phuket or hua hin

[souness]

working all hours at the moment including some nightshifts trying to save for a holiday in thailand july or august,if its ok with the bosses.
last year was my first time to thailand.we did pattaya,samui,luang prabang in laos and a couple of nights in udon.probably the best was lamai on samui and would have liked to stay udon longer.
this time was wondering about phuket or hua hin.quite fancy phuket but maybe the weather not so good then.
have any of you guys got any thoughts or recommandations.
thank u.

sean

[Galee]

Why not both Sean? On my first trip to Thailand I went to Phuket then hired a car to drive to Hua Hin, then taxi back to BKK. Both are worth visiting.

[arjay]

Souness, there does tend to be a lapse/break in the wet weather in August in Phuket, though the sea remains murky. IMO - Phuket has some good coastal scenery, though the resorts are separate from each other. Hua Hin is like a large town with a long (very ordinary) beach stretching alongside it. Phuket beaches are nicer, but in August the sea there would unlikely to be safe for swimming. Patong nightlife would be less suitable for a family.

I guess it depends on your actual objectives, - e.g. whether you are looking for beach life, nightlife, culture, scenery or what.

I believe Samui is in season, when Phuket is out of season.

[747man]

Souness,AKA Sean, Do as Galee says,Fly to Phuket ( Patong Beach) is nicer than Pattaya,Also has SAME Nightlife as Pattaya, lots of LBFM's If your into that scene ( Being a Kirkby Boy,Not Sure about you ) Have a few days on Phuket,then hire a car and drive up that side of the Gulf,You next come to Krabi ( Lovely Beaches )then after a few days you head further north to Ranong ( Not Much there ) Nakon Si Thammarat ( Beaches Good ) then carry on up to Chumpon,Trang,Prachuab Kirikhan,Pranburi,Hua-Hin,Cha-Am,Ratchaburi,Phetburi,& into Bangkok.......This route I found to be a beautiful Scenic route,although A LONG Drive better if you have 2 drivers in your party.......Altogether best part of 1000 kms.....But Remember in July & August can get quite a bit of Rain & Rough Seas,But on the good side Accomodation rates are 50% Down on peak season and you can get some VERY Nice 3&4 Star hotels for between 600 & 1000 Baht.....Happy Driving

[arjay]

747 Man, you're getting a bit dyslexic or disorientated, or something:-

Nakhon Si Thamarrat is nowhere near Ranong, it's much further south and on the east coast as opposed to the west. Also Trang is not on the way up from Chumphon to Prachuap, - it's way down south - south of Krabi and on the west coast. Otherwise your route sounds fine.

[747man]

747 Man, you're getting a bit dyslexic or disorientated, or something:-

Nakhon Si Thamarrat is nowhere near Ranong, it's much further south and on the east coast as opposed to the west. Also Trang is not on the way up from Chumphon to Prachuap, - it's way down south - south of Krabi and on the west coast. Otherwise your route sounds fine.

Arjay, Well it is 12 Years since I did that trip,Those Fu*individual Kids must have moved a couple of those places And I am Shivering in this " Cold " snap in Nong Khai....

[souness]

thanks for the info gents....even 747 whose journey is impossible looking at the map.still,at least you did your best,a bit like everton yesterday lunchtime ha ha !
ive never driven in thailand before so phuket to hua hin would be a bit much i think.
quite fancy phuket in august if i can.maybe stay at kata then could go to krabi.theres a place called railay that looks really nice.anybody know it?
doubt if my mate can come this time as hes unimployed now.maybe ask my pizza girl in udon if she fancys the trip.but she tells me some american soldiers are sniffing around her and her mate.
what are they doing in udon?
irish allan,maybe you could go round and put these american guys straight for me.dont worry im told medical care is cheap in udon ha ha !

sean

[PopsIcafe]

Souness, the American air force is here for Cobra Gold. It's done just about every year.

Pop's

[arjay]

quite fancy phuket in august if i can.maybe stay at kata then could go to krabi.theres a place called railay that looks really nice.anybody know it?

Sean, Railay beach is a very scenic though somewhat remote location. It's in an area of limestone Karsts, those tall rocky things, like small mountains. It's accessed by longtail boat from Ao Nang beach (Krabi province), about 50 baht, so once there you are a bit isolated. It has some nice, though pricey beach side hotels and restaurants, but if you want a change of scenery or nightlife you would have to take a longtail ferry to Ao Nang, 20 minutes, and I'm not sure if they run after dark. The sea and ferry crossing could be a bit choppy at that time of year.

http://www.railay.com/railay/intro/intro.shtml

http://www.krabirailay.com/railay.html

Phuket and Kata should be Ok in August, though as said before the sea maybe a bit restless! I'm sure you could find a guide/companion in Phuket who would accompany you on any local trips.

