Thailand - Late November - Phuket, Elephant Hills, Khao Lak?

[DominoDaancing]

Hi,
We are considering a trip to Thailand at the end of November and have been considering 3 nights in Phuket, 3 nights at Elephant Hills and 4 nights in Khao Lak.
We've never been to Thailand before.
I've read quite conflicting things about Phuket and not sure if we should look at another area to start with?

Any thoughts welcome about this or the holiday idea in general.
Thank you!

We went to Thailand for the first time last Christmas with our four teens - we went to Bangkok, Chang Mai, 3 nights at the Elephant Bush Camp (nr Chang Mai - best bit!) and then a few days in Khao Lak (flew to Phuket and then drove north). The latter week was my least favourite part of the holiday - that said, I'm not a huge 'flop by a beach' fan really, but the teens wanted some down time after the more active first part of the holiday.

Although the beaches were lovely, they were busy (I know it was high season) and Khao Lak itself isn't really that interesting - just a long strip of restaurants, bars and shops. I'll probably get jumped on here but Phuket looked a bit 'tacky' to me - however I confess we only really drove through it, we didn't stay there, and I'm sure at the upper budget end, there are some lovely places to stay.

Thailand itself was fabulous, I loved the people and the food, but if we go back, it would be to the inland cultural bits, not the beachy bits. But it does rather depend on what you are looking for in your holiday...!

@Panicmode1 thank you so much for your reply. It's kind of what I feared to be honest!

We like active holidays and it's the elephant part that appeals the most, plus I think a little bit of beach time/down time would be nice.

How did you find Bangkok? I wonder if we should look at Bangkok, Elephant Hills and then beach?

We are not beach holiday people but might appreciate a few days of it before coming home!

I’m moving to Phuket in a few weeks and I do feel on the beach bits some bits are very touristy. I’d keep away from Patong for sure ! Krabi is lovely if you don’t fancy Phuket.

@DominoDaancing We had about 36 hours in Bangkok so I feel that we only glimpsed it. We did have a great time there and it is definitely on my list to go back to but it was fairly hectic and not the best place to explore with 4 jetlagged teens.

Chang Mai was beautiful and I wish we'd had more time - again, I want to go back there and do more exploring, both of the city and perhaps some hiking in the nearby national park.

From Khao Lak, we went out to 'James Bond Island' and would have gone to the Similian Islands for some snorkelling/diving but the children were ill so we couldn't do that in the end.

I am sure that if you were at the Meridian in Khao Lak as some friends were, it's a nicer experience, but we were definitely at the budget end of the beach!

We stayed at Elephant Hills, it was the highlight of our holiday. My kids particularly enjoyed kayaking in the canoe each tent provides. The highlight was being around the elephants. My daughter and I subsequently volunteered at an elephant rescue centre a few years after that, as we loved them so much.

How magical @follygirl- the elephant bush camp stay was definitely my favourite part of our trip.