Gooner just a tip, if you go to Phuket, do not go to Patong Beach, found it to be very seedly! Have heard that Koh Samui is very nice, but this does involve a flight. I think it is about an hour.

Hi

I meant Pattaya and Phuket, and Ch-am and not Kraabi

thoughts and advice please

You limit yourself by not taking an internal flight - I wonder why you don't want to fly internally. You could try Pattaya but I found it very seedy after Hua Hin - left after three days and went to Koh Samui instead. There is Rayong which is quieter and further on from Pattaya, the island of Koh Samet is near there as well.

On the whole Phuket is not seedy if you avoid Patong. Fantastic beaches, although very developed.

Krabi not as developed as Phuket, some good beaches especially on the outlying islands reached by boat trip.

Weather wise January is one of the best months to visit Thailand, especially Phuket and Krabi.

OIt can be hard work flying with young kids and Ill have two of them. I also find there is too much hanging around, any thoughts on Ch'am ?

I assume you are thinking of the Regent in Cha amas this is the only hotel that the package tours go to. And this is not in Cha am. The actual resort is about 15 mins in a taxi from this isolated hotel. Also, the beach is not very nice and the sea is none to clean. It is possible to drive to Krabi, but it would take a good 7/8 hours. I would rather fly that subject myself to that length of trip with small children

Gooner
BAngkok airways are good to fly with. Their flights are frequent and you should be able to pick a flight without having to hang around too much. ( when we went to Koh Samui there were flights every half hour or so!!)
I think you would find Cha am a bit disappointing and end up travelling in Hua Hin at night. Beach not great for kids either.

How about Koh Samet or Koh Chang? If you're going to a beach then it might as well be on an island.

Samet is under 3 hours drive from Bkk, Koh Chang 4 and a half. Good dual carriageway road all the way from BKK

No worries about the weather in January - no rain here on Koh Chang for the past couple fo months and the islad is much quieter than Smaui / Phuket (it gets about 10% of the visitors those islands do, despite being roughtly the same size.)