[Galee]

ive never driven in thailand before so phuket to hua hin would be a bit much i think.

It is a bit of a trek. That drive was my first experience of driving in Thailand. Made the mistake of hiring a cheap Suzuki, add that to no sleep the night before due to gf problems that lead to getting the police involved resulted in me passing one of my WBU exams.

[747man]

thanks for the info gents....even 747 whose journey is impossible looking at the map.still,at least you did your best,a bit like everton yesterday lunchtime ha ha !
ive never driven in thailand before so phuket to hua hin would be a bit much i think.
quite fancy phuket in august if i can.maybe stay at kata then could go to krabi.theres a place called railay that looks really nice.anybody know it?
doubt if my mate can come this time as hes unimployed now.maybe ask my pizza girl in udon if she fancys the trip.but she tells me some american soldiers are sniffing around her and her mate.
what are they doing in udon?
irish allan,maybe you could go round and put these american guys straight for me.dont worry im told medical care is cheap in udon ha ha !

sean

Sean,There you go AGAIN , Been to Thailand ( Once or is it TWICE,WOW,You know it ALL Hey ???) have YOU ?? And NO the trip is NOT Impossible I ACTUALLY DID it,with some other places included also,about 12 years ago,My ( late ) Friend & I drove from Nong Khai that route right down to Sadao The Border crossing for Thailand /Malaysia we went down the Cha Am,Hua Hin side,as far as Krabi,then onto Phuket,and UP the other side through Phang Na,Did the Visa stamp at Sadao,drove ALL Day and into the next morning,EVENTUALLY finishing up in Bangkok then onto Pattaya,after a couple of days rest I left my friend there and I drove back to Nong Khai,in the 10 day journey we covered almost 9,000 kms...*****SO as I have told you lesser travelled people BEFORE " Engage Brain (IF you have one ) THEN put your GOB into MOTION " ...... And about Everton,THAT belongs on a DIFFERENT Thread.. Alan.......

[stattointhailand]

Souness, One question, do you, or would you like to play golf?
If the answer is yes, then Hua Hin has 7 or 8 top class courses within a twenty min drive, and they have a special "golf festival" every year in August where the green fees are only about B800 instead of the B2000 that they usually charge. Phuket is much more "touristy", and has more to do than HH, but there are still plenty of "bars" and "hostesses" to take care of your every need in HH, and there's a great beach at Cha-Am just down the road.
In the end of the day it comes down to what you want ........ Phuket (in my view no different to any of the Spanish resorts except for the BG's), or HH, which is far more like a town that just happens to be by the sea.

[souness]

747 i did engage my brain first cos i looked on the map.
nakhon si thamarat isnt near ranong.its miles away and on the other side.and where does trang come into it.if i would have followed your route id be making a lot of u turns but thanks for the reply as it does seem a nice area.
statto yes id like to play golf but its a bit expensive for someone from kirkby.i know thailand is a lot cheaper but id be a bit embarrased playing with regulars.crazy golf about my limit ha ha !
i think ill go for phuket this year.hua hin next year.have to start clocking up even more overtime!

sean

[747man]

747 i did engage my brain first cos i looked on the map.
nakhon si thamarat isnt near ranong.its miles away and on the other side.and where does trang come into it.if i would have followed your route id be making a lot of u turns but thanks for the reply as it does seem a nice area.
statto yes id like to play golf but its a bit expensive for someone from kirkby.i know thailand is a lot cheaper but id be a bit embarrased playing with regulars.crazy golf about my limit ha ha !
i think ill go for phuket this year.hua hin next year.have to start clocking up even more overtime!

sean

I Know they are on opposite sides of the Isthmus but BELIEVE ME I did the whole lot in 10 days.....Nong Khai back to Nong Khai,as I explained to you before,Sean....But NOT good for you, NOT A holiday just a trip to get my Visa Stamp & see the South of Thailand.....Hardly got out of the truck in 10days though !! Also Phuket ( Patong Beach ) is only a Mini version of Pattaya,the ONLY Difference is that the Sea is Cleaner to have a swim.....If I were you,Mate ( ALL Joking aside ) I would go for Krabi,& The Phi-Phi Islands,

