Best place to stay in thailand? (holiday)?

If i want to stay in a nice, reasonably priced hotel, ride an elephant without having to drive to somewhere ages away, and to have the beach pref. in walking distance from the hotel?

Where should i go?

e.g.

Phuket, Bangkok, ect.??

Koa Samui is way nicer than Phuket. You will probably have to fly into Bangkok first stay a day or 2 there and then Koa Samui. Bangkok is a dive and no elephants but worth checking out. 2 days is more than enough spend the rest of the time on the island and hire a scooter for $25 to get around. Most all of the hotels are on the beach and accommodation is dirt cheep

try Hua Hin; you can take a van from the Victory Monument BTS station there one way per person for 180 Baht (don't know what that is in Aus $ but USD is about $5.50)

it takes about 3 hours; there are tons of hotels that aren't all that pricey and close to beach; and you can always ride an elephant almost anywhere in Thailand....that is where I would go. I would stay away from Pattaya with a family; it's a land of 10,000 hookers (with a population of 10,050, only slightly exagerating) and Phuket is expense -- beautiful, yes, but high end....

BTW, Bangkok is an awesome city and HAS tons of elephants! Don't know why the other person said what they said....

best wishes in the Land of Smiles!

Jomtien Beach Thailand is about 90 minutes by express highway from Bangkok Airport. Beach plus shopping, restaurants, attractions, offshore island trips, plenty to see and do in and around Jomtien Beach Thailand.

The Natural Park Resort is very near the beach but there are plenty of hotels that meet your requirements. There is an elephant reserve in Pattaya and the prices are pretty reasonable if you look around. Once you book they will pick you up at your hotel.

How much time do you have for your stay in Thailand? If only 2 days, I will suggest you stay in Bangkok and enjoy the city scenes and temples and river and shopping. If you have more than 2 days, then you can consider heading to Pattaya as suggested to spend some time there. It is easier to get there from the airport and you will need time between travel to rest for your onward flight to Paris.

Pattaya has beaches and great seafood, plus there are places to visit too, like the Tiger Zoo, Nong Nooch Garden, Khao Khiao Zoo, Ripley's Museum etc. Have a look at this site on the attractions there: http://www.tourismthailand.org

Go Phuket if you have bigger budget.

I'm going to Phuket in April this year and am staying at the

5 Stars - Le Meridien Phuket beach resort. It's the best resort and is close to most attraction.

Check out the website and search the one that suit

You can go to the island of Koh Samet - it is a few hours drive from the airport. Alternatively you could rent a villa around Pattaya/ Jomtien area and get there by mini bus. We rented one from this place and it was very, very cheap. From there you can get shopping and do some tours to take you to see elephants, dances, etc. We used this company to book a very nice villa there.

http://www.fairproperties.com/houses_for_rent.htm

It lists them for a monthly rate, but you do not have to stay that long. Cheaper than a hotel, bigger than a hotel and the villa or apartment will have everything a hotel will have.

the nicest place ive seen was phuket.not phuket town or patong beach tough,but rawai beach in the very south of the island.its beautiful there and u can take a daytrip to the famous beach,from the "the beach" movie,on phi phi island.

I have been to Phuket, Hua Hin and Samui. Phuket was my favorite by far and I did not like Hua Hin at all. Least pretty beaches and they were crowed with people trying to sell you crap.