Hey everyone!
I'll be travelling alone to Thailand (arriving in Bangkok) for 3 weeks this November. I am big into nature, hiking, caves/spelunking, temples/ ruins, snorkelling and scuba diving. I have a moderate budget.
Any suggestions for the following would be greatly appreciated:
1) How many days should I spend in Bangkok? How easy is it to take day trips outside the city?
2) Accommodations. I'm open to saying in private accommodations in hostels or hotels where its easy to link up with other travellers.
3) Recommended itineraries and length of stay.
4) Best way to get around in Thailand.
5) Recommended tour operators.
Your help would be greatly appreciated

Use local train for transportation ; you can fly around the country but we find train is experience in itself and for fraction of price . Don’t miss kanchanaburi with sai yok national park. I am assuming it is your first visit to Bangkok - I would say 3 days if you want to visit temples, canals , go to weekend market .

Paulina hi Paulina just wondering if it's a safe place to travel either by yourself or with others

Lori we have been to Bangkok three times , last year with a 2 year old, 4.5 year old and my parents ( 62 and 58)- we were taking tuk tuk everywhere and returned back to hotels late at night and never felt unsafe
my kids loved it as well

Paulina that's wonderful! I just have to wrap my head around a long flight and then I will start planning.lol

Lori it is not as bad as it seems
. If you have any questions feel free to pm me

Paulina thanks much appreciated

Do you have a website you use to book through?

Paulina did you use a stroller for your children? I will be going with my 3 kids under 6 yrs old. not sure what stroller to take or if it will be pointless with large crowds or different road.s

Lori I do everything myself but have written some of mine on my blog familytravelbugs.com

Hush Na Assan yes I did , but realistically used it mostly in Malaysia in KL and Japan . Depending where you are in Thailand it may not be overly useful. We have been with our kids twice and used our umbrella stroller first when our son was 20 months and then when they were 2 and 4.5 . Also, it depends how much they use it daily under normal circumstances

Paulina How many days do you recommend in Kanchanaburi? Is it difficult getting to Sai Yok and Erawan Falls from there?

RS Nski we spent two nights and found we could have taken easily spent another two . We flagged a driver who took us to erawan and spent most of the day with us before dropping us at the station for the death railway trip back to kanchanaburi ( not recommended). Being in love with Ching mai in the past , the area around kanchanaburi with waterfalls , the park, elephants blew us away

Paulina Thanks!

Izabela Polowa

Getting around in Thailand was fairly easy and cheap. We had a packed itinerary so we opted to fly to save time. But I would consider the over night trains and other local transportation.
For Bangkok no more than 4 days. Definitely go north to Chang Mai and connect with Thailand hill tribe holidays. They have short and customized itineraries.
https://www.thailandhilltribeholidays.com/

Becky Take overnight trains/buses and save on rooms. Go to Chiangmai Mai and surrounding area including Pai, a small town or Chiangmai Rai. Go to Koh Lipe or Koh Lanta after.

I meant Chiang Rai.

Susan which destination is better for snorkeling/scuba diving? which has less people?

RS Nski I'm not sure but people love Koh Lanta and Koh Lipe. Beautiful peaceful beaches. I've only been to Krabi - very commercial.

Susan do you recommend krabi at all? Are the crowds worth it?

RS Nski I wouldn’t particularly recommend Krabi. It was quite commercial.

Khao sok national park..stay overnight in lake cabins. It will be high lite of your trip.

Leanne I second this recommendation!

Leanne Kristen is one night enough in Kao Sok? I was told by numerous people to go there. just not sure about transportation to there.

RS Nski depends where you are coming from. You wouldn't want a long journey and only one night as you wouldn't get much time during the day. My recommendation would be to do a tour with transport, accomodation, meals and activities.

RS Nski(if you are short on time) its best to plan to get to just outside the park around dinner time, there's a few restaurants (not much else).(I would say this maybe the only way to fully use the packages offered, meals, timely transportation, ect) Book a couple of days in advance (maybe able to get in without much notice, depending on time of year). We stayed at Smileys, they have accommodations just outside the park and one the lake. I'd recommend them. (one of the cheapest) Transportation is limited in the area. **the first night you arrive best to reserve your bus or van transportation for your departure. (especially van). I can only speak for smileys

Leanne lets assume i'm not short on time. is two days enough for the park? i would ideally like transportation arranged to and from the park

continue....I can only speak for Smileys, they make a committed effort to get you out of park for last departing transportation...4-4:30ish. (when researching this you'll see people always wondering if they will make it in time.

Leanne this is very good to know. thanks!

