Having spent my 20s and early 30s travelling to as many different countries as I could manage, I found settling into the stereotypical cyle of Balearics/France/Centre Parcs since having children both lovely and slightly frustrating. In 2025, we decided we were ready to do something a bit more adventurous and having spent our honeymoon there over a decade before, we decided Thailand would be our first attempt to break out of the typical package holiday.

While we didn't stopover in Singapore, we did have a few hours in between flights and decided to explore Jewel at Changi airport. Despite having come off a night flight from the UK (and our 9 year old having been on her exhausting school residential before that!), our tired selves couldn't help but be impressed by the Eternal Spring in the Forest Valley and would fully recommend stopping by if you have the chance! We also enjoyed a wander around the butterfly garden.

Our first stop in Thailand was the island, Koh Samet. A straightforward transfer to the pier in Ban Phe took about 2 hours from Bangkok, it was then a pleasant 40 minute ferry ride to the island before taking a shared Songthaew (a pick up truck-style taxi) to our hotel. It was all quite exciting without being stressful!

We stayed at the Samed Villa Resort, a 3*, right on the beach with spacious rooms with a double and two singles and a nice terrace with some seating. The breakfast was plentiful with great choice and the beach bar/restaurant menu was pretty good too, with tables set out on the beach at night, with a good view of a fire show.

We could reach at least three beaches, walking from our hotel and visited a further five by songthaew over our three days there. Each beach had a different vibe and we enjoyed them all for different reasons. It was the perfect relaxing start to our trip.

Bangkok was next on our list, it was loud, busy and hot, but with lots of airconditioned pitstops and not trying to fit in too much, we all had a great time. Here's our highlights:

• A family-friendly private tour booked through "With Locals" put us with a guide, Nok, who showed us around flower markets, food markets and temples, sharing great information and picking up cold drinks and interesting looking fruits to snack on along the way.
• The night train market was great, it had cooled down enough to wander without getting hot and bothered, there were some great souvernirs to be bought, as well as delicious food (chicken nuggets and chips options for fussy eaters also available), fruit smoothies and rolled ice creams.
• The mall - the one we visited had a waterpark and the most amazing food hall with lots of live cooking stations. The girls particularly loved the stationery/nik nak shops. We were also fascinated by the idea that people park with their handbrake off so their car can be rolled out of the way to let someone out, then rolled back again!

We were staying with friends who live in Bangkok and the kids really appreciated the chilled vibe of a takeout pizza in front of the TV after a busy day sightseeing, it allowed them to "reset". This could be replicated by choosing accomodation that had a bit of space for relaxing and enjoying a takeaway!

We took an internal flight and a taxi transfer to get to Khao Sok which couldn't be more different to Bangkok.We stayed in a treehouse-style room at Our Jungle House, surrounded by nature. Our package included activities and most food, which while really  nice, didn't offer a huge amount of choice for fussy kids ...particularly one who had decided to go veggie the previous week! Our highlights of Khao Sok were:

• Visit to an elephant sanctuary where former working elephants (from the logging and entertainment industries) were taken in and cared for. It was incredible to meet these huge animals, feed, walk and bathe them. We also learnt a lot about the history of elephants in Thailand and the change in laws that means they are now being looked after much better.
• Boat trip to Cheow Lan Lake, which is somewhere we visited on our honeymoon over 10 years ago and were very excited to see again. We hiked, swam and kayaked in the most beautiful surroundings.
• The kids went to a kids club one morning which was very "forest school" in style with nature based activities. This gave us chance to have a massage, what a treat!

Just walking around our accommodation was a feast for the eyes, with monkeys playing and bathing in the river, bugs, frogs and lizards to spot, as well as some lovely cats chilling in the sunshine. Would really recommend!

A fairly short taxi transfer took us to our final stop, Khao Lak, to a family-friendly resort called The Sands. After the rustic style of the treehouse, the bit of luxury at this resort was very welcome. We had a family room which offered a double bed and two singles with a sliding partition to split the room, along with a bath and separate shower. The hotel was very family oriented with some pool slides and a kids club, which my girls found a welcome break from the sun for an hour, particularly for some specific activities like jewellery making and silk painting. Khao Lak highlights:

• A cooking class with Ning's, which included a market tour and cooking up some great dishes to have for lunch. Ning and her partner were really engaging with the kids, who were much more open to trying things they had made themselves. Our favourites were the green curry and the mango and sticky rice.
• A meal at Pam's restaurant was something I'd heard great things about and it didn't disappoint. Beautiful surroundings, delicious food and great cocktails too. There were fish ponds which the girls loved too.
• A more touristy night market in Khao Lak but still great for good food and souvenirs.

What did I learn about travelling long haul with kids?

• We chose flights via Singapore because we thought a longer flight then a short one would work better but on reflection, I'd probably go for two shorter flights as the journey home felt hard work!
• Snacks! I put together a snack box which they could graze thoughtout the flight. We then found a supermarket and did something similar for the way home.
• Factor in chill time, the girls really appreciated time to just read a book or watch something in the hotel room. It charged them up ready to do the next activity.
• Holiday stars - we set up a reward system for the girls where they were given a star sticker in their travel journal if they went out of their comfort zone, whether trying a new food or doing an activity. For every 10 stars, we gave them some holiday spending money (which in thai baht seems much more exciting than GBP!) it kept them motivated to try new things.

We really enjoyed our trip and the multicentre truly made it feel like four different holidays. It's given us the confidence to do more travelling with the kids and for them, it's inspired an interest in seeing the world.