Thinking of taking a last minute vacation, but want to keep the cost low. Any suggestions for 2-3 weeks in Thailand and or surrounding countries. Should I look at organized tours or plan it on my own. Wuld be nice to stay away form tourist traps and do some exploring, but I just started planning this over the weekend.

I just saw your post and I am not sure why no one else has replied to your post....many people are way more experienced than I am at traveling Thailand.... Anyway, my family was there in Jan and Feb 2009 for one month. We do everything as cheap as possible so I will share some of our experiences. If you only have two weeks, I would recommend Bangkok for a few days...use the water taxi and tuk-tuks for transportation. Bargain hard with the Tuk-tuk drivers. You could take a mini bus to Kanchanaburi and see WW2 history stuff, hike to a cool waterfall (Erawan Falls). We rented scooters there for transportation. Then I would go back to Bangkok and take an over-night train to Chiang Mai. Lots to do in Chiang Mai, and we rented scooters there too. Thailand is very affordable and a ton of fun!!! Have a great trip!

Thanks.

Since this is short term I was thinking of an organized tour,

http://www.gapadventures.com/trips/nort ... ATNA/2010/

,but am also thinking i could do something similar locally with a bit of planning. Am I completly off my rocker here?

IMHO organised trips by these larger companies are overpriced.

If you are on a budget then I advise you to do these things yourself. What you choose to do depends on your motivations.

If you are into diving then take a look at our Diving Internship packages at

http://www.kohphrathong.com/thailand_DM_internship.html

I can squeeze one more in for December if necessary. Alternatively if you care to elaborate what you are looking for then I may be able to point you in the right direction.

Nevertheless, if money is not so much of an issue then you may as well book with one of the more international gap companies.

SurinBoy,

When is money not an issue these days?
Still, thanks for the link. I am trying to plan something myself and now might give you a call for some diving when I'm down South.

Cheers,
J

gap adventures is a great company and if you do do a tour, do it with them.

If you want to go at it alone, you can get by in thailand for 20 USD per day.