Hi everyone,

We are flying Singapore airlines to Brisbane in April. We want to stop off for a week on the way. Don't fancy staying in Singapore as we have done that. We like the idea of staying on a Thai island on a beach. We have checked out internal flights from Singapore with Tiger airways and the only island they appear to fly to at that time of year is Phuket. I know Phuket is busy and commercialised but are there any nice quiet places with small beachside hotel's? Or would we better getting a boat from there to a smaller island? If so, how easy is it? And which island is best? Sorry about all the questions but we have never done this before and we are really confused. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

Carol x

Hi we stayed in Phuket in 2001, it does have its more commercial resorts as well as some quieter ones. Patong was the busiest area as I remember, and we stayed in the next bay down Karon Beach. We felt that Karon Beach had about the right mix of things to do (restaurants & bars) but not so in your face.

I am sure that there are some much quieter areas too as the island isn't (or wasn't anyway) that populated.

This is where we stayed http://www.phuket.com/southsea/

All the best

Allan

I assume you are going to fly into Bangkok? If so Hua Hin is nice and only a drive from Bangers. The beach isnt quite as good as some other beaches, but not as commercialised - it where Thais tend to go on holiday.

We are flying into singapore x

You might find this site useful: http://phuket.sawadee.com/

We've only been to Phuket once - we went a couple of months after the tsunami and stayed here: http://www.mangosteen-phuket.com/ It's beautiful but not by the beach (and yes, at the time that choice was deliberate).

This one always gets good comments from friends: http://www.boathousephuket.com/ We ate there - it has a fab restaurant - and I think it has had to be partially rebuilt after the tsunami.

verystormy, Hua Hin is about a 3-4 hour drive from Bangkok. There is also Cha Am down that way, but if the OP is flying into SIN that would seem a bit of a faff, flying to BKK and then driving for so long.

being a manc i dont fancy the idea of scousers finding thailand and turning it into another benidorm LOL (only kidding)

Right now the customary west/east lancs road rivalry is over ill tell you proper info.

Fly with tiger to krabi in thailand

Its the gateway to the better islands like ko lanta and ko phi phi(pronounced pee pee)

If you want tropical beautiful ilands with palm trees and fantastic beaches then go to ko phi phi defo. Lanta is great to as are all the other islands around there.

Phuket is a bit seedy in the centre of patong(old pervs and pedos go there for the kids) but is lively in the club scene etc. The sex trade isnt that in your face so dont worry too much and its more like benidorm than anything as its a proper resort with mcdonalds etc but its up to you what you want

it cost us 40 quid return from singapore to krabi(which is round the corner by a few hours from phuket)

Have a look at it on a map.

When you get to the airport there will be buses or a cab to krabi town.
From krabi you can go to Ao nang(on the coast 5 mins down the road) or go to the islands

depends on the time you are arriving in to krabi.
If its early in the afternoon then you should be able to get to an island by teatime.
If its later on the just stop in ao nang(ASK CAB DRIVER FOR HOTEL FOR NIGHT)
ao nang is purpose built for backpaCKERS AND HOLIDAYERS. ITS CLEAN,. IT HAS A DECENT BEACH and it has loads of cafes etc for you. It also has lots of travel booking people who will plan the whole trip for you and theres about 20 in ao nang alone. book in for the night/day and then go and see someone for further travel.

Hotels range about 5 - 40 quid a night in ao nang.

this is what the travel people can do for you

ltransport from ao nang to ferry port/ferry/pickup from ferry/room for x amount of days/take to ferry/ferry/ride to airport all in one go

Depending on budget you can have a beach hut for 5-10 quid a night or go the whole hog and spend whatever you like but all in all the place is made for the traveller and you wont find it hard or daunting to get around. Transport is a fiver or so to ferry, fiver for ferry and pick up is generally free. you do get touts on ferry with accommodation if you want to go that route, but the worst comes to the worst and you dont like your beach hut then go somewhere else tomorrow down the beach as at their prices you can afford to be picky

if you have seen the film the beach with leo di caprio, then that is phi phi.

