Thailand in October

C

Certina

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Hello,

Finally going to get away for 2 weeks in mid October.

My wife & I were thinking of Thailand to chill out & relax +
a bit of culture.

Never been & have heard very mixed reports. Has anyone been
& could anyone offer any advice on such a holiday?

Thanks.
 
Hello Certina,

I have been to Thailand (Bangkok/Koh Samui/Koh Phangan) for my last 2 holidays (August '04 and July '05).

There is lots to do in Bangkok...we only stayed for 2 nights both times but second year we stopped over on the way back, it was lovely to chill out after touring the islands. We stayed in the Westin Grande on Sukhumvit Road, excellent in terms of location and we paid €110 including breakfast for the room per night. Also stayed in the Amari Atrium, very nice but would highly recommend the Westin.

As regards the islands, monsoon season is around October time and I know from friends who visited Koh Samui in October last year they were plagued by rain almost every day, weather still very humid and rain eased at night time. For accomodation on all the islands, I found www.sawadee.com to be great - loads of accomodation from 5 euro right up to 200! They are some amazing places to stay in Koh Samui. Depending on what you are looking for, 2 of my favourite (and very reasonable) were Central Samui Village Resort, paradise set on a private beach and rooms are bungalows dotted out amongst their own forest. For budget conscious (and possibly the best view of Koh Samui) we stayed in the Jungle Club, the owners are a French/Thai couple and you have the choice of a hut/bunglow/house. The huts are 9 euro per night, very basic, no running water when we were there which added to the enjoyment as it was only for a couple of nights! Beautiful pool built into the cliff edge and food was top class! Its listed on the above mentioned website.

As regards Samui itself, hire a car and drive around the island (it only takes 2 hours) there's a tiger zoo, aquarium, butterfly farm and lots of beaches off the beaten track.

PM me if you need more info on Samui/Koh Phangan, i've never been to Phuket so cant offer you advice on that one.

I would definitely recommend Thailand..its such a beautiful place and we cant wait to go back!
 
I travelled throughout Southeast Asia in November/ December 2 years ago and would highly recommend that you spend a few days in Chiang Mai. I way preferred it to the islands. You can fly with for next to nothing. It has fabulous hotels and so much to see and do. Don't leave without doing a trek (bring a rainjacket if going in rainy season and it gets pretty cold up the mountains but you forget yourself because it is so beautiful) and the cookery courses are highly recommended aswell. Would love to be going back. Enjoy.
 
Phuket , don't go near it unless your willing to pay 3 times the odds for everything , very overcrowded , think costa del highrise. though it is a good transit point for getting to Ko Phi Phi don ( Large Island beside where "The Beach " was shot.
Krabi should be investigated big time , beaches out of this world , imagine your dream tropical beach, then multiply by 10!! Ton sai and raili ( sp?) are two def worth checking out
Ko Samui is fine if you want the big glitzy resort type holiday , but look for somewhere away from Chewang beach, crazy place where main drag has more fish and chip shops/pizza hut than traditional thai glass noodle stalls.
Bangkok is hard to take at first but having been in and out Soi Sukumvit is the place to stay www.asiarooms.com never let me down, sort by area.
On most of the streets off Soi Sukumvit there are travel agents that do great day trips out of Bangkok, Bridge over River Kwai trip is well worth doing , do not book in hotel , rip off.
Chaing Mai again as previous poster said , well worth a visit , its in my top three favorite places in Thailand , fly from BKK , 1 hour and should cost no more than €60 odd return , then fly from C.Mai-BKK-Samui or Phuket to go to Krabi or Phi Phi.
Lots of trips on offer in C.Mai , scenery stunning , i found it way cheaper the further North you go in Thailand whilst down south esp on islands its more expensive.
Enjoy your hols.
 
