8 week holiday to Thailand & Australia...HELP

rubbish_money_saver

Hi me and my boyfriend are hoping to go to Thailand in November for a friends wedding, we are hoping to stay in Thailand for 4 weeks and then fly to Australia see in the new year and stay there also for 4 weeks.

However i have no idea how to go about planning it, i have been saving and have a reasonable amount of money, have been looking on places like STA travel as signed upto their newsletter when i was at uni but dont know if they are the best to book with and would appreciate anybodies help or advice.
Thanks in Advance
p.s have ordered a lonely planet guide to Thailand just hope i make it there

annakat99

That sounds life a fab holiday!

What I'd do (and what I've done previously when organising long trips away) is...

1. Research - Read through your lonely planet and get a feel for what there is to do in each country. This might affect which airport is best to fly in to and out of (e.g. in Oz, it's quite common to fly into Cairnes & out of Sydney if you want to travel down the East Coast)

2. Flights - call up STA travel, explain where you want to go and when and they'll be able to advise you what your flight options are (route to take / stop overs / price etc...). Then call up Trailfinders and see what they have to say to the same question (always good to get a second opinion). You can always pop into branches if you live near one. I've always found these two travel agents really helpful when it comes to planning independant (not package) travel.

3. Flights again - once you have an idea of which airlines you might be using, get on the internet and see if you can find any really good deals! (this stage can be missed out if you can't be bothered or have been offered a fgood price by one of the trael agents. I personally like booking through a travel agent as if there are any problems, you have someone in the UK you can call to sort it out)

4. Accommodation and activities - Read through your guide books again & start planning where you want to go. However, don't make any really firm plans as it's fun to make it up as you go along (with reccommendations from people you meet as you travel). Saying that, it's a really good idea to have your first night or two booked so you know where you're heading when you're straight off the plane and feeling jet lagged! Go by the reccommendations in your guide book and also look on the hostel booking websites (e,g, hostel bookers, hostel world, the reviews are really helpful)

5. Insurance - don't forget! STA do a good one.

6. Pack, fly & enjoy!

Doshwaster

Agreed about keeping things flexible when you have a month in Thailand. You may fall in love with one place or want to get out another as soon as possible.

Accommodation in guest houses can be very cheap. £10-15 a night usually gets you a nice air conditioned room with bathroom, breakfast and often free wi-fi. Negotiate hard on longer stays.

However, I would suggest that for your first 2-3 nights (which presumably will be in Bangkok) that you treat yourself to a really good hotel to give you the chance to get over the flight and allow you to adjust to Thai way of life (and the sometimes dogdy Thai plumbing). You can usually get a very good 4* or 5* hotel in Bangkok (there are loads around the Sukhumvit Rd) for not much more than £50 a night which are better than £400 hotels in London. After that you can downgrade to guesthouses.

If you have a month you have the opportunity to get off the beaten track and away from the usual tourist traps of Samui, Pattaya and Phuket. Who wants to spend a month on the beach anyway? Go North, is what I say - Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai & Golden Triangle. Cheaper, spectacular scenery and a more authentic side of Thailand.

Internal flights can be very cheap - but as you have more time on your hands then you can use coaches and trains which are a great way of seeing the country (and a fantastic "experience")

A really good website for hotel and travel is http://www.sawadee.com/
(Sawadee is "hello" in Thai)

Nobjocki

rubbish_money_saver wrote: »

Hi me and my boyfriend are hoping to go to Thailand in November for a friends wedding, we are hoping to stay in Thailand for 4 weeks and then fly to Australia see in the new year and stay there also for 4 weeks.

However i have no idea how to go about planning it, i have been saving and have a reasonable amount of money, have been looking on places like STA travel as signed upto their newsletter when i was at uni but dont know if they are the best to book with and would appreciate anybodies help or advice.
Thanks in Advance
p.s have ordered a lonely planet guide to Thailand just hope i make it there

Sign up for email alerts from AirAsia for their sales on flights down to Thailand and OZ via KL.
They're also starting up a service from Paris.

Cool_Mint

You can get tickets to Thailand for under £600 and believe it or not some people manage to get a seat for £400! And yes that is return. Use the travel price comparison sites to fond a cheap airfare; you'll struggle to get seats for £600 each but you can definitely get them for £800 no problem. Tip: fly MIDWEEK for the cheapest price, most people travel on weekends so there are empty seats on aircraft from monday to friday.