[laphanphon]

i'm a fan of both, but phuket, KATA BEACH, not patong, wins hands down. when i go to phuket i by-pass and don't go near patong. kata has good accomodations, beach, (never there in july), food, and a bit of night life if wanting. patong is a little pattay, w/nicer beach, over tourist and priced. i go to both every year, hun hin is a pit stop, good for ok accomodations, little night life also, decent food, and short drive. but if actually wanting to swim at beach and relax there and swim, kata is very nice beach. will have undertow occasionally, but karon beach is plain deadly, every year. patong is polluted. just take care, know the signs and try to swim at ebb tide, before and after, in case you do step into and undertow/rip, it shouldn't be to hard to power thru or parallel the beach to escape.

krabi doesn't do much for me, hua hin beach is not for swimming. polluted also, south end looks nice, but city beach is a pit, horse........say no more.

good luck, enjoy. price wise, about the same, some nice discounts at kata. try sawadee or latestay, but don't book to far in advance, in case weather goes bad on you, then hop over to krabi or up to khao lak. couple hours away. hua hin, bad weather, not too many options.

[stattointhailand]

Stayed in Kata last year for a few days, and have to say that it's not a place i'd go back to.
Hotel was about 30m from the beach, but had to walk about 500m to get there, as there is a bloomin big resort (can't remember the name ..... who am I kiddin', I swore at it enough times ..... Club bl**dy Med) stuck between the main drag and the beach. Next to no nightlife .... a few bars which were pretty empty every night, a few passable resturants with inflated prices (been in Udon too long?), and not a lot to do during the day except beach or hotel pool.
We even spent an afternoon at the zoo to pass the time (first time in about 30 years).
May be we just caught it at a bad time, or may be it's a case of every one to their own, but I would never ever recommend anyone to go there.
Sorry LA I know you like the place but, if we hadn't paid the hotel in advance we would have been on our way a couple of days earlier.

[laphanphon]

yes, stay clear of club med................sugar palm or sereene will avoid that and be a short walk to everything. also eat one daily meal at kata mama, at southern end of beach, access from beach. even drive over to karon for red onion rest and my burger gal, chicken or beef, tasyt stuff

i think familiarity helps alot, know the place pretty good after 8 years. but still only visit maybe 5 restaurants as i'll agree, most suck or overpriced off season is fairly dead, which i prefer, my entertainment keeps following me around, can't get rid of them. i get there after songkran or october.

july will be slow, but when not accompanied, had fun, just enough night life, no overkill.

[747man]

i'm a fan of both, but phuket, KATA BEACH, not patong, wins hands down. when i go to phuket i by-pass and don't go near patong. kata has good accomodations, beach, (never there in july), food, and a bit of night life if wanting. patong is a little pattay, w/nicer beach, over tourist and priced. i go to both every year, hun hin is a pit stop, good for ok accomodations, little night life also, decent food, and short drive. but if actually wanting to swim at beach and relax there and swim, kata is very nice beach. will have undertow occasionally, but karon beach is plain deadly, every year. patong is polluted. just take care, know the signs and try to swim at ebb tide, before and after, in case you do step into and undertow/rip, it shouldn't be to hard to power thru or parallel the beach to escape.

krabi doesn't do much for me, hua hin beach is not for swimming. polluted also, south end looks nice, but city beach is a pit, horse........say no more.

good luck, enjoy. price wise, about the same, some nice discounts at kata. try sawadee or latestay, but don't book to far in advance, in case weather goes bad on you, then hop over to krabi or up to khao lak. couple hours away. hua hin, bad weather, not too many options.

LA, Instead of stopping off at Hua-Hin why not go the other 100 kms south and stop at Prachuab Kiri Khan,( Ao Manao beach ) is BEAUTIFUL & Clean as is the Sea there,about 6kms of whiteish sand & NOBODY on it,when WE were there,Anyway,Although NOT Much nightlife & you would have to go back into Prachuab to dine,Unless of course you ate at your accomodation... .

[747man]

yes, stay clear of club med................sugar palm or sereene will avoid that and be a short walk to everything. also eat one daily meal at kata mama, at southern end of beach, access from beach. even drive over to karon for red onion rest and my burger gal, chicken or beef, tasyt stuff

i think familiarity helps alot, know the place pretty good after 8 years. but still only visit maybe 5 restaurants as i'll agree, most suck or overpriced off season is fairly dead, which i prefer, my entertainment keeps following me around, can't get rid of them. i get there after songkran or october.

july will be slow, but when not accompanied, had fun, just enough night life, no overkill.

Bet yer NEVER told Ree [-o< [-o<

[laphanphon]

in between relationships, quite often, not sure it that's good or bad.....................but fun