September holiday... Thailand?

SideB

Hi there,

A friend and I are looking to go away on a holiday in September time, before university and were looking for some recommendations.

We have a budget of roughly £1,000 each and would like to go away for about 2 weeks.

At the moment we're seriously considering Thailand because it seems like a country where we can get some time to relax on a beach, city life in Bangkok, and also explore ancient ruins up north in Ayutthaya. It also easily fits are budget with flights available for £500 and hotels being very reasonable (we've seen lots of 4-5*s at around £25pp a night).

Whereever we go we don't want to just sit down and relax, we do want an active holiday.

Also could you recommend when the best time to book would be? We are pretty flexible and were hoping that since school holidays are over we could get a good deal in September. The only restriction we have is that we need to be back by around the 25th.

Thank you!

Doshwaster

Doing Thailand for two week on £1000 is just about possible. Flights will be around £500 each (I'd recommend Emirates even if they are slightly more expensive than other airlines) which leaves another £500 for hotels, internal travel and spending money.

In Bangkok, you can get a reasonable central hotel for £20-30 a night (assuming you don't mind sharing), in other parts of the country then you should be able to get by on £15-20 a night without roughing it too much. Yes, you can find accommodation for a few pounds a night but it's usually worth paying a little more for comforts such as air con, decent plumbing and wifi.

It's the day to day spending which will be the hardest to estimate. Food can be very cheap (and excellent quality) but if you are planning lots of activities or all day drinking sessions then the costs can add up. If money is going to be tight then I'd suggest avoiding the main tourist beach resorts of Samui and Phuket as they are the most expensive parts of the country. There are several beach areas nearer to Bangkok which are accessible by bus (so saving an airfare) which are cheaper and less touristy.

If you can see flights now in the £500 price range then I would snap them up as they are unlikely to fall any further and more liable to rise.

One thing to be aware of is that September is the end of the rainy season so you are likely to catch some heavy rain - but as any Thailand regular will tell you, that's part of the experience.

SideB

Doshwaster wrote: »

Doing Thailand for two week on £1000 is just about possible. Flights will be around £500 each (I'd recommend Emirates even if they are slightly more expensive than other airlines) which leaves another £500 for hotels, internal travel and spending money.

In Bangkok, you can get a reasonable central hotel for £20-30 a night (assuming you don't mind sharing), in other parts of the country then you should be able to get by on £15-20 a night without roughing it too much. Yes, you can find accommodation for a few pounds a night but it's usually worth paying a little more for comforts such as air con, decent plumbing and wifi.

It's the day to day spending which will be the hardest to estimate. Food can be very cheap (and excellent quality) but if you are planning lots of activities or all day drinking sessions then the costs can add up. If money is going to be tight then I'd suggest avoiding the main tourist beach resorts of Samui and Phuket as they are the most expensive parts of the country. There are several beach areas nearer to Bangkok which are accessible by bus (so saving an airfare) which are cheaper and less touristy.

If you can see flights now in the £500 price range then I would snap them up as they are unlikely to fall any further and more liable to rise.

One thing to be aware of is that September is the end of the rainy season so you are likely to catch some heavy rain - but as any Thailand regular will tell you, that's part of the experience.

Thanks for your reply!

Yep I worked out the costs and taking into account that if we go for 2 weeks, at least 2 nights would be spent flying to/from London, and another 2 could be spent on overnight trains, we could do it just about for £1,000.

However, do you really think it's unlikely we'd get a better price than £500 for return flights? I thought that given it's off-peak season that we'd be able to get a good last minute deal in September?

Thanks

starrybee

Have you checked the weather for Thailand that time of year? I was looking into it recently and I think it rains a fair bit in September...

Caz3121

SideB wrote: »

However, do you really think it's unlikely we'd get a better price than £500 for return flights? I thought that given it's off-peak season that we'd be able to get a good last minute deal in September?

taxes and fees for the flight alone will be around £350, so £500 would be a good price

SideB

starrybee wrote: »

Have you checked the weather for Thailand that time of year? I was looking into it recently and I think it rains a fair bit in September...

Hmm yeah I was a bit worried initially but from what I read it doesn't rain all over and when it does it's a lot for a short period, but due to the heat it dries up quite quickly.

Caz3121 wrote: »

taxes and fees for the flight alone will be around £350, so £500 would be a good price

Thing is I was looking on HotUKDeals at deals from about a year ago and saw some sales at the end of July where people got return flights for like £350-£400 so wasn't sure whether I should wait a bit longer not. I know it wouldn't be guaranteed to get a better deal, but was more wondering whether it was likely if the prices would go up considerably over a few weeks given it's the off-peak period.

