hello,me and my friend have both decided that we would like to spend about two months next year in thailand and austailia.Just to dab our feets in the water before we dive sraight into travelling. We were thinking about going at the beginning of feb no real reason just picked that date as it gives a little more time to save, is that a good time to go?
we want to go thailand to relax,and chill during the day 
maybe a bit of scuba diving and what not and party at night we want to go to the full moon party
,Where is the best place to go?. After thailand we were goona go to austailia(altho still undecided) for a bit and practically do the same not sure tho how much we should take to spend i think about 3K over two months but not sure. Flights wise i thougt maybe getting an open ended ticket so we can go to thailand fly to austailia and then home is that a good idea or not? and where would i find this sort of deal? As you can tell by my hopeless rambling i have no gotta clue i will be suprised if we make it to the airport!since we have said we would like to do it we are sought of lost as to what to do next. plaease help us we are perfetic at organising thank you.p.s any any information that helps us on our quest we would only be happy to say thank you in person should our paths meet
. p.s again anyone know of any good guide books i spent an hour and a half in borders reading them all before they kicked me out for pestering other customers.thanks again 
travelling around thailand or austailia.Questions questions!
that's alot of questions all at once and I don't know where to start.
First of all, you need to do some research on your own so that you can narrow down a few of the questions.
A good place to start is and STA travel agent. Go in, tell them you want to go to Thailand and Australia, and they will give you lots of options. Ask them lots of questions about time limits, what you can change later, if there could be any other stops included, and of course, prices. The next step is to walk into the next travel agent down the street and ask them the exact same questions. By this time you will know a bit about what flights are practical and what they will cost. Then you can do some research on the net and see if you can beat those prices.
Next step is to buy a Lonely Planet guide for the countries you are going. I say LP because I like them best, but others might recomend Rough Guides, Lets Go, or others.
For money - I'm assuming you are talking 3000 pounds. If this is the case and this is what you have for spending money, then you can live large. A month in Thailand will run you about 300-400 pounds even if you don't watch you budget. If you want to spend 5-600 you can drink your face off every night and dive all you want. Australia will be about 3 times as expensive, and if you plan to go out every night, stay in hostels, and do much travelling, and do some dives, you are looking at about 40-50 pounds a day or 1200-1500 for the month. If you watch you budget you could do it far significantly cheaper. So in the end, 2000 pounds for the two months will keep you going no problem and allow for splurging.
Where to go? In Thailand it sounds like you need to head to Koh Tao for some diving and then Koh Phagnan for the full moon parties. After that the possibilies are endless, as you will find out after reading your guidebook.
The Topic says 'Thailand or Australia' and in your question you pointed out that you would like to do both.
I personal think that 1 month for Australia is not enough. And if it's more for diving you would need to go to Cairns or Townsville both in Queensland and not very cheap.
What also comes in my mind, what happens if you enjoy your stay in Thailand very much? Are you not going to loose your interest in continuing your journey to Australia?
This is only a conclusion by me, but you might want to consider Thailand and Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma, Laos). And leave Australia for another time.
Hi,
I saw Degolasse said you can live on £3-400 a month in Thailand, but what does this include? Just fod and accommodation, or travelling and a few gifts aswell?
Thanks.
If you watch your budget, 3-400 pounds gets you alot in Thailand. You don't have to live off the street, you just have to stay in basic guest houses, don't go crazy on the drinks, and pay attention to what you are spending. But you can easily travel around the coutnry, eat three massive restarant meals a day, drink a beer or two a night, and come home with a couple souvineers with that much money. In fact, the last couple times we went to Thailand, we budgeted 450 pounds/month for both of us together including a few dives down South. I would happily go on my own with 250 or less for a month.
But as I said, if you have 500 or more to spend, you can go without having to worry about a thing, can drink all you want, and can spend all you want on shopping.
- Tickets - I used to get a round ticket London to Brisbane valid for 1 year. With this I would organise a stop-off in Thailand on the way there and on the way back. You can change dates and stay there for a long time....check with your travel agent. I used to fly with Thai air but I can't really recommend them the service was often terrible and you don't need that on a long haul flight.
Oz is awfully big....you should think carefully about where you want to go there. Try to do too much and you'll spend all your time in buses trains or airports.
Feb is summer there and the wet season (cyclones!) in the far north. Not that this is bad but check for visibility prospects if you intend to go diving.
In Thailand Feb is the end of the "cool dry" season and prices will be at a peak but it's still a cheap destination - Oz has got a lot dearer lately.
Then on your way back you can stop in Thailand again and do all the things you missed or want to do again.
The break on the way out and back has a few advantages.
A direct flight to OZ takes 22 to 24 hours with a stop to refuel along the way.
So by stopping in Thailand you get to acclimatise to the warm weather (30C+ in Thailand AND in Oz).
Then you also get rid of your jet lag - time difference between Thailand and Oz is only 3 hours. Arriving in Oz with a ten hour time difference can be a killer especially if you are travelling about a lot.
London to Bkk is about 12 hours; a direct flight from Thailand to Brisbane is about 8 hours, Perth 5, Darwin about 4, Sydney 10 and Melbourne about 11. Much easier to handle than sitting in a plane seat for a whole day!
Thailand is cheap...you can buy all sorts of stuff there and even leave it there whilst you go off to Oz.
You'll love Thailand and you'll feel so good that you're going to get a second bite of the cake before you go back to Europe or wherever.
i would just like to say thanks to everyone who answered my questions and taking there time to write a reply i really appreciate it and will take all your opinions on board hopefully come febuary i will be ( arms out wide and making a sound of a plane) on my journey somewhere?
Hey,
Thanks for posting the thread bolton...just about asked the same questions that were playing on my mind. Hope to do Oz & Thailand myself in the next year! Happy Travelling!!