.. is one or the other better (less commercial? ) or worse (more commercial?) because of its name?
That's personal opinion. The issue of the blurring of the two and sometimes being the same was acknowledged on the other thread.
And if you go to Singapore not much in way of real guesthouses?
That is true , everything is pretty modernised . The old guesthouses / hostels on Becoolen street are all gone - except for one - Bencoolen Street Thread
Bali is the wrong place to fly to if you want to go to Raja Ampat. AFAIK you should go to Makassar to fly to Sorong.
Also there is soooo much more to Chiang Mai than the Night Market. You might be making the classic mistake of staying only in the most touristy areas and thinking it's the whole experience. Stretch yourself out a bit, you'll get a lot more out of your travels.
Rather than hiring a car and driving yourself it's probably much better to fly or take trains/busses/vans. Distances will be a lot farther than they look like on paper.
They are harder to find in Pai but you should find somewhere that will rent them. No problem in Mae Sariang - some guesthouses will loan you bikes for free (not mountain bikes though ), although that's a long way from Pai . Weather may be a problem when going out bike riding - maybe getting drenched every 40 mins.
There are a few tourists that visit Lampang these days. Never a huge number, but there's a few. Certainly Lampang is more attractive as a town than a lot of other cities in the northern region - Sukhothai being one. Of course Sukhothai is well known for it's historical park but I was referring to the city here - unattractive and nothing special about it. Most tourists tend to stay near the park though, and never venture into town.
Pai is nice but the road going there is not for the faint-hearted. I'm sure it puts off some travelers, though there is an airport with flights from Chiang Mai.
You'll be tired after a long flight from Europe. So I'd consider spending a couple of days in Bangkok unless you really hate cities. The Khao San Road area in Bangkok is a nice introduction to Thailand. It is very cheap and at night there are more than a hundred street vendors selling street food. If you stay in a hostel near Khao San Road, you'll meet other travellers who are heading north. Also, Chiang Mai is on the way to Chiang Rai about 4 hours sooner. It is nice. And the train goes to Chiang Mai. The train is the nicest way to travel in Thailand.
Fly straight to Chiang mai, and save Bangkok for the end of your trip, when you are used to the heat, money etc. As above, month of travel is crucial to which coast you should then head for. A guidebook will help you identify what you really want to see, over what you, or others think you should see. Four nights in Phuket would be better spent elsewhere.
I noticed this a few years ago when changing some MYR to Baht in Satun, but thought it was just a local to the border thing.
Today, in Mae Sot, I saw that banks were offering about 7.1 Baht to MYR, which is well below the market rate of (currently) 7.76. I also noticed that the buying/ selling spread was about 10%, which is very high for this part of the world, probably comparable with a UK airport.
Anyone know why MYR are so unfavoured in Thailand?
Large beers are 50 baht in 7/11. In bars you will pay 100 to 150 baht. Money saving there.
Chiang Mai - walking around town is cheap. Outside towns it's hard to visit places without motorbike/car/tour.
Pai - nothing much in town. Again you need car/motorbike/tour for adventures.
Bangkok - has great public connections so temples easily done by ferries etc.
Your budget is very tight imo.
Ask people on tripadvisor and they will say the same.
No , nothing much in Pai . As far as scenery goes Soppong / Tham Lod area better.
(*also known as Pang Mapha)
