BootsnAll Travel Community

The count down has begun. My friend and I leave for Bangkok on June 23rd. We plan on staying at Suk 11 for 5 nights then heading down to Phuket or anyother islands that can be recommended for this time of year. We are still in the planning phase of our itinaray and could use any help we can get. We want to make a loop starting in Bangkok, down to some beaches, then Siem Reap in Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, back to northern Thailand ending up in Bangkok for a few more days to meet up with other friends. We have 6 weeks to see all we can.
Any suggestions

Try some of the less well known beaches on Phuket - away from the tourist zones of Patong, Kata, and Karon Beaches.

Phuket's Best Beaches

Just my 2 cents about the islands that I visited, all have great things to offer, just depends on what you are looking for. There is always a variety on each island if you go looking for it, but below is a quickie summary:

Ko Samui - Large and very touristy
Ko Phangan - Haad Rin is beach party central!
Ko Tao - Cheapest scuba around and nice small island
Krabi/Railay - beautiful, rock climbing heaven, expensive
Ko Phi Phi - gorgeous, small, expensive, great diving
Ko Lanta - large, fairly quiet, Long beach is the best beach
Phuket - busy, loads of package tourists and vacationers
Ko Pu - very small and quiet, treehouse bungalows
Ko Chang - Nice beaches, lots of tourists from Bangkok

Good Luck!

Just got back from 4 wonderful days in Phuket. I don't know what the crowds are like during June/July, but the place was empty this past week. Spent an idlylic 4 days on the beach drinking margs, snorkeling and getting the requisite tourist sunburn. Stayed at the Best Western on Bangtao beach for 2400Bht/night. It just re-opened 3 months ago after repairs from the Tsunami. At least one other upscale hotel on Bangtao is operating, as well as several cheaper places. We lucked out on the weather and had no rain. Used Ted's website as a reference to choose & book our place- thanks for the info, Ted.

Sounds like a great trip- have fun!

Mark

not many tourists in Phuket around June - July cos it's low season and waves are quite big ans sea is rough but Phi Phi Island is available all year round

tourists poor down to Samui island more around that time, maybe also Chaang and Samet ^^

The condition of beaches varies quite a bit.

Surin Beach - sometimes great for surfing - the breakers are so big.

Kata Beach - when the weather is calm is still very swimmable and gentle.