Thailand

[Frostytiger87]

Hi we’re having a long think on next years Summer holiday . We would love to visit Singapore as part of our holiday & was thinking Thailand we have one 16 year old
We were advised by a travel agent that Koh Samui is very nice . I have been reading up and it would seem that where we would be staying is very remote . I’m just worried that my teen would be bored is it very hot in July ?
Any advice or recommendations greatly appreciated please

July is a pretty good month for Koh Samui, all the islands off the east coast will be fine so you can hop around. West coast and south will be wetter.
Singapore and Koh Samui are pretty hot year round in the mid 30s for much of the time (I live in Singapore).
My teens get a bit bored by a pool all the time so we always ensure wherever we are staying is close to nature, watersports etc. - depending on where you are staying on the island you should be fine :-)
Enjoy!

I wouldn't stay somewhere remote on Koh Samui as there's no real public transport and you'll be stuck there.

Thank you for your replies , yes being remote is a concern we were recommended Tongsai Bay
has anyone stayed here ? I’d rather be in an area that we can get around easily

We went to Tongsai for our honeymoon. It's genuinely stunning, one of the best hotels on the island. Private beach etc. We rented mopeds one day, hotel will organise anything for you if you want to go to the marine park or the elephant sanctuary or waterfalls. Kayaking, water sports from the beach. You will love it. Fabulous food and service.

Thankyou for your informative reply back at school . I just hope that my teen isn’t bored .Are the organised trips & restaurants expensive sorry I’m going from one question to another 🙈

No problem! I would give them a call or drop them a line. I think Mark (Mancunian) is still the guy in charge there, the team would send you a price list I'm sure for extras or your agent should be able to negotiate a few things thrown in. I seem to recall we had a half board deal, went to Bophut for dinner a few times as well which is a lovely fishing village.
In terms of getting around it's pretty easy to drive with a hire car.
On a separate note, I'm not sure how impacted it's been by covid, don't forget due to the poverty throughout SE Asia many places are significantly quieter than previously. They are desperate for tourism - we went to Cambodia recently and they literally have 200 people coming in per week rather than the 10,000+++ it used to be. On the one hand very special seeing certain places so deserted and beautifully unspoilt, on the other hand terribly sad as people have really suffered without tourism.

My OH is keen to visit Thailand , Singapore and Bangkok . I do worry about Covid when travelling now even though we’re all vaccinated
The other thing that concerns me is monkey pox in Thailand but I guess we have to get on with our life’s .

Oh I LOVED Koh Samui! We went there after the madness of Bangkok so was lovely to just chill.

We stayed in a fairly remote part of the island but it had restaurants / private beach etc... our hotel hired out kayaks and had various activities to tap in to. They also provided transport to go in to the busier area of Chaweng Beach. We only went in a couple of evenings but it would maybe suit your teenager a bit better. We loved going to the boxing for an evening as well.

Most places seemed to be really accessible, we done an island tour through our hotel and took in the Big Buddha etc...

I'd love to go back!!

We have a 15yo and after many years holidaying in Europe we have decided on Thailand for next year. I’ve spent hours researching and I think we are going to do an organised tour with extra nights at Bangkok and Koh Samui either side. Koh Samui definitely has the best of the weather in the summer holidays. Ds is keen on this idea as I do think he’ll be bored just in one place for the whole time. I’ve just got to be brave and buy the flights!

The incidence of covid is significantly lower over on this side of the world than the U.K., US or Europe. In Singapore we only got rid of indoor masks a few weeks ago and outdoor masks this year. My kids went to school for the first time in 2 years without masks in September.
The impact has been due to closed borders - Singapore was shut for 2 years, Japan opened last week, Hong Kong and China obviously you will be aware are still not fully open/open. That's where the "local" tourists live, so without travel in and out of those countries the holiday destinations have suffered.
Monkey pox I really wouldn't be concerned about (I work in healthcare).
Apologies if I wasn't clear before. Honestly, I am travelling to the U.K. soon and am way more jittery about covid (I was very poorly/long covid when I got it) as soon as I leave Asia!!

Bangkok is in Thailand.

If you want a Thai island/beach holiday with stuff to do, Phuket is the busiest of the resort areas. You could find a reasonably peaceful and secluded resort but still be a pretty short and cheap ride away from things to do. The teen might like watersports set up from the beaches, cheap shopping (markets and outlet-type malls), wildlife experiences like elephant sanctuaries, boat trips out to other islands.

You could also go to somewhere like the Club Med which is AI and has an incredible array of activities each day.

Agree with PP Phuket is a bit livelier but it's monsoon in July so that's worth considering.

DD14 loved both Koh Samui and Phuket.

Thankyou all so much , with it being monsoon season I think we will stick with koh Samui .
We’ve been browsing hotels and the Anantori Bo Phut resort was recommended does anyone know if it ?

We’re going to Thailand in January and we decided on a few nights in Bangkok and 12 in Phuket. Taking DDs 20 and 21. But elder dd is going to uni in Malaysia for a year from September so hoping to explore further when we visit her then.