Thailand

[Tom]

Hey folks
Am off to Thailand with my luverly wife and our little boy (nearly 4). I'd love to talk about some stuff to do there...

We're off on weds April 7th, flying into Bangkok on the thurs 8th, and I need to find a hotel to book for one night. Anyone know any good ones - under £100 for the three of us?

The next night we're thinking of going on the night train down to surat thani and then by boat to Ko Pha-Ngang... find somewhere on a beach and book 4 nights. Anyone done that trip before? Good tips for trains (1st or 2nd sleeper?) or boats? Anyone know any really lush places to stay in Ko Pha-Ngang?

And that's as far as we've got - we're gonna take it from there, do what we fancy... all we're gonna to do is be back in Bangkok on weds 21st, stay a night in a NICE hotel and fly back the following night.

So.. nice things to do without stressing ourselves out around the islands - is Ko Samui worth a visit? Ko Tao? Anywhere else?

We wanna be comfy but cheap and in all the right places

On taking Cole with us... he's really into dora, so I got him a dora backpack (with map!), but it's a small day bag, so we've got him a bigger backpack for his clothes and toys for moving around.

I thought it'd be nice to do him a special 'map', with all the stages of our journey... with pics of cars, planes, hotels, trains (he's a thomas obsessive! - we have to do the sleeper!)... then a boat, with a lovely island, with a hut on the beach. Then when we're going on the journey, we can trace where we are on the map

He's fussy with food, but will eat if he's starving, he'll love beach life, but he'll need a few essentials - thomas & dora leap pad (for journeys), nighttime books (hrm.. he has so many! (really into Mr men now)), his blanket and nemo, and maybe we'll smuggle thomas along (he's resolute that thomas doesn't want to come... but he'd be a nice surprise when we got there!)...

Any help from the well travelled would be great

[Tom]

For anyone whose interested, we had a great time in Thailand - spent a week in Kho Pha-Ngang, about 4 days in Kho Tao (amazing diving) and then a few of days in Bangkok. I've got lots of tips now

[popsycal]

oooh please tell more, Tom!

[Twink]

Great, glad you enjoyed it. How did your ds find it (esp food ?)

Be interested to hear more if you have the time as we're hoping to go back later this year and fancy a change from Koh Samui & Hua Hin.

[lou33]

Would be very interested to hear your tips Tom, as dh and I are hoping to take our four to thailand for Christmas. Not sure how we will manage with one in a wheelchair , but I am trying not to think about that !

[tammybear]

Um, dont want to freak anyone out or anything but I thought I'd just warn you. My dp's brother went to Thailand in April. He's been there once before. But when he came back, he got terribly ill that he couldn't even get out of bed. His mum then caught it, which spread to his dad, and then my dp got struck down with glandular fever.

So my advice is only drink bottled water! Or boiled water. But you may already know that. Just thought Id say.

But other than that, he said it's great. I would love to go. Have a great time Tom!

[Twink]

Lou it's not terribly wheelchair friendly but is improving slowly, and people are very helpful to westerners. I'd be happy to pass on any queries to my family there if you want any advice or ideas.

[Tom]

V quickly... here's what we did...

• Flew into Bangkok
  
• Went to (prebooked 4 £60) Shangri La (5*) hotel for 1 night
  
• Took overnight bus (train was booked - get train if you can) to the South (Surat Thani)
  
• boat straight to Koh Phangan and then got a taxi to Hat Yaw beach (west coast)
  
• Bagged a hut on the beach (£6 a night) at Haad Yao bungalows (highly recommended) for 6 nights
  
• 6 GEORGEOUS days on the (totally chilled) beach relaxing (massage ladies (£3 per hour) 5 yards from hut)
  
• Caught boat up to Koh Tao
  
• Found hut on Sairee beach (bit busy) at Seashell dive resort
  
• Did PADI course (amazing!) while missus played with son - about 2.5 days away from them over 4 days
  
• Boat back to mainland, overnight train up to Bangkok
  
• Back to Shangri-LA (prebooked) - heaven
  
• 2 days of shopping for missus in various silk, clothes and cheap watches markets while I looked after boy
  
• Flew home
  
  A superb holiday in all.
  
  Here's some hints...
  
• The sex industry WILL do your head in. As will the dodgy looking western blokes with young thai women on their arm.
  
• If you're going to Samui/Phangan with kids, skip Samui - it's busy, lots of sex industry, clubbing, drugs etc etc - Phangan is M.E.L.L.O.W. and if you find the right place (we did), you won't move from the hut/beach/restaruant paradise you land in
  
• If you've ever wanted to learn how to scuba dive, go to Koh Tao - it's really cheap to learn (£140 incl accom) and the coral reefs are incredible. Swimming with Dolphins? Pah - we swam with sharks
  
• Teach your kid how to do a wai (see below) - they instantly become uber-popular and people treat you well. They can be entertained for ages learning thai words for head, eyes, nose, mouth etc etc etc too.
  
• If you find the right place and stay there for a while, you'll probably end up feeling quite relaxed about the kids - we managed to lounge in the sea, sunbathe on beach, have massage etc while our son (4) was playing with other kids/sleeping in hammock/playing with leappad near hut etc etc.
  
• Get a hut right next to the beach - you can see your kids from the sea. If your hut is behind several others, you won't be able to monitor them from sea/beach.
  
• Food - you can get chips, omlette etc everywhere, but you can only feed em so many chips. They will get more flexible! Rice & chicken was ok, but most popular were little snacks on sticks - chicken satay, sausages, fish, even squid was heartily consumed by son simply because they were cooked on the street and came on sticks If you like Thai food, welcome to heaven!
  
• Go to the Shangri-La in Bangkok on your last day (you need a soft landing, decent bath, swimming pool etc AFTER your hol more than at the start) - use www.precisionreservations.com for cheap deals.
  
• Don't take ANY clothes!!! Just go to Koh San road or another clothes market on your first day in Thailand and buy a bunch T-shirts = £1.50, Trousers = £2 etc etc. Nothing you have in the UK will be right for the climate anyway
  
• (take 1 set of smart/casual/lightweight clothes if you go to the Shangri-La!!!)
  
• Travel by overnight train for long journeys - you can book bus/train/boat tickets from pretty much anywhere - they give you a receipt which gets your ticket - but the overnight trains are a delight - fun for the kids, you get a proper bed and you save a night's accomodation.
  
• If you're going outside the busy season then don't book accomodation beforehand (probably best not to anyway). Just identify a beach that sounds good (take Lonely PLanet or something), turn up, dump your bags in a cafe and while the family has a drink, send dad or mum or older kids up and down the beach to see what looks like the best place to stay.
  
• thats all for now

[lou33]

Thanks Tom and Twink.

Twink, I may compile a list of questions and get hold of you via contact another talker if that's ok? We do have a friend in Bangkok, and were thinking of flying there, and staying with him for a few days while we sort out accommodation. He doesn't know yet though!

[Twink]

That's fine Lou !

[lou33]

Thanks Twink . Will start jotting and get back to you after the weekend (going away)!

[Cll]

What was weather like - might think of it for next Easter?

[Tom]

Blue skies and hot.
Every day.

[Moomin]

I know some people have said Koh Samui's a bit 'been-there-done-that' but as Thailand virgins 3 years ago, dh and I had a fabulous time here and would highly recommend it. Although we were childless at the time, there were a few families there with young children and babies and I'd say it was ideal. We'll definitely go back with dd one day.