Although quite developed I do think Phuket has some of the best beaches in Thailand, for more dramatic beach scenery Krabi is pretty hard to beat. We've done internal return flights for around £50 to both destinations, there are a number of low cost carriers in the region like airasia,nokair. Its also easy to do both areas in one holiday as they are close to each other...fly into Phuket fly back from Krabi for example.

As for hotel costs well you are visiting peak season. Many hotels in Phuket for example totally fill up so I don't thinkthere will be too many bargains out there. There is so much variety in hotels that its difficult give a price, two stars are probably starting about £35 per night at this time if year, youu could easily be paying £70-100 per night for a three/fourstar property.

One more bit of advice- give yourselves a bit more time in Bangkok- even just one day.
Sounds like a good holiday.

Depends on what you are after ?
Gorgeous beaches all to yourself, or with people around ?
I went to Koh Samui and koh tao in Nov06. Maenam beach on samui was beautiful you could laze about in the sea and look across to koh phangan and koh tao in the distance, and we basically had the place to ourselves. But we stayed in beach huts with no hot water, not a hotel. However Chaweng is only 20 minutes away. Its not as bad as people make out,ask your taxi driver to drive through the red light district, now there is a cultural experience for you.
Koh tao was slightly off the beaten track, we were ferried about on the back of a pickup, but once again you get the joy of a longtail over to the "twins" two little islands off the shore, the snorkelling here was amazing, and its so small there are no roads.
Last year i went to the Andaman side. Ko Lanta is beautiful, keep heading south and it just gets better and better, but once again you wont find any hotels down here.
Ko Ngai looks like it is slightly upmarket from the few days i spent down there, and you really get the feeling that you are a million miles away from civilisation.
Slightly closer to the rest of the world, why not try Tonsai beach. There are some very nice bungalows here now from about 2500bht a night. Tonsai was my favourite place in Thailand.So far. It doesnt have much of a beach, but the scenery is just staggering, and the atmosphere is very chilled out.
Basically, pack your bags and get out there i reckon you can fit 4 destinations into 11 days.
Enjoy.
edit: 17th december,high season,expect to pay full price for everything, but the weather should be lovely.

Have now got the flights booked through Emirates.

Fly Glasgow - Bangkok arriving 17th Dec.

Planning 3 nights in Bangkok then possibly 5 nights each in Phuket and Krabi.

Then fly Bangkok to Hong Kong on 30th Dec (New Year in Hong Kong should be good) and have 5 nights there returning to Glasgow on 5th Jan 09.

Will book hotels later in the year (when is the best time to book to get the best deal) but please let me know any recomendations anyone has for good hotels/beaches in Bangkok and the rest of Thailand.

To be honest, I wouldn't mess around with booking your hotels. Research now and book.

When you are there, all your hotels will be full. If you book now, you have a good chance of getting the hotels you want. If you leave it a few months you'll be left with the scraps, and probably not the hotels you want.

It certainly won't be cheaper to leave it, especially for the beaches. And New Year.

I'll second Sams sound advice. I've seen some of the web booking agencies declaring Phuket full over the Xmas period in past years. Leave it to late and there will only be the scraps left.

Cheers folks, will take your advice.

Can anyone tell me which part of Phuket is the best for beaches, nightlife, trips to other beaches etc.

Thanks

The busiest beach resort is Patong...and it is busy.. developed for international mass market tourism. Some love it some hate it. The same can be pretty much said for Kata and Karon these days althogh they are not on the scale of Patong. These three areas have the advantage of being relativly close to each other so can easily be visited by taxi. Having said that though they are beautiful beaches and some very good resort hotels can be found. Bang Tao has also been developed, the main feature here being the Laguna complex with a number of larger scale properties set on a somewhat sanitised site on again a beautiful beach, with the obigatory golf course thrown in.

There are also a nuber of smaller resorts dotted round the island ranging from the moderatly lively to the down right quiet and peaceful.

Now got hotels in Thailand booked.

3 nights in Bangkok at the Dream Bangkok Hotel around £70 a night.

Return flights from Bangkok to Phuket on Air Asia for 2, cost around £135

10 nights in the Pacific Club Resort at Karon, cost around £580.

Just need to find a hotel in Hong Kong for 5 nights to finish the trip off.

Anyone stayed at any of the hotels above?

stick a post in the Far east forum for HK hotels. You'll get suggestions

Heard great things about DREAM. Really great feedback. Hong Kong Hotel, I always stay in the Harbour Plaza Hong Kong - it's in Hung Hom, a little bit out on Kowloon, but great, great views (make sure you get a harbourview room) - and great value. And Hong Kong is not at a premium over Xmas and New Year!

just had a look at Dream. Very interesting and modern. Sukhumvit is a great place to be. Loads of great restaurants around about.
Dream BangkokI've asked for it to be added to our reviews so hopefully someone will give it its first review soon.