Thailand forum

never been to chang mai but i do know that they have an airport there,not sure if its international or not though? so you may have to do a bit of digging to find out.

cant comment on the chang rai trek either as in all my visits to thailand ive only visted central/easteran/southern/gulf/amdaman areas of thailand.

as for travelling to ko lanta i think best bet would be a flight to either krabi or phuket,there quite frequent and reasonably priced so gettin there should be no problem.then bost to ko lanta from either of these places,check out tigerline travel for boat info http://www.tigerlinetravel.com/index.php?cat=lineboat&new_language=1

(although i do find there website quite overwhelming/confusing) is it just me? :D

ive been ko lanta once last mid-april for 5 days and enjoyed it very much,stayed on long beach (pra ae) at lanta palm beach resort,lovely accommodation and staff, right on the beach,clean tidy spacious rooms with air con/fan and hot water shower,cost me 700 baht per night and worth every penny imo.

btw for me the beach was one of the best ive ever been on,clean,uncrowded and good deep water at all tides ideal for swimming and lazing in the sun during the day.of which there was plenty,5 days of clear blue skies,uninterupted sunshine whcih is quitye lucky for mid april on the andaman coast from waht i can make out,because i soon as i travelled a few miles up the coast to phuket i got showers everyday.

not a great deal to do at night but enough bars and restaurants to keep you happy,espec\ially if your travelling as a couple.

quite a large island so plenty of areas/beaches to travel around and visit during the day.

if i have time i may pop back there this april for a few nigts,all depends how long/how much i like the trang/satun/krabi islands,ko kradan,ko lipe,railay and posibbly some of the others islands in the area all depending on timescale.

anyway have fun and sorry i could'nt be much more help.

try lonelyplanet/thorntree or try checking tezzas blog (google it) a masss of info on there.

chohkdee ;)

Sorry, didn't realise you double posted this. I replied on the other thread, which is now deleted.

Hi Maggiemoo,

Congrats on the upcoming big day!

A couple of starters:
The "long necks" are primarily visited out of Mae Hong Son which is to the west of Chiang Mai (and so opposite direction to Chiang Rai and the golden triangle).

For a primer on trekking in Thailand, see this story: http://www.travelfish.org/feature/18
For spots to trek from other than Chiang Mai, see this story: http://www.travelfish.org/feature/138

Basically the success of the trek depends a lot on the group you are with and the guide. Most of the guides are freelance and so work for many operators -- making recommendations very difficult.

Island recommendation really depends on when you are going as different islands are affected by monsoons at different times of year.

From Chiang Mai to the islands, you will need to transit via Bangkok, so bus/train/plane to Bangkok and then onwards will depend on the island.

Hope that helps.