If we can save a bit on the flight it would make a big difference given how cheap everything actually is in Thailand!

shaunskankdog

Hi...Thailand is amazing, but you are going at the wrong time of year...you will be in mid monsoon, which puts the rain in England to shame...and the roads will be flooded...
However if you do go...Ayuthaya from Bangkok train station is THB 20 each way....about 40p...get the early morning train about 6am and it takes two hours, and then rent a motorbike for a pound just opposite the station. I went in Jan and it was scorching, but locals and postcards were telling me that most of the town was under 7ft of water, and it showed the tide marks on the relics. Pattaya is also a blast...one heck of a big nightclub and beer place and cheap as hell...but again the weather. 660ml of beer Chang is shops is 90p or so, and you can eat a few meals of rice for less than a fiver a day.
The flight price is ok considering UK departure tax...

If you want SE Asia, the best place to go now is Bali...go to Kuala Lumpur or Singapore and get an Air Asia flight there. Very cheap and dry season now. Just you need a visa for Bali (Indonesia), but not Thailand. To be honest..if you can...wait out til your next big break from Dec.May, then hit Thailand and its amazing life, esp the full moon beach parties and beaches...Blown away. Enjoy though whatever you do.

TakeThis

SideB wrote: »

Hi there,

A friend and I are looking to go away on a holiday in September time, before university and were looking for some recommendations.

We have a budget of roughly £1,000 each and would like to go away for about 2 weeks.

At the moment we're seriously considering Thailand because it seems like a country where we can get some time to relax on a beach, city life in Bangkok, and also explore ancient ruins up north in Ayutthaya. It also easily fits are budget with flights available for £500 and hotels being very reasonable (we've seen lots of 4-5*s at around £25pp a night).

Whereever we go we don't want to just sit down and relax, we do want an active holiday.

Also could you recommend when the best time to book would be? We are pretty flexible and were hoping that since school holidays are over we could get a good deal in September. The only restriction we have is that we need to be back by around the 25th.

Thank you!

Shame, you missed a deal last month with Royal Brunei for £305 return in September.

SideB

shaunskankdog wrote: »

Hi...Thailand is amazing, but you are going at the wrong time of year...you will be in mid monsoon, which puts the rain in England to shame...and the roads will be flooded...
However if you do go...Ayuthaya from Bangkok train station is THB 20 each way....about 40p...get the early morning train about 6am and it takes two hours, and then rent a motorbike for a pound just opposite the station. I went in Jan and it was scorching, but locals and postcards were telling me that most of the town was under 7ft of water, and it showed the tide marks on the relics. Pattaya is also a blast...one heck of a big nightclub and beer place and cheap as hell...but again the weather. 660ml of beer Chang is shops is 90p or so, and you can eat a few meals of rice for less than a fiver a day.
The flight price is ok considering UK departure tax...

If you want SE Asia, the best place to go now is Bali...go to Kuala Lumpur or Singapore and get an Air Asia flight there. Very cheap and dry season now. Just you need a visa for Bali (Indonesia), but not Thailand. To be honest..if you can...wait out til your next big break from Dec.May, then hit Thailand and its amazing life, esp the full moon beach parties and beaches...Blown away. Enjoy though whatever you do.

Hmmm will consider other options too! Thank you for this! Any other recommendations for an adventurous holiday in September?

TakeThis wrote: »

Shame, you missed a deal last month with Royal Brunei for £305 return in September.

Feel so gutted! Any tips on keeping an eye out for similar deals like that? Do you think it's likely something like that would come up again?

Thanks!

TakeThis

SideB wrote: »

Hmmm will consider other options too! Thank you for this! Any other recommendations for an adventurous holiday in September?



Feel so gutted! Any tips on keeping an eye out for similar deals like that? Do you think it's likely something like that would come up again?

Thanks!

Probably not.... but who knows.

Doshwaster

SideB wrote: »

However, do you really think it's unlikely we'd get a better price than £500 for return flights? I thought that given it's off-peak season that we'd be able to get a good last minute deal in September?

September is low-ish season but London-BKK is a popular route all year around as it's part of the Kangaroo Route to Australia. Trying to second guess airline prices is always a gamble. You could wait and be lucky or find that you have to pay more and find your budget ruined.

If you are students then specialist such as http://www.statravel.co.uk/ may have access to some discount fares.