need advice on flight to islands

[Soi Six Snatch Sniffer]

Hi guys, many of you know me by now as i have packed in many trips to pattaya in the last 3 years, whilst i have enjoyed every one of them, i am looking to spread my wings a little further next trip (april). Basically, i am clueless as to the best airlines and best islands to visit, i was thinking of going to either koh samui, phi phi, krabbi or (any suggestions welcome). phuket doesnt interest me in the slightest. Could anyone please enlighten me as to the best place within reasonable flying time from bangkok taking into account the cost of flight and how expensive its gonna be when i get there. (yes i know i sound tight but this 4/5 trip addiction of mine is getting pretty expensive lol) i have heard koh samui is pretty expensive but not heard much about krabbi or phi phi. would i be better off booking an internal flight on the net or just trying to get one when i arrive in bangkok..all advice and information will be gratefully received lads..cheers, big reg..roll on april .............

[Soi Six Snatch Sniffer]

i should add guys that i will have a lady with me and just looking for a nice relaxing time, not neccerally bothered about banging nightlife..more like a romantic week. (what a sad fucker i know.)

[cutter]

I'm flying Bangkok Air to Koh Samui in March. I believe they have the monopoly to fly there. Can fly from BKK or Utapao. Staying at Montien House in Samui, it gets good reviews for $60/night. Chaweng is the most busy and most popular beach on the island, therefore probably the most expensive also. Samui is a large enough island for it to be as cheap or expensive as you want depending on where you want to stay. Good island for renting a moped and touring around with your teerak.

 

If you book last minute with Bangkok Air, it looks like you may risk paying more as they have different price categories for each flight. Once the cheapest flight gets booked, all that is available is the next expensive. Can book easily online, where you can see the price categories.

 

Ralay beach in Krabi was great. Good vibe and laid back.

 

I have mixed feelings about Phi phi. Here's an article on Phi phi, which I generally agree with, although I'm not as negative about the place as this guy.

http://www.salon.com/technology/ask_the_pilot/2011/01/19/phi_phi_islands_thailand

[Soi Six Snatch Sniffer]

thanks cutter, good advice. i have just been on air asia website and looks really cheap to go to chang mai and chang rai, any advice on these places. for some reason koh samui isnt on their website, or phi phi, any ideas why?

[feelus]

hey mate. i'm looking into this myself aswell (although not necessarily taking someone with me). my view is that it's generally pretty easy to get around in terms of flights. BKK airways has monopoly for flights into and out of Samui but their prices are still pretty competitive. For other destinations AirAsia is the best bet price-wise. I too will probably avoid Phuket (been there a few times before) and will probably go for Samui. One thing you should consider is that the weather during that time of year is not great for the southern beaches surrounding the Andaman Sea (incl Phuket, Krabi, Phi Phi etc.). If you want good weather Samui is definitely the best way to go because weather is great around the Eastern Gulf of Thailand side

[Bagwan]

Bring lot's of money reg me and rung flew to Samui from Utapao and it cost 16,000Baht return! Fucking Bangkok airways is a RIP OFF!!

[wimpy]

AirAsia are good and cheap, especially if you book in advance.

I've been to Krabi a few times. I wouldn't advise going in low season. The first time I went was in November, the beaches were beautiful and the water was clear, the last time I went was in August and the beaches looked dirty and the water wasn't clear, this is because the rougher seas wash up debris.

I've not been to Phi Phi, I got the impression that the prices have been bumped up a bit and it's more commercial now.

I've been to Ao Nang, that was ok but not a lot to do if your staying for more than a few days.

 

My personal Island of choice is Koh Lanta. Flights from bangkok are around 1000baht, it takes about an hour, then about 1 or 2 hours to get to Koh Lanta from Krabi Airport by mini bus or Taxi( via a car ferry). It's big enough that you will always have places to go, beaches to explore, things to do etc. Very basic beachfront bungalows are available from 2/300 baht upwards. Reasonable bungalows with A/A can bet got for 1500baht. Hiring a motorbike is a must.

I would recommend staying on any beach South of Long Beach. Basically, the further south you go, the better the beaches and less tourists.

There are plenty of beach bars and parties but they are not over the top like Koh Pang Gang.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 12, 2011 by wimpy

[Mr David]

The other option which is what I am thinking of for 2-3 days is to go from Pattaya by minibus down the coast and pop over to Koh Samet. Gives me a break from Patts for a few days and cheaper to take a BG with you. I'm off in three weeks. If you have enough of the beach and lack of nightlife you just come back.

[Soi Six Snatch Sniffer]

Bring lot's of money reg me and rung flew to Samui from Utapao and it cost 16,000Baht return! Fucking Bangkok airways is a RIP OFF!!

where the hell is utapao....just looking on air asia to chang mai. 132 quid for us both return. could live with that..any intel on chang mai mate.

[Soi Six Snatch Sniffer]

thanks for all the pics wimpy, looks fantastic, certainly helping me in my decisions...

[Mr David]

Utapao - Near Pattaya

[Bagwan]

where the hell is utapao....just looking on air asia to chang mai. 132 quid for us both return. could live with that..any intel on chang mai mate.

 

Go to the islands mate! Book early and fly from Bangkok to Krabi!

