Hello! I am a newbie to this forum and am loving all the info over here...I have a few questions though...

My girlfriend and I will be travelling to Thailand from Dubai at the end of the year...based on what I have read here and on other travel sites I've come up with the following itinerary....what do you think? Please feel free to add suggestions!:) We wanted to book everything as soon as possible cuz we know how busy it gets that time of year...hopefully there will still be places available!

*BKK - 3 nights (shopping, sight seeing)
*Koh Phangan - 3 nights (beaches, sight seeing, Full Moon Party for NYE)
*Ayuthaya - 1 night (sight seeing, river dinner cruise)
*Pukhet - 1 night (tour of Phi Phi island and some sight seeing if poss)
*Chiang Mai - 2 nights (night market, white water rafting, some sight seeing)

Total: 10 nights, 11 days.

What do you think? Does this seem feasible? We're not too big on night life, except that we do wanna experience a full moon party.

Also, is it easy to book tours IN Thailand? Our travel agent said the best thing to do would be to book sight seeing tours when we are in Thailand cuz it will be cheaper. But I am just afraid that when we arrive they will all be booked up!

Oh, and one thing I couldn't find out...is it easy to buy designer goods? I mean authentic ones. I know the exchange rate for us would make it much cheaper (or I am HOPING!:) ) ...is there a mall or somewhere that I can purchase Dior or Chanel? I would also be interested in knock offs ...but I do want atleast one real bag.

Thanks so much!!:)

Does this seem feasible? Nope.

Too much, too little time, you'll be spending a lot of holiday time hanging around in airports, hardly any time actually enjoying your holiday. (I presume you were thinking of flying everywhere?)

A few suggestions....

1. Leave BKK till the end of your trip or you will be lugging all your shopping around with you.

2. I'd skip Ko Phangan altogether unless you enjoy being in the pouring rain (it will be the height of the rainy season there) and being more or less comatose for a couple of days afterwards.

There will be parties elsewhere in Thailand too and the weather will be better on the Andaman coast. How were you thinking of getting to KPN? Overnight sleeper trains will be full and there are is no airport there. Your only option will probably be the overnight bus....it's quite a long way from Bangkok to Surat Thani where the ferry leaves from.

3. You could do Ayutthaya when you arrive in BKK or combine it with BKK at the end of your holiday. Would save travel time.

4. You're flying to Phuket for one night??? And you're doing a tour of Phi Phi as well? Are you crazy? If you want to go to Phi Phi then you'd be better flying to Krabi, it's only a two hours on the ferry from there. In fact you could stay 3-4 nights in Ao Nang (Krabi) or Railey instead of going to Phuket and KPN. There will no doubt be a full moon party on Tonsai beach near Ao Nang (next to Railey west) where the younger crowd hang out. And I bet there's one on Phi Phi as well.

Both Phi Phi and Ao Nang/Railey will be rather busy I expect as it's peak season. However there will be hordes of tourists in Phuket and KPN as as well and the karst scenery around Krabi is very spectacular.

5. Two nights in CM is a bit short but it's doable I suppose.


Dead easy to book tours, there are travel agents everywhere. I'd book the internal flights online beforehand though....once you've decided whet you're doing.

Paragon (Siam square) has loads of genuine and expensive designer shops. They also sell red ferraris on the third floor (think it's the third floor....anyway it the floor where they sell expensive sports cars) and there's an international foodcourt and giant aquarium with sharks etc in the basement.

__________________
“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.

Hey,

Thanks so much for your reply!!

I really don't want to be stuck on an overnight bus (I HATE buses). And I know it will be incredibly packed, but my girlfriend has heart set on a full moon party. (Even though I am just imagining a bunch of drunken people trying to grope me and vomit everywhere) ...Can you suggest a beach where the weather will be nicer but there will still be a party atmosphere?

And thanks for the heads up on the shopping. I'll be sure to check out the red Ferrari!:)

We were thinking of spending one night in BKK when we arrive and then 2 nights before we leave..I'm just waiting to hear back from the travel agent as to how much this would cost and based on that we may have to drop a few things or add a few extra days.

You will like Thailand and proberly come back!

I agree, that your tour should end in BKK. As for Koh Panang and Phuket in one trip, just consider this as impossible! The full moon party, is not worth all that trouble!

If i were you:
Arriving BKK, connecting flight to Chiang Mai! If you want to do some trekking, then at least 3 nights, just visiting, 2 nights is fine, a third will not be too much, but it depends what you want to do!

