Friendly Traveling Deathmerchant

I've got a family trip laid on for a week and a half in Thailand next month. Wife and kids have never been. In Bangkok, I'm all Hilton & Conrad, and am going to let Tour With Tong do the showing us around to make things easy.

But we want to get in some beach time, assumedly lodging in the Hilton or Holiday Inn at Phuket (wife wants to see Phi Phi and the Monkey Island...). Trying to stay clear of the sleaze, just do some beach, maybe kayak tour of the island caves, zipline, etc. It would be nice if there was a Tong-like tour package crew that could make a Phuket/Phi Phi daytrip+ happen easily. I could book a couple things through Viator or something, but if there is an all in one crew, I'd love to know about it.

Any suggestions?


I'm trying to make this a really mellow, low-challenge trip. Normally, I don't mind adventure and learning how to do things local or off-beaten-path, but this go-round, I want someone to hold our hands and do the heavy lifting and planning.


TDM

RustyC

There are tons of operators, but the standard tours can be a real cattle drive in high season, with usual stops on Phi Phi Le and Phi Phi Don terribly crowded. If you're talking August then that's a monsoonal time and less crowds (though some) and weather and choppy seas can be a factor. The usual advice is to favor the east coast (Samui, etc.) for that time of year, though Samui is also massively more visited than it used to be.

I can't offer much in terms of positive advice (the operator I went with last time was cheap, but not what you're looking for). Just beware crowds.