Krabi/Lanta/Phi Phi

I'm a Krabi fan, but 2 weeks is way too long. I would divide my time pretty equally between Railay, PP and Lanta (and/or maybe even try to fit a couple of days on Ko Jum)

Ao Nang is very touristy and the beach is ordinary. West Railay is the place to stay if you can afford the midrangers there (note East Railay is only 10 minutes walk away and there are some good midrangers there too).
You will also find some budget priced places at on East Railay at Ya Ya (I'm not a big fan), up the back of Diamond Cave Resort and up the path past the real Diamond cave at Mountain Resort and Railay Cabana.
There are some good budget and flashpacker places on adjacent Ton Sai, the climbers beach, but note there is a lot of building going on right on the beachfront scheduled to last 2 years. No problem, West Railay is just next door.

For midrangers I's book ahead, but I think that early in the season (great time to go!) you will get budget places walk-in.

I have more info on those places including midrange hotel names in my second link below, plus a fair bit of stuff on PP, Lanta and Jum.

Thanks Tezza, very helpful :)

>Firstly, would Ao Nang be very touristy. If yes, is there a more “chilled beach” nearby.

I think so, and try Nopporat Thara in addition to Tezza's suggestions.

We were in Thailand 2 years ago in March. I agree that Krabi and Ao Nang are very touristy. We stayed at a place near the far end of Koh Lanta called Bamboo Bay and I recomend it. There was another place to stay on the same beach that would be cheaper but I dont remember what it was called. The further away from the ferry landing you go, the less touristy it was but it was a very bumpy and dusty ride. We had the place pretty much to ourselves but it was just after the Tsunami so I dont think that was typical. Have you checked out Travelfish? They have lots of info on places to stay in SE Asia.

Here's a list of accommodations for the southern coasts of Thailand.

cheers,

We have just come back from a few weeks of island hopping. In Krabi we stayed on West Railay Beach at the Railay Bay Beach Resort. Being low season prices were quite good. We found a great little bar/restaurant on the east side right down the very end called The Last Bar....we spent every night there! Their cobra show was very scary though!

On Phi Phi we stayed first week at Andaman Beach Resort which was quite nice, but 2nd week we stayed at PP Casita which was awesome. Once again prices were ok because of low season. I would recommend PP Casita over Andaman Beach Resort for location and value for money.

Cheers