hi everyone. im not sure where im going with this but i need help planning my hol! theres alot to cover! i wanna go to thailand next january for cool weather. im 21 and want to go on a specialist photography tour as i havent got anyone to go with and love snapping photos! i want to explore all of thailand; and on a very tight budget! the plan is to go to bangkok, (and kwai bridge and floating market), chiang mai (elephant ride), beaches on the south east, koh pha ngan, krabi and phuket. (not nessacarily in that order...)

have i missed anywhere good!? especially for taking photos?

How about bangkok (or anywhere else) are there any places to be or see for taking photos, down back alleys or something?!

im not sure what beaches to visit too on the way? i was thinking koh pha ngan but just because it came up.. secluded/not touristy/clear waters/scuba diving coral reefs/white beaches/explore caves .. beach hopping..

i cant find a photography tour, even if i do it will probally be mega expensive. i may have to rethink and just go on my own-but i dont wanna do that either (coz its such alot to do, and such a different place i wouldnt feel safe especially with my camera and i no what im like leaving my money around and stuff). the thing is theres alot of travelling to do all this (but i wanna do it all! i have too).

mainly what order should i do it in (keeping it cheap). should i fly to bankok, chiang mai, or phuket.. and how about return (fly london gatwick) what order should i go in. i no the train is overnite but i dont want to do alot of train travel either. i could go south to north instead maybe.

Wow, that is a lot to do in less than two weeks, i would do less and enjoy the places you visit, otherwise you will be on a bus or train for the whole trip. Because you are on a budget i would fly into Bangkok as it usually has the cheapest tickets from the UK, for more information on what airports and airlines to use go to www.wordtravels.com/Cities/Thailand/Bangkok/CheapFlights You mentioned visiting the floating market in Bangkok. I would miss this, it is very touristy, a bigger and better market is the JJ weekend market. You also mentioned going to the bridge on the river Kwai. I would miss this as well. The scenery and waterfalls very near the bridge are beautifdul but the bridge is nothing special. It is also a distance from Bangkok and will consume at least a full day of travel. Think about taking a river tour inside bangkok instead. From here you have a choice of going north to Chaing Mai or south to the islands. I would take a bus or train to one and then fly to the other. For example, take the train to Chaing Mai, it will have great scenery for your photography on the way. Look into Chaing Rai which is a bit farther north and has a bit more impressive scenery. Pai is very scenic and would be wonderful for photography, it is close to Chaing Mai and also has elephant trekcs. From Chaing Mai you can fly to the beach resorts of the south. Far south is a great destination for you secluded beach hopping called Koh Tarutao. It is far south and will cosume a lot of your short travel time, but it is worth the trip. Many easily accessible islands farther north may not have the seclusion you are looking for. you mentioned Koh pha ngan. It is a lot of fun and has beatiful beaches but is also a very popular resort spot. Try the always beautiful Koh Phi Phi if you are short on time. Koh Yai is also a more secluded option. You should feel safe traveling on your own to touristy places so dont worry about joining a tour. Have fun.

That is a great detailed plan for Thailand, you will really cover a lot with all of this. I would choose between Chiang Rai and Pai, Chiang Rai isnt much of a city and is mostly known for the scenic beauty of its surroundings. Pai has both the scenery and a fun little town to hang in so i would recommend going here. There are northern tribal villages near both of these places. The bus can get to be a bit much of you are car sick, think about renting a motorbike in Chiang Mai, this lets you drive around to neat attractions in Pai as well. If further pressed you may want to cut out the Surat Thani visit unless you are interested in Thai history and architecture, although you will see great examples of this at Ayuttaya. I believe you can do the floating market and JJ market on the same day, remember that JJ market is only open on the weekends and is truly massive and will take a lot of time to explore, but easy to get to, just follow the sky train to Mo Chit station. feel free to ask more questions. Have fun.

ok, good questions, firstly, Ayuttaya is the old capitol and has ancient and huge pagodas worth the visit but is short on rice paddie workers. If you are looking for tall terraced rice field hills you will have to find this up in the far northern Thailand. I have heard you can get a boat to Ayuttaya but im not sure how to organize this, especially on a cargo boat. Under the bridge pronounced Phra Pinklao (sic) on the Chao Phraya there are men with smaller boats used for day tours of Bangkok, it could be possible to convince one of them to go that far although it might be expensive. Also look at the river dock near Thammasat University, both of these are central in Bangkok and next to each other. Im sure there is great scenery along the way and if you do it you will have to write back and tell me how it goes. JJ market is not a floating market but is the worlds largest outdoor market and has everything from clothes to rare animals to cock fights. The floating market is more picturesque but mainly sells trinkets and tourist goods and is not close to JJ market. Jump onto the wordtravels website for info about these places. There are a few night markets and the one you mentioned will be great. For places to stay in Chiang Mai it is important to know it is not a rural town at all but Thailands second largest city. A guide book will be better equiped to tell you places to stay but a thai hut may have to be reserved for trecking in Pai. AS for flying to Surat Thani, i would recommend not lingering in town and jump the first chance to get to the islands. I know you really want to see rice paddie fields but im unsure of the best destination to do this, well, because rice paddies aren't usually destinations. But i believe up north near Pai there should be plenty for you. Temples are everywhere and so are monks so dont worry about trying to find those. The islands you mentioned will be great for any island need you have but as a general rule the more secluded the island the less chance you have to get a massage for scuba dive. Good luck. Again write back with more questions if you have them.

Check out airasia.com they are based in KL and are usually very cheap especially from KL. I would advise stopping at Koh Tarutao which is a great island right on the Thai/Malay border. Its easy to reach from bus taken near the train station stop in Hat Yai.

Thailand is very famous for vacation tours as there are many places to visit. Person arrives for business tour to Thailand also enjoys the weather, climate, beaches, Thai food and many places.
For tourists, Bangkok has a feast of attractions to offers which includes 400 glittering Buddhist temples of great beauty and charm, The Grand Palace, The Giant Swing, Royal Barge National Museum, Gemopolis, traditional dance extravaganzas, numerous shopping centers and traditional ways of life. It is worth taking a trip along its waters before exploring further into different canals to take a sight of old Bangkok.

latestays.com is good website to get deals on most the time, what i tend to do is check price on there when i have dec on a hotel and then check the hotel site price and go with the cheapest.