Asia & Oceania group posting on GLOBOsapiens

Bangkok & beaches

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simoneschils Joined: Nov 02 Points: 20 Posts: 3 Posted: 2002-12-27 20:12:00    We are going to Thailand for 3 weeks in March. We want to stay a couple of days in Bankgok and than relax on a beautiful lonely beach and visist some national parks. Anyone has a recommendation for a nice island with beautiful beaches, nice small place to stay on the beach and how to get there? Reply    Reply with quote    Contact simoneschils   gardkarlsen Joined: Dec 02 Points: 2833 Posts: 55 Posted: 2002-12-30 16:08:00    Hi My wife and I have been on vacation in Thailand twice. The first time we stayed in Bangkok for a few days and then we went to Phuket and Koh Samui (by plane). We enjoyed Koh Samui a lot. We had a bungalow on the beach and it was a beautiful beach. The second time we went to Thailand (September 2002) we went to Ao Nang (near Krabi) and Hua Hin. The Ao Nang beach is not a great beach but you can jump into a boat and get transported to other nice beaches. I have posted a couple of long travelogues on my homepage together with lots of pictures. Maybe you can find some useful info there. The address to the page is www.gardkarlsen.com Have a great trip :-) Regards Gard www.gardkarlsen.com --- Regards Gard http://gardkarlsen.c-om - trip reports and pictures Reply    Reply with quote    Contact gardkarlsen   undedd Joined: Jun 02 Points: 4893 Posts: 21 Posted: 2003-01-01 23:22:00    Lucky buggers! Thailand for 3 weeks, huh. I've been five times now and travelled most of the country independently. It's all beautiful - the people make it special - but for magical scenery, solitude, and national park wonders, the Andaman Coast between the Malaysian and Burma borders takes a lot of beating. You CAN escape the toursist hordes, stay on your own beach and explore the most amazing land and sea-based national parks. And for bugger all money! Here's a few spots I've been that you may want to research - it's not that they are secrets, it's just that most people visiting this area do so on package deals and rarely venture to the more interesting sites: 1. Khao Sok National Park - the most amazing combination of awe-inspiring scenery and wildlife, you can even stay with the locals in a floating rafthouse. 2. Similan Islands National Marine Park - this IS paradise. 3. Khao Lak/Lam Ru National Park and adjacent beaches - just starting to get recognised, but still very much a laid-back, hut-on-the-beach style option. 4. Ko Turatao National Marine Park - can there be 2 paradises? 5. Any of the (almost deserted) islands off the coast from Trang - this is a fantastic town to wander for a few days and the adjacent islands are special. The geological formations down this entire coast provide spectacular scenery. 6. A paddle around the cliffs and caves of Phang Nga Bay is fun, but avoid the big tourist operators. A word of advice: Phi Phi, Krabi and Koh Samui are all beautiful and merit a visit, but if you're looking for peace, solitude, fair prices and rural culture, don't make them your base. Check out two of my reports here - the first is a summary of the Andaman Coast, the second is a blurb on Bangkok (there is so much to do in this exciting city you won't know where to start). I have more information if you're interested, but read this stuff first... Oh, and do me a favour, if you read the reports, please rate them so I get some credit points. http://www.globosapiens.net/profiles/A00000028431.html http://www.globosapiens.net/profiles/A00000028249.html --- Dave Underwood Freelance Travel Writer & Photojournalist Reply    Reply with quote    Contact undedd