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Where to start in SouthWest Thailand (Slowly making our way back to Bangkok)
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Hi folks,
We're planning on leaving Ko Tao tomorrow and getting a boat/bus to the west coast of Thailand. Our problem is we don't know where to start.
What we want to do is slowly make our way up North to Bangkok over a 3 week period. We have, so far, put in our itenary: Ko Lanta, PiPi, Krabi (ReiLei) and Phuket.
We just don't know where to start. Looking at a map, it makes sense to start as far South as possible, which would mean a bus to Krabi, then see Ko Lanta, PiPi and Phuket.
But should we go further South? Are there any 'must sees' South of Ko Lanta/Krabi? Even if we know this it would be a good place to start our research.... we just don't want to be crossing over ourselves multiple times while travelling as we only have 3 weeks of our trip left.
We're looking for a mix of nice beaches/chilling-out/diving but also would like a bit of lively nightlife the odd time.
We are budgeting about 1,000 baht per night (double bed) for 5 nights of the week, and can 'splash out' 2 nights of the week by going up to about 2,000 baht
We'd much appreciate any advise you can offer!
#1 Posted: 7/1/2012 - 22:13
DLuek
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Hi,
Personally I'd be inclined to cut out Phuket (expensive, over touristy, seedy in parts) and add an island or two or three further south. Most of the islands of the southern Trang and Satun provinces are connected by island hopping speedboat routes that go up to Ko Lanta and beyond, so logistically they wouldn't be too far out of the way. You could go a couple hours south past Krabi, catch a boat from Pakbara to Ko Lipe, maybe a few nights there plus a day trip to Ko Adang, then get the speedboat to - take your pick - Ko Bulon Lae, Ko Lao Liang, Ko Muk, Ko Kradan , or Ko Ngai (or any combo of these). From any of these (or from Lipe itself) you can catch the speedboat direct to Ko Lanta and then Ko Phi Phi, then from there to Krabi, from where transport is readily available in any direction.
If you didn't want to go so far south you could take a bus or train to Trang, then from there to any combo of Ko Muk, Ko Kradan and/or Ko Ngai, and head from any of those to Ko Lanta. Trang itself is not a bad place to spend a day or two - great food night market and some impressive waterfalls in the surrounding area. I'd do a little research and see what fits the bill for you... With three weeks you've definitely got some time to see and do.
If you want to stick to the destinations originally mentioned, I'm pretty sure you'd want to start at Krabi, then from there to Ko Lanta, then boat to Ko Phi Phi, and from there boat to Phuket, from where transport is also readily available.
#2 Posted: 8/1/2012 - 01:47
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