Fly directly to Phuket. Stay 5 nights, visit beautiful phang nga bay, take a boat to Krabi and Phi, and relax a bit on the fine beaches. A lot of shopping possibility's too, even big malls, like central and Jungceylon.

Then fly to BKK, try the old airport Don Muang. Take a cab (not that expensive), or the train to Ayuttaya. Spend one or two nights there (most of the scenery can be done in one full day). Then spend 2 nights in Bangkok.

Tintin's suggestions make much more sense than your original plan. You don't give exact dates but I presume the reason you wanted to go first to KPN was because it coincided with full moon party dates? If you do want to be on a beach at the full moon then go to Phuket or Krabi first.

As I said in the other post there will almost certainly be a party on Tonsai beach near Railey.... the people who stay on that beach are usually fairly young backpacker types into rock climbing ...there's a spectacular and very famous karst cliff right behind Tonsai beach. The beach itself is so so (by Thai standards) and accommodation is mostly budget beach huts. But you could stay on nearby Railey Beach and go there just for the party. There's a footpath between the two beaches (might be a bit difficult to negotiate in the dark when very inebriated mind you, there's a bit where you have to use a rope). But I think they lay on special longtails to take you back on party nights....assuming you get to bed at all, usually these parties are all night affairs.

There will be parties on Phi Phi too I expect and also somewhere on Phuket no doubt. Sorry unlike nearly everyone else on this forum I've been to practically every Thai island EXCEPT Phuket (and Samui) so can't really help with suggestions about nice beaches. There's lots of info online though. Here for example.Phuket travel guide - hotel, guesthouse and restaurant reviews, entertainment, attractions and much more...

The reason Tinitin suggested you go to CM before Phuket is because Thai Air has one daily direct flight from CM to Phuket ....it's quicker (and cheaper probably) than going via Bangkok. There is no direct flight in the opposite direction for some reason.

You can get a cheaper budget airline flight back to Bangkok from either Phuket or Krabi but if you want to be nearer Ayutthaya and arrive at Don Muang Airport then book a flight with Nok Air rather than Air Asia ...the latter uses the new airport.

__________________
“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.

Hey you guys, thanks so much! I really appreicate it. It's just soo overwhelming because there is so much to see and do!

Ok, I've done some more research...and based on that and your suggestions, I've revised the itinerary..Does this make more sense?

Day 1: Arrive in Bangkok
Day 2: Bangkok - Chiang Mai
Day 3: Chiang Mai
Day 4: Chiang Mai - Phuket (this night will most probably be NYE)
Day 5: Phuket
Day 6: Phuket
Day 7: Phuket - Phi Phi
Day 8: Phi Phi
Day 9: Phi phi - (Phuket) - Bangkok
Day 10:Bangkok
Day 11:Depart Bangkok

I just have another question...Is it worth staying on Phi Phi? Or is it a better choice just to spend the 5 nights in Phuket and just take day trips out to neighboring islands? I mean, we probably will want to do a bit more than just laze about on the beach for 5 days..

Thanks again! (hopefully the last time I will bug you:) )

If you would stay longer in Thailand, staying in Phi phi, would not do you harm, but it will be more packing.
I think you should either do Similan islands daytrip, phang nga bay,and/or a trip to Phi Phi together with Kai island.

Similan is the nicest, with the best snorkeling. It is a pitty, tha tyou miss Ayuttaya, as it is only 1 hour from Don Muang airport!

Sorry, now I'm probably going to confuse you more but I just had one of my lateral thoughts....probably the wine. Are you only going to CM mainly for the trekking and white water rafting? It's the dry season so the white water won't be at its best.
If you are mainly going to CM for jungly things then take a look at this site.KHAOSOK Logistically a lot better as it's not far from Phuket. Also relatively few tourists go there for some reason (because they all go to CM probably) but those that do love it (and you are young and adventurous).

The Similians and Surins and do have the best diving and snorkelling respectively but they are rather far away for a day trip and you have to sleep in National Park tents if you stay there overight. This is not all that comfortable because the mattresses they provide are about 1cm thick and you have to queue for the cold water showers. There are a few very overpriced beds in real bungalows if you insist but they will probably be full at that time of year. A surprisingly large number of people go there so there are a surprisingly large number of tents.

Don't worry Phi Phi has some OK snorkelling too!

__________________
“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.

Fio, there are day-trips to Similan with speed-boats. Very nice trip!

Except when there are waves of any description....speedboats can really do your back in! How much time do you spend in the speedboat and how much time actually snorkelling on a daytrip to the Similans?

__________________
“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.