Thailand in 4-5 days
 

Looking for some info regarding how to approach a 4-5 day trip in Thailand in mid-November. We'll be flying out of Hong Kong, and returning back to Vancouver from HK also.

I've done some initial research into where and what to do, but hoping to get some first hand info. Our 4-5 days is not enough IMO to do a proper backpacking trip and really immerse ourselves in the culture of the country and make too many stops. Cost is also a bit of an issue, even though Thailand is generally affordable. I understand there are air/hotel/food/tour packages flying out of HK for $600-800cdn/person for 5 days; that value is very hard to beat as far as I'm concerned. Only problem is the tours are Chinese speaking, and they are tour groups.

A couple of places that I think fit our needs are Koh Samui and Phuket, both offer day trips where we can go off to more remote areas. I realize both are more developed/touristy, but once again time is the major constraint here. I've also read about Krabi which seems to be less touristy overall. We're not overly interested in going to Bangkok.

Any feedback, advice, or info would be greatly appreciated!

If you want to avoid the tourist traps then you'll miss out on some of the really nice islands. Phuket it's self isn't that great, and the beach is lined with fat-oiled up old men with young thai girls...prices are set accordingly as the beach strip is there for tourists. BUT, It is a good jumping point to get to some of the islands, just like Krabi.

If landing in Bangkok, it would take a good day, or an over-night train, to get to Phuket. Also from Bangkok you could go to Koh Chang as its only about 4 hours by bus, but very worth it....not nearly as touristy/developed.

5 days will be pretty hard pressed just due to the distance between locations....Lastly, Chang Mai is amazing and offers a lot of day trips to see elephants or hike through the jungle, but once again it would be a night-train to get there. Not sure if you know about Night Trains but they do provide you with a bed etc. Might be like $10 per person for the sleeper train.

I think the big question is, where will you be landing in Thailand? I've backpacked extensively through Thailand and I've been doing custom trip planning for some time now, so if you send me a PM or email with what you want to see/where you'll land, and $ issues etc I could put something together for you in the next few days.

+1 for Koh Chang.

my wife and I landed in Bangkok late so we stayed one night at the airport hotel. Next morning, we took a flight to Trat and from there, we arranged a guided taxi to take us to our hotel.

No creepy old white guys at all. And the best part was the beach and hotel we stayed at.
There's two pretty nice hotels and the rest are just alright. If you want to cheap out, you can stay in a small on the beach shack that has a padlock as your door lock. a/c is a must btw.

I could be wrong, but November might be rainy season there.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13242651/IMG_0042.JPG

but if you're serious about going, check this website out...it really helped me a lot during my planning stages
Koh Chang (Ko Chang) Island, Thailand. Travel and Tourist Guide & Information for