3-4 Week Travel

[superhaz]

Hi everyone.

I'm a frequent reader of the forum, know all you guys give great advice!

I am flying to thailand on the 14th june with 1 other friend. We are both 20 years old, university students.

We booked quite some time ago and looked at lots of possibilities, however recently obviously have been a bit worried with all the trouble.

I know you can read all the forums and advice you like but i was just wondering what you guys personally would reccomend for us to do when out there.

We are there for about 3 and a half weeks. We definetley want to go to the FMP on the 26th and were planning on having a few chill days around there on the islands. However also we would love to visit other, more cultural scenes of Thailand, which are obviously safe though.

In a 3 week period what would you reccomend. We have both saved up a lot for this trip and are open to any offers, whatever the cost! We would love to see cool things like a mix of say temples, old ruins, islands etc etc, just the standard touristy stuff!

One final thing, I have been told different things by different people, but do we need mosquito nets for sleeping at night?

Any advice you can give is VERY much appreciated, thanks, Harry!

[Damacles]

There are so many wonderful places I'm sure you'll get lots of differing opinions. If I were to do a list for myself, knowing what (little) I know, it would go like this:

Couple of days in Bangkok, with 'hop on and off' river trip ticket able to stop off at various places of interest on the way, like the Grand Pace and temples. Khao San Road if you like the back-packer style of life. Patpong at night, just because you can say you did it.

Fly to Chiang Mai for a few days, taking in Doi Suthep and other attractions like Mai Sa waterfalls. You'll likely see more booking one of the various tours available which is what I did the second time I went after stumbling about blindly the first time. See the market there at night.

Go to Samui or Phuket (but remember Phuket isnt just about Patong where all the tourist are), or Phi Phi or frankly any of the islands out there.

With time visit further north than Chiang Mai and see the real Thailand.

There are loads more things including day trips you can make from Bangkok; but I found half the pleasure was researching myself and having things to make me excited about visiting.

Mosquito nets? Depends where you're staying, but its never been a problem for me. At night I sometimes buy a spray from 7-11 for exposed areas as they can be a bit annoying in a restaurant!

One slight curve ball - best thing I did on my first trip was to fly to Siem Reap in Cambodia from BKK where I spent 4 days visiting Angkor Wat and the many temples surrounding it. Its a short easy flight and by far the most memorable thing I did when it came to visiting temples.

Wherever you go, take a hat - your head will burn in June

Lastly, spend a bit of time researching here on the forums...there's a wealth of information and tips, including ones on how you should behave and common-sense information on the various scams. That said, be respectful and bring your brain and you will have a lot of fun and learn loads!

[superhaz]

Thanks for the reply, anyone else out there got anything to add? (please! )

also one other thing I wanted to know, we land in bangkok about 4pm. would it be advisable to book a hotel for the first night(s) online before we go? and what is a good price, we would rather stay in actual hotels and probably spend about £40, so £20 each (or less!)

Also, because we are tourists is it likely any hotels would turn us away, even if we are prepared to pay (i.e because we could afford the more expensive ones)

any recomendations, thanks

[Damacles]

Thanks for the reply, anyone else out there got anything to add? (please! )

also one other thing I wanted to know, we land in bangkok about 4pm. would it be advisable to book a hotel for the first night(s) online before we go? and what is a good price, we would rather stay in actual hotels and probably spend about £40, so £20 each (or less!)

Also, because we are tourists is it likely any hotels would turn us away, even if we are prepared to pay (i.e because we could afford the more expensive ones)

any recomendations, thanks

Probably better to research and book online - at least you then know where you're going for a night. Try tripadvisor.com for hotels and reviews. £40 isn't a lot so you're looking at the lower end obviously. Again - search threads here, you'll find multiple chats about hotels.

Not sure what you mean by hotels turning you away even if you can afford the more expensive ones, I can see the conversation now:

"After close investigation of your wallet and bank account we see that you can obviously afford a better hotel than us, please move on to it and don't give us your money!".....remember - engage brain before arrival!

[tw25rw]

Thanks for the reply, anyone else out there got anything to add? (please! )

also one other thing I wanted to know, we land in bangkok about 4pm. would it be advisable to book a hotel for the first night(s) online before we go? and what is a good price, we would rather stay in actual hotels and probably spend about £40, so £20 each (or less!)

Also, because we are tourists is it likely any hotels would turn us away, even if we are prepared to pay (i.e because we could afford the more expensive ones)

any recomendations, thanks

You can get perfectly decent hotels for £20 a night in Bangkok. They only cost that much because of the weak £.

[BarnicaleBob]

I agree you may be better off booking your hotel room in advance. When doing so, look for a hotel that offers airport pick up, it will save you a the trouble of having to deal with the taxi drivers which sometimes will try to rip you off and the other vultures at the airport. Most hotels that offer pick up service require a three day booking but you will have no problem finding three days worth of things to do in Bangkok.

BB

[ALFREDO]

Do not book a Hotel in the circumstances now in Bangkok nearly everywhere you get rooms!-except maybe, you want stay in the IBIS Nana, look-

I wrote in other Thread, BUSINESS INN, Sukhumvit Soi 11/1, 600-800 Baht, has a lot cheap Hotels around there also and its in the middle of the nightlife,

or check out, the Website from IBISHOTELS, look for IBIS-NANA, book in the Internet, stay 3 nights, pay only 2.

And if you stay longer you pay that special price, in the moment about 880.- Baht, for that 3 Star Hotel, only 1 year open and also near NANA Plaza and all night entertainments!

[thepanicandthevomit]

Thanks for the reply, anyone else out there got anything to add? (please! )

also one other thing I wanted to know, we land in bangkok about 4pm. would it be advisable to book a hotel for the first night(s) online before we go? and what is a good price, we would rather stay in actual hotels and probably spend about £40, so £20 each (or less!)

Also, because we are tourists is it likely any hotels would turn us away, even if we are prepared to pay (i.e because we could afford the more expensive ones)

any recomendations, thanks

You were given good advice on the thread you started a few months ago - why don't you follow that instead of starting new ones asking the same questions?

Look at the hotel booking sites and book Nana Ibis - a steal at the prices quoted above. In my experience, walk-in rates for the Ibis are roughly double the web rates - they were 2,500 in Dec!

[ALFREDO]

I have to apologice a bit as the actual price of the Hotel IBIS NANA booked in Internet now, if you stay three or more nights is about 1.030.- Baht including Tax.

First they show on their Website prices without Tax=800.- Baht for IBIS Sathorn and 865.- B. for IBIS Nana but + Tax. Sorry.

[smokie36]

Thanks for the reply, anyone else out there got anything to add? (please! )

also one other thing I wanted to know, we land in bangkok about 4pm. would it be advisable to book a hotel for the first night(s) online before we go? and what is a good price, we would rather stay in actual hotels and probably spend about £40, so £20 each (or less!)

Also, because we are tourists is it likely any hotels would turn us away, even if we are prepared to pay (i.e because we could afford the more expensive ones)

any recomendations, thanks

I would advise you to book ahead. There is a thread running on the Bangkok forum re cheap Khao San Road hotels and another recently on the Samui/Phangan/Tao forum regarding accomodation for the FMP. Recommended reading!

[moe666]

Kanchainaburi is a great visit about 3 hours by bus from bangkok visit ariwan water about 1 hour from city. Plenty of places to stay for cheap and some night life, very good restraurants on river.

Figure out what you want and set up an itenarary to make travel easy.