Far east vacation and Beaches!!!

[dealmaker]

Heading to Far East next summer for the family jaunt - sick of USA. It's been a while for me in that part of the world (used to go there a lot in ealry 90's) only regular trips to Shanghai nowadays - so out of touch with the latest "must see"places!

We are planning on starting North an working South -initially landing in Beijing and then leave from Singapore 25 days later. So recommendations for everything else in between?

We're planning a few days sightseeing in Beijing - then heading to Tokyo (my son is desperate to go there - he thinks it will be like 24/7 "Tokyo Drift" on every street!) - after Tokyo we will head to Hong Kong - then on to Bangkok - this is where it goes a bit Pete Tong - my wife then wants to have a "beach holiday" before we head back to Singapore for a couple of days prior to flying home.

So any suggested alterations to the trip?..and recommendations for the "beach" part - was thinking Ko Samui or Penang or somethng else? Ideally somewhere convenient for Bangkok travel and back to Singapore. (don't want to go to Bali - didnt like it much last time I was there - might be something to do with the Sea Snakes...URGHH!)

All feedback gratefully received!

[XJSJohn]

Loads of beach places in Thailand.

Phukett is an obvious one. There are some very nice high end hotels with thier own private beaches (keeps the touts and hookers away) and some fantastic dining as well as the usual stuff to see and do.

Koh Samui is much the same,

Places like Krabi are a little smaller but equally nice!



Alternative suggestions, Langkawi (could charter a yacht from Sunsail for a few days of lazyness perhaps)

Tioman Island or Pulau Aur are fantastic "off the beaten path" islands with great diving.

Or go to Malaysian Borneo to somewhere like Kota Kinabalu or another nearby resort.

Or Bintan Island in Indonesia, just a 40 minute ferry ride southeast of Singapore.

Also don't forget, there is a surprising amount to do in Singapore too!!!

edit to add - Penang is OK, but given the other options, no cigar ... personally i prefer Pankor Island a bit further south.

Other options could be Vietnam (Phumy) ... Easy to get to and from Bangkok and Singapore (1 hour flying to Changi)

Edited by XJSJohn on Saturday 11th October 02:55

[anonymous-user]

Just did a beach trip to Thailand, again, drove up to Phucket, Phucket is getting seedier every year, go across Phang Nha bay to Krabbie, great beach at Ah Nang, incredably cheap, and loots of life, got everything, including a Srarbucks now, Further south toward Trang (Pak Meng)the beaches are great but very quit.
I don't like Ko Samoui, you can work it out in a few days
Having lived in Penang I don't recommend it the tidel rip around the island churns up the sand in the water so it is not vey clear. Lankowi is very quit, (well I think it is dead) 10 years ago it was. but I think it has gone down hill
Kelvin,

[DAN3M]

[quote=Berw]I don't like Ko Samoui, you can work it out in a few days

Berw - Obviously not spent enough time looking around in Samui or surounding islands as there is more to do than you think..Phangan and Tao next to it all with blinding beaches and only within 20 mins on a boat from samui airport.

Dealmaker - Having lived there in Thailand for 3 years they would be the best bets for you and your wife to do the "Beach" Style trip with lots of secluded bays and lovely white sand..the life is far more chilled out there than the bigger islands - a must!

Edited by DAN3M on Tuesday 27th January 21:20

[Bollah]

Having just come back from Thailand, i could recommend Koh Lanta to you. Not that westernised yet, i.e. no Mcdonalds, BK or Starbucks, yet.

You need to get yourself to Krabi to get over to Koh Lanta, either by passenger ferry, only running once at 10:30am, or by mini van (250bht per person) which includes 2 car ferry crossings.

Plenty of beaches to go to, we were in a small villa on Klong Dao beach which it seems where the most resorts are, we ended up paying 1300thb a night. The beach itself was nice, but on the southern end it was quite rocky, but was hidden when the tide was in. Whilst i was there, we hired a scooter and went to south of the island to Klong Jack beach, lovely beach and about half a dozen hotels / bungalows there, so very peaceful, although, it's about an hour from Saladan (which is the main town on Koh Lanta)

Only thing to watch out for is Jellyfish. The Thai government put out a warning in November saying box jellyfish have been sighted around Phi Phi and the southern coastal islands. We did see lots of dead jellyfish when we were on Koh Lanta