higher floors have a stunning seaview. The pool is great and have a slide. Only minus is the lack of shopping and not many restaurants.

[Ricardo]

Chiang Rai used to have buses direct (including overnight ?) to Pattaya/Rayong, from there it's a song-theaw ride to a mainland beach, or Ban Phe for the boat out to Koh Samet.

From Chiang Mai we have three buses daily (1 overnight) to Cha-Am and Hua-Hin.

So I don't think the OP need fly, or go via Bangkok, unless you wish to ?

[SantiSuk]

I wouldn't personally subject young children (or myself travelling with young children) to a whole day bus trip! Fly from Cr to Swampy and hire a car. If you want cheaper and you are going to the South East coast (Rayong/Koh Samet/Chantaburi) then take the shuttle bus to swampy and get a bus to Rayong or Chantaburi and taxi or bus from there.

Will look up the Kho Samet hotels again when I get back to my Lonely Planet. Absolutely no problem with finding unbooked accom on that island if arriving Sunday to Thursday, unless we are talking Christmas/January in which case definitely book (everywhere).

I agree that Hua Hin is a great resort too - the five beer bar sois (woops disclosing too intimate an understanding?) are easily avoided and the beach is one of the widest sandy beaches I've seen with a long shallow gradient. Same comments apply to accommodation (appilies to anything within 4 hours drive of Bangkok), but I find HH hotels about 50% more on average than the South East coast. But the guest houses 5k south of the town centre are supposed to be clean/nice/often farang inspired and practically on the beach. For HH if money is tight you could train it from CM to HH (if the strikes are over). Easier to keep kids amused on a train than a bus, though Bangkok to HH is a painstakingly slow 4 hour journey

Edited November 7, 2009 by SantiSuk

[bifftastic]

There will have to be a bit of bus travelling or maybe we'll cadge a lift (Chiang Saen to Chiang Rai) but I can't be doing with 12 hours on a bus, the kids did it once but... hardly the best way to start a short break, anyway the flights are about the same price and it will save the best part of 2 days in total so the plane it is I reckon :-) for myself I do quite fancy a long train ride at some point but for this trip I just want the kids to get their feet in the sea/sand asap really (can't wait to see their faces when they do! hopefully i can post some photos here afterwards)

car hire from swampy might be a good idea (thanks) and we'll be going towards the end of Jan (22nd/23rd) so I'd be more comfortable with something pre-booked, if the place is on agoda etc. then the prices can easily beat the walk in rates, but I'm thinking there might be somewhere not known by the usual websites that members here can recommend (I'll check out springfield beach resort, thanks xonax)

thanks again everyone, very helpful. Keep the ideas coming :-)

[AjarnP]

There will have to be a bit of bus travelling or maybe we'll cadge a lift (Chiang Saen to Chiang Rai) but I can't be doing with 12 hours on a bus, the kids did it once but... hardly the best way to start a short break, anyway the flights are about the same price and it will save the best part of 2 days in total so the plane it is I reckon :-) for myself I do quite fancy a long train ride at some point but for this trip I just want the kids to get their feet in the sea/sand asap really (can't wait to see their faces when they do! hopefully i can post some photos here afterwards)

car hire from swampy might be a good idea (thanks) and we'll be going towards the end of Jan (22nd/23rd) so I'd be more comfortable with something pre-booked, if the place is on agoda etc. then the prices can easily beat the walk in rates, but I'm thinking there might be somewhere not known by the usual websites that members here can recommend (I'll check out springfield beach resort, thanks xonax)

thanks again everyone, very helpful. Keep the ideas coming :-)

Easiest way I reckon is to take a flight to Swampy, then a bus/taxi (metered variety best) to Bang Saen. It has won several awards over the last couple of years for its cleanliness and has IMHO much less hassle from street walkers and vendors selling every knickknackpaddywack you can think of. Small hotels aplenty too if you look around. A really great spot is the Swedish Village at which you can rent apartments for reasonable rates. A little way from the beach proper but one of the best pools in Thailand.

[songhklasid]

I highly recommend Chao Lao Beach near Chanthaburi. Very clean and not expensive with many new beautiful Thai style bungalow resorts. This area is up and coming and thanks to a new development project has a new road through the city, lighting, etc, etc. But it is currently almost 100% Thai, so if you are looking for english TV or western food this is not for you.

We lived at a resort there for 4 months last year and recommend it highly. It is ideal for families as there are no lady bars, etc. Just clean resort fun.

Alternately you could fly to the airport near Pattaya rather than BKK and take a minibus or taxi from there. It is conveniently close to the Chanthaburi area.

Sounds a good move /don't forget the oasis sea park,dolphin show,swim with dolphins,the kids will never forget.

regards songhklasid.

[ThailandLovr]

I highly recommend Chao Lao Beach near Chanthaburi. Very clean and not expensive with many new beautiful Thai style bungalow resorts. This area is up and coming and thanks to a new development project has a new road through the city, lighting, etc, etc. But it is currently almost 100% Thai, so if you are looking for english TV or western food this is not for you.

We lived at a resort there for 4 months last year and recommend it highly. It is ideal for families as there are no lady bars, etc. Just clean resort fun.

Alternately you could fly to the airport near Pattaya rather than BKK and take a minibus or taxi from there. It is conveniently close to the Chanthaburi area.

Sounds a good move /don't forget the oasis sea park,dolphin show,swim with dolphins,the kids will never forget.

regards songhklasid.

Here's the website. Once again, we highly recommend. Excellent owners.

www.hadtuen.com

[bifftastic]

I think the trip is coming together nicely (in my mind anyway!)

one more question, does anyone know what documents, if any, Thai children will need to fly within Thailand? I checked Air Asia website and it only mentioned Malaysian children within Malaysia (who, if without ID cards, need to present birth certificates) Anyone done this in Thailand?

Cheers

[bifftastic]

I think the trip is coming together nicely (in my mind anyway!)

one more question, does anyone know what documents, if any, Thai children will need to fly within Thailand? I checked Air Asia website and it only mentioned Malaysian children within Malaysia (who, if without ID cards, need to present birth certificates) Anyone done this in Thailand?

Cheers

Apparently birth certificates are required for the children to check in.