Thailand....

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ruggedscotty

Original Poster:

5,606 posts

208 months

Saturday 9th September 2017
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Planning on a visit to the kingdom of smiles....

Interested in anyones recommendations for sites for flights and hotels....

smifffymoto

4,527 posts

204 months

Saturday 9th September 2017
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Emirates for flights,hotel depends on budget.

anonymous-user

53 months

Saturday 9th September 2017
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Skyscanner

Booking.com

Loads on offer at all price points throughout the country so impossible to suggest with such little info.

smifffymoto

4,527 posts

204 months

Sunday 10th September 2017
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If you use the search function there are hours of reading available on Thailand.

HTP99

22,443 posts

139 months

Sunday 10th September 2017
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Myself and the wife are going at the end of the month for 10 days, we've never been before.

We are flying with Eva Air (never heard of them before booking but they have fantastic reviews and are constantly rated towards the top out of all the Asian airlines) from Heathrow, we initially checked Skyscanner and nearly booked through them but after reading a few horror stories about certain companies, we eventually booked directly through the airline, it was only £80 more for both of us which I think was worth it for peace of mind. Skyscanner is good though to get an idea of flight times and available airlines.

We are going to Chiang Mai, a city in the North, which is famous for its many temples.

We've booked the Elephant sanctuary which looks fantastic and has rave reviews and we've also booked a Thai cooking day, the rest of the time that we are there, we are taking it as it comes, but there seems plenty to do.

I originally wanted to slum it a bit in terms of where we are staying; somewhere a bit out in the countryside to give us more of an experience of rural Thailand, however the wife wasn't to keen so we are staying in the city in the BED Nimman hotel, which looks fantastic for the money; modern, wifi, A/C, breakfast, complimentary fresh fruit, bottled water light snacks and fresh coffee, are available 24/7 and the room also has a complimentary mini bar.

I am massively excited to be going with the only reservation being; it's towards the end of the rainy season, it will be hot (30-34), so therefore will likely be very humid and I'm not great with humidity.

Oh, get your vacations, what you need is dependant on area, I've had Hep A and tetanus

Edited by HTP99 on Sunday 10th September 08:37

Rib

2,548 posts

188 months

Sunday 10th September 2017
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Awesome place but there is literally thousands of options depending what you want from it, cheap hostels to *cheap* 5 star hotels and beyond, you wont get luxury for much cheaper if you want to indulge yourself a little.

Personal favs for me:

Chiang Mai, lovely city, plenty of touristy stuff to do without being really busy, night markets are fun, we did ziplining through the forest which was fun, lots of elephant places, but please dont go to ones that make elephants to tricks or carry you on chairs on their backs.

Bangkok is a great but bonkers city, street food is awesome. many go on about the shopping in the MBK centre but I felt it was similar to being back home which wasnt for me, much preferred staying the Silom district and LOVE Lebua Tower club suites, yes some may say its getting abit dated but the rivers views, staff, food, club lounge etc are all fantastic. Try and stay here at the end of your trip over a weekend and if you want to buy stuff to take home, visit the weekend market, it is MEGA, you can easily spend 2 days there and still not see everything, I always end my trip with this.

Get a bus (about £2) over to kanchanaburi too for a few days, you have all the river kwai stuff, death valley railway, have a day at the erawan waterfalls, again more elephants if you dont do it in chiang mai along with other activities.

Beaches are nice but I havent had much luck with expensive luxury resorts, whilst nice I always find the service and friendlyness is nowhere near the standards of the rest of Thailand, and if I want a beach holiday I can go many other places closer to home, Thailand for me is all about the inland experiences.

We always fly Emirates as we go from Birmingham, but Heathrow offers many choices, Eva air as mentioned above are good as are malaysian arilines, I went with qatar once and wasnt that impressed, preffered Emirates, even if it does involve a stop at Dubai which I am not a fan of, some people love it there though and makes a great stop over on the way there or back to help split the journey up

Speed 3

4,485 posts

118 months

Sunday 10th September 2017
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We went at Easter and flew Finnair via Helsinki. Very good connections and not that much longer than a direct flight but significantly cheaper. Pretty new fleet of A350's too.

