brusselschap2

Hi to all. Used to post as brusselschap but as the 3 kids came along, one after the other, travelled less and had little time to post. And cant get back into brusselchap account. Now after many vacations near home, we are up and ready for a longhaul and have just booked flights to BKK from 2 to 25 August for the longest vacation in over a decade and the first time back to Thailand in 14 years, after two kid-less trips in 2005 and 2008.

DW and i will be travelling with our 3 kids, aged 10-12 and hope to spend 5 nights in Bangkok... 4 nights in Chiang Mai and then 10-12 days down south in one or more beach locations. Have been twice and have fond memories of places, locations, and a clear picture of distances, weather etc. However after such a long gap i would really welcome any suggestions on

possible Hotels to stay with in BKK for 5 nights with 3 tweens.... so with a large pool and where the occasional afternoon or morning could be spent lounging. Ideally near skytrain.

whether the night train to CM would be fun or a waste of time and any tips on hotel in Chiang MAi. In 2008 we had stayed at Yaang Come and i still remember the owner's own green curry recipe .

Going south ... is Phuket really too rainy in August? BEen twice but never to Koh Samui or anywhere on Andaman Sea. Guessing two locations would be dooable with 5 or 6 nights in each but perhaps best go to two on Samui or two on Phuket? Or stretch to Krabi or elsewhere? Tips on great not-overthetop-expensive resorts to stay at with kids with pools and access to nearby restaurants also welcome.

Only just booked the plane tickets an hour ago so excited to start planning, and cant believe we will have a 3 week holiday!!

thanks to all

brusselschap2

Yikes All the old Fodor pals seems to have vanished... KimJapan; JamesA; GPanda; Kathie; Rhkkmk; Hanuman... all moved on to other forums?

crellston

I would look at hotels on the River. Most will have ferries to and from the Saphin Taksin BTS station every 15 mins or so. The riverboat station is also there so great for getting to places like the Grand Palace etc.
we have stayed at most of them over many years, Shangri Lula, Peninsula, Mandarin Oriental but the one I would suggest for a family is the Anantara Riverside. A resort type hotel within the city. A couple of large pools as I recall.

August is the wettest month of the year for Thailand and many areas, especially in the north, will get intense rain and possibly flooding. I have been in Chiang Mai at that time and it wasn’t a whole lot of fun! I would suggest a rethink on that destination. That aside, the train is a fun way to get to CM. You could get two adjoining first class compartments or just go for adjoins bunks in second class which is probably better - https://www.seat61.com/Thailand.htm

In terms of beaches and resorts, the Andaman coast wins hands down IMO. In August, it wasn’t so much the rain that bothered us but the constant grey skies. The gulf coast has the better weather but that really means Hua Hin or Cha Am, neither of which are really appealing or Koh Samui, better beaches but expensive to get to. We did some diving a few years ago on Koh Toh and Koh Phang Nan , much smaller islands which I understand are now more geared to tourists other than divers - may be worth a look.

if I were looking for beach time at that time of year, I would maybe consider Borneo or Bali which have much better weather and a lot of options other than just beaches.

i don’t know what flights are like these days but many times we have found ourselves in Bangkok and have been able to get some cheap flights, usually, with Air Asia to places like Bali and Borneo and even once on a whim, to Taiwan.

brusselschap2

Thank you Crellston

love the look of the Anantara Riverside but wonder whether the boat back and forth to the Skytrain wouldnt be too cumbersome and whether a hotel with direct access into a BTS station wouldn't be easier
thanks also for advice on Phuket. Looking now at Samui, Toh and Phang Nan. Perhaps might consider 5 nights in Phuket and 5 in Samui as i see that a direct flight between the two is currently $60
thanks

khunwilko

September is statistically the wettest month in Phuket.
August and October follow up closely. This will be true for the Andaman side at this time of year - it is dominated by the SouthWest monsoon rains.
On the other side of the peninsula, Samui is less wet - but it is still technically their wet season. You will see some sun, and maybe some flash flooding.
the wet season in Thailand is really July to October throughout the country - how wet it gets depends on 2 things - 1 - Location, 2 - Luck.


Samui is the second largest island in Thailand but you can circumnavigate by road in well under a day so I wouldn't think 2 destinations are needed.
Are you hiring a vehicle to travel?
If not, probably the 2 best train journeys in Thailand are Bkkto Chiang Pai and Bkk to Suratthani (for Samui) - take a sweater the air-con is freezing.
If you decide to travel by car, there are many hotels en route that are not well-frequented by foreigners and rely on Thai tourists. Te beauty of these places is they have rooms for groups of people and families so looking for 5 beds etc would not be too difficult.

khunwilko

subject to Covid restrictions, the drive from Phuket to Samui is quite nice and you could include a stop-off at Khao Soi national park.

crellston

w I’m e really didn’t find the boat ride an issue. Quite the opposite, it made for a nice relaxing 15 min break between the BTS and the hotel. Boats were frequent and reliable.
didn’t realise there were flights between KS and Phuket. Given the likelihood of poor weather, I still wouldn’t be tempted though!

if the weather is a big consideration for beach time I would check out the cost of flights to Bali or Borneo both of which have loads to see and do other than beaches JMO!

khunwilko

Khao SOK National Park

crellston

I did wonder if there was now a National Park devoted to my favourite northern Thai noodle soup! 🤪

Guenmai

Gpanda passed away some years ago. Carol (Simpson 510) passed away a few years ago. I visited her in Bangkok a month or two before she passed away here in the U.S. I'm in touch with Kathie. I was still on the Asia forum up until I returned from my annual 6-week S.E. Asia trip from Dec 2019 into Feb 2020. I haven't been able to get back due to the pandemic situation.

Happy Travels!

laurie_ann

We did Bangkok and Chang Mai in late August one year. Don't recall any rain. But we did not try to do also any beaches.

khunwilko

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khunwilko

On average, August is the wettest month with 8.66 inch (220.0 mm) of precipitation. the next wettest is September and than May.