If you want to experience Thai culture, stay away from Koh Samui. It's like saying go to the Canaries to experience Spain! Krabi is a really lovely place as is Koh Phi Phi. I spent a few weeks in Southern Thailand 5 years ago. I'm glad I went but I don't think I'd go back. I found travelling independently to be a real hassle most of the time. It's very tiring and I knew when I'd had enough. Maybe you should reserach Hua Hin and Cha-am. Apparently a lot more relaxing than the better known places which are invaded with backpackers. Or consider Malaysia, fantastic country, great food, friendly people. I'd go back tomorrow!
 
Like the last poster, I am also glad that I went the one time to Koh samui/ko phangan etc. - but it wasnt what I was looking for. It is over touristed. The full moon party was the main event that brought me down there and it was rubbish as far as I was concerned (actually it was the stuff of nightmares for me but that was down to some poor decision making on my part).

Later on in the trip I went to the North of Thailand (Udon Thani) - thats where I found the people the friendliest - and the real thai experience to be had. If I return to that part of the world, I will be heading for chang mai - which I have heard very good things about.

If anyone is inspired to go north, I can recommend taking an overnight train first class - cheap by our standards and a tonic for the weary traveller - whilst still managing to get to where you want to be at the same time.
 
Thank you all very much for your help & comments! Some really interesting stuff there to check out.
 
Was in Ko Samui earlier this year. It was good enough but we didn't go near the real tourist beaches mentioned above - sounded more like Crete or Cyprus resorts. One major hassle was the taxis - they are refusing to use their meters so if you want to move around you face either being meekly ripped off or getting involved in a lot of haggling etc. that spoils the trip.
We stayed on a quieter beach, found ok food places and thought it was reasonable but presonally I wouldn't go twice. It was a sad bunch of middle aged clubbers that passed through going to\from Full Moon parties on Ko Phan Ngan. For our Paddy Stringfellow types only.

Ko Samui does have all the conveniences that make it such a heavily visited place - direct flights from BKK and Chiang Mai with Bangkok Air, charter flights from every corner of the globe, lots of shopping, luxury boutique hotels, upmarket beachfront restaurants.

I was also in Hua Hin - horrible place full of UK estate agent shops, retired westerners, Fish n Chip shops and expensive golf courses; it felt like I was in Blackpool only the beach is much better there (Lancashire). Not what I expected at all.
I went to Cha - Am instead which was better but not worth travelling half way round the world to see.

There are plenty of places to see in Thailand; Bangkok is an inevitable stop over and can be enjoyable so long as you stay near SkyTrain station or River boat pier to avoid needing to use cars at all costs. You'll see.

The to do list is personal - sightseeing - Temples + Chinatown..., shopping at Siam, night markets, food stalls, day trips to ancient capital or WW2 bridge etc.

Use to find real accommodation reviews instead of out dated guide book filler.
It's a very easy going place with friendly people especially if where it is not overrun by tourism yet. Not a culture shock for westerners.
There are some really good places off the beaten track but for a short trip you might be better off to stick to the more accessible places.
 
Disagree with previous poster, was in Hua Hin and loved it. little fishing village with great nightmarkets and great little resturants. As for drawing comparisons with Blackpool, you must have been to a different Hua Hin !!didn't see a fish and chip shop in sight.

Horses for courses and all that
 
Chang Mai & Koh Samui (coolest airport in the world, seriously), a coup is taking place at the moment but it looks like it will be bloodless, Marshall law in force as of today.

I wouldn't bother with Bangkok except for transfers between the above mentioned destinations. Stay away from southern Thailand on the Malay border where there is some unrest between Muslims & Buddhists.
 
Bangkok more interesting than usual today all right. Tanks on the streets etc. Seems relatviely calm acording to news report. The Government here is not advising people to cancel travel plans but to exercise great caution in Bangkok. Don't be put off, it may well all pass off without much fuss. But keep an eye on the news for the next couple of days!
 
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No don't be blase (can't find the accent key). But news suggests its all pretty quiet, coup was not violent, any activity is confined to a few buildings in Bangkok, and they are well used to coups there as an alternative to elections. Dept of Foreign Affairs is usually conservative about travel advice, and they are not advising cancellation of plans. Worth keeping a good eye on the news for the next while. But Thailand is a very big place and life will proably go on as normal around the country.
 
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