5 weeks in Phuket area with a toddler ... what would you do? Help appreciated :)

Hi, we are planning a 5 week trip to the Phuket area in Jan / Feb 2020 and would love some advice on places to stay and things to do suitable to do with a 3yr old.
(I'm aware we would need a Tourist Visa to stay over 30 days)

For the 5 weeks around Phuket, this was my initial plan / thoughts -

3/4 days in Phuket,
3/4 days at Khao Sok National Park
2 weeks in Khao Lak
2 weeks in Koh Lanta.

Would love to know if people think this is a decent plan.

Wasn't sure if 2 weeks is too long for Khao Lak / Koh Lanta but we could easily split it to have a week in a different part of the island / area or a different resort etc.

So would really appreciate any ideas or suggestions for places to stay / things to do in Khao Lak / Koh Lanta.
Kantiang Bay is definitely on our list - possibly a week here and a week somewhere else in Koh Lanta?

Our budget is mid range and we're looking for somewhere relaxed and clean with nice size rooms.
Our preference location wise would be a nice safe beach for swimming with our little one, ideally not too isolated so with somewhere you can walk too.

Also would love to hear if people think, given the time we have, if Ko Yao Yai / Koh Yao Noi or Phi Phi are worth a visit?
Other options we could also consider is stopping in Krabi or travelling further south down to the Trang Islands.
We don't want to travel around too much with a toddler but I think we have enough time to stay at 4/5 places over the 5 weeks without it getting too hectic.

Thanking anyone who replies in advance!
Jx

Lets change the colour first...

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Hi, we are planning a 5 week trip to the Phuket area in Jan / Feb 2020 and would love some advice on places to stay and things to do suitable to do with a 3yr old.
(I'm aware we would need a Tourist Visa to stay over 30 days)

For the 5 weeks around Phuket, this was my initial plan / thoughts -

3/4 days in Phuket,
3/4 days at Khao Sok National Park
2 weeks in Khao Lak
2 weeks in Koh Lanta.

Would love to know if people think this is a decent plan.

Wasn't sure if 2 weeks is too long for Khao Lak / Koh Lanta but we could easily split it to have a week in a different part of the island / area or a different resort etc.

So would really appreciate any ideas or suggestions for places to stay / things to do in Khao Lak / Koh Lanta.
Kantiang Bay is definitely on our list - possibly a week here and a week somewhere else in Koh Lanta?

Our budget is mid range and we're looking for somewhere relaxed and clean with nice size rooms.
Our preference location wise would be a nice safe beach for swimming with our little one, ideally not too isolated so with somewhere you can walk too.

Also would love to hear if people think, given the time we have, if Ko Yao Yai / Koh Yao Noi or Phi Phi are worth a visit?
Other options we could also consider is stopping in Krabi or travelling further south down to the Trang Islands.
We don't want to travel around too much with a toddler but I think we have enough time to stay at 4/5 places over the 5 weeks without it getting too hectic.

Thanking anyone who replies in advance!
Jx

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Originally Posted by jay7777777

, we are planning a 5 week trip to the Phuket area in Jan / Feb 2020 and would love some advice on places to stay and things to do suitable to do with a 3yr old.

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Save yourself getting the tourist visas and split some of your time in Langkawi or Penang or other islands in Malaysia ie Perentian Islands, Tioman island.

6 weeks on beaches is too long for me, especially with a toddler. I'd take in somewhere like KL for a wewkend to get back to civilistion and where there are loads of places to take the nipper other than hotel swimming pools

sell it !

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Originally Posted by Dillinger

Lets change the colour first...

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Haha, thank you, an unsuccessful copy & paste!

Better not include a trip to the one featured in the movie 'The Beach' ... it's closed, I think.

''Thailand: Tropical bay from 'The Beach' to close until 2021. A Thai bay that was made famous by its appearance in the film The Beach is to remain closed until 2021. Maya Bay, on the island of Phi Phi Leh, was temporarily closed last year after officials said a sharp rise in visitors had severely damaged the environment ...May 9, 2019''

Thailand: Tropical bay from 'The Beach' to close until 2021 - BBC News


https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48222627

Hi Dillinger, thanks for replying (and changing colour - doh! an unsuccessful copy and paste)

Interesting suggestions. Have you travelled to some of these Malaysian Islands yourself?
I agree 5 weeks in South Thailand is a long time with a toddler but we thought if we moved around a bit we could keep it interesting.
We are keen to avoid any majorly unnecessary travelling with a youngster.
Is there a way of reaching these Malaysian islands without hours & hours of travel?

