12 day Thailand/Laos Itinerary; Vientiane vs BKK; Koh Samui vs Phuket

Hello!

Planning a trip to SE Asia this summer. Will only have twelve days, not including travel days to/from home. Have been to Vietnam/Cambodia recently so focusing on Thailand/Laos this time around. Am starting to form a rough itinerary in my mind, know what I would like to start and end the trip with, but the middle part is a bit hazy:

Day 0 arrive BKK, night in BKK
Day 1 fly to Luang Prabang in a.m.
Days 1-3 Luang Prabang
(Day 4 Luang Prabang to Van Vieng
Day 5 Vang Vieng
Day 6-7 Vientiane)
Day 8 Vientiane to BKK to Koh Samui
Day 9-11 Koh Samui +/- Koh Pha Ngan vs Koh Tao
Day 12 Koh Samui to BKK, night in BKK

Overall would like 1/3 of time with nature/trekking, < or = 1/3 with city life/ruins, 1/3 of time on beach.

-Think I'd like Chiang Mai too but had to choose between that and LP (as they seemed to have similar things to offer) and will likely go with latter.
-Alternative day 4-7 would be to cut out Vang Vieng/Vientiane and put that middle time to Bangkok and Bangkok-based side trip. Main other place I wanted to see in northern Thailand is Sukhothai. If I left day 4-7 open (i.e. nixed Vang Vieng/Vientiane), would it would be doable in my short time frame? Or perhaps there is a similarly impressive but more accessible place (from Bangkok) to spend a day or two seeing ancient temples/ruins? (Ayutthaya vs Kanchanaburi vs ?)
-Alternative Day 9-11 would be Phukhet (as I'm looking for a beach that I can fly to from BKK), but it seems weather would favor Koh Samui?
-Best airlines for BKK to Luang Prabang, Vientiane to BKK, BKK to Koh Samui?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Joyeeta

1/3 of time with nature/trekking

Vang Vieng. Take a bike and explore the valley across the river. Or skip Vientiane and go trekking from LP.

1/3 with city life/ruins

None of that in your itinerary. City = Bangkok or maybe Chiang Mai, Ruins = Angkor, Ayutthaya, Sukhothai

1/3 of time on beach

Ko Samui, could also qualify as a "city" if you stay at Chaweng. Ko Phangan is more chilled out. Avoid Had Rin.

CB - Thanks for your replies! I think if I headed to Vang Vieng, it'd be Vientiane or bust (in order to get to a city from which to catch my flight to return to Thailand) or are there other major airports in Laos? I like the trekking idea - is this easy enough to set up after arrival in LP and roughly how much time should I alot for it? Then I could just do BKK-LP and BKK-USM round trips.

I guess should have put just ruins (am moving to a big city and can get my city fix there as def want to avoid "city/beaches" - ugh). The required day coming/going via BKK should suffice for this trip.

So if I spent time on Ko Samui, Lamai would be best? What are some of the recommended areas of Ko Phangan? Chilled out is great, but hopefully not too isolated (for social/security reasons as travelling solo), with nice beaches/scenery...

Thanks!

In Luang Prabang you can walk into somewhere like Green Discovery or Tiger Trail and should be able to book a trek the next day or two. Might need to give LP an extra day and take one from Vientiane where you can spend just a day then fly to Bangkok and Samui.

The Samui airport is really close to the "Big Buddha" pier where there are frequent ferries to Ko Phangan, and don't worry it's not too isolated. Yes it attracts a younger party crowd especially down at the southern end (Had Rin full moon party, etc.) but plenty other beaches are relatively peaceful but with enough travellers around to socialise and feel safe. On Samui you might also look at Bo Phut or Mae Nam, although Lamai might be just fine. Depends what kind of place/price you have in mind.

Ko Samui map
Ko Phangan map

CA - Looks like I can get Visa on Arrival for Laos. Overland border crossing would be cool, but think any borders I cross on this trip will be by air due to time constraints (though Friendship Bridge would be doable for the sake of crossing alone if I went to Vientiane). Plain of Jars looks pretty unique/out there. I know most of the country will be pretty warm in the summer, but I have an attraction to bodies of water!

CB - Thanks for those links! With so many trekking options, may just base myself in Luang Prabang for Lao portion of trip (unless Vang Vieng or Vientiane are must see sites, which isn't the sense I'm getting). Looks like this trip may end up shaping up as Luang Prabang/trekking X one week and Thai beaches X one week (with transit days via Bangkok/day trip to Ayutthaya).

Looking for scenic laid back beach with decent amount of independent travellers. Price isn't too much of a constraint so much as wanting to avoid couples/family predominated areas. That being said, tend to prefer more budget/backpacker/less developed areas. Looks like Samui may be too commercial for me but will check out those beaches. Any particular beaches on Koh Phangan to recommend? Also noticed ferry to Koh Tao on the Koh Samui map: Worth a day trip or pretty similar to the other two? I like snorkelling but am not a diver.

Thanks!