Thailand advice

[Dallasdays]

Hello wise people of MN!

I am planning a 2 week trip to Thailand next Easter with my 2 kids (10 and 12). I am thinking of staying 3/4 nights in Bangkok, 3/4 nights in Chiang Mai and then flying to an island for 6 or so nights - maybe Koh Samui.

Does anyone have any advice in terms of how long to spend in each place, which islands are good, recommended trips to do, hotel recommendations etc? I would like to book some nice 5* hotels and not especially budget constrained.

Thanks in advance!

I don’t think you can really go wrong with that itinerary. Will you end up back in Bangkok too? I preferred Koh Pha Ngan A LOT and would recommend it if you can feasibly do that. Found Koh Samui a bit sleepy. I’d possibly tweak and have slightly more time in Chiangmai than Bangkok. You’ll find plenty to do in Chiangmai… markets and elephants. I also did a cookery class up there which I’d recommend.

As a former resident (10+ years) with Thai in-laws .. I am really happy to give any advice you need..

Your plan is a good one. Chiang Mai is lovely but try to get out of town and into the mountains if possible... as you are going at the very hottest time of year. The heat in March/April is mind numbing.. but there is aircon in even quite low budget hotels... avg (in the shade temp is 36c.. so please don't think about climbing the steps up to Doi Suthep (the big temple) .. take the venicular railway..

Bangkok in March /April will be equally hard going so lots of stops into lots of aircon places .. for some relief.

The islands are much easier and 4/5 degrees cooler as well. With a light breeze. Koh Samui would be my choice unless you can cope with a longer ferry to the likes of Koh Tdow or Koh Lanta.

Enjoy

Go to Pai when you get to Chiang mai. It's much cooler up in the hills. You can spend a few days taking it in. Recommend bamboo mini golf, the little zoo and visiting lovely little various bars/restaurants. Thai people adore western kids so you'll get a lovely warm welcome. Also do the elephant poo paper factory when in Chiang mai. I did a month in Thailand with my two kids the summer before COVID. It was amazing. Get your kids into fried rice and watermelon juice. Chicken and cashew nut is also a very kid friendly Thai dish. As is omelette and rice. Enjoy! Learn how to say hello and thank you in Thai too

The itinerary sounds doable. I always find it useful to have a very rough plan of what we hope to do each day to work out whether we have allowed enough time in each place without missing any must sees. Do you plan to do day trips from Bangkok or just explore the city? Will your time on Koh Samui just be spent on the beach or do you want an island with more to see and do?

I presume you will be flying between destinations and not taking the train? Although the flights don't take too long, you still lose most of the day travelling to airport, checking in, transfer to hotel at other end etc., so make sure you have factored that in.

@guildingthelily would you mind sharing where you went? We're hoping to go this summer. Not afraid of rain, but don't want it to be a total wash out. Looking at about 3 weeks.

We spent a week in Bangkok, there's so much to do there. Temples, markets, boat trips, massages.

Then did the sleeper train up to Chiang mai, I used to live there in my 20's so I wanted to revisit but it had changed so much. It's very busy. Hordes of tourists. No longer a backpacker place but great to use as a base. We did an ethical elephant sanctuary which was fantastic.

We spent a week there. Then a week in Pai. You can get a 30 day visa on arrival. We didn't do an island as we fancied something different and inland. But we lived near Thailand at the time so had access to tropical beaches for school hols.

However, if you're flying from the UK, a visit to an island is a must. I think Ko Pan Ngan and Ko Samui are monsoon free in August. I preferred Ko Pan Ngan back in the day.

Wherever you stay make sure you have a pool to cool off in though. As it's boiling hot all year round!

Try to eat in basic looking places where you can to keep costs down. The food will always be amazing.

Personally I wouldn’t spend that long in Bangkok. There’s plenty to do there but it’s hot and smelly and smoky. I’d prefer to spend that time on a beautiful island.

Elephant Hills is worth a look.

If money is no object then I’d look at Iniala. It’s the most ridiculous hotel.

Rayavadee and Phulay Bay are also nice.

Last time we went, we went over to Cambodia and stayed at Song Saa Private Island which might just be my favourite hotel I’ve ever stayed at. Just thought worth a mention.

I’d try to be in a decent-sized city for Songkran. We were in Siem Reap and it was amazingly good fun.

