During June through August and going to many popular destinations, it is a good idea to book hotels and self-contained accommodation on the spot, in person? Or, should I book places in advance?

Will the good places be taken already? Are the prices lower or higher if you try to book in person?
Thanks

I would get my first few days booked on line.
"Sawadee .com" prices for the accomadation that they have is usually cheaper than if you book it when in Thailand.I have stayed extra days and had to pay more than the price I got from Australia.

Also remember you cant always get the good cheap rooms on the net as they are not always listed.

If you know where you will be at a certain day then it may be cheaper online but you will be locked into an itinary unless you want to loose nights at certain hotels.

Den

Depends on a lot of things... what's your budget, where exactly are you going?

In general mid-range and high-end hotels (anything over about 1200B night) are cheaper booked online.

The opposite is true for budget places. IF they actually have a website (most don't) you tend to pay less than the advertised price if you just turn up. A few years ago I remember paying a walk in price of 300B for a room on Ko Lanta...the online price for exact same room was 800B, over twice as much.

Whether or not to book ahead also depends on whether the hotel is very popular and/or has limited capacity. Somewhere like SUK 11 (a very good backpackers's hostel in central Bangkok) charges exactly the same price online as it does for walk in guests BUT you really need to book in advance as it's hugely popular and in practically every guidebook.

Smaller cheaper bungalow operations (especially those on the more laid-back islands) may not honor phone reservations. The problem is that once people are in, most places let them stay as long as they like. And guests often only announce they are leaving on the morning they check out. Consequently GHs never really know whether rooms will be vacant or not. They also tend to prefer to give a room to someone who is actually standing there rather than keeping rooms for people who may or may not turn up. Sounds messy but that's how it works here. Nevertheless, there's nearly always alternative accommodation to be had ...it's very unlikely you'll be stranded without a bed for the night!

To sum up, most budget travellers in Thailand don't book ahead, most upmarket ones do. If it's your first time here then booking somewhere the first couple of nights after you arrive will give you time to find your feet and decide what you want to do next.... you'll also realize how easy it is...

__________________
“Not all those who wander are lost.” Tolkien.
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Good advice here from Fio.
The biggest problem with not booking in advance is that you waste time looking for a place to stay when you could be out doing what you came to do.... see the place.

We recently had an interesting experience in Ho Chi Minh City which illustrates the issues pretty well............
After spending a few days at the beach, we returned to HCMC and arrived at the hotel we'd booked only to find that our room was on the 5th floor and there was no lift!
It was in a good location and I guess for 55 USD it was otherwise ok,but climbing up and down 5 big flights of stairs made it a no-go.
It was late afternoon and the travel agent I rang said that there would be limited availability that night except for a couple of budget options which we didn't want (same issue with no lift). I think also that because we'd booked by phone, they'd given the better rooms to those who'd paid a deposit or arrived before us, leaving us with the big climb!

My husband went to a hotel a few doors away and yes, they had a room which he saw and said it was ok so he booked us in at 105USD for the night..
On the way to the room I had a bad feeling (the hotel was tired looking and definitely needed a total renovation). It looked like it would struggle to get a 3 star rating from anyone.

We had a basic room with an uninspiring view of the windows of the hotel next door. Clean was about the best thing I could say about it, but certainly no frills except cable tv (and a lift!!) but I was glad we were going out for the evening and wouldn't be spending much waking time there.
Next day back at home, I checked this hotel on online booking sites - standard 49USD, superior (50USD)and deluxe (60USD) suite 117USD. No photos of standard but all the other room photos looked entirely different to what we had so I guess we had standard.
So walking in and paying rack rates is a hazardous thing to do and just confirms my belief that you put yourself in the position of paying way too much when you just turn up to a 3+ star hotel.