Thailand - where's good destination for a couple?

Soldato
OP
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phiphi island is nice but really good accommodation is limited and expensive , there’s some reasonably cheap places but will be very basic

Koh Samui , nice enough in parts but although I’ve been twice to Chaweng and tbh I’m not keen on it, there’s much nicer places although at £35 a night for a small resort villa with a pool that no one else seemed to go to was a bargain

Phuket, I’ve only been to Patong and I’m going back in a few weeks, hired a private villa with pool. Like many Thai tourist areas it has its seedy parts but they’re easily avoided . The beach is nice but very crowded

Bangkok - been loads , mainly on short stop overs . They’res some really good hotels in Bangkok at decent rates , it may be worth considering staying longer in Bangkok as it’s huge and so much to see

Also consider going a few weeks earlier as the weather will slowly start changing in April gradually getting wetter

I was hoping to avoid the wet season :( It's hard for us both to get annual leave together, we've both got a fortnight off week commencing Mon 20th April so could potentially fly out on an evening flight on Friday 17th.

Guaranteed sunshine (as much as one can guarantee it) is a prerequisite for this holiday so I really hope we avoid prolonged wet weather. Might even need a rethink on Thailand as a destination.

Does anyone know about regional variations there, so by going somewhere in Thailand in late April we're likely to still get the best of the weather?
 
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Associate
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Thanks everyone for your responses, very much appreciated and thanks to Ahleckz and killem for the detail :)

That's plenty of food for thought, I really like the idea of catching a ferry out to a quieter place to stay. One thing I didn't note was that as far as innoculations are concerned I've had jabs galore for different places but the GF hasn't had any since school, also I'm pretty sure she wouldn't like the way Malaria tabs make most people feel so it'll need to me somewhere not too remote.

We'll be flying out from Heathrow, I ran it through sky scanner and flights outbound Heathrow > Bangkok, 3 day stopover then Bangkok > Phuket, then the return flight to Heathrow via Bangkok costs £1148 with Thai airways via a 3rd party agent, or £1244 direct with the airline (I also ran the price through the Thai airline website and it was exactly the same). The Thai airline site advises tax, meals and 30kg baggage per person is included so I'm inclined to book direct. Air asia is a good shout, I'll have to see if using them for an internal flight can trim things down a bit.

What about flying to Bangkok for a couple of days, then flying down to Phuket and getting a ferry somewhere nice to stay for the duration, then heading back direct? I must admit all these place names are new to me :)

I Did 3 weeks going round thailand with out innoculations last year. I did get a couple of mosi bites when I went for a hike upto a mountain cave to see a temple at the bottom but I ended up ok. Will be using a 50% Det spray this time.
 
Soldato
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Thanks everyone for your responses, very much appreciated and thanks to Ahleckz and killem for the detail :)

That's plenty of food for thought, I really like the idea of catching a ferry out to a quieter place to stay. One thing I didn't note was that as far as innoculations are concerned I've had jabs galore for different places but the GF hasn't had any since school, also I'm pretty sure she wouldn't like the way Malaria tabs make most people feel so it'll need to me somewhere not too remote.

We'll be flying out from Heathrow, I ran it through sky scanner and flights outbound Heathrow > Bangkok, 3 day stopover then Bangkok > Phuket, then the return flight to Heathrow via Bangkok costs £1148 with Thai airways via a 3rd party agent, or £1244 direct with the airline (I also ran the price through the Thai airline website and it was exactly the same). The Thai airline site advises tax, meals and 30kg baggage per person is included so I'm inclined to book direct. Air asia is a good shout, I'll have to see if using them for an internal flight can trim things down a bit.

What about flying to Bangkok for a couple of days, then flying down to Phuket and getting a ferry somewhere nice to stay for the duration, then heading back direct? I must admit all these place names are new to me :)

I’ve done this itenary twice

Uk to Bangkok with emirates, paid around £550 pp, stayed 3 nights
Bangkok to Phuket , paid £45 pp with Bangkok air or Thai air, I forget which . Stayed 3 nights
Ferry to Phi phi island , £12 inc pickup , stayed 3 nights
Ferry to krabi, £12 then flight to koh samui £50 ish, 3 nights here too
Back to Bangkok , £50 ish again , had another 2 nights here before the long flight home, stayed at a nice hotel just to chill in comfort

Is the £1148 pp or for both of you?

