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As briefly mentioned in another thread that I cannot find at the moment, I have booked return flights 14 June/1 July) and 2 nights in a hotel in Bangkok for this years' summer holiday with my good lady.

We have been looking at other things to do and at the moment, we are looking at spending some time in the North of Thailand (bridge over River Kwai?) and then down to the south East for the islands of Ko Samui and Ko Phanang.

Nothing concrete has been booked yet, so any feedback is greatly appreciated. We are looking for a mixture of culture and relaxation, with preferance of local food and not too touristy if at all possible (appreciate this might be tricky!)

Thanks

Just got back from 2 weeks in  Koh Samui. Amazing island.

The bridge over the river Kwai is in the west and about 3 hrs (I think from Bangkok). It's in Kanchanburi which is by all accounts a very beautiful part of the country.

In the North you have Chiang Mai and having been there I can vouch that it is a lovely city. Very beautiful, very relaxed, very cheap in comparison to the South and surrounded by mountains and stuff for trekking etc.

Samui and Phanang are very touristy. My favourite island is Koh Samet, about 3 hours or so from Bangkok. The island is beautiful and not overly developed meaning that although tourists do go there it never gets too busy.

Great feedback Flashheart, just what I was looking for!

Question re the weather, do I need to stick to certain parts of the country for the dates I am going to? I heard that the West is very wet towards the end of June/July?

I wouldn't say Koh Samui was over developed at all.

Not so wet that it ruins the holiday.

June/July is actually a high season because the temperature drops a little making it more comfortable (It's stifling here now) You may get the odd day of rain but not too much and it's probably about the best time of year to come.

Avoid Samui, it's overdeveloped. I suspect Phangnan has gone the same way, though I had a great time there celebrating my birthday at one of the famous full moon parties.

Chiang Mai is great. Sleeper trains were great fun for getting around the country - get the highest class possible.

Oh.

Keep well clear of Pattaya (except for maybe passing through on the way to the Islands). It's a shit hole.

Thanks all. Chiang Mai sounds well worth visiting then. Just have to sort out the island hopping now!

What is the Krabi area like?

I've only passed through there so can't tell you much, other than it is stunning.

Alright, how many of you mistaken a shemale while out there?

I loved a little place called pai near near Chang mai, the opium doctors were awesome, loved Thailand, only downside was the paedo paradise factor, but that might be a bit more policed these days (I would hope)

As said b4.. go north Chang Mai/Rai. Also go to the buddist temple to the north of Chang Mai.. its amazing.

Thailand is amazing, you can, party, sight see, scuba dive, chill out, explore, get laid, interact with tigers and elephants, get crazy drugs, etc etc.   Its all very different to Europe but it's all really easy to do also.  Whatever you are looking for, you will find it.

Have a great time

The truck ride that I took in the middle of the night from a stop on the main north-south highway to a small fishing village where I caught a boat at dawn out to Ko Tao remains to this day the most terrifying experience of my life.  The driver was a mentalist.  And on something, I'm sure of it.  The rest of my time out there was brilliant.  The diving off Ko Tao is second to none.  Ko Pha Ngan was a bit commercial, even back then in 2003.

Loved Bangkok, but think I'd only be able to take it in small doses.  Not sure I could live there.  And the food...I still dream of the food.  The smells, the noise.  There's nowhere else like it.

I've never actually been diving (what a waste)

I've done plenty of snorkeling though, that is breathtaking in itself. Snorkeling of Phi-Phi in particular was mesmerising.

And yeah, Bangkok is an amazing city. Is see things out here that still surprise and fascinate me now.

Scuba diving is fantastic if it's what you have chosen to do and not been forced into by a friend. I used to be an instructor and saw this happen many times. There are people who are fully confident, to,  scared but curious. Once/If you get past the training in the pool you will love being in the ocean.

Tips for Bob regarding diving (if you fancy it)

Koh Tao is a very good and very cheap place to learn to dive. You can often get room deals chucked in with every dive course. The standard of accommodation is pretty good too. Ardiles got a little bit excited when he said that Koh Tao is second to none for diving. It's definitely not a bad place to dive, far from it. It can throw up some pretty interesting things on the right day and the conditions are usually spot on.

The sardine run in South Africa is probably the best dive experience, in my opinion. Yet, I have not been to the Galapagos islands, these are supposed to be pretty special.

Galapagos was incredible diving; loads of giant turtles, rays, sharks, and lots of small to large fish that I can't remember. The Great Barrier reef was superb for coral environments but there was much less scope to go exploring compared to the Galapgos. I've only ever done snorkelling in those places, not full tank-on diving.

Egypt is supposed to be one of the best countries in the world for diving.

When I went in Thailand (Phangnan) it was cloudy as fuck and you couldn't see more than 3 feet in front of your face.

Quick one probably for Flashheart.

We are going to be based in Bangkok for another couple of nights before our flight home and it co-incides with my gf's birthday. So I am looking for a really nice hotel to book for the last couple of days in Thailand.

Any suggestions?

Have a look at this place: http://www.woraburi.com/woraburisukhumvit/ I know a couple of people that have stayed there and were happy with it. The prices are very reasonable too for the location.