RS Nski you would need to research the park to see all the available options, to decide how much time to spend there. They have multi day excursions, that I think would be great. Research your time of year to see what other things would be worthwhile, like waterfall hikes...also just outside the park is tubing/kayaking when the water is high, which could be something to do if you got there early the day before you go into the park.

2 days in Bangkok are enough- in my opinion at least. Just a busy city with temples. After 6 of them, they all look alike. Book all of your accommodations for at least 2 nights, 3 weeks is a lot of time, I went in December and rushed through it for no reason.
I took night train from Bangkok to Laos where I visited Vientaine, Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang. Lots of cool caves, waterfalls and mountains there, especially Vang Vieng. Every hotel has buses for transport from city to city.
From Laos I took a night bus to Chang mai. I then flew to krabi, went to phi phi islands and few islands around. Then ended in Phuket and flew back to Bangkok. Night train is cool cause you can sleep, bus is a bit hectic as the roads are crappy.

Izabela Polowa I'll msg you later!

Ok sounds good

I will be back in SE Asia this November. Transportation is very easy. Depending where you go, flying could be the best way (+/- 40$ for internal flight), train could be good (+/- 1.50$ per hour of trip) and buses could be good. I wouldn't recommend to stay in the Khao-San-Road area (unless you want to see drunk tourists) n Bangkok, Usually I stay near the Sukhumvit Area (less tourist), if you want to see more tourist, a good place could be the area near Samsen Road (about 1km past Khao San Road). You don't have to go with tour operator, you can organize most of your trip by yourself. There are many daytrips that you can do from Bangkok, Kanchanaburi is +/-3h of train from Bangkok, Ayutthaya is 1h of train. On Nov 24, there is the 'Monkey Buffet' in Lopburi (+/- 1.5h of train from Bangkok. For the train, leave from Bang Sue Junction in Bangkok (for Ayutthaya and Lopburi), you will save about 1h of train inside Bangkok (the train time schedule is here : http://procurement.railway.co.th/checktime/checktime.asp...). For the itinerary, I would suggest 8 day Central Thailand, 8 day northern and 8 days Islands. But this schedule is very fast, don't forget that there is also the Mi Ping Festival (River Festival and Lantern Festival in Chiang Mai, Nov 11-12-13), transport and rooms will be more expensive for this period (nov 10-15). PM me if you want more information, I will probably be able to answer many of your questions. (I will be in Thailand for 1 month, Oct 31 to Dec 1, my 10 or 11 trip in that part of the world, my travel plan is Bangkok 31 to 7, Fly to Chiang Rai 7 to 10, Chiang Mai 10 to 15 and for the last 15 days, we will see. There will be a 3 days in Kanchanaburi and the 2-3 last days will be in Bangkok.

For the room, booking 1 or 2 day prior to your arrival and there shouldn't be any problems. For the tour operators (Trek, Elephant, Diving, etc.), book when you will arrive at location (you will be able to ask the questions you want, as an example, the difficulty of the trek, number of participants, etc... And often, it will include the pick-up and drop to your hotel/guesthouse! What I usually do when I go up north, I take the train from Bang Sue Junction to Phitsanulok (about 4h ride) and enjoy the food market near the train station and the night market by the river. From there, you can go the next day to Sukhothai (there are 2 historical cities there, 1h from Phitsanulok) and the following day, take the bus or train to Chiang Mai (or the bus to Chiang Rai, +/- 7h, I usually take the bus because the schedule is usually more interesting). For the trek, ask questions!!! I had very interesting ones in Mae-Hong-Song and Chiang Mai. When we went up the Bokor Station in Cambodia, we were +/- 45 people in the trek with ages of participants from 4yo to 95yo, probably the most boring trek in my life...

Eric this is amazing information. I will PM you shortly. Thank you!

Monique Yes, we will be there for the lantern festival. After the 15, we will have 16 days that are not planned. Looking for Sukhothai, Kanchanaburi and the monkey festival in Lopburi on the 24th.

Monique Last time I was there for that festival, I stayed near Tha Pae Gate (Old Town) and it was really fun. The festival is Nov 11, 12, 13 and the big launch is supposed to be on the 11th

Monique In Chiang Mai, my favorite resto is Kanjana Restaurant on Ratchadamnoen Soi 5.

We stayed at Lamphu house in Bangkok, very central and very reasonable hostel. We did kanchanaburi for a couple of days. You can do Erawan Falls from there and some tours. We stayed in a room right on the river kwai. Took the overnight train to the south which as posted above, is an experience in itself. And did an overnight boat trip with reefers diving on koh phangnan which was a highlight. We also did a smaller floating market outside Bangkok in Taling Chan which was a lot less touristy then the “main” one.