I guess I'm also interested in why you think these islands would offer us something different to the Thai islands?
Do you know if the islands are family friendly? Fairly safe shallow swimming / family friendly accommodation type thing?

Would love to hear your thoughts, thanks again for your time and ideas.

J

They're 3. I'd save yourself the hassle of keeping them entertained with travel and stay in a decent Phuket hotel near the beach that has a kids club, kiddie pool and a baby sitting service.

Baby sitting service? Sounds like a TD meet up in the making. :bananaman:

5weeks to keep a 3yr.old happy in phuket,is he into seeing dead bodies,mangled limbs and lovely boys? that should keep him happy.

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and things to do suitable to do with a 3yr old.

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Teach him or her to swim. That will take a load off.

Incentive? Not allowed in the big pool with adults until can swim a width on their own. He/she will probably end up swimming underwater and coming up for air in the middle of the pool because it is easier. But this means if he/she falls in he/she can swim to the side.

i figure that is minimum a week , maybe two dealt with.

Then once he/she can swim a width they will be in the pool all day. So that is the rest sorted wherever you decide to go.

skip Khao Lak..same beaches as Phuket and Koh Lanta and nothing else.
3 days Khao sok in a tree house and boat
4-5 days in Koh Lanta

Fly R/T to Chiang Mai, ( plenty of direct flights) for 5-7 days, rest of ur time in Phuket

^ i'd skip Chiang Mai and fly direct to KL or Penang from Phuket, will save buying tourist visas or extensions.
Budget Airline Firefly fly to Penang.
Air Asia will be even cheaper to KL.

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Originally Posted by jay7777777

Interesting suggestions. Have you travelled to some of these Malaysian Islands yourself?

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Penang and Langkawi yes, which are both great family destinations.

Langkawi will be a jaunt from there, used to belong to Thailand too... but no flights from Phuket so you'd have to fly to Penang then fly from there or get a 3 hour ferry which you probably wont wanna do with the little un in tow.

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Originally Posted by jay7777777

I guess I'm also interested in why you think these islands would offer us something different to the Thai islands?

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No Thais, Guinness, Indian and Chinese food, civilisation:)

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Originally Posted by jay7777777

Do you know if the islands are family friendly? Fairly safe shallow swimming / family friendly accommodation type thing?

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Certainy family friendly. Langkawi has a lovely shallow beach with crystal clear water on the West with talcum powder sand.
Penang is full of jellyfish.

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Originally Posted by headhunter

5weeks to keep a 3yr.old happy in phuket,is he into seeing dead bodies,mangled limbs and lovely boys? that should keep him happy.

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What a strange thing to say. Thanks for your contribution

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Originally Posted by VocalNeal

Teach him or her to swim. That will take a load off.

Incentive? Not allowed in the big pool with adults until can swim a width on their own. He/she will probably end up swimming underwater and coming up for air in the middle of the pool because it is easier. But this means if he/she falls in he/she can swim to the side.

i figure that is minimum a week , maybe two dealt with.

Then once he/she can swim a width they will be in the pool all day. So that is the rest sorted wherever you decide to go.

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This is a great idea VocalNeal! Thank you :)

Hi, thanks for your reply, yes I have been wondering if Khao Lak is really worth visiting, maybe just 4/5 days or a week is more than enough there.

Have been debating a trip to Chang Mai, I've never been myself, do you reckon its a good place to go with a toddler?
You would spend other 3 weeks or so in Phuket?

Thanks for your help and suggestions

Hi Dillinger, firstly thank you for all your help. I was discussing this all with my wife last night, I think its actually such a good idea to spend some of our time in Malaysia / Lankkawi / Penang. Just need to decide if we can manage the 3 hour ferry or whether we fly to KL then onto Langkawi or Penang. I guess if we fly we could spend a couple of days in KL which could also be interesting.

