Despite all the places we wanted to see in Thailand, it was not possible to squeeze everything in to a week. We mainly wanted to stay at Elephant Hills and use our time there to experience Thailand’s nature and wildlife and we added a few days in Phuket on at the end for some relaxation.
The itinerary:
Day 1: Fly Singapore to Phuket. Night at Sixteenth Naiyang Beach Hotel.
Day 2: Transfer to Elephant Hills by car (approximately 2.5 hours). Lunch at Elephant hills followed by Elephant Experience and Canoeing on River Sok.
Day 3: Long tail boat on Chaow Lan Lake and afternoon at Elephant Hills floating camp.
Day 4: Mangroves Expedition.
Day 5: Jungle trekking and transfer to Phuket – Avista Grande Phuket – Karon (3.5 hours).
Day 6: Pool day
Day 7: Pool day and Songkran celebrations
Day 8: Day trip to James Bond Island
Day 9: Half day trip to Big Buddha and Phuket Old Town. Fly Phuket to Dubai.
Day 10: Dubai to Heathrow
What we did:
Elephant Hills:
Elephant hills was such an amazing experience it needs its own post so you can find all the details of our stay here.
Songkran celebrations:
Songkran is Thai new year and one of the days of celebrations involves throwing water on each other to cleanse you of your sins ready to go in to a new year. The whole of Thailand takes part in a giant water fight. There were people in the streets with water pistols, shop owners with hose pipes and people driving around in trucks with barrels of water squirting pedestrians. There is a real party atmosphere and we saw serval parties or events in hotels being advertised.
James Bond Island:
We booked a day trip with Island Dream Exploration to visit James Bond Island, Tha-lu Island, Koh Panyee floating island and a couple of beautiful beaches by boat.
We were picked up by mini-bus and taken to the marina where we met our guide for the day and boarded our boat. First stop was a beach for some snorkelling, then on to Tha-lu island for canoeing and mangroves. Lunch was at Koh Panyee, known as the Muslim village is is a village built on pillars with tiny alleyways to explore, a thriving market and even a mosque. After lunch we visited James Bond Island and then had some beach time to finish the day off before being dropped back at our hotel.
Lunch was a buffet the consisted of a selection of Thai dishes and salad with a pasta and tomato sauce option. Water and juice was included with lunch and there was an option to buy soft drinks, coffee and ice creams.
Throughout the day there was water, and soft drinks available on the boat and there was a bar at the final beach spot.
Snorkel equipment was provided and water shoes were advised especially for some of the more rocky swimming areas. The trip was booked through our hotel.
Tour of the Big Buddha and Phuket Old Town:
We booked a taxi for 4 hours through our hotel with an 8am pick up. We visited the Big Buddha at about 8:30am which meant it was reasonably quiet and not too hot. We then stopped at some of the temples which were amazingly beautiful but very busy due to Songkran and then finally spend some time in Phuket Old Town.
There was no entrance fee for the Big Buddha or the temples.
Transport:
We walked from the airport to our airport hotel, which was actually really easy and took less than 10 minutes. There were what felt like hundreds of taxi drivers waiting outside the airport and I think they were rather baffled by us choosing to walk!
Transport to and from Elephant Hills is provided by Elephant Hills themselves and included in the package. You have to use their transport. Transport is in a air conditioned comfortable mini van.
Whilst in Phuket we used taxis which we booked through reception at our hotel.
Money:
The currency in Thailand is the Thai Baht in our experience most places only take cash.
SIM card:
We bought SIM cards at the airport when we arrived. As usual the first stand we came across wasn’t the cheapest so it was definitely worth having a look at all the options before buying. We went for 5G unlimited internet and calls for 399 Baht. The place were purchased them from out the SIM cards in and set everything up for us. This worked really well the whole time we were there. In addition both Elephant Hills and the Avista Grande Karon Phuket had reasonable wifi.
Food:
We loved the food in Thailand. So many different choices including some more western choices like pizza and pasta on the days that Pip wasn’t feeling as adventurous. There were definitely more vegetarian options at Elephant Hills and the hotel than there were in most restaurants though.
Weather:
The weather was hot and humid while we were there. Usually in the early 30s every day. It did cool down slightly in the evenings but was never cold. We had a couple of rain showers but they didn’t last for long.
Top Tips:
Wait until you get to Thailand to buy bug spray, they sell the pink and yellow bottles in 7-elevens and not only do they smell lovely, they also work brilliantly at keeping insects away. We didn’t find the insects too bad but we did notice them especially in the jungle.
We visited in April2023 when Pip was 10.
Go everywhere, Do everything 