🇹🇭 Thailand Travelling

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I’ve done about 10 trips to Thailand - 5 of them to the islands. I found a lot of info online, but frankly also COULDN’T find a lot of info specific info I wanted - things I care about when choosing locations like “How’s the coral there”; “Are there sand-fleas?”; “Is the water calm enough for a non-swimmer to wade in?”, etc. - so I thought I’d start this thread.

My personal area of expertise is Thai islands that are quiet, beautiful and do NOT hold full-moon parties, but hopefully there will be plenty of other contributors.

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I haven’t been to a Thai beach in ages…my most recent trips have focused on the cities. I’m going again in a couple weeks: Bangkok and Chiang Mai. Again, focusing on the cities.

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Excellent - I have a question for you. Can you recommend a nice quiet island for a July getaway for a family with a toddler? Bungalows are fine as long as they’re not TOO basic. Somewhere that’s easy to get to is also a priority, as long bus rides with kids isn’t too much fun…

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Vay, why don’t you tell us about the islands you’ve been to?

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Excellent - I have a question for you. Can you recommend a nice quiet island for a July getaway for a family with a toddler? Bungalows are fine as long as they’re not TOO basic. Somewhere that’s easy to get to is also a priority, as long bus rides with kids isn’t too much fun…[/quote]

Koh Tao, but try and get a flight direct from Taipei to Koh Samui.

HG

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Excellent - I have a question for you. Can you recommend a nice quiet island for a July getaway for a family with a toddler? Bungalows are fine as long as they’re not TOO basic. Somewhere that’s easy to get to is also a priority, as long bus rides with kids isn’t too much fun…[/quote]

July will probably be very rainy.

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Yea that would be good with a break down of what you remember (i.e. restaurants, shopping, etc)

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Excellent - I have a question for you. Can you recommend a nice quiet island for a July getaway for a family with a toddler? Bungalows are fine as long as they’re not TOO basic. Somewhere that’s easy to get to is also a priority, as long bus rides with kids isn’t too much fun…[/quote]
Koh Tao, but try and get a flight direct from Taipei to Koh Samui.[/quote]
No such animal, unfortunately.

Yeah, but probably not as wet as the Philippines. Anyway, our airline budget is limited, so the Maldives is out of the question. Thailand, maybe. Bali, maybe. I’m on a budget, so can’t go too far…

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Actually the rainy season varies from micro-region to micro-region. Here are a couple general breakdowns:

Thailand weather
What’s the weather like in Thailand?

…and my favorite resource:

Thailand interactive weather information

I went to Koh’s Samui, Phang-an & Tao in September and the weather was fabulous. An hour’s worth of afternoon downpour per day, that was it. The real raining doesn’t kick in in that area 'til October, from what I hear.

However, I’m not a fan of the whole Gulf of Thailand island scene. Touristy. Crappy diving. Even crappier snorkeling. And the beaches just aren’t as beautiful.

Although there is greater differential between rainy and dry seasons on the Andaman coast, I have heard from a couple Farang (Westerner) residents living in Trang that actually even there the rainy season is quite comfortable - just afternoon showers, much as in Taiwan.

Without making any promises in that regard - I’ve never actually been there outside of February and March - I will make the following recommendation - provided you exhort your wife not to pass this info on to any Taiwanese! (One thing I LOVE about Trang is not hearing a WORD of Chinese there!) Anyway, the location I’m referring to is Koh Hai in Trang. Both of the following resorts there are nice:

Koh Hai Resort

Koh Hai Fantasy Resort

Both places have nice pleasant-looking and comfortable bungalows and pools for the kiddies. No trash on the beach and no frickin’ full moon parties. Fantasy resort is actually the more beautiful of the two (the view from the beach is the best of any resort in Thailand - I’d be willing to put money on it), but it’s also pricier and not quite as social if you like the whole hippy traveler scene.

Getting there is easy. Catch a morning flight to Bangkok. Afternoon domestic flightfrom Don Mueng airport to Trang town on Nok Air takes about 1.5 hours. Book your boat trip (and hotel, if you haven’t already) for the next day at one of the many little travel agencies by Trang train station. Spend one night in Trang. Hit the Trang hotel for a cheap massage and maybe check out the night market. Catch a mini-bus to Pak Meng Pier mid-morning from Trang town train station. An hour’s boat ride, and you’re in paradise!

