BootsnAll Travel Community

Can anyone help me? My husband and I are planning a trip to Thailand and we aren't sure if we should arrange it with a travel company or if it will be easy to do on our own. We are going to fly into Bangkok and then go down to Phuket. Is it easy to get around? Should we arrange flight to Phuket or take a sleeper train? Any recommendations for accomodation in Phuket? Any helpful tips would be greatly appreciated!

Thailand is the easiest country to travel in. We will help you to plan for the trip and, also, save heaps of money. Travel agents will only mess things up. People will come along shortly to answer all of your specific questions, and, while you are waiting, feel free to use our search function.

It is very easy to get around Bangkok. Always use either the Skytrain (best) or a metered taxi. (and make certain that he turns on the meter, which most will automatically).
Avoid the Tuk tuks. Sadly, they are frequently driven by scam artists now.

While I prefer the trains (2nd class A/C is my favorite), this all depends upon you.

Hello Hello,

I actually work for a travel company, and some people find it easier to have somebody else take care of the organizing. With that being said, i would try to organize your own trip to Thailand. As static said Thailand is extremely easy to travel around, has a great Tourism Infrastructure, I find it fun planning my trips myself. How much time do you have in Thailand? Maybe if you post some things that you and your Husband are interested in doing, Islands you want to visit,your budget etc.

Many many people on this site have been to Thailand and will be more than happy to share their suggestions and experiences.

Safe travels

Thailand is a good choice of country to explore. I recommend that you visit Chiang Mai. You will see nice spots there and the folks are nice. Check the place here and see if you like it: www.mapjack.com/ChiangMai

Thanks so much! We are going to be there for 2 weeks in March 2009. Our goals are to see the major "touristy" sites in Bangkok (emerald buddha, leaning buddha.etc...) and then fly to Phuket or Krabi and spend the remainder of our trip. Should we book the trip to Phuket or Krabi before we leave? Any recommendations on where to stay in Bangkok and on the beach in Krabi or Phuket?

I'm headed to Thailand for about a week in either Sept or November and have been looking into flights - I would check out AirAsia for flights - when I was on the site this morning, there was a flight from BKK to Phuket for US3$ - you CAN'T beat that! Most of the other flights were between 13-20$ - still excellent prices!

Good luck!

Yep, Air Asia has great sales. They're generally the cheapest option for flights in Thailand. But note that the prices that It'chen quoted don't include taxes and other things. So it'll probably cost about $40-50 to fly from Bangkok to Phuket one way.

In Krabi, I'd recommend Railey. It's an isthmus that has no motorized traffic, you can only get there by boat. It's popular with rock climbers but you can also do snorkeling trips and hang out at the beaches.

anywhere that you recommend to stay in Railay or Krabi?

On Railay, you basically have three locations you can stay in:

East beach, west beach and tonsai. Tonsai is mostly a rock climbing area. West beach has higher end accommodation, east beach has budget accommodation (I think I paid 400 bahts a night for a fan room at Diamond Cave). The boat from Krabi will drop you off at East beach. There's really no beach on east beach so if you stay on that side you'll need to walk to walk to the beaches at west beach or Phra Nang (about 5-15 minutes).