First A little background. We are a couple in mid 40's no kids looking for great beaches, natural beauty, food and culture. This will be not only our first trip to Thailand, but our first to Asia. Planning for Feb of 2018 so I have six months to figure this out so I can book our award tickets 11 months in advance. I already have the miles (280k) with AA for 2 RT in C so I have options there with One World. I will just pay cash for all the shorter hops once we of in Thailand as I hear that is pretty cheap. Sorry, this is not really a miles/award related post just trying to give you that to flesh this out as far what my thinking so far in case I am in error. This is the biggest, most foreign undertaking I have ever done in travel planning.
The trip's basic structure so far is: We plan to fly into BKK for 3-4 days and explore there first. Next we are considering a couple of days in Chang Mai. Then we want to find a really nice stretch of white sand to relax as well as take a day trip to explore some of Thailand's other beautiful smaller islands. I hear Phi Phi is overrun but something in that vein would be an ideal day trip. Lastly I am thinking of finishing this trip with a couple days on Singapore and flying back home out of there. We plan to spend 2 weeks plus 2 days for flying there and back so really 16 days which would include our transit from BNA.
First I started looking at Phuket, but then I read I was 30 years too late. I have read its overrun and now only sad old men and prostitutes go there? I do not know what to believe having never been there especially after seeing the pictures of some gorgeous resorts in Phuket. We don't want a loud party scene, or to be sharing our beach with 100's other people, but by that same token we are not looking for a Robinson Crusoe experience. We do not really have an interest in nightlife or prostitutes
Something along the lines of a nice 4 star hotel with a great beach and a few others things we can do in the area like a boat excursion. I am thinking $150-300 USD a night range. I might go a little higher for something really nice. This being our first trip to Asia, and only english speakers, I do not want to make this too complicated. Making transit relatively easy from airports to resorts is a big plus. Do I want Krabi, Ko Lanta, Trang or something else?
Lastly FWIW and to give you an idea of what we like. We just spent 2 weeks on Kauai that is kind of our speed. We also 2 years ago immensely enjoyed Anguilla's spectacular beaches and food. So its really about the natural scenery and nice resorts having stayed at St Regis Princeville and Cap Juluca. Please help me my head hurts....