As for a run-down of all the places I’ve been to… I’ll try to work on it later.

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Without making any promises in that regard - I’ve never actually been there outside of February and March - I will make the following recommendation - provided you exhort your wife not to pass this info on to any Taiwanese! (One thing I LOVE about Trang is not hearing a WORD of Chinese there!) Anyway, the location I’m referring to is Koh Hai in Trang. Both of the following resorts there are nice:

Koh Hai Resort

Koh Hai Fantasy Resort

Both places have nice pleasant-looking and comfortable bungalows and pools for the kiddies. No trash on the beach and no frickin’ full moon parties. Fantasy resort is actually the more beautiful of the two (the view from the beach is the best of any resort in Thailand - I’d be willing to put money on it), but it’s also pricier and not quite as social if you like the whole hippy traveler scene.

Getting there is easy. Catch a morning flight to Bangkok. Afternoon domestic flightfrom Don Mueng airport to Trang town on Nok Air takes about 1.5 hours. Book your boat trip (and hotel, if you haven’t already) for the next day at one of the many little travel agencies by Trang train station. Spend one night in Trang. Hit the Trang hotel for a cheap massage and maybe check out the night market. Catch a mini-bus to Pak Meng Pier mid-morning from Trang town train station. An hour’s boat ride, and you’re in paradise![/quote]
Thank you very much! :notworthy:

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Yeah, that’s excellent info, Vay. Thank’s a lot!

marboulette

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No problem! But I’d recommend getting a second opinion on the weather aspect. My info is only second-hand in that regard.

If you do go to Koh Hai, make sure you take a boat-trip to the Emerald Cave. It’s out of this world. Bring a flash-light so the kiddies won’t get scared - there’s a minute where you’re completely in the dark.

Also, if you end up spending an extra day in Trang, the Khaokob cave (Tham Lae Khaokob) is also really cool. In addition, there are numerous nice waterfalls located near each other - some of the major ones being Tontae, Tontok, and Chong Banpot.

www.all-about-trang.com has an entire guidebook devoted to Trang province if you’re interested.

Happy travels!

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I heard that you can get a better rate if you exhcange the money in Thailand is that true?

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Change what money and where in Thailand?

I think most money changing places are a rip off, so I tend to use an ATM card and take sizable lumps out to knock down the one off hit.

HG

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NTD to Baht or USD to Baht in Pattaya, or whatever can get me the better rate, I heard from 2 different sources that if you do it in the banks there you get a much better rate.

also I might want to open up a bank account too, anyone ever opened up an account in Thailand? what doucments do they need? thanks a lot

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Never done it, but generally speaking the less transactions you do the better off you will be, so not having to buy US dollars and then Baht would be best. Missus Huang uses some gangster traders somewhere in Bangkok, which she claims give her the best rates. Mind you the last time she took a wedge there to exchange she left her bag on the bus and lost the lot, so I’m rather unconvinced on that avenue.

You can always check the bank’s exchange rates online. Here’s Kasikorn Bank’s rates.

Never opened an account in Thailand, I use one through the missus’ business. I’d say the usual - a passport and ideally an address in Thailand.

HG

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cool thanks

I have some free time in the next week or so and plan to visit Thailand, but they say in this time of the year the weather is really hot and rains all the time. Is it really that bad?

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[quote=“ironfist”]cool thanks

I have some free time in the next week or so and plan to visit Thailand, but they say in this time of the year the weather is really hot and rains all the time. Is it really that bad?[/quote]

afternoon downpours that last 30 mins max…but you’ll enjoy them since it cools the air…

heat cant be any worse than taipei at the moment so what can you lose…plus youll be on the beach as opposed to stuck in traffic

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If you want to open an ordinary Passbook Bank Account in Thailand it’s very easy. I suggest Bangkok Bank (bring Passport). Then, when you visit Thailand in future you can just Telex Transfer money from the Bangkok Bank here in Taipei a few days in advance and use the bank card to withdraw money as you need it once you are there. (Probably only worth it for frequent visitors).

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thanks bear, I think I will give it a go since it’s low season the hotel and such r pretty cheap too.

passbook account exactly what does that give me? ya I want to transfer money from Taiwan to Thailand in the future, and maybe transfer from Thailand to USA/Taiwan too. I guess the account can do that. thanks oh other then passport do they need the address in Thailand? coz I don’t have one. maybe they need another ID and some electric bill or cc bill?