3 weeks in Thailand - ideas!

[halloumidippers]

Me, DH, and DC 13 and 9 are off to Thailand in December. Budget £15-20k can take up to 3 weeks. We like a mixture of adventures (trekking, kayaking), culture (temples) and a week or so on the beach.
Can anyone recommend an itinerary or some ideas? Good day trips? Fun places to stay? With our budget we can splash out on some special places but happy to mix it up.

I did three weeks in Thailand and my itinerary was as follows:
Bangkok > sleeper train to Chiang Mai > elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai countryside> back to bangkok > krabi > Railay > koh yao yai > phi phi > koh samui

The elephant sanctuary, despite scrupulous research, I was uncomfortable with so we left early (elephants were chained up, made to squirt water at us, trained to do tricks etc) however chiang mai also held for us an amazing jungle trek, bamboo rafting and local tribe open house meet. Chiang Mai itself was a really great walled city and i love a walled city.
Bangkok was unexpectedly very cool. I was expecting it to be just a means to an end but i loved the smelly chaos. The best hotel i stayed in was the Eastin Grand hotel Sathorn.
Railay beach was also super interesting, lots of climbing there, lots of great hotels to choose from. Lots of great monkeys and birds!
Koh Yao Yai was like a resort, really luxurious, little taxis to your suite, bath on the balcony, easily the most gorgeous place i've ever stayed but we couldn't do longer than 3 days there as being in a purpose built village with 4 restaurants only to choose from was a little restrictive and of course not real life but honestly i would still recommend for a short while. That was called Santhiya resort.

Controversial i know but i hated phi phi. Pulling up to the dock and seeing a burger king was not it. The whole island felt like...bendidorm tbh. Sorry gang i know everyone loves it.
Koh samui was also pretty cool!! Best beaches i think out of the whole of the trip.

If i could go again i would definitely skip phi phi and perhaps investigate more jungle, or more koh samui! Hope that helps!!

I agree about Phi Phi, wasn't a fan at all. Love Yao Yai though.

@Ensconcedinvelvet what time of year did you go?

@Ensconcedinvelvet thank you, so much info! Do you mind sharing the name of the elephant sanctuary? I'm only researching the ones which sound they have welfare as a top priority... but sounds like you did exact same thing too 🫠

It was called Chai Lai Orchid. Nothing but rave reviews! It was genuinely a gorgeous place and the elephants certainly weren't beaten at all but it just felt very performative and i wasn't comfortable. The jungle waterfall trek and other cool experiences were all organised by them too so an unfortunate conclusion that we felt the need to leave.

I went in August which we were told beforehand by friends who had also been in August wouldn't be a problem but in our experience it definitely was, rained almost every day which I did lean into but it was restrictive regarding kayaking, scuba diving etc and certainly resulted in some pretty hairy speedboat rides in storms!!

Ah, Chai also orchid was one which had "passed" on my research, they really focus on the baby elephants spending time with mothers!!! Thanks for the tip.

Isn’t @Ensconcedinvelvet saying don’t go to Chai Lai Orchid?

Elephant ‘sanctuaries’ are a minefield. So many are ethically dubious.

Have a look at Save Elephant Foundation - they are very well respected. www.saveelephant.org/our-projects/

We are going to elephant nature park near chaing mai.
have friends that said it is very good

oh I see it is recommended by the above link

Also we are doing this which my friends did and said was amazing

https://achefstour.com/

Not been yet but planning a trip for March.

We are doing our beach stay in Koh Lanta looks really beautiful and less commercial then some of the other places we researched. They have an elephant sanctuary called following giants, you are not allowed to touch, feed or bathe with them so hoping these are more ethical than others but again, not yet been so only based on reviews so far (would love feedback if anyone has been).

Will also be doing a few days in Bangkok (feel like we should see it as we are there!) and Ao Nang but will do day trips from here such as the emerald pool etc.

Would have loved to add in Chaing May but it’s burning season when we are there.

Railay was on our list but decided on Koh Lanta instead to stay but may visit whilst in Ao Nang.

Not read the thread but I would highly recommend elephant hills in Kho lak national park. The floating safari tents are amazing and the elephants are treated really well.

www.elephanthills.com