Hello there!

I and my friend are planning to surprise our husbands by taking them to a trip to Phuket on our anniversaries in Feb.

Below are the scenes and conditions:

16th and 19th are the anniversary dates.
Planning for a week - 15th Feb to 21st Feb 2018 (15 and 21 will remain travelling days)
17th & 18th we want to go to Krabi Island
16th and 19th we were planning to separate and have own time to celebrate our respective anniversaries
16, 19, 20 we will be in Phuket
We do not wish to spend much on accommodation but 2 decent, 1 bedroom private villas would be good.

Questions:
Will a John Gray Tour at Phang-Nga bay be good to go?
What exclusive can we do on our anniversaries?
Where do we stay in Phuket?
Best way to travel from Phuket to krabi?
Where do we stay in Krabi?
What can we do in Krabi?
What are the must do things and must visit places in Phuket?

Any and every information/suggestions will be helpful.

Thanks,
Nam

Will a John Gray Tour at Phang-Nga bay be good to go?
No idea about John Gray, but there are plenty of tours to choose from once you are there.


What exclusive can we do on our anniversaries?
Depends on what you want to to. For instance a trip to the Similan islands ( http://www.molon.de/galleries/Thailand/Similan/ ) or the Khao Sok national park


Where do we stay in Phuket?
Depends on whether you are looking for an isolated, quiet place or if you want to be close to the action. Phuket has lots of options. Perhaps avoid places such as Patong beach.


Best way to travel from Phuket to krabi?
I would charter a taxi.


Where do we stay in Krabi?
For instance on Rai Leh beach


What can we do in Krabi?
Aside from the usual beach things (swimming, snorkelling, etc.) you can also do rock climbing: http://www.molon.de/galleries/Thailand/Krabi/Climbing/


What are the must do things and must visit places in Phuket?
Phuket is not a place with must do things or places. It's a large island with a number of nice beaches, but nothing spectacular. I would visit the islands near Phuket, do excursions to the Phang-Nga bay (you are already planning to do that) and perhaps visit the Khao Sok national park. There are of course also Thai temples on Phuket, but nothing too spectacular.

John Gray Sea Canoes is the only tour I recommend for Phuket. Phuket is a beach location, you want to spend your time enjoying the beach and the water, not taking day trips. Indeed, I'd recommend you choose one beach location, so you don't eat up your limited time going from one beach to another. The transfer from Phuket to Krabi is a couple of hours. Krabi is not an island, but part of the mainland.

Where to stay? You have given us no information to know what you are looking for. What is your budget per night? Take a long look at one of the hotel booking sites such as www.booking.com or www.agoda.com and see what is in your price that appeals to you. You are welcome to come back and ask about particular places that look good to you, but only you can decide where you want to stay. A website like travel fish.org gives good descriptions on the various beach areas on Phuket to help you decide.

Thank you both for your help.

If there is nothing more great to do in Phuket? What places do you recommend? Bangkok? Pattaya?

Khao Sok national park would be something we would love to do. Could you help me understand more about it? For a day tour what all will be covered (as i saw there is dam, lake and flora, fauna lots to explore ) and how much does it cost?


We want to just spend a night at Krabi and need a decent place closer to everything in Railay . Any recommendations? For 2 bedrooms, around 2500 THB

Best beaches to visit in Krabi?

In phuket which is the one beach location we can choose? The best one? Where will have a good place to stay? Closer to everything?
Private villas?

How about walking street is it good?

Also how about night life in phuket?

Phuket is an international beach resort. People go there for the beaches. If you are not interested in beaches, don't go there. If you want an introduction to Thai culture, I'd recommend some time in Bangkok.

I don't recommend Pattaya - it's kind of a sleazy beach resort area. You are doing to have to do your own research I can't tell you which beach area you want to visit. Again, you have given us no information about your budget or preferences.

Krabi is not worth a trip for 1-2 days imo.

I would spend my iMessage in Khao lak, 1.25 hours taxi ride north of Phuket airport.

We love the jw Marriott hotel, but perhaps it is more than you want to spend.

Khao Lak discovery tours can take you there for $45 US. They also offer many tours. Look at their website. Personally we never leave the resort.

Hua Hin, a 3 hour taxi ride south of Bangkok is a fab beach town, compact and has places to stay and restaurants for all pocketbooks.

We took my in laws on a John Gray Sea Canoe Trip for their Golden Wedding anniversary a couple of years ago . My trip report here https://www.fodors.com/community/asi...ng-nga-bay.cfm

They really enjoyed it. Plenty of options for that including a starlight hongs at night tour ( or something like that!) which sounded really nice. It is the best you are going to find on Phuket.

Khao Sok is mainly about a trip on the lakes around the limestone karsts and some "jungle" activities. We stayed overnight in a treehouse there which could have been a lot nicer than it actually was due mainly to the appalling staff!

This place gets good reviews http://www.elephanthills.com with lots of activities. Before any of the animal activists jump in to harangue me, I haven’t been there, but they do seem to adopt good practices, including not riding elephants etc.

I think it would probably make for a great anniversary experience.

John Gray - highly recommended especially the night one

Only one elephant sanctuary in Phuket - NONE of the others are!
https://www.phuketelephantsanctuary.org/
Book early - highly recommended

Places to stay - west coast has the best beaches, have a look on Airbnb for private villas.

Taxi/minivan is the best way to get to Krabi....not a lot there, will take about 2 to 3 hours depending on where you stay on Phuket.

Other activities:
Walking tour of Phuket Town
Night Market
Boat Trip to the islands - special one would be: http://www.tigermarinecharter.com/

Thank you all for your further suggestions and detailed information. I just need to your help in drafting a rough itinerary so that I can go-ahead and start checking accommodations.

Mumbai - Phuket - Krabi -Bangkok - Mumbai

3 nights in Phuket
John Gray tour
National park
Elephant sanctuary or jungle activity
1 night at krabi
2 nights at Bangkok

Kindly guide me on best way to travel and plan the days.
Things to do and must visit places in Bangkok

Also, please feel free to suggest a better itinerary.