Brains1983

Getting outta here for 10 days in Feb, kinda a belated honeymoon for me and the mrs. Was thinking Thailand, but want a nice lazy beach holiday and not the usual night at "ally pally" that my mates come back with their stories about.

Any suggestions of what parts of Thailand are more relaxed like that? Phuket, Phi Phi Island? And any recommendations for hotels/prices. Flights will be covered by my work, hadn't really wanted to go above 80-100 USD p/night on a b+b basis for the hotel. I will buy a lonely planet guide tonight, however just wanted your opinions!

commander

in the last 2 years we have been to the following:

Koh Phi Phi Island:Phi Phi Island village resort...lovely for the family

Koh Samui: Chewang Beach Hotel, busy...but nice (daughter was only 1 so it was okay)

Laguna Phuket: Sheraton and the Dusit, great for family. I was doing a triathlon there but the whole family from Scotland came over..Brilliant for relaxing, meals and family time

Patong: Holiday inn (for a bit of a laugh and nightlife with my dad!!)

ctfc

Hua Hin is a more 'grown-up' and civilized resort - the King has his summer palace there.

Or for something very nice, go the Datai in Langkawi. It's in Malaysia but you're looking out at the Thai border so pretty close! (oops - just read the budget bit, but if you fancy a night there it is awesome )

Kim67

We just did a driving holiday of Thailand. Picked up a Honda CRV at the airport and drove from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and back again (on a different route). We loved it, the people were lovely and some of the mountain villages were amazing. Stayed at a rain forest resort which was pretty nice and by the River in the old capital of Siam, Ayathaya - pretty cool place. We had hoped to get down to a coastal resort but ran out of time (did about 3000km in two weeks). We booked into hotels when we arrived - just checked wotif.com to get cheap prices, then went to hotels we liked and asked them to match the price - probably not as easy to do in the more touristy places like Phuket. Most places we stayed in averaged about 3,550 Bart per night (but there were five of us and they usually included breakfast for all of us).

Have fun.

DesertOcean

Koh Jum Island

Welcome to Kohjum Resort, the beautiful resort at the Koh Jum Island,which is a peaceful Island in Krabi Thailand situated between Koh Lanta and Krabi town.The Island is still pure nature,like Koh Phi Phi before it got invaded by tourism.It is a quiet, little, as people are very nice and friendly. Kohjum Resort ,a private beachfront resort in Kohjum,which is nestled amidst an atmosphere of natural tranquility. You can enjoy the private long white sandy beach,crystal clear water under the blue sky. Our bungalows are located at the in very secluded and peaceful surrounding. An ideal place for people who just want to relax and get away from it all. Visit our resort and share a little piece of our island dream.Our warm welcome and personal service awaits you.

http://www.kohjumresort.com/

Autonomy

sounds pretty cool - I loved Krabi and Koh Lanta (though this was a few years back).

Koh Toh was my fav out of Samui side...

Madam Medusa

koh samui is lovely, but avoid chaweng beach...phuket around the laguna is also nice, various hotels there...

try to get up to the golden triangle if you can...there's a meridien hotel actually on the triangle itself so you can see all 3 countries from there...you can take a trip into burma and laos from there (but will need to sort a visa in advance for laos)...

i haven't been, but krabi is meant to be fab...

MM, xx

commander

Agree totally, we went to Samui as a last, and i mean last minute due to the rioting at BKK.

Chewang Beach is ok and we got away with it because junior was only 1. I wouldnt dream of going back there now. Its too noisy and is really busy.

We had a lovely 4 days at Koh Phi Phi...bliss and you cant go wrong at Laguna Phuket, plenty for all.

Im going to go back next year i hope..

Tillybean

I stayed at Tub Tim on Koh Samet which is about an hour or so from Bangkok - got a taxi organised in advance which dropped us at the ferry and off we went via a speed boat - all very James Bond!

The resort itself is down the other end of the beach away from the "glitz" and it was nice to be able to relax on the beach at night, watching from a far the night light happening a little way away. It was walkable though - very pleasant.

Tub Tim itself is nice - quite a large resort but well spreadout with a variety of rooms at all different prices. I had one near the front with AC and private bath and it was around 3,000 Baht a night including breakfast. The restaurant was good and the location was great.