We did a few days in Bangkok (changed a lot since I was last there 25 years ago and much of the old culture has been demolished like Singapore) and then a couple of weeks on Ko Samui. Take care with the rainy season depending on when you are planning to go, it can get a bit biblical.

carinatauk

1,408 posts

251 months

Sunday 10th September 2017
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I have flown with EVA, Thai and Malaysia. EVA were very good, Malaysia were fab. Avoid Thai.

Chang Mai, is a cultural paradise. Bangkok is a good base to see the city, temples, Buddhas and general life. The islands are great, I used to go a lot to Ko Mak, but it has been building lots [as have the other islands]. Pattaya, eye opener for the wife not a place for kids [imho].

I travelled by limo [well taxi, they called it limo] for some of the journeys, very cheap and less of the hassles when your in a hurry. Tuk Tuk in Bangkok or Chang Mai is a must. Train is another good form of transport.

I love Thailand and the food, and the food. I was once asked if I wanted some dish english hot or thai, I went thai; they made a fortune from the beer sales and my ring piece was not happy. After that you start to get used it, and not all food is hot.

Like everywhere, caution with pickpockets, etc. Water better from the bottle and salads, well you have a 50/50 chance.

Money exchange is as good in the airport as anywhere else, but I haven't been for a few years so guarantees. I found you get a better exchange over there than here.


Crombers

374 posts

190 months

Sunday 10th September 2017
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We went in July flying BA Club World into Bangkok for a few nights, staying at the Intercontinental in Phloen Chit Road which is near MBK. Be sure to see the Grand Palace and Wat Pho. We didn't see too much in Bangkok as were only there for a couple of nights before heading off to Koh Samui but would recommend a drink in the Hotel Indigo Skybar if you are in the area.

We loved Koh Samui and split the stay in two, visiting the Intercontinental for the first half and then the Banyan Tree Resort. Oddly enough I didn't think we would have enjoyed the Intercontinental based on some of the trip advisor reviews but as it turns out we preferred the overall experience. The views are stunning, service was better and staying in a club room gives you included afternoon tea and evening cocktails which breaks up the day nicely. The villas in the Banyan Tree were pretty special to be fair.

After that we had a brief jaunt to Singapore (which I loved and would like to return) before heading to Japan for the final week. I didn't quite appreciate how far away Japan was when I booked it which got my into some grief with the missus (but she soon got over it).

One tip for Bangkok - use Uber rather than the normal taxi service. We met a few chancers driving the cabs and found Uber to be far more reliable and felt safer overall.

sc0tt

18,032 posts

200 months

Sunday 10th September 2017
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If you venture to Phuket have a look here.

It will be my third year on the trot in December.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...


anonymous-user

53 months

Monday 11th September 2017
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I go to Thailand a fair bit, last weekend for the first time I went to Kop Lanta, which is S E of Krabbie, I've been further S than this in the past and that is perhaps a bit rural if you have come from Europe, and difficult to get to without your own transport. But Ko Lanta was great, it is like Ah Nang was 20 years ago, no Starbucks no g go bars, great beaches, very good restaurants and you can get a taxi from Krabbie airport. We went to long beach. much nicer than Puchet, Ah Nang or Ko Samui,
Budget wise one mate I went with stayed in Layana resort 130 pounds a night, nice place, ( first time in Thailand and insisted on booking in advance) the rest of us just went to Nakara resort which was next door, nice big clean bungalow on the beach, breakfast pool, etc and 25 pound a night for two people, this is the point about Thailand stay where the Thai middle class stay and it is unbelievably cheap.

XJSJohn

15,959 posts

218 months

Monday 11th September 2017
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As mentioned, lots of advice already on PH, just depends on where you want to go.

Currently Tourism is severely down for the Western Market so lots of good last minute deals can be had on great hotels / resourts / villas everywhere, can literally book day by day. (If its fully booked and cheap, good chance the place is full of Mainland Chinese, which means AVOID)


Weather is starting to cool down there now, (relatively speaking as "Super Summer" is over. ) so not so blisteringly hot. As you head to Dec - Feb, Chang Mai is actually pleasantly cool for example.


HTP99 said:
Oh, get your vacations, what you need is dependant on area, I've had Hep A and tetanus
20 years in Asia, never bothered, never had an issue. Your biggest risk in SE Asia is Dengue fever, and there are no jabs for that, just lots of Deet at sunrise and sunset. If you have an accident / get bitten by a soi dog the first thing they do is give you a tetanus shot anyway.