Ps . You shouldn’t need to worry about malaria if you’re only going to Bangkok and a beach resort
 
Soldato
OP
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I’ve done this itenary twice

Uk to Bangkok with emirates, paid around £550 pp, stayed 3 nights
Bangkok to Phuket , paid £45 pp with Bangkok air or Thai air, I forget which . Stayed 3 nights
Ferry to Phi phi island , £12 inc pickup , stayed 3 nights
Ferry to krabi, £12 then flight to koh samui £50 ish, 3 nights here too
Back to Bangkok , £50 ish again , had another 2 nights here before the long flight home, stayed at a nice hotel just to chill in comfort

Is the £1148 pp or for both of you?

Ps . You shouldn’t need to worry about malaria if you’re only going to Bangkok and a beach resort

Cheers for the reply, looks like a good way to see lots of the country!

The £1148 is for 2 people
 
Soldato
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Re the weather, it’ll be fine. It’ll rain mid afternoon very intensively and that’ll be it.

Don’t worry about it.

No need to take anti malarials either. It’s dengue you have to worry about!
 
Man of Honour
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Thailand is somewhere to go when you are single so you can enjoy as many of the local delights as you want.

Going with a girlfriend seems like such a waste to me. :(
That's a sad reflection on you if you think that all Thailand has to offer is sex workers.

I've been to Thailand twice, once on my own and once as a couple - neither time did I feel compelled to pursue paid-for intercourse.

Pick whichever island suits your fancy and the weather for the time of year (good link - https://www.selectiveasia.com/thailand-holidays/weather you can break it down by month) - they're all nice in their own way.

People will tell you that Bangkok has so much to offer, and how you can never do it justice in two days, but to be honest a couple of days is enough to see a pile of temples, catch a local cheap bus (the red and cream ones, great experience) the river, a market or two, some shopping and Chinatown.
It can be a noisy, blisteringly hot, chaotic city and you'll be begging for a beach after 3 days.

Enjoy! Great country :)
 
Associate
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Hi OP if you like fishing then I would recommend Jurassic fishing in Cha'am. It's near hua hin and ya gf will like it too.

Krabi has a lot to offer as a hopping off point to islands like phi phi, lanta, James bond island loads of em. Also railay is really nice and 5 mins away on boat.

If ya gf is open minded take her Pattaya and sneak off soi six when she's sleeping/hungover
 

Ste

Ste

Soldato
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Holiday Inn express on phiphi island is well away from the madness and stunning. Fly Bangkok to phuket and then the ferry. Or mix with Krabi.
 
Soldato
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Soi 6.1 in Pattaya . Oops wrong forum !

Thailand is all about how much time you have when boots are on the ground and my advice is get a direct flight , I know it costs more but if you only have 2 weeks off that’s time you need to get back .

I globally now use this piece of software to look for flights


If you want fishing then I would suggest a Cheap flight south to Krabi and spend a few days at Gilliam’s fishing resort. Loads of couples kick back and it’s total paradise , bungalows are awesome . You can then stay in Ao Nang and island hop all over including Koh Phi Phi and then onto Phucket and back to Bangkok, internal flights are cheap enough.



Any questions you have PM me , I’ve been to the LOS ( land of smiles ) more times than I care to remember,.


Be careful the the fish run big , this was the largest Of the 12 Siamese I had in my 4 days but lost 2 Arapaima that were estimated at 400lb plus .



Edit ,just seen the date . Post resurrection at its best ! Blimey I’ve been three times since this post . Hope you had a good trip?
 
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Soldato
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Thailand is all about how much time you have when boots are on the ground and my advice is get a direct flight , I know it costs more but if you only have 2 weeks off that’s time you need to get back .

I globally now use this piece of software to look for flights


That site looks much better than Kayak/Skyscanner, thanks!
I revived the thread as we're thinking of going to Thailand next year. Ko Chang looks nice but really anywhere that's relaxed, overwater and has some activities (not fishing though :p) would be spot on for us. Do you go often? That fish you caught looks amazing.
 
Soldato
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Koh Chang is great especially in the quieter south; I personally find the north of the island to be similar to Spain - overdeveloped with little of Thai life to offer.. Lonely Beach is slowly coming back to life and Nature Beach has a couple of very cool beach bars. I can sort you out a nice discount at Chaipura resort as I know the manager.

It really all depends on what you want. Thailand has so much to offer.
 
Associate
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i've been to bangkok. not bad, quite interesting, extremely busy, dangerous traffic, cheap. didn't venture anywhere else wish i would have went to pattaya to sample the night life but my mate who i was with didn't want to.
 
Soldato
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My brother lives in Pattaya now. I haven’t been over for a while. I do like the TQ bar, got to know some decent people there. He has an apartment on the ground floor, he could have went for a condo with a better view, he didn’t fancy being thrown off the balcony by some dodgy copper though.
 
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