Sounds from your comments that Langkawi would be the one to go for out of Langkawi/Penang.
Where in the west of Langkawi did you stay with the shallow beach / crystal clear water?

Thanks again mate! We will toast you when we get to Malaysia :)

Cant remember the name now. They were bungalows right on the beach. Cenang Beach. Not expensive.
Here you go. Just found the thread I did on it

https://teakdoor.com/malaysia-forum/1...-langkawi.html

I did a few days in Penang & Langkawi in April.
The flight between the 2 is only about 20 minutes, so I wouldn't bother wasting time doing it any other way.
We stayed on the west coast of Langkawi also, at Dash Resort on Pantai Tengah Beach, a bit further south than Cenang Beach.

Here's a video I made of our stay there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2veVfdPvXA8

And a couple of days in Penang..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZM0vSUZkWA

Lots of tourist attractions and markets on Phuket and quite a few suitable for toddlers
Khao Lak has quite a lot of resorts but apart from a few tourist type shops nothing else, popular with people who want to spend a lazy time around their resort pool and you can do a day trip from Phuket to check it out
Khao Lanta is much the same with less of everything
Langkawi i have not been there for 5 years but you can see everything worth seeing in a day or two
Panang is quite good but i do not know what attractions they have which are suitable for toddlers, there are direct flights from Phuket
Krabi you can visit on a day trip as well, similar to Phuket on a much smaller scale
Base your selves in Phuket and rent a insured rental car and you can drive to most of the holiday destinations including Khao Samui in one day

Giving the choice between Chiang mai, ( where you could easily spend 1 week and have a great time renting a car an visiting lots of places and see lots.

vs Penang, (i assume u mean Georgetown, which i love) only, as the main land is nothing to see, 2 days is plenty to take in all the sites and nothing really a toodler would find interesting or exciting other than the tram ride up Penang Hill

Langkawi offers not much compared to phuket, outside of self contained resorts.
KL; is the only city in SE asia i went an didn't really care for and out of 35 years here, never went back

Obviously you now see there is not one answer on where to go an spend your time.

Good luck

Phuket ranked #6 in top destinations .https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/phuk...d-trip-advisor

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Originally Posted by TizMe

And a couple of days in Penang..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZM0vSUZkWA

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Hi, thanks for replying.
We are definitely planning a trip to Langkawi now, just not sure about whether to try and take in Penang as well.
Would you recommend going there with a toddler?
We've heard the beaches aren't great at Penang so we would be replying on local sights to keep us entertained.
What do you reckon? Worth a trip?

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Originally Posted by petercallen

Lots of tourist attractions and markets on Phuket and quite a few suitable for toddlers
Khao Lak has quite a lot of resorts but apart from a few tourist type shops nothing else, popular with people who want to spend a lazy time around their resort pool and you can do a day trip from Phuket to check it out
Khao Lanta is much the same with less of everything
Langkawi i have not been there for 5 years but you can see everything worth seeing in a day or two
Panang is quite good but i do not know what attractions they have which are suitable for toddlers, there are direct flights from Phuket
Krabi you can visit on a day trip as well, similar to Phuket on a much smaller scale
Base your selves in Phuket and rent a insured rental car and you can drive to most of the holiday destinations including Khao Samui in one day

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thank you, some good advice here.
sounds like you think most places are only worth a 1/2 days
is there anywhere you think is worth spending a bit longer?
we have about 5 weeks in total in this area.
thanks in advance

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Originally Posted by Phuketrichard

Giving the choice between Chiang mai, ( where you could easily spend 1 week and have a great time renting a car an visiting lots of places and see lots.

vs Penang, (i assume u mean Georgetown, which i love) only, as the main land is nothing to see, 2 days is plenty to take in all the sites and nothing really a toodler would find interesting or exciting other than the tram ride up Penang Hill

Langkawi offers not much compared to phuket, outside of self contained resorts.
KL; is the only city in SE asia i went an didn't really care for and out of 35 years here, never went back

Obviously you now see there is not one answer on where to go an spend your time.