[Soi Six Snatch Sniffer]

Go to the islands mate! Book early and fly from Bangkok to Krabi!

any reason why krabi? expand on this please bagwan

[Bagwan]

It's cheap to fly to from Bangkok and then you can make your way to Phiphi.. OR you can catch the night train down on the VIP sleeper (has aircon) to Surat thani and then the ferry to Samui! It's a good way to travel and as you have a girl you can have a bunk up on the train

[cutter]

Air Asia doesn't fly to Koh Samui. Bangkok Air has Monopoly.

 

And you can't fly to phi phi. Have to fly to Krabi or Phuket and take ferry.

 

If you go to Samui, I would recommend to also go to Koh Phangnan or Koh Tao also. Beaches are nicer and islands are smaller and more laid back. Samui is quite developed and commercial.

 

Koh Samet is also a nice, small island for 4-5 nights. It's easy to get to also. Can take taxi from BKK and be at the pier in under 3 hours.

 

If you only want to go to one island, my favorite is Koh Chang. It has nicer beaches and is more laid back than Samui in my opinion. And the good beaches are on the sunset side. Koh Samui the beaches are on the sunrise side. One of my favorite things is watching the sun go down as I'm enjoying a beer at a sunset beach bar. Priceless.

Can fly to Trat, then take taxi to pier, then ferry ride to Koh Chang.

 

I haven't been to Chiang Mai so can't comment.

[Soi Six Snatch Sniffer]

had another thought guys, anyone been to hua hin, i believe i can get a bus there but must go via bangkok. or even a taxi. anyone know of how and where is gonna be my best option, and prices please. chaeers chaps

[JASONTHAI]

where the hell is utapao....just looking on air asia to chang mai. 132 quid for us both return. could live with that..any intel on chang mai mate.

[/quote

 

Hi Reg, out of the islands I liked Phi Phi Don the best nice place to relax, but I would go to Chang Mai instead, more things to do and you can go to Chang Rai and get a boat to Lao as part of a day trip & drink some snake whiskey and also bring some back to LOS, I got the over night train from BKK (First class was 1000 baht per person) but that was 7 years back so the price must have gone up by now, you get your own private cabin and food delivered to it, the good thing about the overnight train is the views you see in the morning, plus I think your GF would like Chang Mai better more of a culture thing and not just another beach.

 

Cheers

JT

[kopite]

Im headed over to Patts (1st time) in April but im going to spend a week first on Koh Lanta. It's quiet, all the beaches are nice and if I want something livlier I can always head into krabi for the night or even Patong but not too bothered about the latter. Plus it's close to some other nice islands too like koh rok and phi phi plus more...

 

If you do decide to go there here are some transfer fee's from krabi. 500 bhat for 1 adult and 300 for a youngster.

 

http://www.lantainfo.com/getting_ko_lanta_krabi.htm

[JASONTHAI]

had another thought guys, anyone been to hua hin, i believe i can get a bus there but must go via bangkok. or even a taxi. anyone know of how and where is gonna be my best option, and prices please. chaeers chaps

 

Hua Hin is nice but it is expensive, mini van to BKK just outside tops supermaket 200 baht then when you arrive in BKK a short walk to get another mini van again 200 baht per person takes about 5-6 hours from Pattaya or you can get a taxi to Hua Hin from Pattaya for 2800 baht again takes about 4-5 hours or I have heard you know can get a ferry from Pattaya for 1500 baht per person there was a post about this somewhere so it might be wise to do a search as I am to lazy to do it for you 55555

[Soi Six Snatch Sniffer]

thanks guys. some more great advice..jason thai, when you say hua hin is expensive what do you mean...price of drinks, food etc or getting there. cheers in advance.

[Charly2007]

Avoid Koh Samui!!! Totally commercialized! For examample: hotel transfer to airport from Chaweng Noi, southern part of Chaweng, they ask for 800 bt for 3 pax! It's only 7 km......

[cutter]

had another thought guys, anyone been to hua hin, i believe i can get a bus there but must go via bangkok. or even a taxi. anyone know of how and where is gonna be my best option, and prices please. chaeers chaps

 

I wouldn't recommend hua hin. It doesn't really have anything that isn't as good as any of the other places mentioned.

[Soi Six Snatch Sniffer]

Avoid Koh Samui!!! Totally commercialized! For examample: hotel transfer to airport from Chaweng Noi, southern part of Chaweng, they ask for 800 bt for 3 pax! It's only 7 km......

well thats koh samui crossed off my list

[Soi Six Snatch Sniffer]

the lady has told me she would love to go to koh chang...have looked at bus prices and seems reasonable but a bit worried about booking a hotel online and then getting there and being miles away from it cos it looks to me as though its a huge place with 3 or 4 different ferry terminals or am i getting it horribly wrong. anyone been there and have any suggestions for a decent hotel..wouldnt want to pay more than 2000 a night to be honest.

[neo1011]

u-tapao is 40 mins from patts. mr t taxi charges 660 baht for a pick up but could'nt tell you if it's any cheaper for a drop off. it's a small thai airforce base which was built by the americans.

such an easy place to fly from, beats the hectic bkk airport in my opinion.

it's a couple hundred baht more expensive to fly from but you save that back on the taxi fares, and i found you get better prices from a travel agent in patts than on the net.

It has some good flight times aswell which can prevent you having to getting up at 6am to fly from bkk.

Not sure of all the destinations they fly to but they do go to samaui and phuket so i presume most of the south of thailand is covered.