Hi there, me and my boyfriend will be travelling southeast asia this October. We will spend 10 days Philippines where he’s from. Then 12 days in nearby countries (thailand, cambodia, vietnam.. etc). Where would you recommend in this short period of time? Please give suggestions. We’d love to know

Pick 1 country for your 12 days or all you’ll see is the inside of a bus or airport.

Agree with Sammi. Maybe you could pull off 12 days in thai and Cambodia if only doing Ankor. Otherwise best to stick to 1 country to get the most of it.

Go to japan...

No visa required for Thailand. Cambodia and Vietnam require visas (easily obtained). I would check this out. https://wikitravel.org/en/One_month_in_Southeast_Asia
And no matter what, even if you have travel insurance, it will exclude injuries for riding a motorbike (you can get a specific policy in Thailand that will cover damages to the bike, as you usually have to pay out of pocket for any damage).
Use rome2rio.com to see the various options from point to point.
Just some tips to make your trip easier to plan.

And use flightconnections.com to see what airlines fly between cities. Helps with your planning.

Thailand is great, try Ao Nang & if time go up to Chiang Mai. Don’t try to pack to much in a travel day is a wasted day

Ao Nang is great. (Keep it quiet, we don’t want the Phuket tourists to invade). It’s my “getaway” over here. (I live in Thailand).

First check which country is easiest to fly to from the Philippines and what the weather is like. Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam are all amazing. Cambodia we loved little river town called Kampot. You would fly into Phnom Penh and take a 2 hr car ride from airport. Stay at Rikitikitavi. Fantastic and inexpensive. Day trip to Rabbit Island on boat called the crab shuttle. Tuk tuk ride one day to Kep and have the best black pepper crab youll ever eat. Also we heard about Koh Rong. Next time we will check that island out too. It depends if you want quiet or big cities. Siem Reap is wonderful but 4 or 5 days max imho. Laos is great as well. You could spend 6 or 7 days in Luang Prabang and then travel to little village called Nong Khiaw. Once again depends on what you like. For Vietnam I would fly into Hanoi for 4 nights, do the overnight junk boat on Halong Bay, fly to Hoi an from Hanoi and maybe 2 nights in Hue. Have fun!

I ate at holy crab in kep!! Omg best crab ever. We also w not to kampot pepper plantation while in kampot. Koh Rong is beautiful!!! I’ve been there twice and I’m going back in January.

It is definitely our favourite area in Cambodia. I sent my brother and his wife to Kampot and the Rikitikitavi and they loved it so much they want to buy property there. I really want to check out Koh Rong too!

Everyone has their own opinions of places and this is just mine so take it as such, but I would not recommend Koh Rong islands. This was a major disappointment for me. Mind you I am not into overpriced accommodations on overrated beaches that are full of rubbish on the beaches and in the water, but if that's your thing then have a visit. I had planned to stay on both islands for 4 day each. I was so disappointed I cut my stay in 1/2 at each. I was pretty surprised because I read a lot of great reviews on trip advisor. I am guessing the people that wrote those reviews have never spent time in any of the other places like Thailand, Malaysia or Philippines with some truly amazing beaches. If a beach holiday is your thing there are far better beaches in Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Rick I’ve been to lots of beaches in SEA. I never found the beaches on Koh Rong dirty. I stayed at palm beach bungalows and it was paradise. Second time around I stayed at sarcen bay and it was also beautiful

I’d recommend Cambodia for your trip. It’ll give you a good taste of the country.

I have been to all of the places you have mentioned and have traveled many of them extensively. Perhaps if you could share what your interests are (ie. major cities, beaches, museums, photography, other) I could comment more. Also how do you want to get around "in-country" if you explore. Are you going to be taking the bus or train or flying? Your time will quickly be reduced if taking bus or train. One comment I would make for sure is not trying to do too much unless you are just trying to visit major cities. Then you could reasonably hit 2 countries in 12 days. Perhaps a 3rd. Otherwise I would suggest maybe hitting one country and spending some time there.

Spend the 12 days in Cambodia for sure

Cambodia for sure!

Myanmar!

Rainy season in most of vietnam

Just stick to the Philippines, I've been 15 times and am still just scratching the surface. You will be burning up your short time traveling otherwise. Check out the Philippine branch of Lonely Planets Thorntree forums.

Where in the Philippines will you be located? I can give advice on almost anywhere if you are serious about traveling there.

Hoi An Vietnam

I have docs I have put together for Thailand, Malaysia, and Bali. I will PM them to you.

Ooh yes pls! Thank you

El nido palawan

Check out the Aseanpass with air asia for flights if you're country hopping. Siem Reap Cambodia - see the ankor wat and the other temples.

Let me know if you need a Tuk Tuk driver in Siem reap. I know someone really good. I was a solo female traveller. He picked me up from the airport and drove me to all the temples. I also did the sunrise viewing of ankor wat. He picked me up at 4am from my hotel. Amazing experience. Have a great time on your trip.

Duli Beach Surf'

Thanks for the tips and suggestions! Wish we had more time to travel. We’ll just get a taste of thailand and Cambodia, and Philippines. Any suggestions for less tourist filled spots in thailand? Also any meal suggestions, thats our big focus haha! Food!

Just enjoy

Koh Jum is fantastic but not in October

Been 5 times and still haven’t seen it all!!!!Chiang Mai is a must (go to the night bazaar and eat Khao Soi
, go to jungle_daily for an ethical, amazing & inexpensive elephant
sanctuary - that has a baby elephant and definitely stay in the old town!). For a little less touristy destination I would suggest Khao Sok (national park, rainforest & lake). I stayed at ‘Our Jungle House’ in a treehouse with monkeys
on my deck in the mornings) but if your budget allows I would recommend Elephant Hills (I did one night at their luxury Elephant Camp & one night at their luxury over water bungalow camp, all inclusive and a once in a lifetime experience). You can check out my Instagram for more info if interested?: Charmed Nomad, there’s also a link to my Facebook Group from there (of the same name) which goes into more details (on places to stay for all budgets, along with prices & many other things to do)...just too much info to pass along here ;))) You’ll love Thailand