There's a lot of nightlife and shopping to be had nearby and it's close to a sky-train which makes getting about the city easy.

Thanks Flash.

Thankfully my missus hates shopping but we enjoy the nightlife!!

Any more you can recommend. Looking for somewhere with a bit of a view/romantic stylee if possible.

Not too fussed about cost (as long as its not extortionate) as it will be for a birthday treat.

Ironically I'm not really the person to ask as I have no need for hotels out here.

You could try this place which is well known and in a great location: http://www.imperialhotels.com/imperialqueenspark/accommodation-en.html

Sheraton on Sukhumvit might be another good call.
Maybe you could try this place: http://www.starwoodhotels.com/fourpoints/property/overview/index.html?language=en_US&propertyID=3409 never stayed there myself but there's a good bar downstairs that I drink in at times, plus a cool rooftop bar.

Asides from that there's gzillions to choose from. Sukhumvit or Silom roads is where it's all at.

For what its worth I stayed at this place

Metropolitan Bangkok     
27 South Sathorn Road   
Tungmahamek    Sathorn

Very nice, probably very expensive, didnt seem too far from loads of nice tourist places.   

Thanks a lot for the feedback Saxondale and Flash.

Think we are staying at the Lebua which appears to be in Silom when we arrive, whats that area like?

I don't know the area near the hotel at all. You are just a couple of stops away from Patpong though which is one of Bangkok's more notorious night spots.

Ok, looks like we have a vague plan for travel in Thailand. As the weather apparently isn't the best on the Andeman region, we are sticking to the east side. So it looks like Ko Samui, Ko Chang and Ko Samet are looking the best bet for island visits and possibly somewhere on the around the Chompung region as apparently down here is a good place to get away from Tourists for a bit.

We are trying to get a Chang Mai visit in as well but it takes so long to get to on the train - 12 hours that I am not sure if its worth the effort. Would anyone recommend we take the time to visit the north of Thailand? Ideally we'd probably need a month to make the most of it, but in 2 weeks I guess we are going to have to miss out a bit.

To say I am excited about this holiday is an understatement!!

Don't think you can go wrong anywhere really, such a beutiful place and people so friendly. All places mentioned so far are great but as you say you'll need a month to get around all of them. Kanchanaburi isn't too far from Bangkok and a beautiful area to visit (or stay overnight), plenty of history although particularly sad regarding World War 2 stuff and the death railway interesting museum and fantastically well kept cemetary for allied troops). Very interesting nevertheless and you can do a train trip along the railway itself to the Myanmar border and back within half a day, very scenic trip.
Bangkok itself a vey exciting and interesting place to see (try the Chinese quarter).
Plus don't be scared to sample the street food, usually deicious, cheap and ok on the stomach.

Bangkok-chiang mai with air Asia or possibly even thai airways can be cheap as chips. Sleeper trains are also great fun, clean and comfy.

Kanchanaburi is where the bridge over the River Kwai is isn't it? Thats on the list to visit as well anteater.

I can't wait to sample the street food either, I love Thai food but can only imagine how nice the real deal is!

There is a really useful website called seat 61 which has a load of advice on train travel and the sleeper trains look pretty good.

The sleeper trains are pretty nice really, it's a great way to save time that could be spent actually doing something.  I think you can fly quite cheaply from Chang Mai to Koh Samui, if that's where you end up going.

Koh Chang was pretty unrecognisable between my first and last visits(2003 and 2010) but isn't over-developed by any means.  I'd go with Flasheart's suggestion on Samet, which I think is in a protected marine area, although I'm biased because I've never been and that's where I'd want to go if it was me.  You can probably even fly from Chang Mai to Trat and get the boat from there for either Samet or Chang.  You'll be able to dive some nice spots off of whichever island you choose.  Koh Tao, which Nochee recommended, is where you'll be taken if you dive from Samui.  It's been a bit over-dived now maybe, though you can still see sharks and turtle if you're lucky.  Just watch out for the trigger fish!

Kanchanaburi is definitely worth a visit and only 2 hours from Bangkok.  I stayed there a while, which was nice, but there's no real need to.

Seems that our hotel for the first 2 nights is the same one that they used to film the opening scene in the Hangover 2. The rooftop bar looks very appealing!!

Ah, that place was pointed out to me by excited americans.  Havent seen the film so was very underwhelmed.

Is there any other type of American?

Fat,
Annoying,
Etc

All accurate and agree entirely!

You know them then?

Randy and Chuck? Or course!

Well Thailand certainly didn't disappoint.

The food over there is fantastic and the people in general are so friendly and helpful (Not looking at you rip-off taxi driver in Bangkok, not giving me enough change, cheeky fucker)

We did Bangkok and Hua Hin on the mainland and Koh-Phangan and Koh-Tao on the islands. I went over on my ankle in Koh-Phangan which reduced my mobility unfortunately but both my GF and I agreed Koh-Tao was the highlight, a beautiful island and our bungalow had a wonderful view over the sea.

Would love to go back and see more of the country.

Oh and we flew Thai Airways who were excellent. Great food and we managed to get wine whenever we wanted. Good entertainment unit as well.