Thailand First Timer
 

I am planning on taking a trip to Thailand (I have never been anywhere other than the Caribbean and Mexico.) I'm thinking of going for a total of 11-12 days, and I'm looking for recommendations on what to do there, how to get around, where to stay etc. I am going to be using SPG points, so I am basing the specifi hotel on which ones of those are available in the area. I am mostly interested in the nature type activities (riding an elephant, touring caves, ancient temples in remote areas, etc.) And I would also like to spend a few days at a beach like Phuket or Krabi. Any tips and suggestions would be helpful!

- prolong your trip up to 13 to 15 days at least
- Bangkok (2 days) - Chiang Mai/Chiang Rai (3 to 5 days) - Phuket/Khao Lak (5 days) - Bangkok (3 days)
- or Bangkok (2 days) - Chiang Mai/Chiang Rai (3 to 5 days) - Koh Samui (5 days) - Bangkok (3 days)
- just fly, easy to get around with Thai Airways, Bangkok Airways if you want to fly direct or if you want to fly cheap use Nok Air or Air Asia

It looks like we might be looking for similar itineraries (I'm also using SPG points) http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thail...rst-timer.html

Keep in mind I have not been.. so the below is based on reading FT and other sources.

When are you going and how much are you looking to spend?

The better SPG hotels in Ko Samui (W, Vanna Belle) are very expensive on points. You can stay at the Le Meridien for something reasonable but it doesn't have much of a beach and the villas don't have much view or natural light.

In Phuket, the Westin Siray Bay looks nice but does not have a great beach. The LM Phuket is massive and just didnt look that appealing.

I read that the area around Krabi is nice and it is probably a very good option, but the pictures of the Sheraton didn't really give that "wow" factor that some of the other Thai resorts did.

I would suggest doing a few days each in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, then based on how much you want to spend, either doing several days in Ko Samui or heading down to Krabi. A combo of Krabi and the Westin Siray Bay is also possible. The advantage of this is that you can generally fly out internationally from Phuket airport (HKT) which is much more convenient then Ko Samui or Krabi airport.

If you want more time in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, another option would be the Sheraton Pattaya, which is driving distance from Bangkok.

Personally I wouldn't spend 5 days at the beach in such a short trip.

I think heading north to CM and CR is a good idea though. I visited an interesting cave shrine near CM last year on my visit. Lots of nature stuff around there as well plus tons of old wats. And there are elephant camps up there too. I really liked Siam Insect Zoo near Chiang Mai. Lots of butterflies begging to be photographed. On my first trip to Thailand I really enjoyed Doi Tung and Mae Fah Luang Gardens which is in Chiang Rai province. In Chiang Mai there's also the Rajapruek Royal Park which I quite liked too. I happened to be there on the King's birthday last year and there was all sorts of stuff going on for those celebrations.

It somewhat depends on when you are going. As jiejie always points out, you don't want to be in that part of the country when the slash and burn burning is going on.

For old temples you have a couple of options. Ayutthaya is a relatively short drive from Bangkok and can be done as a day trip (as long as it's not flood season). Or Sukhothai is a bit quieter and frankly more impressive with the temples around the town plus nearby Si Satchanalai park. If you happen to be there at Loy Krathong it makes the experience more interesting IMHO, albeit a lot more crowded.

Another possibility would be going to Isaan. There are some old Khmer temples there like Phnom Rung. Or Phimai which I really liked a lot.

I don't know how many SPG point you have that you are looking to spend. Some of the more out of the way places will not have SPG properties, but there will be cheap alternatives pretty much everywhere. The great thing about Thailand is that hotels are relatively cheap even at the higher end of the market.

Thanks for all of the suggestions! So if i were only to do either Phuket or Krabi(on SPG points...so LeMeridien or Westin in Phuket or Sheraton in Krabi) which would you reccomend is the better place? Or is it worth it to try to spend time in both Phuket and Krabi? What about Koh Samui? Is that a better option than Phuket or Krabi? I'm so overwhelmed! They all look like such beautiful places!

Here is a very useful article about how to plan your Thailand holiday. Living in Thailand I always recommend this to my friends who come to visit. Lots of good information here.

Have fun,
Randy

Thanks Allthai for the info. It is very interesting and useful to me to plan my trip.