Thailand - EARLY JULY

[swiftshift]

Hey guys,
I am able to get an extra week of vacation this year from work, and have decided to go Thailand..
I just want to know as I have never traveled out of Canada before *yes I know I'm 27 and missing out on the world*,

A few questions
- $1800-2000 for flight there and flight back normal as per high season?
- Is 10-12 days enough?
- What things / notable things can I do there
- Which city is best bang for buck

Looking for some night life, and a little of sight seeing but not too much

Thanks in advance

*post will be updated after

[twitchyzero]

never too late to start traveling as long as youre able-bodied.

that seems like a fair bit on airfare, but not outrageous either. I don't know your exact dates but a quick look at Google flights ~$1300 non-stop. Where you flying into? Try flying on one of the more popular routes for long haul (HK perhaps) then book local intraconti flights, or try flying mid-week. I just booked HKG-CNX roundtrip for ~$200 for June as an example. My flights that month (8 of them total) is under $1000US but it was through a deal earlier this year.

[pastarocket]

Bangkok is the best bang for the buck.

Top 10 Things to Do in Bangkok - Bangkok Must-see Attractions

These are the things that a friend of mine recommended:

Go clubbing in Bangkok. The club atmosphere and DJs are amazing! A cousin of mine, who lived in Phuket for 10 years, worked briefly as a DJ in Bangkok. He worked at a local club where he did a 2 hour set as a DJ with guest DJ Jazzy Jeff.

Rooftop bars. There are so many rooftop bars in Bangkok.

Visit the Grand Palace of the Thai kings.

There are interesting vintage shops and museums in Bangkok too:
http://www.bangkok.com/bkk-secret.htm

Thai Massage: My cousin said that the masseuse gave him a great massage. Of course, if you want a "happy ending", it's gonna cost you more money.

I wouldn't recommend the night markets as my cousin said that you need to be wary of pick pockets in certain areas.

[blkgsr]

there's like 5 threads on thailand here

you can easily spend 12 days in thailand and still want more

you want culture or beaches?

do you scuba dive or have any interest in learning? Koh Tao is your place, also a great party scene

stay the fuck away from koh phi phi no mater what anyone else tells you...it's a shit hole

[stewie]

I just came back 2 weeks ago with 5 of my best friends to celebrate all of our 30th birthdays and us being friends since we were just kids. Spent 21 days there (some of the time was in vietnam as well though)

What we did - Bangkok, we stayed at several locations, usually 2-3 days most at a time but most of them were around Khao San rd where the night life is pretty good.

Took a shuttle van down to Pattaya for a few days which is a nice city with beaches. The ride was a few hours but well worth it.

Took a day trip up to Ayuthaya(the old capitol) to check out all the old ruins. Was only a couple bucks to enter and there's several places that rent out bicycles for a couple bucks for the day which is quite nice on a hot day. Ride around the city and get some fresh air and a nice breeze.

Floating market was a cool experience but wasn't really impressive or anything.

Took a boat ride to Koh Phi Phi for a few days which was awesome as there's no cars on that island and the beaches are phenomenal. There's a small beach that has a swing set hanging off a tree. took about a 15 minute walk down a trail but when we got there it was completely dead so we had the entire beach to ourselves. the beach. How could you say no to that??

Flew up to Chang Mai for a few days since domestic flights are pretty cheap!


Look up a book from Lonely Planet called "Southeast Asia on a shoestring". It goes in grave detail of places to go, the best places to stay, restaurants worth checking out, local scams, etc etc. It basically makes sure you get the most bang for your buck and get a total experience at the same time. Even has suggested itineraries based on how many day's you'll be spending there.

(if you're going to take a cab, some words of advice - make sure you ask them to use the meter and not a flat rate as the meter will be a LOT cheaper 95% of the time)

[Dragon-88]

July is Monsoon season, so I would suggest you be prepared for rain..

Raining in Thailand isn't the same as Vancouver, you will get spurts of heavy and I mean heavy rain, for small periods(1-2hrs, sometimes a little longer), then the rest of the day is quite warm/muggy.

I used to go frequently as my dad has a place over there. We pay about $1500-1800 for Economy Deluxe(eva air, 2 seats in the isle vs. 3 seats in economy)

I'm more into Thailand for the historic sites and culture/food.