Thanks so much everyone - really helpful! I am thinking 3 nights which is just 2 days due to flight times in Bangkok. An ethical elephant safari / sanctuary from Chiang Mai as a base would be great. I'm thinking we might do 4 nights in Koh Pha Ngan and 3 nights in Koh Samui just to maximise the different places we see. If anyone has any hotel recommendations on those islands, or for the elephant sanctuary from Chiang Mai that would be great (noting Elephant Hills already to look at).

Thanks again!

Itinerary looks good, but I would definitely add Pai after Chiang Mai and swap Koh Samui for either Koh Phangan or Koh Tao.

You’ll have a great time - Thailand is fantastic.

Thanks! If we were planning 4 nights in Chiang Mai, what would you suggest in terms of Pai? 2 nights in each? Just conscious of adding in more travel time when we will already want to do some day trips such as elephant sanctuary and maybe cooking class...

Yes, 2 night in each could work. Or you could cut island time by 1 day and do 5 nights altogether in the north.

Definitely do a cooking class - that was one of the highlights of Chiang Mai for me!

Thanks - I just worry that adding in Pai may be too much travel time as I think it's a 3 hour drive? What would you recommend doing in Pai vs Chiang Mai?

I never went up to Pai. It looks beautiful and idyllic but (like you) I didn’t want to cram too much in. I don’t regret not going. You can’t miss what you don’t know about, right?

Bangkok Aquarium is very good and will provide relief from the heat.

We liked this Koh Samui hotel if you end up there: www.amari.com/koh-samui

It's been years since I've done Thailand but did it 4 times in my younger years. Personally I'd stay in Bangkok as little as possible and go straight to the islands! But I never liked the smog and crowds in the city.

We did that last Easter kids 9 and 12, 3 nights Bangkok, 4 Chiang Mai and 8 in Koh Chang! It was brilliant. Look out for the watergun festival, I can't remember the name of it!

I did elephants, cookery, river rafting on bamboo style rafts, a hill trek and night markets in Chiang Mai- loved it. All of the above would be great for kids your age.

We did 3 nights Bangkok, 4 Chiangmai and 5 Phuket which was perfect. Chiangmai was the highlight of our trip, definitely don't do less than 4 nights there.

Lived in Thailand for a few years, I’m sure you’ll have a great trip whatever you decide. I would definitely recommend trying to do a trip to Pai, it’s beautiful up in the mountains and feels much more relaxed than Chiang Mai. I would give up time on Koh Samui to make it happen. Honestly, Koh Phangnan is nicer anyway. That’s just my 2 cents though, if you want to prioritise beach time then your plan would work great.

Yes, no need to do Koh Pan Ngan and Ko Samui, pick one and enjoy some rest instead of travelling all the time, especially with kids in tow. (But defo pick Ko Phan Ngan!) Don't miss out on a snorkelling trip whilst you're there.

Definitely don’t fly between chiang Mai and Bangkok, go on the overnight train is such an adventure and you don’t lose a day, and you arrive centrally.

We have booked for next year and are taking dcs, younger primary age, but haven’t been yet so our plan isn’t tested yet (fingers crossed will be good!)! We decided on 3 nights Bangkok, then fly to chiang mai 5 nights there with 2days/1night at the new elephant bush camp that elephant hills has set up out of Chiang mai, then flying to Phuket onto Khao lak for just over a week at the beach. Will look at island boat trip from there, similian islands maybe as day trips

We crunched the itinerary a lot on whether to fly or train between Bangkok and Chiang mai. My preference was the train but overall for us and with dc the flights won out. We found it really depended on the dates you are playing around with and rest of the plans on what worked best, so will likely differ for everyone, also how far ahead booking so what flight times were available including the uk flight in to start with. For us it was choice between losing a night in Bangkok or losing a morning in Chiang mai, and a morning where we may not have slept much on train the night before. Then also factoring in we will have travelled long haul with dc only 2-3 days before. Our flight times are for once nice times too (in theory)!

Thanks everyone - the overnight train is a good shout. I think my kids would love the adventure of that. It's a good point that doing 4 nights Koh Pha Ngan and 3 Koh Samui is maybe a lot of travel and we might be better to spend the 7 nights on Kho Pha Ngan, or even a different island that isn't one of these 2 ... what island would people recommend for 7 nights?

We just had 6 nights at Koh Tao, at Ban’s dive resort. Great central location between the two villages, on a beautiful stretch of beach.
Book ahead with Lomprayah ferries to get between islands.