Mikes trekking in Chiangmai mai!!

Margaret Thompson
Hat ton sai used to be great, but I haven’t been in a long time... worth looking up though...

Spent 3 months in Thailand, favourites for me were Chang Mai, Pai, Hua Hin & Sukhothai. Trains are sooo cheap and you get to see more countryside, highly recommend. Eat EVERYTHING at the night markets. Food is unreal!! Enjoy.

Aura im looking into Sukhothai as its a lot less touristy and lowkey. how many days should i spend there? is transportation to there easy? where did you stay?

RS Nski We loved it there! We rented bicycles to tour the temple/ruins. We stayed at a guesthouse, it was quite a while ago - I’ll see if I still have any info. We would have taken a train or bus, can’t remember which!

Following!

Don't let anyone tell you that Bangkok isn't worth a prolonged trip! It is way more than just a 'big city with temples'. I've stayed in Taipei, Tokyo, Osaka, NYC, Toronto (I live here), and none of them come close to being as enthralling and unique as Bangkok.
As far as how to get around, I would suggest flying if your budget allows it. 3 weeks is not a lot of time for a country like Thailand; you'll want to minimize travel time and flights aren't too expensive.
As far as itinerary, I've done bangkok > islands > chiang mai > bangkok, and I'd say that was my the itinerary that gave me the most experiences from the country.
You'll want to skip the Gulf Coast (samui, phangan, tao) and go for the the andaman coast. It'll be dry season there vs. wet season in the gulf.
Any tours and excursions we've done, we just book the day of or day before from the hotel or places nearby. No need to put too much though into this. Enjoy!

I will agree! So many interesting hidden gem all over the city! Jam Cafe is a great place to meet many locals ans expats! I like a lot the WTF Bangkok, the Ratchada Train Night Market, the area in Chinatown on Soi Nana (Gallery 23, Teen of Thailand, Tep bar, Cho Why, etc.)

Eric is it safe or are there areas to stay away from?

Lori Bangkok is very safe. I would say there are 2 exceptions : Khao San Road (too many drunk tourist, lot of pickpokets) and Patpong (one of the redlight district of Bangkok with lot lot of scams)

Eric oh that's great to know. I just have to wrap my head around the long flight. Then I will plan.lol

Lori It looks worst than it really is... On previous trips, I made extended layovers in Japan, Hong Kong and Shanghai (explore the city and sleep in a reel bed!)

I've travelled 4 times solo to Thailand and have never ever felt unsafe. I love Bangkok and Chiang Mai, the Adaman Sea - you will have a wonderful time. You can book all your internal flights there - they are so cheap so is really good accommodation.

Eric oh yeah good idea.... you are awesome!

Lori in general these areas are no different then other busy party tourist areas. Just as always in crowds, watch your belongings. We stayed at Villa Cha Cha Banglumphu by Khao San Rd, it was excellent! Small room, but quality, and beautiful décor hotel surrounded by all the action. Totally felt safe, even when alone at all hours.

Leanne thanks so much for your help

I'd suggest staying off of buses. Bit scary

Thanks

no issues on buses there

2 or 3 days in Bangkok is lots. Head to Phuket if you want to do some diving. Grab a 2 night, 3 day liveaboard or day trips to Phi Phi islands. Try out James Bond island tour for fun. Enjoy! Been there 4x.

The national parks in Thailand are beautiful. I wish I'd booked more time in them. If you like hiking, make sure to build in time for them.

Your money will go far in Chiang Mai. Hiking, zip lining, temples, a lot of greenery. Can access the border of Laos. Really nice. I suggest 1 week at least. Much slower pace than Bangkok. Still get the city feel with access to the Sunday night markets and anursarn market. Phuket will be for you if you love water and the beaches. Many islands to access from there via ferry’s. I loved chiang mai as I could explore on my own and see myself living there (airbnb is where you will find inexpensive gems). Phuket I enjoyed for a short period of time and preferred the islands job samui, koh lanta, and Krabi.

Just came back from my bachelor party. I would highly recommend a day trip to Ayutthaya. Beautiful scenery and history

Koh Tao has best scuba in Thailand. Among best in the world and extremely cheap. Big Blue is the best dive shop on the island. I’d recommend no more than 3 or 4 days in Bangkok. Big busy/ polluted city. Get out to Chang Mai & the islands (Koh tao and Koh Samui)

I think I flew to Koh Samui then took ferry’s to the different islands. Flights / all transport is quite cheap. Within the islands/ cities Tuk Tuks & Go Jek (like uber) is the way to go

Lauren Nunziata thanks! This is super helpful!

RS Nski my pleasure!