한국어
10-Night, 11-Day Thailand Trip Plan : Pattaya & Koh Samet
Travelling with a kid
May 2024
Itinerary
May 6: Stay at a hotel near the airport
May 7-9 (2 nights): Pattaya
May 9-12 (3 nights): Koh Samet
May 12-17 (5 nights): Pattaya
1. Setting the Dates
When planning our Thailand trip, I realized that in Australia, with four school breaks a year, flight prices soar during holiday periods. January is the peak season, so we skipped that, and after Easter holidays, I carefully considered the dates. Eventually, we decided to travel in May, from the 6th, for 10 nights and 11 days.
3. Flights
Actually, I had bought an affordable AirAsia ticket back in early 2019, before I was pregnant. It was for March 2020, just before I was due to give birth. After my baby was born, I planned to use the AirAsia flatbed upgrade for a flight six months later, but then COVID hit… 😔 The flight was canceled, and the credit they offered sat unused for five years until I finally got to use it for this booking. Currently, there’s no flatbed on the Sydney-Bangkok route, so I booked economy class.
After COVID, there were no direct flights from Brisbane to Bangkok, so we drove from Brisbane to Sydney (10 hours) and stayed for 2 days with a friend before parking at Sydney Airport on May 6th and flying to Bangkok with AirAsia.
If we didn’t have a child, we could have just taken a flight to Sydney and easily moved around, but with a child, we expected a lot of luggage. Public transport would have been difficult, and since Liam still needed a car seat, taking a taxi seemed challenging. So, we decided to drive all the way to Sydney.
4. Travel Locations
Traveling with a child made choosing the locations more complicated. If we didn’t plan the trip around the kid, we would have had a harder time. I wanted to visit Bangkok again, and I thought about staying there before heading to the airport, but traveling in a city with a young boy isn’t always easy. After researching, I found that Pattaya was surprisingly ideal for family travel. Since we were in Thailand, I also felt we should visit an island to get that holiday vibe, so we settled on 7 nights in Pattaya and 3 nights in Koh Samet.
5. Hotels
I had so much fun looking for hotels for this Thailand trip. I checked prices on Agoda, Booking.com, Expedia, and official websites, comparing them. Pattaya has many family-friendly hotels, so it was hard to choose. Liam, being almost 4, has already mastered most junior slides, so I didn’t think he’d enjoy a simple hotel. On the other hand, Mirage Pattaya seemed too big. After considering everything, I booked the hotels listed below, and I feel really good about the decisions. Also, make sure to check the free stay policies for kids because they vary by hotel. Some hotels offer free stay for younger kids but charge for breakfast. It’s essential to confirm these details to save money.
Airport Hotel: I plan to book a hotel near the airport since we’ll be arriving around 10 PM and will need to rest before moving on.
Grande Centre Point Space Pattaya (2 nights): We plan to stay within the hotel for 2 nights. I booked it through the official website, which was about $20 cheaper, and they gave us 5 tokens per night (booking through third-party sites gives only 2 tokens).
Samed Pavilion Resort: I wanted to stay at the nearby Samed Villa Resort, but the free stay for kids only covers children up to 3 years old, and the base price was a bit higher. So, I chose Samed Pavilion Resort, where children up to 4 years old stay free, including breakfast. We’ll rent a scooter in Koh Samet to explore, and this resort seemed like a good fit. Koh Samet resorts are quite pricey.
Before the pandemic, I stayed at Samed Villa Resort with my family. While the rooms weren’t incredible, the resort atmosphere and beachfront location were fantastic. The food was great too, making it perfect for a relaxing stay.
Centre Point Prime Hotel Pattaya: Since we planned to explore Pattaya by rental car, I wanted a reasonably priced hotel. This one had excellent value for money, so I booked it. It has a kitchenette, which is great for washing water bottles and heating food for the kid. Plus, it has a wave pool for kids, so we won’t get bored staying here. The only downside is that it’s a bit far from the city center, but they offer a shuttle bus, and since we’re renting a car, the distance doesn’t matter. The price on the official site was much cheaper, but I ended up booking on Agoda after facing issues on the official site and paying a bit more.
6. Rental Car
With a child, transportation became a significant consideration for this trip. When I traveled without a child, I always used affordable public transport, but now, with a child, the cost of traveling went up. Fortunately, we had a short trip, so I’m relieved about that.
I initially thought a rental car would only be necessary for 5 days, but since it seemed inconvenient to get from the airport and to Koh Samet, I decided to rent a car for the entire 10 days, picking it up and dropping it off at the airport. Driving in Thailand is easy since the driving position and side of the road are the same as in Australia, so I wasn’t worried about driving.
7. Long-Term Parking at Sydney Airport
I booked long-term parking at Sydney Airport for 11 days. The price was $250.
Considering the cost of getting to and from the airport, it seemed worth it to pay a little extra for parking right at the airport. It’s only a 2-minute walk from the airport entrance, which is ideal when traveling with kids or a lot of luggage.
