Two Weeks in Thailand, Do I have enough time.?
Hello, I am off to Thailand in a few months, Hiring a car and looking to do as much as possible. Landing a Bangkok I would like to see Ko Chang, Chiang Mai and tour the east coast through Phuket to the Deep south to Ko Tarutao. Also need enough time to return to Bangkok to depart. 14 days in Thailand..
Is Two weeks enough for this size excursion and can anyone with first hand experience offer some recommendations beyond the travel guides….?? Not party animals and looking for good scuba diving, some activity ( tourist type environments now and again) and solitude as often as possible…. All help would be very very appreciated.
As many people already answered, in 2 weeks time you could do this tour, but you will be traveling half of the time.
But if you organize well your travel, you can do a lot in 2 weeks.
Contrary what some other say I enjoy a lot driving in Thailand, it give me a nice sense of total privacy and independence which I enjoy a lot.
For sure in Thailand the traffic is not perfect as in Europe, but what I enjoy the most are those empty roads with few cars around, in fact in Thailand the big traffic is in Bangkok e surrounding, in the big cites and in the touristic areas. When you are out of those places the is very little traffic for big distances ( except Thai holidays days ).
The roads in Thailand are quite good all the main cities are connected with 2 lanes highway where you can drive safely. The speed limit in Thailand is 90Km/h but up to 100 Km/h is fine, over that you can get a fine ( 400 Baht ) if police catch you.
I usually travel from Bangkok to Samui ( approx. 700 Km distance ) in about 8/9 Hours ( easy with out running ).
As I said before the traffic is a bit chaotic in Thailand and not many people respect the road rules. The driving is on the left side of the road ( same as UK, Australia ).
Driving suggestions:
In the highway the slow traffic should drive on the left line, but there are some people that use to drive at 80 on the right lane ( fast lane ), in this case, just pass it on the left ( it is not correct but everybody does and police say nothing ).
DO NOT TRAVEL AFTER DARK. In the evening it is much more dangerous to drive than in the day time. In the night there are many trucks on the road and it is more easy to meet people drunken or on drugs, driving cars and trucks. Also the buses use to run very fast, very often I saw running some of this buses at 120km/h, that also why I prefer to drive myself, more safe !!!
In all Thailand the yellow traffic light last only 2 seconds, so if you see the yellow light stop immediately, don’ try to pass it.
Many many people ( especially with motorbikes ) when they come to a cross road to turn left, they do not watch, they thing they are small and they do not need to look.
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU LOOK FOR THE OTHERS, DON’T EXPECT THAT THE OTHER WILL LOOK FOR YOU.
It is common to see that people driving motorbike the inverse sense. On the highway there are houses along the road and local people who live close to the highway when they have to go just 1 or 2 km up the road on the same side, they drive with the bike in the highway in the inverse direction just beside the “emergency” lane on the left.
This is tolerated by the police for bikes, but it is not permitted for cars.
You need to be careful also to many dogs that use to sleep in the night in middle of the road because is warm.
Now that you have a general idea of the driving in Thailand, here my suggestions:
I would skip Koh Chang because the islands in the South are much nicer. Also Koh Chang is 350 Km East of Bangkok and beside that there is not really anything to see.
Starting from Bangkok rent a car from this website https://www.cartrawler.com/affiliates/afullrequest.asp?client=43003&lang=EN pick up from Bangkok and Drop it in Chiang Mai.
Drive you car to Chiang Mai ( 600 Km ), you can stop over Ayutthaya to see the ancient ruins and stop to Sukhothai to see also ancient ruins. ( Sukhothai is half way Bangkok-Chiang Mai ).
From Chiang Mai visit, Chiang Rai ( approx. 110 Km ), Mae Sai a turn to Doi Tung, Mae Salong ( chinese village ) located in the golden triangle area with 1000 meter high mountains covered by tea plantations.
After this trip, come back to Chiang Mai city, drop your car at the airport a fly to Bangkok.
From Bangkok rent a car by this website https://www.cartrawler.com/affiliates/afullrequest.asp?client=43003&lang=EN ( you get usually cheaper rates ) Pickup in Bangkok a drop it in Krabi.
From Bangkok drive to Hua Hin ( approx. 220 Km ), takes maximum 3 hours.
Hua Hin is a nice sea town where you can find many nice hotels and resort.
Then you can drive to Suratthani and Samui pier ( Donsak ) in about 6 hours drive and you can visit Samui.
From Samui, you can drive to Krabi ( 350 Km ), you can visit Koh Lanta, if you like, also Phan Nga ( North of Phuket is very nice ).
Here a Thai Map http://www.axolotlvillage.com/en/thailand/map.html
Before you go to Koh Tarutao, is better you drop your car in Krabi, because on the islands you cannot go with the car anyway.
From Tarutao return to Krabi and fly back to Bangkok.
This website http://www.axolotlvillage.com offer many hotels and resort in Thailand with discounted rates. Is possible to check the availability in real time and make last minute reservations. This is very convenient if you want to plan your Journey day, by day.
It is also very useful to read the guest comments to find the right place.
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