Thailand - Advice Please

[Lou]

Hello,

We are thinking of taking our 9 & 6 year old to Thailand end of July. We last went about 11 years ago and spent time in Bangkok, Ko Toa and Ko Samui. Does anyone have any advice of great places to visit.

Weathewise we will be avoiding Phuket area.

Thanks!

Lou

[SLad]

Just got back but from phuket side, again compelled by the weather. Have heard brilliant things about Koh Mak if you're after quiet island stuff. The north (chiang Mai, Pai, kanchanaburi) all beautiful/moving and worth a visit.

[bonaome]

You'll have a fabulous time and you'll find the kids are absolutely adored by the Thais.

In Bangkok I'd recommend Lamphu Tree Hotel http://www.lamphutreehotel.com/main.html - It's near to the Khao San Road (10 mins walk) but in a quiet spot by a klong. Nice rooms. Great breakfast. There's 2 Lamphu Trees so make sure it's the one on the link. It's hard to find the first time but they'll email you a map and instructions in Thai to give to your taxi driver. It has a small swimming pool which is very nice. Very family friendly. We loved it. It's a short walk from the hotel to a pier on the chao phraya where you can pick up public transport boats to connect with Skytrain. Taxis are cheap enough and their AC is a break from the heat. The kids will love a tuk tuk ride!

You could fly down to Khao Sok National Park and stay in the jungle. We stayed at Our Jungle House

https://www.khaosokaccommodation.com/ in a tree house. I'd recommend maybe three nights there. They do things like night jungle walks, canoeing, elephant rides in the jungle from a centre for rescued elephants. Rooms are a great experience for the kids sleeping in the tree houses and the food there was fantastic too. You can fly from BKK to Surat Thani and they'll pick you up from the airport and transfer you to KhaoSok.

Beach-wsise I can recommend Ko Pha Ngan as a quieter, less resort-y island from Samui. Away from Haad Rin and the full moon party, the island is very quiet. Try the east of the island http://www.phangan.info/index.cfm?action=beaches.beach&idbeach=4 We stayed in huts with a fan and a shower and not much else on Pan Yai. It was idillic. Water is lovely to swim in. Once at night we saw phosphorescence. Very very child friendly. If you want a bit of 5 star + kids club tho, Samui is a perfectly nice place though I think the beaches themselves aren't as nice. You can fly to Samui, and there are boats that will transfer you direct to Ko Pha Ngan - I believe there's a speed boat transfer, if that's appealing!

Chang Mai is lovely to if you want to go north, and an idea might be to get the overnight train from Bangkok. Kids love sleeping in a bunk on an overnight train. Adults I think find it generally less amusing but not dreadful. It's got the walls and the night market and you can organise all sorts of activities from Chang Mai. You could get a bus back to BKK and stop off in either Ayutthaya and or Suckhothai. You can hire cycles and rise round all the nice old ruins. Kanchanaburi, I think, is less suitable for kids. It will be absolutely roasting there and there's not that much to do that's very kid friendly.

Hope some of that is helpful and you all have a wonderful time.

[Lou]

Thank you so much, that is all really useful! Will look up all your recommends, they sound ideal!

Have just bought Lonely Planet guidebook - Old school, but love a guide book. Excited!

[Justasking]

Jumping on this thread - any tips for Koh Samet? We're heading out there in April with a 5 year old and a 3 year old.

Thanks!