I am reconsidering plans to be fly BKK-HKT on New Year's Day (and thereafter flying HKT to PEN on FY (http://www.fireflyz.com.my/)) and am thinking I'd buy a train on the International Express to Butterworth, stop over in Hua Hin for a day or two on the beach, overnight on the train to Penang, and then spend a couple of days there before returning home.
What am I missing by not going to Phuket? Other than the taxi mafia and one of the most expensive places to be in Thailand (at an expensive time of year, too)?
Also, I've seen it mentioned that the trains are hop on, hop off. Does this mean I could buy a ticket one way to Butterworth, hop an early morning train to Hua Hin that is not the International Express, and catch the International Express the next day or so?
transpac
Jul 10, 12, 7:11 pm
A lot of people swear by this site: http://www.seat61.com/Thailand.htm
Maybe it will help you to plan your journey?
eponymous_coward
Jul 10, 12, 8:13 pm
A lot of people swear by this site: http://www.seat61.com/Thailand.htm
Maybe it will help you to plan your journey?
Yeah, that's my source. Looking for some more personal experience beyond that, plus comparisons of Phuket and Hua Hin.
whackyjacky
Jul 10, 12, 9:57 pm
I don't like Phuket anymore, but I'm not going to go off on it again. HH is a nice little town with OK beaches, a lot of great golf and seafood joints. Fairly clean and streets are uncluttered with schlock mongers. Not a lot of nightlife, but some. Go farther S and the beaches get real nice. A better place to live than visit IMO. wj
estnet
Jul 10, 12, 11:03 pm
Remember that Thai trains are often seriously late. You buy point to point tickets for a specific train and seat so I don't think you can just hop on and hop off.
readyforchange
Jul 11, 12, 1:06 pm
Instead of the train you can take minibus', those Toyota Commuter Vans.
Have you looked into those options yet?
ie. http://www.minibushuahin.com/
eponymous_coward
Jul 11, 12, 3:32 pm
Instead of the train you can take minibus', those Toyota Commuter Vans.
Have you looked into those options yet?
ie. http://www.minibushuahin.com/
There's only one of me, and I don't think I want to take a minibus to Penang. :eek: So splitting this into a train trip to Hua Hin in the morning, and then taking the International Express out of Hua Hin another day makes sense. (And yes, on further examination it does appear to not be hop on hop off, so I'd want Bangkok->Hua Hin and Hua Hin->Butterworth tickets, I guess?) I don't see a major advantage at paying extra for a minivan over a second class AC railcar, except for maybe it gets me there a bit faster, and if I wanted to get to a beach faster and in a more expensive fashion, I could just fly to Phuket...
readyforchange
Jul 11, 12, 10:57 pm
There's only one of me, and I don't think I want to take a minibus to Penang. :eek: So splitting this into a train trip to Hua Hin in the morning, and then taking the International Express out of Hua Hin another day makes sense. (And yes, on further examination it does appear to not be hop on hop off, so I'd want Bangkok->Hua Hin and Hua Hin->Butterworth tickets, I guess?) I don't see a major advantage at paying extra for a minivan over a second class AC railcar, except for maybe it gets me there a bit faster, and if I wanted to get to a beach faster and in a more expensive fashion, I could just fly to Phuket...
--
Let me know how your journey turns out I might just make the same trip myself one day... for a visa run.
transpac
Jul 12, 12, 1:31 am
Remember that Thai trains are often seriously late.
I had to pick up a package - perishable forest mushrooms - sent from the north via train, at Hua Lumphong one morning. You can track the train status on the SRT website, and this train - one of two first class sleepers from Chiang Mai - was 388 minutes late! As they say here, with a roll of the eyes, Rot Fai Thai.
readyforchange
Jul 12, 12, 8:34 am
Remember that Thai trains are often seriously late. You buy point to point tickets for a specific train and seat so I don't think you can just hop on and hop off.