Watch out for stomach problems in Thailand, the tap water is full of nasty bacteria that will have you spending half your holiday on the toilet (apparently the Thai suffer the exact same problem with water in Europe) so you might want to take some medication with you. Some people swear by raspberry cordial for curing tummy troubles. A trip to the local medical centre will usually have you fit and well in 24 hours, they are used to dealing with tourists suffering from the dreaded gut-rot. Do make sure you have adequate travel insurance to cover medical bills though - just in case.

When in Thailand never ever ever ever ever argue with the Thai under ANY circumstances! That's the only rule you need to remember. Smile, disagree and smile, beg and smile, but never argue because they will always take the side of their own. If you have a complaint take it to the Thai Tourist Police, not the normal Thai police. The normal Thai police are umm... well watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRWVAXf0rhs

Btw, stay away from Phuket and Pattaya (I must go there one day) I can guarantee your boyfriend would absolutely love Pattaya but for all the wrong reasons!

PompeyPete

Doshwaster wrote: »

If you have a month you have the opportunity to get off the beaten track and away from the usual tourist traps of Samui, Pattaya and Phuket. Who wants to spend a month on the beach anyway? Go North, is what I say - Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai & Golden Triangle. Cheaper, spectacular scenery and a more authentic side of Thailand.

I used to like Chiang Mai, but it's past its sell-buy date for me. Far too busy, and avoiding all those two and four-strokes is a nightmare! It's just like BKK on a smaller scale.

Go west for a few days to Kanchaburi. Take the 3rd class train there from Thonburi train station, great experience. Travel on the Death Railway over the Bridge over the River Kwai, and through beautiful countryside to Namtok. Visit Hellfire Pass and Erawan Falls. Hire a pushbike and get out into the surrounding countryside. Travel a bit further west to Sangkhlaburi on the Thai/Myanmar border, absolutely serene, and hardly another traveller in sight. Visit Three Pagoda Pass and speak face-to-face over the border with poor (but v.intelligent and immensely friendly) Burmese people.

Take the overnight sleeper train from BKK to Nong Khai in the North East. Stay a few days at the Mutmee g/h on the bank of the mighty Meekong. Nong Khai is a quiet, laid back border town, with Laos on the other side of the river.

Doshwaster

PompeyPete wrote: »

I used to like Chiang Mai, but it's past its sell-buy date for me. Far too busy, and avoiding all those two and four-strokes is a nightmare! It's just like BKK on a smaller scale.

Go west for a few days to Kanchaburi. Take the 3rd class train there from Thonburi train station, great experience. Travel on the Death Railway over the Bridge over the River Kwai, and through beautiful countryside to Namtok. Visit Hellfire Pass and Erawan Falls. Hire a pushbike and get out into the surrounding countryside. Travel a bit further west to Sangkhlaburi on the Thai/Myanmar border, absolutely serene, and hardly another traveller in sight. Visit Three Pagoda Pass and speak face-to-face over the border with poor (but v.intelligent and immensely friendly) Burmese people.

That sounds fantastic! Something to think about for my next trip. Having got bored of Samui and Phuket I'm starting to explore further in Thailand. I take your point about Chaing Mai - it is starting to get too busy. Crossing the road is a whole exhilarating life and death experience. It is said that the Thais drive so crazily because they all believe in reincarnation so aren't frightened of death.

PompeyPete

Doshwaster wrote: »

That sounds fantastic!

When we visited Nong Khai we were on our way into Laos. Nong Khai town is only a mile or so from The Friendship Bridge. You get your Laos visa there. Once across there is a well beaten travellers route to Vientiene, Vang Vieng, and then on to Luang Prabang. Finally, either fly to Chiang Mai, or take the 2 day slow boat to Huay Xai.
Superb!

richardw

There are direct flights to Bangkok from Heathrow on BA, Qantas, Thai Airways and Eva Air.

If you want to avoid Heathrow the middle east airlines also fly from some UK regionnal airports to Thailand and Australia via their Middle East hubs, some also fly to Phuket avoiding Bangkok.

richardw

Consider a side trip to the Angkor temples in Cambodia, they're amazing.

Hodgehappy

We did some elephant trekking up in the North out of Chaing Mai also stopped in hill tribe villages with the locals definitely recommended.