Thailand
Thailand
Three nights in Bangkok, then a beach. It's the classic for a reason — but which beach depends entirely on the month you travel, and that's where most people get it wrong.
The short version
Bangkok, then the right coast
Thailand has two beach coasts with opposite weather. The Andaman side — Phuket, Krabi, Phi Phi — is dry roughly November to April. The Gulf side, which is Koh Samui, is at its worst exactly when the Andaman is at its best. Book the wrong one for your dates and you'll spend the week indoors.
First stop
Bangkok, three nights not one
Most itineraries give Bangkok a single night to break the flight, which is a waste. Three lets you do the Grand Palace early, spend an afternoon on the river, and eat properly. Stay riverside rather than Sukhumvit if it's your first visit — the boats are the best way to move around and the traffic is genuinely as bad as people say.
The one people miss
Khao Sok, two nights on the water
Rainforest older than the Amazon, and floating raft houses on a lake ringed by limestone. It sits between Phuket and Surat Thani, so it slots into a Bangkok–beach trip almost for free. No wifi, no air conditioning, and the best two nights of most people's Thailand. Book it early — the good rafthouses are small.
Pick your beach
Four coasts, four different weeks
The scenery everyone comes for — Railay, Ao Nang, the karst islands. Quieter than Phuket and better value. Andaman coast, so November to April.
The biggest choice of hotels and the only island with its own long-haul airport. Patong is loud; the north and east are not. Andaman coast.
Gulf coast, so the seasons flip — best February to September. Softer, greener and more resort-led than the Andaman islands.
Not a beach, but the start of nearly every good Thailand trip. Fly in, three nights, then a one-hour hop to whichever coast suits your dates.
When to go
The two coasts are opposites
This is the single most useful thing to know about booking Thailand. If your dates are fixed, the dates choose the coast — not the other way round.
Andaman coast · Phuket, Krabi, Phi Phi
Gulf coast · Koh Samui, Koh Phangan
Navy marks peak pricing, pale blue marks good conditions, grey marks the monsoon. Note November and December: excellent in Krabi, the worst months on Samui.
Worth the early start
What we'd actually book
The Khao Sok rafthouses. Go for two nights, not a day trip — the boat in alone takes an hour.
Sea caves and hidden lagoons by kayak. Take a private longtail rather than the big group boat.
Forty-five metres of white marble on the highest hill. Free, and the view is the real reason to go.
Off Phi Phi, and far emptier. Go on an early boat and you'll have the sandbar to yourselves for an hour.
Before you book
Three things worth knowing
Internal flights are cheap and quick. Bangkok to Phuket, Krabi or Samui is about an hour. There's no reason to do Thailand as a single centre, and a two-centre rarely adds much to the price.
Samui's airport is privately owned. Flights in are noticeably dearer than to Phuket or Krabi. Worth knowing before you compare two quotes and wonder why one is £200 more.
Book Songkran deliberately, or avoid it. Mid-April is the water festival. Brilliant if you want it, a wet nuisance if you don't, and hotels price accordingly.
Next step
Give us your dates and we'll pick the coast
Tell us when you can travel and we'll tell you which beach actually works, with a two-centre itinerary, live availability and the payment plan written out in full.
Thailand, area by area
Which coast and which island changes the holiday completely. Here is each one on its own.
Practical
Thai baht. ATMs everywhere and they charge a fixed fee of around 220 baht per withdrawal, so take out more, less often.
7 hours ahead of the UK. Overnight flights out, so you land in the morning and lose the first day to sleep.
Domestic flights are cheap and frequent. Bangkok to Phuket or Krabi is about 90 minutes.
220V, and most sockets take two flat pins. A universal adaptor covers it.
Thailand packages
Flights, accommodation and transfers as one package. Every one can be reshaped — different dates, different board, a different airport, or a stopover on the way.
7 nights in Thailand
- Return flights and private transfers
- All inclusive throughout
- Financial protection confirmed in writing before you pay
10 nights in Thailand
- Return flights and private transfers
- All inclusive throughout
- The extra nights cost proportionally less — fixed costs don't change
14 nights in Thailand
- Return flights and private transfers
- Half board throughout
- Best value per night, and worth it on a longer flight
Guide prices, per person, based on two sharing, including return flights, accommodation and transfers. They indicate what a holiday of this type has typically cost and are not an offer or a quotation. Your price depends on dates, party, board basis, departure airport and availability, and is confirmed in writing before any payment is taken.
Packages that include Thailand
Ready-built itineraries with flights, transfers and internal hops booked as one package, ATOL protected. Every one can be reshaped around your dates.
12 Night Singapore & Bali
12 nights · Apr–Oct · from £1,749pp
13 Night Bangkok, Chiang Mai & Krabi
13 nights · Nov–Mar · from £1,649pp
13 Night Vietnam & Cambodia
13 nights · Nov–Mar · from £2,099pp
13 Night KL, Langkawi & Penang
13 nights · Dec–Mar · from £1,599pp
14 Night Singapore, KL & Bali
14 nights · Apr–Oct · from £1,849pp
15 Night Thailand & Bali
15 nights · Apr–Oct · from £2,199pp
14 Night Japan & Singapore
14 nights · Mar–Apr, Oct–Nov · from £2,999pp
12 Night Dubai & Thailand
12 nights · Nov–Mar · from £1,849pp
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