You can go on boat trips galore round there and the limestone carsts that stick out of the water that are as big as skyscrapers are breathtaking

make sure you go on a trip to the emerald cave. you swim through a big wide cave to a chimney with a beach inside, paradise.

that part of the world is my favourite so far

i hope ive been of use.

have a great hol and i wouldnt bother with phuket if you want a "proper " view of thailand, although the out parts of the islan d are undeveloped and fantastic but not good for a weeks hols.

Ive traveled thailand north south east and west on 5 seperate occasions. i love the place

all the best

al

Thanks everyone for all your advice, you have certainly given me food for thought. Al, I'll forgive you for being a Manc, because you have been so helpful! Lol!

Hey guys, if your going to singapore, phuket is good, it's only a hours flight with no probs, and saves messing about with bangkok if your only stopping for a week, My parents lived in phuket through the winter months for the last 5 years, so used it as my base while travelling around thailand, was there when the tsunami happened and was very quiet after, but the tourists soon came back, Patong, Karon, Kata is very much tourist land, there is some lovely beaches around out the way of them places, when you visit this area you think your on a different island, nai harn beach is very nice and nai harn is nice alot of expats live in this area including my parents, Chalong is not a beach but a were all the boats are moored as well as the fast boats, if you want traditional thai boat, rawai is the place to go and will take you to any one of the many islands around phuket, this is all in the southern part of the island If your on a budget don't worry about hotels search on the internet there is loads of cheap accommodation on the island, just chose what part the island you want to stop.

Trang I don't recommend, Krabi, Ao nang is ok but not as nice as Phuket and koh Phi Phi is nice which you can get to from Phuket, but were the tsunami ripped through it it, is still very much a building site in the centre of the island

Koh Lak has good beaches with hotels actually on the beaches, and cheap to stay it is about hour drive off the island, loads more to mention, but like you said you only have a week

Scottie, what part of Phuket would you recomend for a weeks stay for a couple who just want beach, peace and quiet?

Hi Carol

We were in Phuket 4 years ago on our honeymoon, stayed in Karon Beach which was lovely....quieter than Patong which is the main resort and very commercialized. There are plenty of day trips from Phuket i.e Ko Phi Phi (where the Beach was filmed which is totally beautiful), James Bond island and various smaller islands that are very idyllic. If you want any further info just let me know.

Debbie

Hi Debbie,

Is there any particular hotel you would recomend? Don't want over the top luxury (or prices), just somewhere clean, friendly and on the beach.

Hi Carol

Where we stayed was ok but not on the beach, the Novatel which was on the outskirts looked really nice but can not remember any others....sorry!! We are also heading with Singapore airlines, leaving Heathrow on the 30th of March and then the flight from Singapore to Brisbane is on the 20th of April. When are you heading?

Debbie

most hotels are nice and clean with veryu friendly people to boot

just have a look on www.asiarooms.com and do a search for where you wanna end up.

there are loads of websites for hotels

all have reviews and pics to look at

also try
hotels.com
or for the cheaper budget(scousers LOL)
hostels.com

The hostels arent like homeless hostels they are just a room with a bed and a fan. If you want proper thai then look for beach huts.

They have wicker roofs and generally concrete walls with a wooden floor and a verandah to sit out on or relax in a hammock

the beach huts are obviously on the beach too, to watch sunsets.

Most bungalow complexes(beach huts) have an on site restaurant for about 1.50 a meal for proper thai food like red/green curries and loads of fresh fruit platters and chiunese type meals like sweet n sour etc. You wont be eating dog or anything like that.

Most are very clean tidy and have internet/tv/sky tv all uinder the one roof with no sides overlooking the beach. It really is a wonderful place.

these are a few pics
first one is of beach hut(average one for less than a tenner a night
second pic of sunsets off ko phan gnan a few days aftewr the tsunami on new years day(yes we were very lucky)
third is of a typical beach(this is ko phan gnan too) pronounced ko pan yang

hope this wets yer whistle

see pics above and ahve a good time

al