I remember going from Bangkok to Surin. It took two hours longer than they said.
:)
eponymous_coward
Jul 18, 12, 8:37 am
Huh.
I am still contemplating all of this (and idly tossing Ko Samui in the mix, too, now that FY has USM-PEN service to go with HKT-PEN service).
Still haven't come to any plans made in stone yet, though.
Swiss Tony
Jul 18, 12, 3:03 pm
I definitely prefer USM over HKT - the latter is blighted by the distance from the airport to the majority of the resorts & beaches before you get into anything else!
However is it worth doing two destinations here or do you just get a cheap flight down to Penang from BKK?
I recall the beaches in Penang being good as opposed to "amazing" (like USM was) - guess it depends what you want...
whackyjacky
Jul 18, 12, 4:43 pm
You want some great beaches, you could do an abbreviated version of what I just did a couple months ago. Nok Air to Hat Yai, bus to Trang, ferry to Koh Lipe, ferry to Langkawi, flight to KL, flight to BKK. These are the most beautiful islands and beaches I've seen in SE Asia (outside of the Philippines). They're not heavily touristed yet (except Langkawi). Nok has an all in one deal to Koh Lipe which wasn't too expensive. I threw in a couple other islands as well, but I'm guessing you've only got about 5 days. IIWY on Koh Lipe, I'd stay here:http://www.mountainresortkohlipe.com/
eponymous_coward
Jul 18, 12, 7:32 pm
You want some great beaches, you could do an abbreviated version of what I just did a couple months ago. Nok Air to Hat Yai, bus to Trang, ferry to Koh Lipe, ferry to Langkawi, flight to KL, flight to BKK. These are the most beautiful islands and beaches I've seen in SE Asia (outside of the Philippines). They're not heavily touristed yet (except Langkawi). Nok has an all in one deal to Koh Lipe which wasn't too expensive. I threw in a couple other islands as well, but I'm guessing you've only got about 5 days. IIWY on Koh Lipe, I'd stay here:http://www.mountainresortkohlipe.com/
This may be a plan worthy of investigation. @:-) Thanks.
dsquared37
Jul 18, 12, 8:33 pm
You want some great beaches, you could do an abbreviated version of what I just did a couple months ago. Nok Air to Hat Yai, bus to Trang, ferry to Koh Lipe, ferry to Langkawi, flight to KL, flight to BKK. These are the most beautiful islands and beaches I've seen in SE Asia (outside of the Philippines). They're not heavily touristed yet (except Langkawi). Nok has an all in one deal to Koh Lipe which wasn't too expensive. I threw in a couple other islands as well, but I'm guessing you've only got about 5 days. IIWY on Koh Lipe, I'd stay here:http://www.mountainresortkohlipe.com/
I find your take on Lipe interesting. We were there 1.5 years ago and the garbage all over was quite a sight. The island is being built up at lightning speeds and many snorkel areas have been closed due to reef damage.
On top of that we refer to it as Koh Katoey due to their widespread presence.
There were some decent beaches, but overall we weren't terribly impressed the island.
whackyjacky
Jul 19, 12, 12:40 pm
I find your take on Lipe interesting. We were there 1.5 years ago and the garbage all over was quite a sight. The island is being built up at lightning speeds and many snorkel areas have been closed due to reef damage.
On top of that we refer to it as Koh Katoey due to their widespread presence.
There were some decent beaches, but overall we weren't terribly impressed the island.
I was more referring to the other islands around it I stayed on Bulon, Turatao, Adang. You've kinda gotta go to Lipe 1st to get anywhere else. Didn't see any crap in the water, maybe some diesel. The problem for me with Lipe is all the longtails. They're everywhere noisy and greasy. You can barely get in the water in places. I stayed at the Mountain Resort and there's no longtails anywhere near there and the beach down below is epic. As pretty as it gets. It's in a quiet corner. There's some great islands close by in Malaysia that I want check out next time. wj