Thailand

Mrs_b_4

Hi,

I have just booked flights to Thailand for 2 weeks in December! If anybody has any experiences I would really appreciate advice...I'm wondering whether I should book our internal flights here or wait till we get over there? Also do you tend to book on websites such as skyscanner?

I am going to spend time on tripadvisor reading through the forums but if anybody has any info or advice that would be great. We're going to Bangkok, Hua Hin and possibly the Krabi area

Thanks

Aletank

Hi
I've been to Thailand in 2008 & 2010, both for 3 weeks travelling around by internal flights. A friend asked me similar a year or so ago, so I've just copied n pasted my email reply here so prices etc may be a little different.

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Last time we went we went to -

3 nights Bangkok
6 nights Samui
8 nights Phuket
2 nights Bangkok

I’ve always booked everythin myself and not bothered withtravel agents – You’d probably pay £1000 each for 2 weeks just in Phuket with atravel agent and get crap flight times etc Book yourself and get 3 weekstravelling around, pick you flight times etc and exactly what hotels for thesame price.
You will land in Bangkok, so best have a couple of nightsthere and possibly on the way home.
Phuket is the main Beach Island that people go and Patong is the main resort onPhuket. Bein the main resort/Island it is commercialised, bright neon lights,Mcdonalds etc But has the most to do of a night and most trips of a day. Mainyboat trips to other islands that arn’t as commercialised such as Phi Phi , MayoBay where The Beach was filmed and also alot of James bond films.
Koh Samui is the next biggestIsland and Chawang is the main resort, yet again it’s commercialised !! Nightlife is good, not that many day trips here but get a scooter and go round theisland !
If you want less busy resorts and less commercialised, startlooking at the smaller islands or if you want away from the beaches for a fewdays, go north to Chiang Mai
If you book with Emirates for you main flight, you willchange planes in Dubai, about 7 hours away so about half way, a good point tostretch ya legs n walk around the airport or even book a few days in Dubai. Theflights won’t cost no more, just pay for you hotels, the airport is close tothe city and less than £10 in a taxi to most hotels.

http://www.emirates.com/uk/english/
Book ya main flights here, we paid £565 each but priceschange all the time, Manchester to Bangkok
Join the Flyer Club and you can choose your seats &
30kg Luggage

http://www.bangkokair.com/
Book Internal flights here – Join their Flyer Club and youget 30kg of luggage instead of 20kg
Bangkok – Samui – Phuket – Bangkok , 3 flights cost about£135,

Use these 2 sites for booking hotel, cheaper than goingdirect to the hotel website – Always request a high floor with pool view/niceview when bookin
http://www.asiarooms.com/
http://www.sawadee.com/
Read reviews and search google for reviews/info

Bangkok - Sukhumvit Road is thebest area to stay near Nana Plaza –Close to a Sky Train Station !
We stayed here http://www.hotels2thailand.com/bangkok-hotels/Royal-Benja-Hotel.asp About £40 a night 2 people with breakfast
Best hotel to book is http://www.sawadee.com/hotel/bangkok/swisspark/for £28 a night for 2 people with breakfast, was getting refurbished when welast went, but i stayed there before
Bangkok transfers – Get aTaxi, About 400 Baht (£8) So give 500 baht (£10) with tip – no more, Just makesure they put the meter on or give price first

Samui – Chaweng Beach is the liveliest resort
We stayed http://www.sawadee.com/hotel/samui/novasamui/about £37 a night 2 people with breakfast
Get a taxi from airport, about 3 mile

Phuket – Patong is the liveliest resort
We booked http://www.sawadee.com/hotel/676242-rates.html£30 a night 2 people with breakfast but got there and it wasn’t very nice,they let us upgrade to their sister hotel for about £20 a night more and it waslovely and well worth it – can’t think what it was called though
I stayed here my 1st timehttp://www.square1.biz/ good new cleanhotel but small pool, 15 min walk into centre, no breakfast - £28 a night 2people
Phuket airport transfer http://www.city-discovery.com/phuket/private_transfer.php?id=321 £6 each, each way
Our 3 weeks cost about £1050 each! with Flights, Hotels, Internal Flights & Transfers – We spent about £1000in 3 weeks each

3 nights Bangkok
6 nights Samui
8 nights Phuket
2 nights Bangkok

Oh by the way Pattaya is the main resort for all the bargirls and go go dancers ! and quite alot of dirty old men haha

But That is all over Thailand so you will see it most places !

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Marteebies

Hi!

I spent a total of 3 months in South East Asia, with 2 of them being in Thailand so I know a fair bit.

You can very easily book internal flights when you get there using travel agents that are on almost every street in central Bangkok and other towns. I honestly wouldn't be able to tell you the price difference, but a friend and local guide told me that there isn't a difference in prices. Also by booking when you are there you can make your journey flexible. I do not know how long you are planning on being in Bangkok, but my personal opinion is to see all of temples then get out of there as soon as possible! The Thai countryside is spectacular, the cities not so much! You say you are going to Krabi; you simply must get a boat to Koh Phi Phi, I spent 3 weeks there and it was beautiful and there are so many other small islands to explore from the island itself using day boats. I personally would suggest going to northern Thailand (Chang Mai, Chang Rai and Northern River Valleys provinces - all are spectacular and there are some amazing temples (White Temple in Chang Rai) and a chance to pet Tigers in Chang Mai. There is also some beautiful countryside to the east of Bangkok towards the Cambodian border.

