Thailand

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pdhmobile

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I know this one will be open to abuse but....

I'm planning on going to Thailand, with the family, and am looking at doing a 2 or 3 different destination holiday, one of which will be the elephant sanctuary and some sort of beach days.

Has anyone done similar and can offer any advice or recommendations?

Cheers
 
pdhmobile said:
I know this one will be open to abuse but....

I'm planning on going to Thailand, with the family, and am looking at doing a 2 or 3 different destination holiday, one of which will be the elephant sanctuary and some sort of beach days.

Has anyone done similar and can offer any advice or recommendations?

Cheers
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Take the train to Kanchanaburi and stay in a floating guest house on the river.. great food
Phuket is pretty dope, Phi Phi island is reet nice plenty of cheap boat tours and plenty to do.. Monkey Beech etc
Bangkok has a bit of sleazy reputation from the hangover and sex tourism.. but it’s only really one street. The rest is really cool and friendly (in a family friendly type of way)
 
I went to Ko Tao years ago, it was gorgeous. I went to the other islands but that was definitely the most picturesque. It may have changed since though.
 
I moved to Thailand at the end of last summer although I’m in a much quieter part and haven’t got out and explored too far yet. I’d been here a couple of times before and done a very nice holiday in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Koh Samui which gives city, jungle and beach options and it’s easy to fly internally between them.

There are elephant sanctuaries all over but if animal welfare is a concern make sure to read reviews as some are far from being sanctuaries, same with the tiger ones and I personally tend to avoid those places. But genuine ones do exist.

Chiang Mai is great, there were loads of markets there when I visited and various jungle activities like river rafting, atv riding, elephants, golden temples etc. I hear good things about Chiang Rai too.

For beaches any of the main islands should give you that - from Samui you can get to Ko Pha Ngan (popular with backpackers for full moon parties), Ko Tao (good diving/snorkelling) and other smaller islands such as an amazing one I visited called Koh Nang Yuan near Ko Tao which had white sandy beaches, some of the clearest waters and easily the best snorkelling I’ve done. Krabi, Phuket, Phi Phi islands all offer similar, Hua Hin too. Plenty of other beach/island options too.

Bangkok is great, it has one or two sleazy parts but plenty of attractions and stuff to entertain. Traffic is frequently crazy so if you stay there then a hotel near the sky train can be useful.

Enjoy!
 
Lots of great places to go in Thailand just a question of what you want to see?

Like previous posters have mentioned the sleazy zones are easy to avoid, but easy to stumble upon.

Personally I think the trips to the beaches, jungle areas and small towns would be best as it’s a great education for the kids and very peaceful.
 
We did a 14 day stay starting with a 3 day locally escorted tour in the north (Chaing Mai, Pai, Mae Hong Son) where we visited the elephant sanctuary, took a fast boat to the snake women village and things like that. Then we flew to Phuket for 10 days and stayed at the Cape Panwa Hotel which was gorgeous.

I don't think you can do the Phi Phi Islands anymore because the tourists were destroying the place and I heard they had stopped tourists from visiting there, maybe that has changed again though. If you can go do so because it is absolutely stunning there.
 
Before having kids we went for a few nights in Bangkok, up to Chiang Mai, then to Krabi (Ao Nang) . I'd happily take the kids back to them all.
If you do go to an elephant place make sure it is a genuine sanctuary. A lot of the places offering elephant rides etc are horrendously cruel and the animals get worked to death.
We went to https://www.elephantnaturepark.org/
from Chiang Mai and it was a great experience.
Krabi there was some spectacular scenery, nice beaches etc and no sleaze in sight
 
Also did Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Koh Samui but back in 2002. Was really good. Koh Samui is a decent base for visiting some of the more deserted islands as well. Chiang Mai was lovely and Bangkok is great. Also went over to Mae Hong Son but looking back probably wouldn;t have bothered with that bit.
 
bevoboro said:
We did a 14 day stay starting with a 3 day locally escorted tour in the north (Chaing Mai, Pai, Mae Hong Son) where we visited the elephant sanctuary, took a fast boat to the snake women village and things like that. Then we flew to Phuket for 10 days and stayed at the Cape Panwa Hotel which was gorgeous.

I don't think you can do the Phi Phi Islands anymore because the tourists were destroying the place and I heard they had stopped tourists from visiting there, maybe that has changed again though. If you can go do so because it is absolutely stunning there.
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its only the beach from the movie that has limited access...
 
We did Southern Thailand last year and booked a two week multi destination with TUI. I tend to stay away from travel agents and book everything myself but this was just so easy and quite affordable so would highly recommend. We flew into Phuket and did 4 nights in Krabi, 7 nights in Khao Lak and 3 nights in Phuket. Gave us a little taste of what each region had and did plenty of day trips from each area to some islands (Phi Phi, etc.) They took care of all the transfers which were private and then you got a rep at each resort.
 
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