Trip plan

Hello folks,

me and my boyfriend are planning to visit Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. It is our first time and we have in total 35 days (28th March - 1 May). We are not sure about how much time is worth spending in each place but so far we have decided:

Bangkok - 5 days
Thailand islands - 13 days
Kuala Lumpur - 3 days
Bali - 10 days
Jakarta - 4 days

Someone who has visited these countries can tell us if this is a good plan?
Thank you,
Flavia

KL is in Malaysia but you are not visiting "Malaysia"...
In my opinion, you can skip it.

Michel

More information is needed. For example, you mention 13 days in Thailand Islands. Are you the type that can spend weeks just lying on the beach? For me, one or two days on a beach is enough so elaborating on this would help. You also need to specify which islands as this affects the planning. I would certainly cut down from 13 days as there are other things to see on the mainland.
If your idea is to touch the highlights of each country, you need to rethink your Malaysia and Indonesia part. With limited time, I'd go for Penang and Kuching for the Malaysia part (and maintain the Kuala Lumpur part) and for Indonesia, replace Jakarta with Yogyakarta.

Without any ideas about you,what you like doing or why you chose these places...it's very difficult to say ;-)

Based on MY interests and experience...I'd cut Jakarta completely.I wouldn't go to Malaysia for just 3 days,and if I did,it wouldn't be to KL.

And I wouldn't spend 13 days on the islands.

But as said above...everyone is different,everyone has different priorities.

I spend 5 months every year on a Thai island so 13 days wouldn't be a drag. And KL has grown on me so 3 days no hardship. We have all given personal opinions that are based on our experiences.. Whatever you do and where you go will create your own.
Sorry #1, but OP says visiting Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. So obviously knows KL is in Malaysia.

I am sorry but you expect people to be able to guess what would be enjoyable to you both

There is far more to all these countries than what you include and I would get a guide book and read up but all I can say now is that this would not be the trip I would plan

That's exactly what I said…

Michel

My guess is that you are mainly intersted in beaches. Imho, thai islands are much better than Bali from that point of view. Altough I like KL if I could choose I would go to Penang. I would skip Jakarta, too and, as suggested, I would spend some time in Yogja

I personally would spend my 3 Malaysian days in Penang, but that isn’t doing Penang justice, let alone Malaysia.

I wouldn’t spend 13 days on Thai islands unless I needed a break from months of traveling (in which case I would have allowed more than 3 days for a country).

I wouldn’t spend 4 days in Jakarta.

Thai New Year (Songkran), falls in the middle of April, which you might want to avoid, or plan to include in your trip.

To be blunt it looks like a crap plan. Doing 2 countries would be better. Easy to spend 13 days on Thai islands btw, that bit I agree with.

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There are plenty of "chinatowns" in SEA and I would hardly call KL a compromise for not going to China

It would have been nice to have received some communication back by now from OP

Why not, everything is a question of choice and interest…
I found some places around Malaysia much more “Chinese” than KL but it’s not my trip…

Michel

Thank you all for your suggestions. We are currently at the very early stage of planning and our focus is Thailand and Indonesia. Since there is no direct flight from Phuket to Bali, we will have a stop in KL anyway. I agree there is a lot to see in these countries, and a month trip cannot cover all. We intend to experience these countries with all the authentic experiences they have to offer - i.e., cities, history, nightlife, shopping, nature, beaches, sports...etc. Since we are traveling during the Thai New Year (Songkran) celebration, we would like to include it in our plan unless any specific reasons against it e.g., safety. A very good point some of you mentioned was about the long time in the Thai islands we had planned. My point was to combine beach holidays with visiting attraction around the island. Few days laying on the beach are sufficient for us too.
Based on your suggestions+ some research, we have further adjusted the plan to spend less time in the Thai islands and more in the mainland; only a short stop in KL; Bali and Lombok for Indonesia; removed Jakarta from the plan.
Since we like to take things slow during holidays, I'm still figuring out if this plan is too ambitious.

Since there is no direct flight from Phuket to Bali, we will have a stop in KL anyway

Air Asia fly "direct" from Phuket to Bali (actually, it goes via Bangkok DMK, where you have to change planes and wait an hour or three, depending what time of day you travel).

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There is great food in KL full stop not just Chinese

It's a good city for eating,sure.

I'd say Georgetown is better.More interesting city for culture too,and more to do around Penang than KL.

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#20. No advertising please post reported

Snap, All.

Bali ok , jakarta, how quick can you get in and out. try gili T from bali.

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