Visiting Thailand

[Rocio0010 5,560]

Howdy everyone! Hubby and I would like to visit Thailand next year. We are wanting to see beaches and nature. I was wanting to ask here:

1) we are thinking of traveling in July. Is that a good month?

2) what’s the nicest beach area to be at?

3) How expensive is it?

4) are there any places to avoid? 
5) Are there any “tricks “? For example, this month we visited Iguazu. People offer you group tours all the time, but our experience with a driver was so, so much better. Just to give you an example of what I’m asking about. Thanks!

[TBoneTX 43,018]

Thread is moved from Off Topic to the Thailand regional forum, where excellent members will be very helpful.  

[Madao 18]

I'm no means an expert about Thailand, but I have traveled there three times and here are some of my experiences. 

 

1. I've only been there once in July for a short time and it was hot; the other times I was there from Dec-Mar timeframe.  Expect it to be wet and hot.

 

2. A favorite spot for beaches is Phuket.  It is a small island with beaches.  I signed up for a speedboat tour that took you snorkeling and the main attraction was the James Bond Island where the filmed a Bond movie.  There are also monkeys.  I saw some at Monkey Hill; it's also a good place to walk up the hill for exercise.  There are lots of other places with beaches, but its up to you to decide which one you like best.  I prefer Chiang Mai as it's has a big city to visit, but you can go outside the city and view nature, visit elephant zoo, etc. and you aren't stuck on an island.  It has no beaches though.

 

3. I did airbnb at the time and it was about ~$30-40 a night for a nice apartment/condo.  There are cheaper places like hostels for around $10-15/night, but they are not as nice and shared room/area.  Food was cheap if you ate like the locals.  A meal could be had around ~1-3 dollars.  Just be careful because you can get food poisoning from ill prepped food and stay away from drinking questionable water/ice.  Being adventurous is good, but just realize if you do get a bit too adventurous, you may end up with a bad stomach.  If you are in Bangkok, you may want to stay near the subway for easy travel.  Taxi's aren't expensive, but at rush hour it takes longer than taking the subway.

 

If you want to convert money, the cheapest was pulling it from the ATM; the ATM has a flat fee, but if you pull out a lot at once, it's cheaper.  The money changers may say no fee, but they may not give you the best conversion rates.

 

4. If you rent a scooter, make sure to take pictures before hand.  I don't know if they were trying to scam me, but they tried charging me more when I turned it in for prior damage that I didn't cause.  I had some pictures to prove it was there before I rented it so luckily didn't get in trouble.  That was only one place in Phuket.  The other places were honest and I never had issues as most vendors I ran into were honest.  Traffic is more or less chaotic though so be careful if you guys decide to drive.  If you do, get a international driver's license, otherwise the cops may pull you over and fine you for not having one.

 

5. I was more independent in exploring so I didn't really do tours except for the boat tour in Phuket.  I'm sure you can find drivers to show you around but I have no experience with it; airbnb has a section for activities so you may want to check that out.  I was tempted with the cooking classes, but didn't have enough time. If you want to travel cheaply and time isn't a limiting factor, you can take the bus to different cities.  For example, I took the bus from Bangkok to Chang Mai and I think I paid around $10-15.  It took about 8 hours though, but you get to see a bit of the country side if you take the day bus.  Flights weren't too expensive either if I remember correctly, but you had to pay extra for baggage where it was free with the bus. 

 

Of course this was all pre-covid.  Thing and prices may have changed drastically since then and many shops may not be open.