Thailand - Koh Samui specifically?

[Deleted]

We are taking our family of 5 (kids will be 16, turning 14 on the plane ride over, and 11) to Thailand next month. We fly into Chiang Mai for three full days plus the two travel days, then fly to Koh Samui for 5 full days plus the two travel days, then on to Bangkok where we have 2 full days plus the two travel days and fly home from there.

We are staying at the Shangri-La in Chiang Mai and Bangkok and the Banana Fan Sea Resort on Koh Samui. I have the least planned or researched for Koh Samui. I’m hoping maybe someone has some recommendations there.

In Chiang Mai we have one full day tour of highlights with a guide and one full day at an ethical elephant reserve. The other full day is completely open to do whatever. Any must dos/sees?

In Koh Samui we will have a rental car. We will be there during a major Buddhist holiday so we will want to avoid big Buddha on the day of the holiday and the observed day for the holiday, but we do want to see it. Otherwise my only plans include sending DH and DS to a trophy fishing lake resort for a half day to try to catch some 400 lb Mekong catfish. Our resort also has a beach BBQ one of the nights we will be there with live music and a fire show that we will do. Any other must sees/dos? DH is the only one who dives and I don’t think he is planning to this trip. My kids have done snorkel trips all over so they are kind of over it, so unless the boat snorkeling is so impressive it can’t be skipped we probably won’t do that this trip. I am not sure if going to Koh Tao is worth it or not?

In Bangkok we have one full day with a guide to cover the highlights. Our other day and a half are completely free. DH wants to go to the restaurant of the lady who was on the Netflix show street food Asia: Bangkok so we will make that happen. Otherwise I’m not really sure where to focus on online free day.

Any other random advice for Thailand would be greatly appreciated. We’ve been to Europe and Central America a lot so are comfortable with the culture and customs there, but I and the kids have never been to Asia before and DH has only been to the Middle East on the Asian continent so it’s going to be outside of our comfort zone. I’m so excited though!

[origami]

My kids were younger than yours when we went but we loved the Elephant Poo Poo Paper Park in Chiang Mai. www.poopoopaperpark.com/

In Koh Samui, we booked a snorkeling/kayaking/beach day trip from the hotel. (Not in advance. It was spur of the moment.) I can’t find the booking info unfortunately and it was pre-Covid so I’m not sure if they even have the same tour but it was one of my favorite days ever. The snorkeling I didn’t care much about but the rest was A+. The water was so clear, calm and blue. The beach was on a small deserted island and looked like paradise. Maybe your hotel can recommend something if you’re interested. Also my hotel was by yours and every day IIRC spa treatments were available on the beach.

[kittywalker]

Take bug spray. We took the lotion kind and used it in the morning and at night. 

It's a beautiful place. We stayed at the Four Seasons and did a day tour through them - was amazing.

[Deleted]

Apr 25, 2023 8:03:25 GMT -5 kittywalker said:

Take bug spray. We took the lotion kind and used it in the morning and at night. 

It's a beautiful place. We stayed at the Four Seasons and did a day tour through them - was amazing.

I am bringing some lemon eucalyptus spray and some DEET spray because I don’t like the DEET ones and DH only likes the DEET ones. What kind of lotion kind did you take?

[kittywalker]

I just checked my Amazon orders, it was this one: Sawyer Products SP564 Premium Insect Repellent with 20% Picaridin

I'm sure it's very unhealthy and strong LOL. Our hotel had basically no inside - the lobby, restaurant, and everything else were open air. It did get a bit buggy at times. The hotel did an excellent job of spraying the entire property, but we were still glad to have this.

The hotel also had these incense type sticks that you light on one end and they slowly burned down and they REALLY worked on our patio. I tried to find them when I got home but I don't think they sell them here.

Also - we stayed at the Shangri La in Singapore on this trip and it was spectacular. Enjoy the Shangri La in Chiang Mai!

[Deleted]

Apr 25, 2023 20:42:03 GMT -5 kittywalker said:

I just checked my Amazon orders, it was this one: Sawyer Products SP564 Premium Insect Repellent with 20% Picaridin

I'm sure it's very unhealthy and strong LOL. Our hotel had basically no inside - the lobby, restaurant, and everything else were open air. It did get a bit buggy at times. The hotel did an excellent job of spraying the entire property, but we were still glad to have this.

The hotel also had these incense type sticks that you light on one end and they slowly burned down and they REALLY worked on our patio. I tried to find them when I got home but I don't think they sell them here.

Also - we stayed at the Shangri La in Singapore on this trip and it was spectacular. Enjoy the Shangri La in Chiang Mai!

I’ll check it out. Thank you! We are actually staying at the Shangri La in Bangkok also. We don’t usually stay at higher end places so this will be quite a treat.

[wanderlustmom]

I'm so excited for you! We went there for our honeymoon 20 years ago but we loved every minute of Chiang Mai, Koh Samui and Bangkok. I got so many massages, the food was wonderful. the beaches and trekking and culture are nothing like the US and that was so fun to be in such a different world. The only thing I didn't like was the prostitution. It was so sad, all this awful western old white guys with young Asian women. It was everywhere especially Koh Samui. Hopefully it's better all these years later.