Hey, off to Thailand (Phuket, think that’s how ya spell it) in the summer for a bit of travelling, any idea of any good trails/singletrack etc, or good reliable companies to ride with, hiring out decent bikes or have guided trail rides etc?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=phuket+mountain+bike

First thing to do will be to get out of Phuket as soon as possible! It’s the Blackpool of Thailand and a hole imo. So many more beautiful places to go in the land of smiles. Never saw much about bike hire tbh but if you find a bike I’d head to Koh Samet as it’s a small island that is covered in dirt tracks. Ace island as well!

There was loads advertised up in Chiang Mai when we went last November. Why are you going in the summer? You do realise that’s their rainy season? best time is November until February if you want nice warm sunshine?

Cheers guys, missus working over there for the summer, having a two week break at the end of her stay! Any ideas of what to do, where to stay when travelling around etc. more than welcome. Is Phuket really that bad???

Parts of Phuket show the very worst of Thailand and the western tourists. There are lots of nice beach resort hotels, good golf courses etc however. If you can travel around and see the country that’s great, Chiang Mai is more low key than Phuket. I lived out in Asia for 2 years and mountain biking and singletrack isn’t really that popular, firstly it’s way too hot and humid. Depending on time of year you might be better served doing a diving course (you need to research a good one though, lots of cowboys)

Depends what sort of holiday you want and there are lots of places to visit, take a look at spending a few days in Ankor Wat in Cambodia or Vietnam (Hoi An, Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Sapa). You do a little mix and match and the budget airlines are pretty cheap.

Go to Koh Lanta, you can get the ferry from Phuket, takes 4 hours leaving at 0800 or 1300, goes via Koh Phi PHi (where the film The Beach was filmed). Koh Lanta had a great mix of “stuff” to do versus relaxing, gorgoues place. CAn you scuba dive? I’m guessing not but we learnt to dive before (finishing with OW dives whilst in Koh Lanta, can’t recommend Dive and Relax enough) and it was phenomenal. We are now addicted and have the bug.

Chiang Mai is also fantastic, but the complete opposite end of the country, mind you could get flights from Phuket to Chiang Mai for £30 odd and it is brilliant. you can definately MTB up there and there would LOADS of companies when I googled it, we didn’t go as the reason for being in Thailand was Mr MC had ruptured his tricep tendon earlier in the year so it was our first non MTB holiday in 8 years! They do 3 day treks which are brilliant only about £33 for food, guide, accommodation (basic shack with a tribe) but had amazing views, gorgeous food and was a real experience.

Just found this
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/thailand-and-diving

not sure if anything ni that thread helps, it was started 9 months ago!

My favourite places in Thailand are Koh Samet (as mentioned), Koh Chang, Krabi area (good base to island hop), Kanchanaburi with a visit to the very moving Hell Fire Pass, and of course Bangkok as long as you keep away from the backpacker areas.