Guest Posted April 6, 2004 Report Share Posted April 6, 2004 Guys, My wife, 3 month old daughter and myself will be having a 1 week holiday in Phuket! We will be driving down from Bangkok for this and I am thinking of the following things (in regards to 3 month old daughter) ; 1> 12 hour drive to Phuket (Both ways), I am not that concerned because she is a very good traveller based on her experience! Driven to Ayuttaya and back in one day (no crying) and driven into Bangkok (1.5 hours with traffic) and no crying as well! So my belief is she loves the car (we have a top of the line car seat from Australia), but 12 hours is a long time!!!! So I am thinking, we are probably needing 'Driving' Pit Stops (for Mum and Pops) and 'Baby' pit stops! So I am wondering if anyone knows of comfortable 'Baby' pit stops we could try and plan for to help her journey! I think continual stops in petrol stations is not ideal! We will probably leave around 3am on Saturday morning and want to pass Hua Hin / Pranburi by 6/6:30 to get ahead of the game a bit! Ideas? 2> By now, we're tired and in Phuket ! We're staying in the North end of Phuket and we have a week a head of us! The 'plan' is to relax and spend quality family time together! Now, Mum and pops would like to get out during some days and not stay at the hotel all the time and therefore would like some recommendations of attractions that are 3 month old Baby can 'tag' along!!! Ideas? 3> We will leave on the Saturday and I am tossing up turning the drive back into a 2 day trip and sightseeing all the way back to Bangkok! What are the must sees? Bear in mind we have 36 hours max time , so we can't see everything! Lastly, remember all of these questions are specifically targeted at places / ideas that we can handle with a 3 month toddler! Thanks and I can't wait till Saturday morning! Just thinking, National Lampoons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted April 6, 2004 Report Share Posted April 6, 2004 Hi You are a brave man driving during Songkran. Only a short flight and would have more time to explore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 6, 2004 Report Share Posted April 6, 2004 You see I have a dream! I want to drive Thailand! Everywhere! My next trip which will be next year will be a 2 week journey through Issarn and Middle Thailand.......I am already mapping out highways, provinces that will be used and looking at which attractions will be best.... Yes, an aggressive plan to drive through Songkran, but a slowly but surely strategy will and must be adopted for everyones sake! I believe a trip report is a must for this! Especially the driving part! SB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilli13 Posted April 7, 2004 Report Share Posted April 7, 2004 actually I'm stupid enough to have accepted a drive down to south of LOS also on saturday & we WONT get a head start planning to leave silum 11am but at least our team should not involve any toodlers I hope! flying back though BTW your 'target' of driving LOS reminds me my expat friend who also have a similar aim or probably more advanced having already driven across most of LOS with the family in his 4 or so year stay around BKK. Remember this one time he insisted driving in to meet us at khaosan rd, while we all suggested he'd probably be better off taxi'ng it, but consistent as he is it took him just a few hours to 'find' khaosan rd & then another hour to find parking Happy driving & new years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whosyourdaddy Posted April 7, 2004 Report Share Posted April 7, 2004 " We will probably leave around 3am on Saturday morning and want to pass Hua Hin / Pranburi by 6/6:30 to get ahead of the game a bit!" Sounds like a good plan so far and I am sure other aspects will be fine. The goverment has specifically not given monday and friday off as to help with the death toll. As long as you dont drive on Monday night and Friday AM, I think you should be fine. Once you are past ratchaburi there are many places you can stop over for a diaper change and feeding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatbastard Posted April 7, 2004 Report Share Posted April 7, 2004 As been said before you are brave driving during Sonkran, partic a long trip to Phuket, we did it when ours was 3 months (not during Sonkran as a park the vehicles at that time) Never again, I thought she was good in the car but the last 5 hours of the trip were trying for us all. I you do go, don't drive at night, its bloody dangerous all though not so much on the dual carriageways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 17, 2004 Report Share Posted April 17, 2004 Guys, Just got back today from Phuket and recap for those interested Driving - Bangkok Phuket Saturday 10th April We left home at 4am in the morning, a little bit later than hoped but what can you do. Bubs woke at 3:30am so she got her bottle before we left! This worked wonders as she slept solid until 9am! By this time, we were around Prachuab Kiri Khan (Sp?) area ! So definitely a good start! Not to bore you with details but we arrived in Phuket at 2:30pm! So roughly 10.5 hours and we stopped for a min of 1 hour for the baby! So traffic was absolutely no problems all the way down! A couple of worthy points ; * Road condition was excellent, except for the road between the turn-off to Cha-Am / Hua Hin to Pranburi! That is a shit road! 50kms of just bumping up and down! Don't bother getting in the left lane! * We went through the following major provincial towns (some just bypasses) Petchaburi --> Cha-Am --> Hua Hing --> Pranburi --> Prachuab Kiri Khan --> Chumphon --> Surat Thani --> Phanga-Nga --> Phuket. * Going past Surat Thani is supposed to be better than going through Ranong as it has a dual carriage way! This means from Chumphon to Surat-Thani (170 odd kms) it is a dual carriage-way and Surat-Thani to Phuket (210 odd kms) is a single-lane road and very curvy! However, it is a magnificent drive into Phuket! Recommended for a relaxing drive in! In Phuket We pretty muched just stayed at the hotel , playing with bubs and going for swims at the pool! Very little venturing out ...... Phuket --> Bangkok Saturday 17th April We left the hotel at 4am and arrived home using the same route as above at 1:45pm. Roughly 10 hour trip with 1 hour stopped for bubs! Traffic, was fantastic as we missed it all! A couple of worthy points * The drive from Phuket to Surat Thani at 4am is very difficult! No lighting, all the buses and trucks from Bangkok (or who knows where) are going through this section at this time! So can be hairy going around corners with buses high-beaming you at 100 kms in the dark! Not recommended, but if you need a head start like Songkran return week then it is do-able but need to really be a defensive driver! From the course of the trip I learnt when driving at night time never turn your high-beams off unless a car is coming in the opposite direction and you know the road landscape for the next 500 metres!!!!! * First major and open petrol station is roughly 50 kms from the Sarisin Bridge! So make sure you have enough petrol to cover .... Next one, maybe another 100 or so kms near Surat Thani... * Again, the road is in excellent condition (except for the shit section mentioned above) where you can comfortably drive 130 and be in complete control. * Total distance - Just before Sarisin Bridge to North Bangkok is 843 kms...... * For those saying driving during Songkran is a complete nightmare in turns of accidents, drunk driving, massive traffic delays etc were wrong in this case! I am pretty sure this is the benefit of planning the driving time in 'Off-Peak' periods! Overall, I am very tired but happy person for having experienced the drive! It is a very easy drive, maybe 80% of the way is 'straight' roads and the condition of the road is in excellent condition! Hope everyone had a happy Songkran! SB. PS Our car did make it out of the hotel during the Songkran public holidays in Phuket and not once did water get thrown over it or powder rubbed on it (This was in Patong)........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatbastard Posted April 19, 2004 Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 Sounds like an easy trip, I left on sunday for si sa ket 13 bloody hours!! what a night mare. it took 8 hours to get Korat normally 3.5 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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