joshhb

Once you are outside of Bangkok metro sprawl driving is quite straightforward. The quality of the roads is superb. However you must drive defensively, especially on multi-lane highways with kamikaze trucks with poor lane discipline.
 
I'd never rent a scooter except on a low-speed island. Way too vulnerable.

I think you need to state what type of island you want. If you want luxurious hotels and upscale restaurants, then Phuket and Samui are for you. If you want more local ones, then there is much more choice. Although Samui and Chang are easy to get to, the Samui and Trat airports are privately owned by Bangkok Airways, and therefore priced as a monopoly.
Driving outside of Bangkok is very straightforward. Just make sure you have an international driving license. On my next visit in May we are going to drive to Hua Hin for a few days, then up to some national parks near the Myanmar boarder. Last time we flew to Chiang Rai and did a great road trip of the NE - Highlights were the boarder roads above the Wild Boar Tham Luang caves. Having a car gives great freedom to roam near or far from the sea.            

I think you need to state what type of island you want. If you want luxurious hotels and upscale restaurants, then Phuket and Samui are for you. If you want more local ones, then there is much more choice. Although Samui and Chang are easy to get to, the Samui and Trat airports are privately owned by Bangkok Airways, and therefore priced as a monopoly.
Driving outside of Bangkok is very straightforward. Just make sure you have an international driving license. On my next visit in May we are going to drive to Hua Hin for a few days, then up to some national parks near the Myanmar boarder. Last time we flew to Chiang Rai and did a great road trip of the NE - Highlights were the boarder roads above the Wild Boar Tham Luang caves. Having a car gives great freedom to roam near or far from the sea.            

Koh Samed. 3 hours 2500B taxi.  Busy at weekends with Bangkok residents. Very local. No big resorts. Just rent a motorcycle.
 
Koh Lanta. Fly to Krabi and drive for 1 hr. Bigger island again few resorts. Best to have a car. Amazing sunsets 

Koh Samed. 3 hours 2500B taxi.  Busy at weekends with Bangkok residents. Very local. No big resorts. Just rent a motorcycle.
 
Koh Lanta. Fly to Krabi and drive for 1 hr. Bigger island again few resorts. Best to have a car. Amazing sunsets 

Renting and driving a car outside of central Bangkok is a doddle. Just back from a 3 day road tour of Chiang Rai province. I had wanted to visit Thom Luang "cave rescue" cave, but unfortunately it was still closed (opens October 1). So we carried on a bit and headed North up the mountains and a road running along the Myanmar boarder. Through 3 army checkpoints, stopping for a coffee looking down through the clouds down to the flat plain. Then wound our way back down.
 

Renting a car gives great freedom to do what you want to do. Rental prices are very reasonable.

On a related topic why oh why don’t more Bangkok taxi drivers use Google maps? Traffic congestion changes all the time. I missed a local flight because the taxi driver insisted on using his own routing which lost us 45 mins vs. Google maps. 

As visitors to their country we should respect their wishes vis à vis masks. 
What we do in our own country is our own business.
Farang disregarding local sentiment is not a good look for us Imho.

Just returned from Thailand. I preferred to respect their fondness for mask wearing where it makes sense - indoors, transportation, crowded soi. But not elsewhere. Saw some Thai people climbing Phu Chi Fah in a mask at dawn! Seeing ferang on the BTS maskless seemed so disrespectful. 

Just returned from Thailand. I preferred to respect their fondness for mask wearing where it makes sense - indoors, transportation, crowded soi. But not elsewhere. Saw some Thai people climbing Phu Chi Fah in a mask at dawn! Seeing ferang on the BTS maskless seemed so disrespectful. 

Just returned from Thailand. I preferred to respect their fondness for mask wearing where it makes sense - indoors, transportation, crowded soi. But not elsewhere. Saw some Thai people climbing Phu Chi Fah in a mask at dawn! Seeing ferang on the BTS maskless seemed so disrespectful. 

Just returned from Thailand. I preferred to respect their fondness for mask wearing where it makes sense - indoors, transportation, crowded soi. But not elsewhere. Saw some Thai people climbing Phu Chi Fah in a mask at dawn! Seeing ferang on the BTS maskless seemed so disrespectful. 

Just returned from Thailand. I preferred to respect their fondness for mask wearing where it makes sense - indoors, transportation, crowded soi. But not elsewhere. Saw some Thai people climbing Phu Chi Fah in a mask at dawn! Seeing ferang on the BTS maskless seemed so disrespectful. 

Just returned from Thailand. I preferred to respect their fondness for mask wearing where it makes sense - indoors, transportation, crowded soi. But not elsewhere. Saw some Thai people climbing Phu Chi Fah in a mask at dawn! Seeing ferang on the BTS maskless seemed so disrespectful. 

Just returned from Thailand. I preferred to respect their fondness for mask wearing where it makes sense - indoors, transportation, crowded soi. But not elsewhere. Saw some Thai people climbing Phu Chi Fah in a mask at dawn! Seeing ferang on the BTS maskless seemed so disrespectful. 

Just returned from Thailand. I preferred to respect their fondness for mask wearing where it makes sense - indoors, transportation, crowded soi. But not elsewhere. Saw some Thai people climbing Phu Chi Fah in a mask at dawn! Seeing ferang on the BTS maskless seemed so disrespectful. 

Just returned from Thailand. I preferred to respect their fondness for mask wearing where it makes sense - indoors, transportation, crowded soi. But not elsewhere. Saw some Thai people climbing Phu Chi Fah in a mask at dawn! Seeing ferang on the BTS maskless seemed so disrespectful. 

Despite the relaxation of the rules Thailand is still the Land of Masks. Near 100% wearing outside. Even on beaches.

Please may I have recommendations for a good tailor to make a suit. I'll be staying in Silom but happy to travel to Sukhamvit if that's the best location. Thanks.

Hang out on Silom 4 for the mixed gay-centic bars and restaurants.
"Full service" massage places will do less if you want. Arena and Sabaidee Spa would give you hunky masseurs. Arena is probably easier for a newcomer to find.

Hang out on Silom 4 for the mixed gay-centic bars and restaurants.
"Full service" massage places will do less if you want. Arena and Sabaidee Spa would give you hunky masseurs. Arena is probably easier for a newcomer to find.

56 Surawong. It’s the budget sister hotel of Montien. Not bad and a great location. I was happy to pay the 2500B for the 3 hour express service which actually only took 1.75 hours 

I arrived at a busy time at the end of March. Although the mass of desks and logos was initially confusing, all I had to do is to state by hotel name to the nearest desk staff, and I was pointed to the right desk. All in all a 5 minute process from exiting customs to being in a car.
2500B extra got me a test result in under 2 hours.
The only clunky element to the Thai Pass process was the website which would not allow .pdf file unloads.
If you want to see chaos, visit a UK airport immigration hall.

Where did you stay that you got your test results so fast (under 2 hours)?
Thanks for a hint ;).

I arrived at a busy time at the end of March. Although the mass of desks and logos was initially confusing, all I had to do is to state by hotel name to the nearest desk staff, and I was pointed to the right desk. All in all a 5 minute process from exiting customs to being in a car.
2500B extra got me a test result in under 2 hours.
The only clunky element to the Thai Pass process was the website which would not allow .pdf file unloads.
If you want to see chaos, visit a UK airport immigration hall.