Good luck

Phuket ranked #6 in top destinations .https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/phuk...d-trip-advisor

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Hi, thanks for replying. do you think we should try and make it Chang Mai?
We probably do have the time but we don't want to travel around too much.
I haven't been and was trying to convince my wife last night but she isn't sure it is worth the extra travelling.
What do you think Chang Mai can give us that differs from the rest of Thailand. I know about the hill trekking etc but guessing none of this is suitable for a toddler

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Originally Posted by Phuketrichard

Giving the choice between Chiang mai, ( where you could easily spend 1 week and have a great time renting a car an visiting lots of places and see lots.

vs Penang, (i assume u mean Georgetown, which i love) only, as the main land is nothing to see, 2 days is plenty to take in all the sites and nothing really a toodler would find interesting or exciting other than the tram ride up Penang Hill

Langkawi offers not much compared to phuket, outside of self contained resorts.
KL; is the only city in SE asia i went an didn't really care for and out of 35 years here, never went back

Obviously you now see there is not one answer on where to go an spend your time.

Good luck

Phuket ranked #6 in top destinations .https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/phuk...d-trip-advisor

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Thanks everyone again for great advice.


We have almost nailed our itinerary now:


A few days in Hong Kong when we arrive.
A week in Phuket, then a couple of nights in Khao Sok
A week in Yao Noi
A week in Koh Lanta
A week in Koh Lipe (takes us up to 30 days with Visa)
The down into Malaysia for a week in Langkawi.


We then have one week left to fill and I think is a decision between spending another week in Malaysia probably on Penang (maybe 1/2 nights in KL) or flying north and spending a week in Chang Mai. We aren't really interested in Singapore just don't fancy a huge city with a little one in tow.


Just interested if anyone has any opinion about which of these locations they think would be more interesting / easier with a toddler. As you can see we have plenty of beach time already so looking for something different with this final week.


Any advice much appreciated! Thanks in advance

If you are talking February in Chiang Mai, forget it, they start burning everything then and you don't wanna subject your kid to that.

I found Chiang Mai quite boring tbh although I didnt do anything nature wise.Everywhere closes at midnight and its full of backpackers.

The mountain would be worth a look but you wont see it from 20 feet away in February:)

Keep the nipper away from the Monkeys, i suffered the devastating loss of two pasties once from these thieving B'stards

https://teakdoor.com/attachment.php?a...id=34213&stc=1

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Originally Posted by jay7777777

A few days in Hong Kong when we arrive.
A week in Phuket, then a couple of nights in Khao Sok
A week in Yao Noi
A week in Koh Lanta
A week in Koh Lipe (takes us up to 30 days with Visa)
The down into Malaysia for a week in Langkawi.

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Looks good. Hire a car in Phuket and go and take in Phang Nga, take a longtail to James Bond island, then drive around and spend a night in Ao Nang. Take in the 4 island day tour via longtail with nipper ..Very picturesque with the atolls.



https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/.../bNfcrbj-1.jpg

Just googled where that Yoo Noi is, above yoo yai in the middle of Ao Nang and Phuket. Take it all in.

And dont forget to come back on here and do us a photo thread:)

Rawai Park near Rawai beach front, large children's swimming pool and all sorts of other things to keep young children happy and amused
Also has food and drinks on site, our grandchildren love it, they are now aged 5 and 7 years old and have been going there for about 1 year

Probably he biggest differences between Langkawi and Penang and Phuket and the like is that Malaysian resorts or holiday areas serves a different type of tourist. Much of the 'seedier' aspects of Thailand are not in evidence in Malaysia, where the beaches are probably cleaner in Langkawi.

Penang is not only George Town by any imagination. George Town is a city, a busy city with a lot of history, durian cendol and fantastic food . . . but not ideal for an infant.

There are several beaches and resorts that might be worth it, but try to stay away from the Shangri-La on Batu Ferringhi . . . the sand is coarse and touts are everywhere. The resort itself needs a lot of work and has odd rules with their swimming pools

Definitely try some of the fantastic food in Penang

(Also, everyone in Penang and Langkawi speaks English)

Phuket with a 3 year old? Is this someones idea of revenge? You must have been a bad boy.

Hong Kong is getting very interesting just now .....