Hi all. Over drinks last night decided a thai holiday is just what this burnt out family of of four, (mum, dad plus miss 13 and miss 8) plus single mum friend and her young teen daughter are desperately in need of. Hoping to keep accom to 2 rooms only and under 6500 tbaht per night for both as both teens will have just turned 13 and we don't want them on their own nor do we really want to pay for them as adults. Despite numerous searches I can't find a luxurious hotel to suit. Our destination is open but our itinerary has to include a visit to tiger temple @ kanchanaburi plus river kwai visit, a short elephant trek and hopefully some rafting and parasailing with the odd spot of retail therapy. Access to a good tailor and massage therapist will be a fantastic coup. If anyone can help this bleary eyed newcomer to travel with your valued travel tips and or suggestions, I'll be ever so grateful

For the Kanchanaburi trip I would recommend River Kwai Hotel as the best place for you. It's a nice hotel located just in walking distance from most venues in the city like e.g. the Bridge on the River Kwai (2.5 km, though), the War Cemetary, and the street with most restaurant or bars . There are other hotels or resorts, but for me they are located a little bit outside the city which I think is a bit inconvenient since you will be needing some kind of transportation to and from the city.

From Kanchanaburi you can go visit the Tiger Temple, you can make an elephant trek and visit other places like the seven steps of the beautiful Erawan Waterfalls and take a train trip on the 'Death Railway'. For the tours I recommend you to contact one of the local tour agencies like 'Good Times Travel' who has daily trips for these locations.

More info about Kanchanaburi (hotels, guesthouses, restaurants, and much more):
Kanchanaburi-info.com: destination guide to Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand

Info about River Kwai Hotel:
kanchanaburi-info.com - Kanchanaburi hotels and resorts - River Kwai Hotel - Pictures and Facilities

Tour agency:
GOOD TIMES travel service - your local tour operator for tours within Kanchanaburi province (Thailand)

Have you considered serviced apartments?
These have all the facilities of a good hotel (restaurant, pool, gym, cable tv, safe deposit boxes etc.) but more room and usually very competitive price-wise. They have either a kitchenette or a decent kitchen with a full-size fridge, rather than the tiny bar fridges in hotels.

Usually such apartments have tv in living room and bedrooms so if you're staying in at night, you don't have to all stay together in the living room.
You could get a 3 bedroom one and all stay together or perhaps a 2 bedroom + 1 bedroom. I think the 3 bedroom might work out cheaper than 2 + 1.
Some I can personally recommend are Somerset (they have several properties around Bangkok - Lake Point, Park Suan Plu, Suwan Park View. I'd rate all of these as 4 star) and Centre Point apartments (they also have several properties in Bangkok - cheaper on internet than their own website.)

If you're interested, you can find these and many more apartments on a number of booking sites and you could start with asiatravel dot com or do a google search for Bangkok apartments and then keep searching the various sites.

Thanks Flebo and Kimbo for such valuable tips. Kanchanaburi attractions sound wonderful- do the suggested tour companies have a guide called Tong that anyone knows of? Have heard she's a wealth of info. but don't know who she works for... re: serviced apartments do you know of any in Bangkok or Phuket that we don"t have to rent for a whole month - we were thinking 10 -12 nights, kids soooo excited now!

Serviced apartments can be rented on a nightly basis.
That's the case for all the ones that I recommended in my earlier post and others that you'll find on hotel booking sites e.g. sawadee, asiatravel.
Sometimes they have a minimum stay but usually that's only 2 or 3 nights and even then, that's for peak periods.

Just got back from Bangkok - stayed at two different apartments (both in same area - just off South Sathorn Rd., handy to Silom).
At the start of our trip we stayed at Somerset Park Suan Plu for two nights and at the end, we stayed at Pantip Court - both similar price and similar facilities.
Suan Plu is newer and fancier while Pantip has lovely garden/pool area and apartments are bigger. Both around 3000 baht for a one bedroom apartment.
We also visited friends at Somerset Lake Point - 2 bedroom/2 bathroom apartment around 3500baht a night. This could be a very good option for you - cheaper than the others I've mentioned but similar facilities.

You don't say when you're travelling, but prices vary according to season... July/August usually cheaper rates than this time of year.

Kimbo, thanks for going to so much trouble with suggesting appartments.
You sound like a well seasoned traveller. I really hope you enjoyed the holiday you've just returned from. I'm enjoying planning our trip but admit it's daunting to plan an itinerary for travel to Thailand given that I don't personally know anyone who has travelled it extensively and can therefore give such useful info. I have a feeling this forum will be a very useful source of knowledge. Can I ask if you or anyone else has been to Koh Samui and would you reccomend the area for family oriented travel? If there is anything else you would like to suggest that we can"t afford to miss seeing anywhere in Thailand, PLEASE let us know! We are wanting to go in late April/May dependent on decent airfares and availability. Somerset Lake Point sounds like a goer, thanks for the scoop.

Glad you found the info helpful.

I haven't been to Koh Samui (yet) but others on here have and can give you a lot of good advice. Look for posts from jaxw - she's been many times and has posted a lot of good info.

If you're going in April, you may experience Songkran - Thai water festival which ranges from gentle sprinkling to full-on drenching. While in a lot of places it's on a voluntary basis, in Chiang Mai, it tends to apply to everybody whether they want to be in it or not.... full-on drenching with everything from water guns and hoses to buckets scooped from huge drums of water. Some call it fun but I thought a lot of it was quite dangerous and stupid.
Chiang Mai is an interesting place though and a gateway to other places in the region.

Kanchanaburi has a lot of things to see and do. As well as the things already mentioned, there are waterfalls, bamboo rafting (gentle,not scary) or long-boat trips along the river, elephant rides and the World War 2 site "Hellfire Pass" - part of the Thai-Burma railway. If you're Australian you'll find this place especially poignant.

THere are lots of beaches and islands - some more glam than others (and prices across the range). You'll find something to suit.

If you feel like an adventure and want to go a bit off the beaten track, you could catch an overnight train and go up to Nong Khai - a large proviincial town on the Mekong. Take a tuktuk to visit the amazing (HUGE) stone statues in the special park just out of town,shop for silk, woodware,souvenirs and other bargains at the market and get a bit closer to the "real Thailand" . It's becoming a bit more gentrified/upmarket though so might not retain its provincial town charm for all that much longer.

Posters on here are very generous with their time, so if you have specific questions just ask and someone will be sure to answer.