1

Thai trains are slower than coach and more expesenive.
Phuket is the most expensive place to go in Thailand , overcrowded and over rated - Samui is the second most expensive place .
Suggest you check out sawadee.com - click on transportation - gives coach,train,ferry and air timetables and prices.
Check out airasia.com - do cheap flights to Phuket and Surat Thani ( then take ferry to Samui from Surat Thani )
Cheap site's for hotels agoda.com and hotelscombined.com.
A good cheap place to stay in Chaweng , Samui is Panupong Apartments right by the centre of all resturants and nightlife and 5mins from beach.
Alternative to Phuket - Ao Nang, Krabi or White Beach , Koh Chang - so many other places to choose.
You can see all you want to see in Bangkok in 3/4 days - stay around Khao San Road Area and do all your tourist things from there.
If you want cheap but good value then check out Pattaya- only 2hrs from Bangkok.
It does not matter where you go you will return to Thailand everybody does.

2

With his schedule, he doesn't need to fly.

50USD per day to be safe. You probably won't use all of it. 10 bucks a night on guesthouse. 10-15 bucks a day on food and drink. 5-10 bucks a day on transport. The rest for park entrance fees and misc.

3

what's the best way to locate guest houses once in Thailand?

4

Some people prefer guidebooks and booking in advance. Others choose to just show up to a place and look around. You can always ask a tuk tuk driver, or just go into the main part of the city and walk around. Or, just google search the city or town you are going to and available accommodation and a list of guesthouses should pop up

5

Hi
Thanks # 2 . That is what I wanted to know.
:-)

#1 Why cr*p on about beach resorts?. I am not going there !Can't you read?

6

50 bucks / 1500 baht a day works, and should be enough. train is slower, but much cheaper and much safer. November is the start of tourist high season, but you are off the beaten track with your choices.

#1, you should actually read the post before replying with your copy / paste of irrelevant info. just read another irrelevant reply to another post......go figure

OP, you may want to stick to north or northeast side, as hopping over to the north, just to see sukhothai is a bit much, as the park is about it, and done in couple hours. If not cruising the area or more, will involve some time and money for quick visit.

Northeast side, Phimai and Phanon Rung are close enough and area ok. I would scratch the motorbike ride from phimai to phanon rung, as that would be brutal and not the safest way to go. Better to base in Nakhon Ratchisima for the day, and either go from there, as phimai just north, and PR is east. You may want to go to Honey GH at nang rung, just outside of PR the day/night before, making it easy to get to PR. Start early in the morning, beat the heat and crowd. Then head up to Phimai, which is considerably smaller than PR, though Phimai is an ok little town. And most things walkable. Though 4 nights may seem a long time there, so with that…..

Since on the northeast side, you may want to scratch lopburi and hop up to udon thani and / or nong khai, a small river town. Udon has ban chiang nearby, since you seem interested in history, though not worth a special trip, but if in the area. Udon has good accommodation and food options w/excellent night market. Nong khai just a hop further north, smaller relaxed town on river. Sala kao koo park may interest you in that area.

all are conveniently along the train line

Edited by: udornla

Edited by: udornla

Edited by: udornla

7

For guest houses, right from 1990, we went armed with names and address of at least 3 guest houses in every new place we went ranking from what seemed the best. I must be a good judge because not once did we have to go beyond the first selection. I used a combination of TT and guide books to narrow down the search.

8

I know near Sukhothai there are two other temple ruins places/locations in the area so I am not just going to see the Sukhothai day tour .I am a temple/ruins nut!

9

At both Sukhothai and Si Satchanalai you can rent bicycles .. if you don't mind peddling around. You can cover a lot of territory that way. In Sukhothai in particular, you can spend one day around the main center and a second day in the outlying areas. There are some temples on hills to the west, nice views if the air is clear.

$50 is a safe estimate as said above. Less per day won't be difficult to manage.

10

yes, I am looking at taking the the train for travel from Ayuthyah to The town near Sukhothai .Its name starts with P.

11

Phitsanulok.......while there, since you like temples, visit Wat Yai, i think, as being the 2nd most profitable / important temple in thailand. with a classic image of buddha

check updates, but a rough guide
northern train schedule

12

thanks for the timetable.

13

so what is the best way to get from Sukhothai to Khorat ?

14

back to phisanulok, then over to khon kaen, then down to korat. most direct route, all busses, as no train available. suggest a day trip, not at night time. the one stretch of road cuts thru the hills, so decent scenery, and much safer than night travelling. stick with gov't busses. should be able to get a direct / one bus trip.

the other way is actually shorter, phit / ayut / korat, but then you will have to backtrack, korat / phimai / korat. stop at PhiMai on the way to korat after khon kaen, they will let you get off the bus anywhere along the route, not just bus stations. inform driver you want off at phimai turn. guessing the bus will stop in khon kaen, so may be better to hop off bus, then take train to phimai. if staying on the bus, when you see signs for phimai, less than 20 kms away, that is where you will get ready to exit bus, at next large intersection with sign point off the main highway to phimai, as it's about 12 off the main highway.

Edited by: udornla