dad looking for help! 16 month y/o - Thailand, Malaysia etc or cop out and go short-haul?

[dadii]

Hello. First time poster here, but desperately needing more advice as going crazy trying to plan our first holiday with toddler.

Our little boy will be 16 months when we want to travel (Feb 2010) and because we're keen on Sun and Beaches, we've been thinking Thailand/Malaysia. Obviously read all the tips about flying etc, but it's the transfers that are scaring us the most - are we going to have a nightmare with stop-overs and transfers? Should we go for direct flights?

Has anybody got any experience of Thailand transfers once landed. How far is too far? Are kids ok on the boats etc? At what point should we scale back the trip and opt for sanity over sanctuary? Also, is is better to go for a room/suite upgrade in order to have a nicer base, or save the money and spend on eating out etc?

Seriously considering giving up and going to Dubai instead as it seems less hassle.

Many thanks in advance for any insights that go beyond the usual stuff.

I don't know how much help I can be as I am not a parent (but am a nanny). I have been to Thailand a few times with a direct flight to Thailand and internal transfers within Thailand.

I would say it is entirely down to your sons personality - is he quite flexible and a good sleeper??

For what it's worth Thailand once you get there is child friendly - not Disney child friendly but not as third worldly as some people think.

Where in Thailand would you go and what are you looking to do?

No advice on Thailand but we took 16 mo dd2 to Central America (along with 3yo ds and 5yo dd1) and it was a breeze.

Child friendly, fun, coped really well with the heat etc. Worst bit was the injections before we went (if you are thinking of Thailand, better start now!) and getting them all to take malaria medecine!)

transfers were fine. We shared a room. We backpacked for 10 days on the local buses etc. Children are very resilient and love the experience. we had a ball.

The jetlag will be the big minus I would think. Have you done longhaul yourself before?

Also bear in mind that you will be going to a permanent 35 degrees which may be quite uncomfortable for the LO.

A suite may be better as you won't want to be out in the sun all day - perhaps a villa style property with it's own veranda.

I would always go for a direct flight where possible.

can you fly direct to Thailand? I thought you had to change at Dubai?

Anyway, I'm planning longhaul with small child, based on the fact that a friend of mine lives in HK and has been back adn forward with hers several times.

You can plan transfers to be long (overnight) in a hotel, rather than stuck in an airport for hours...

Also, Dubai is horrible. Very hot and polluted and nasty. Thailand much nicer!

We stayed on Koh Samui with our children this summer, it was really great and our youngest was just 2. We stayed here and found it a brilliant choice www.villatanamera.com/ The website does not do the place justice. It was so reasonable and the food was great nearby. Flight fine as less than an hour from Bangkok and then only about 20 mins to resort

We just returned from spending three weeks travelling around Thailand over Christmas and New Year. No experience of travelling with children but as I'm 18 weeks pregnant and we love our exotic trips we spent a lot of time discussing if/how would manage a similar trip with a little one in tow!

To answer your questions though we flew with Etihad via Abu Dhabi and trasfer was extremely straightforward - we only had an hour to kill and we welcomed the opportunity to stretch our legs. After a night in Bangkok we took an onward flight to Phuket and later Koh Samui, but if you don't want to spend a night in Bangkok before heading to the islands would suggest direct flight from London so only one change. All airports esp Bangkok Suvarnbhumi (sp?)extremely modern and straightforward and cannot stress how helpful Thai people are and how much they love children so sure you'd get lots of help.

On the accommodation front we had standard rooms all of which were spacious and comfortable - if you are in a 3/4/5 start resort, most of which are very reasonable upgrade may not be necessary. Eating out everywhere is reasonable and we had not problems with dodgy food.

The only issues we experienced were with the heat - extremely hot circa 35 all the time so decent air con and a resort with plenty of shade is absolutely essential. Some of the boat transfers which were pretty choppy e.g. ferry from Phuket to Ko Phi Phi, although it has to be said there were lots of kids on the boat who were fine it was the adults who seemed to be suffering more!

Other things would suggest thinking about are making sure you are staying fairly near a decent medical centre (for example Phuket and Koh Samui both have large international hospitals)and also be aware Thai taxis/minibuses have a distinct lack of seatbelts, probably the only time I stressed about safety/baby etc etc....

In terms of whether we'd do it again once the bump arrives, we probably would, but we'd keep it simple, stay somewhere easily accessible and only go in the cooler months!

Just back from malaysia with a 2 and a half year old and a just 1 year old. Had a lovely time despite jet lag etc. It was hard work with 2 but with 1 would seem a breeze I think! We stayed in a hotel that wasn't particularly geared to kids in that it didn't have specific facilities but all the staff were super friendly and helpful, food was great and the kids loved it.