Agree mostly with Shirley but Thailand has the edge for me even though we are going back to Goa in November for 2nd time this year. The flight to Thailand is sooooo long but for my husband there's nowhere like Koh Samui and Bangkok. But you never know until you try.

We enjoyed Thailand very much particularly Bangkok and the Grand Palace. We only ever went once though. For us once was enough. My heart is in Goa. We just keep going back time and time again. Its difficult to explain what draws us back but something definately does. We rarely go to other places more than once. We are however cosidering going to Barbados a second time, we loved it there but even that doesnt compare to Goa in my opinion.

I have never been to thailand but today went to a huge thai festival definatley not the sameas the real place but it was awful I am a vege and so much meat meat everywhere cheap rubbish too......goa I loved I loved the smells the people the shambles the everything and ther food was second to none not oily like the restaurants back here .................I feel like I belong in goa I was tearfull to leave despite having a shock when i first arrived and thought where the hell have i come lol..

goa is the best place i have ever been i took my 4 kids last year i thought they would hate it as they liked florida and the parks.....all they talk about is goa and for this years holiday I asked where they want to go and of course they want goa ............!!!

Sorry, but for me Thailand is beginning to win. The standard of hotels for the same money and cheaper, than Goa, that you get is just one reason. Goa it seems to me is pricing itself out of the market these days.

I'm with Martin on this one I've visited both many times and travelled fairly widely in both. The flights are longer to Thailand but the choice of airlines is far better, the quality of hotels are far superior and better value than Goa. Goa these past couple of years is starting to cease to be good value for money and the present fiasco re Indian visas is just another aspect of the way things are going, I'll continue to visit Goa, I,ve got two three weeks stays booked allready, but I feel that the time to move on is approaching and I think another couple of years and the Goa I,ve known and loved for all those years wont be there any more Alan

"another couple of years and the Goa I,ve known and loved for all those years wont be there any more Alan"

I feel the same way. I might make this year the last, just too much building and expansion. You can see that they are gearing up for the Indian tourist s more and more with bigger more expensive hotels that the new young affluent Mumbai high earners can now afford.

Gramps, why don't you try Diu.. looks great.

I'd like to hear some feedback from anyone about this Portuguese island of the coast of Gujarat

I guess some places in thailand are beautiful but goa is goa and thailand is thailand they are two very different places .................I have done my fair share of globe trotting and goa hold something very special for me ...
thats all I can say

I'd like to hear some feedback from anyone about this Portuguese island of the coast of Gujarat

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=93360

Found this http://www.diutourism.com/resortsindiu.html, almost visited this place in 1999 but got stuck in Pushkar during the camel fair another option here methinks

Goa is Goa and no one can beat it.Only thing which all may agree that once you visit Goa it keeps hammering your mind untill you visit it again,I have also visited many places but not a single day of my life where I have not gone to goa by my mind!I keep dreaming it.

Me too globetracker
I dream about being back there all the time. Never has a place had that effect on me before. Love Goa with all my heart.

mmm Goa (Candolim) v Thailand (Hua Hin) let me see.
Hotel - very reasonably priced and very very nice
Beach - Candolim wins by a mile,
Food - Goa wins again, although plenty of European type food available in Thailand their own cuisine didnt suit me - I dont do fried insects, or boiled intestines yukk!!
People - Found the Thais friendly but more stand offish than Goans.
Night life - plenty of bars and restaurants both resorts.
The biggest difference and the reason I would not go back to Thailand. The bars with the girls sitting out openly plying their trade and the amount of lecherous old european guys you see with pretty young Thai girls on their arms.

I totally agree with roxey thai was far too seedy for me......hated it, I have friends who swear by thailand and say that where they stay its pretty tame our hotel in phuket far out weighs anything we have stayed in in goa but give me calangute any day.............roll on Jan

Jules

Everyone, I love Goa, I really do, BUT to compete on the international toursit maret as it is trying and pricing itself in the same market, it has to improve the standard of hotels. For a 3 star Goa hotel (very basic) I can get a very good 4 star hotel in Thailand. It doesnt add up. At the end of the day, a hotel doesnt really matter that much to me, but it does to my wife, so I wsih Goa would up the ante so I could go back!

Everyone, I love Goa, I really do, BUT to compete on the international toursit maret as it is trying and pricing itself in the same market, it has to improve the standard of hotels. For a 3 star Goa hotel (very basic) I can get a very good 4 star hotel in Thailand. It doesnt add up. At the end of the day, a hotel doesnt really matter that much to me, but it does to my wife, so I wsih Goa would up the ante so I could go back!

Yes I agree with what you are saying. I also love Goa but why all the building of new hotels when they can't maintain the existing ones. Some of the hotels that tour operators are offering in their low end packages are disgusting (Dona Alcina etc.), they would not offer this in Thailand. The level of hygiene is also very poor in Goa (India). I have been seriously ill twice in the last 3 visits I'm not putting this down to what they call 'travel sickness' or 'Delhi Belly'... it's actually 'Gastritis' caused by serious food poisoning... Salmonella, Campylobacter or Giardia (parasites). This would close down a restaurant back here or encourage an investigation if you caught this on a package holiday to Spain. So yes 'upping the ante' needs to happen to keep people coming back.

Goa is Goa, there are lots of us love it for how it is and accept the hotels, after all its just somewhere to park your belongings and sleep. You pay your money and make your choice. I have stayed at the Dona Alcina and certainly wouldnt choose to stay there again, on the other hand I have stayed at Prazeres and the accomodation was brilliant.
As regards hygiene, you have been unlucky Neil, I have never had any problems and have been visiting every year for the last 13 years or so.
I don't get the 'I love Goa but, I liked parts of my holiday in Thailand but because of the things I didnt like I haven't chosen to go back there.
Its simple if it doesnt suit you don't go there. If I was thinking of visiting for the first time and read a statement saying the levels of hygiene are extremely poor then it would make me think again, for your bad experience there will be 100's of people who will say how fantastic and fresh the food is - people wouldnt be returning year after year so they could catch a stomach bug.
Goa is brilliant, roll on November 3rd.......

....for your bad experience there will be 100's of people who will say how fantastic and fresh the food is - people wouldnt be returning year after year so they could catch a stomach bug.
Goa is brilliant....

If that hadn't been said - I certainly WOULD have said it. We all see Goa as our treasured, our very (own) close friend, and we don't want any harm to come to it. So we voice our concerns, but we STILL love it.

Yummymummy havent been to Thailand (often been tempted ) but have been to Langkawi, Malaysia and could see Thailand from there last year. It just made me realise what a wonderful magical place Goa is There is no other place on earth like it. We had a terrific deal for Malaysia 3 weeks in 5 star luxury hotel on the beach and we were bored silly- the locals and the tourists just weren't .... like the people we know and like and who live or holiday in Goa

I too have a special place in my heart for Goa and India and have been visiting for the last 50 years but it does'nt blind me to the faults. The prices are edging up all the time, their Hotels cannot, on the whole be compared with their rivals in the Far East, although the prices are now similar, the Goan infrastructure is lamentable, poor electricity, deplorable sanitation etc, it's only a matter of time before some serious health problem surfaces. Just because we love the people and the lifestyle does it meen we should ignore the many faults in Goa? It's really scandelous when you see some of the prices the tour companies are asking for some very shabby basic hotels,the likes of which would be closed down elsewhere Alan