Hope this helps!!!

Doshwaster

Mrs_b wrote: »

Hi,

I have just booked flights to Thailand for 2 weeks in December! If anybody has any experiences I would really appreciate advice...I'm wondering whether I should book our internal flights here or wait till we get over there? Also do you tend to book on websites such as skyscanner?

Thailand - my specialist subject!

It depends on how flexible you want to be. If you are fixed on your schedule then I'd would book the flights now. It's very unlikely that you would get any last minute deals by buying when you get there and December is peak season. If you were going for longer than 2 weeks or want more flexibility then I would wait.

Thai and Bangkok Airways are both very reliable "full service" airlines and can be very competitive on routes when they are up against Air Asia. Once you take baggage into account then they often aren't much more expensive than Air Asia.

As for airlines, Air Asia are usually the cheapest bet. However. just be warned they now fly from the "old" Bangkok airport at Dom Mueang so be careful when booking flights to return home.

When flying from a regional airport to BKK connect to my flight home I would always choose Thai or Bangkok as they use the "new" airport and will (usually) interline your bags.

shaunskankdog

Amazing Thailand...oh oh amazing Thailand....
Dec 5 is HM The King of Thailands birthday.

http://www.thailand.com/travel/festival/festivals_bangkok_king.htm

You will never forget amazing Thailand...Enjoy.

I have always booked Air Asia from UK, but prices are really cheap in advance.....

Just make sure like some posts have said, you dont get mixed up with Don Muang and Suvarnahbhumi, as it takes hours in the traffic, but less on the train.

bylromarha

Another vote here to prebook AirAsia if you know your schedule. Book direct on the Airasia website.

We got flights for 4 of us, Phuket to Bangkok, 1 bag in hold, breakfast and prebooked allocated seats for £18.

If you have 3 weeks, then 2 days in Bangkok is more than enough. We hated it. It's many temples and high end shopping. Our 3rd day there, we never left our hotel and stayed in the infinity rooftop pool as we were templed out.

Kata in Phuket was beautiful, but many of Thailand's beaches are.

PompeyPete

Doshwaster wrote: »

It's very unlikely that you would get any last minute deals by buying when you get there and December is peak season.

Just thought I'd highlight that. The place will be full of Aussies, so most things books up quickly.

We're off in Feb/Mar for 5 weeks.
Booked with Oman Airways from LHR (via Muscat) @ £524pp return. They've got excellent reviews, and Muscat is an AI airport.

Couple of days in BKK, staying close to the river or BTS (Skytrain), so as able to get around easily and quickly.

Overnight train/sleeper to Nong Khai (Laos border) for a week.

Overnight train/sleeper back to Ayutthaya for a couple of nights.

Early morning train down to Aranyaprathet, and cross into Cambodia (Poipet).

Couple of weeks in Siem Reap (Angkor), Phnom Penh, and the countryside.

Back to BKK, train to Kanchanaburi ('Bridge over the River Kwai' fame), and Sangkhlaburi (Myanmar border).

Doshwaster

PompeyPete wrote: »

Just thought I'd highlight that. The place will be full of Aussies, so most things books up quickly.

Isn't that the truth. Given the current strength of the Aussie Dollar, Thailand is becoming what Spain is to the Brits.

Your 5 week trip looks great and trains are a great way of getting around if you have plenty of time but if you only have 2 weeks and want to do 3 places then you really have to fly - all internal flights are about an hour.

Me, I'm off for my annual fortnight to Thailand this weekend. 3 days in Bangkok hanging out with a friend who lives there, then up to Chiang Mai for 4 days then down to Krabi for a week. Only 4 more sleeps to go!

Mrs_b_4

Thank you so much for all of the replies. I'm getting really excited reading all of the info and how much everyone is saying they love Thailand. This is our first time going, I wish we could have gone for longer than 2 weeks...

I'm really glad I asked the question, we are flying into BKK so I need to look at the internal flights from there. We have only booked the flights so far so I need to do my research and work out an itinerary. At the moment we are thinking of going to Hua Hin first for poss 4/5 days, then onto Krabi for 7 days (we thought we could go to different islands whilst we are there) and then spend 2 days in Bangkok before flying home. We've based all of this looking at the best weather for the time of year we are going. Do you guys think the above sounds like a good itinerary?

PompeyPete

Doshwaster wrote: »

Your 5 week trip looks great and trains are a great way of getting around if you have plenty of time but if you only have 2 weeks and want to do 3 places then you really have to fly - all internal flights are about an hour.

That's why we do the long distance trains overnight. Let a 1st Class sleeper train be your hotel room! So zero time lost on travelling, and it's cheap.
No doubt about it that flights are much quicker, but you have to factor in the time lost getting to the airport in plenty of time, hanging around, and possible delays.

PompeyPete

Mrs_b wrote: »

We've based all of this looking at the best weather for the time of year we are going. Do you guys think the above sounds like a good itinerary?

How do you get from Hua Hin to Krabi?
This might help...

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g297922-i9453-k5130848-Best_way_to_Krabi_from_Hua_Hin-Hua_Hin_Prachuap_Khiri_Khan_Province.html