Anyone been to Thailand in the past few years?

[JustAnotherGen]

We are looking at splitting time in Bangkok with a beachy jaunt possibly to Hua Hin or one of the islands.

Any tips on in country travel? Example - going down to Costa Rica it's a pretty easy drive from Arenal to Manuel Antonio - but the prop plane over the country side was worth the shots from my camera. However we hired a car to take us up to Arenal to enjoy the scenery on our way up to the mountains.


I'm understanding Hua Hin is about 2.5 hours from Bangkok. Maybe take a round trip train? Is their rail fairly reliable?

Are there any recommended heli services should we decide to do the beach jaunt to an island?

Generally I rely on Virtual Tourist for inside travel tips - but the folks on the boards for that country are very 'budget focused'. Seems to be skewing towards a lot of college kids/young 20 somethings looking for adventure -

Whereas we tend to be adult only boutique hotel types.

If one more person tells me to bike it (I have ankylosing spondylitis - no can do) I'm gonna lose it!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

1. I've never been to Thailand, but I always recommend the Insight Guides

which contain a lot of cultural background, narrative descriptions of the main sights, and best of all, gorgeous color photographs.

The nitty-gritty travel information is in the back, but it has things for every budget.

There are also other guidebook series, especially Frommer's, that cover a wide range of budgets. If you rely exclusively on the Internet, you are likely to encounter mostly backpacker types.

If you have only one specific question, try FlyerTalk. It's a board for people obsessed with collecting frequent flyer miles, but because of that they tend to be 1) well-traveled, 2) more affluent than average. I've gotten some good detailed information from them, especially about ways to travel to various places. Sometimes their political views make you want to crash their planes, but they are good at filling in the gaps that the guidebooks don't cover, like the pros and cons of various transportation options from Point A to Point B.

Their Thailand board is here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thailand-624/

[JustAnotherGen]

2. Ahh familiar with all of those!

We are very well traveled - just missing it with our normal virtual tourist folks.

One thing my husband discovered - Qatar Air. We didn't realize how cheap the flights out of philly were on that airline. And since we are doing more exotic travel he wants to build up miles with them.

And - they don't allow cats in their cabins! Wheeeee! Huge - I've been screwed by Luft Hansa and British Airways out of my business class seats because they move the human who paid for the seat with the allergies - they won't move cats. Animals rule over humans on those airlines every time.

[Tanuki]

3. I love Thailand but haven't been there in six years

so my insights wouldn't be the most up-to-date. I would suggest the Fodors.com Asia travelers forum. There are a lot of posters there who visit Thailand on a regular basis and are happy to share info with anyone who expresses an interest and will answer any questions you might have. I have gotten a lot of ideas about traveling to Thailand and elsewhere there.
http://www.fodors.com/community/asia/

[JustAnotherGen]

4. Thanks Tanuki!

Will see for tips on in country travel!