Old Merc

3,486 posts

166 months

Monday 11th September 2017
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smifffymoto said:
Emirates for flights,hotel depends on budget.
I would prefer to fly Emirates but the only drawback is the Dubai stop over makes it a longer and more tiring journey.
We are going next February to this place http://www.capepanwa.com/ in Phuket ,flying with Thomson. Its a direct 12hr flight on a Dreamliner and we have Premium Club seats.I hope the extra cost of those seats is worth it.Mind you it includes,priority check in,extra luggage,better food and free booze.
As said above there is so much to see and do,it all depends on what you want,anything from chilling out on a beach to trecking through the jungle .We are retired so nothing too adventurous and tiring for us.I`ve had a look at https://www.phukettoursdirect.com/ will probably take a trip or two around Phang Nga Bay with them.The junk boat cruise around James Bond Island looks interesting.


Edited by Old Merc on Monday 11th September 15:34

mcg_

1,445 posts

91 months

Monday 11th September 2017
quotequote all
emirates for me too, used them twice and was happy. just chose a short stop over, Sure there's comparable airlines.

Went to Koh Lipe last year, that was good, not maybe people you speak to go there. Getting a bit touristy now though mind

nyt

1,803 posts

149 months

Monday 11th September 2017
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When you arrive buy a phone data SIM from one of the booths at the airport.
They are dirt cheap (£10 for 30 days/10Gb) and it means that you can use online maps / tripadvisor / whatever when you're out and about.

The poster that recommended Uber for Bangkok above was spot on. Much more reliable and no problem with telling the cab where to go or negotiate fares late at night. Cars are better too.

Taxi/Uber from airport to Bangkok is less than a tenner. Best way of getting into town. If you're in a hurry, catch one dropping off at departures, but you'll have to barter.

HTP99

22,443 posts

139 months

Monday 11th September 2017
quotequote all
nyt said:
When you arrive buy a phone data SIM from one of the booths at the airport.
They are dirt cheap (£10 for 30 days/10Gb) and it means that you can use online maps / tripadvisor / whatever when you're out and about.

The poster that recommended Uber for Bangkok above was spot on. Much more reliable and no problem with telling the cab where to go or negotiate fares late at night. Cars are better too.

Taxi/Uber from airport to Bangkok is less than a tenner. Best way of getting into town. If you're in a hurry, catch one dropping off at departures, but you'll have to barter.
Will a sim work on any UK network?

nyt

1,803 posts

149 months

Monday 11th September 2017
quotequote all
HTP99 said:
nyt said:
When you arrive buy a phone data SIM from one of the booths at the airport.
They are dirt cheap (£10 for 30 days/10Gb) and it means that you can use online maps / tripadvisor / whatever when you're out and about.

The poster that recommended Uber for Bangkok above was spot on. Much more reliable and no problem with telling the cab where to go or negotiate fares late at night. Cars are better too.

Taxi/Uber from airport to Bangkok is less than a tenner. Best way of getting into town. If you're in a hurry, catch one dropping off at departures, but you'll have to barter.
Will a sim work on any UK network?
Good point - your phone does need to be unlocked.
And you lose your UK number while you have the Thai SIM in place (unless you have a dual SIM phone).

But the benefits outweigh the downside imho.

Speed 3

4,485 posts

118 months

Monday 11th September 2017
quotequote all
nyt said:
HTP99 said:
nyt said:
When you arrive buy a phone data SIM from one of the booths at the airport.
They are dirt cheap (£10 for 30 days/10Gb) and it means that you can use online maps / tripadvisor / whatever when you're out and about.

The poster that recommended Uber for Bangkok above was spot on. Much more reliable and no problem with telling the cab where to go or negotiate fares late at night. Cars are better too.

Taxi/Uber from airport to Bangkok is less than a tenner. Best way of getting into town. If you're in a hurry, catch one dropping off at departures, but you'll have to barter.
Will a sim work on any UK network?
Good point - your phone does need to be unlocked.
And you lose your UK number while you have the Thai SIM in place (unless you have a dual SIM phone).

But the benefits outweigh the downside imho.
Wish I'd known this before we went....I turned all data roaming off on the families phones but we wanted to find one place in particular in Bangkok and were struggling so I turned it on for literally 3 minutes for google maps; I came back to a £100 data bill yikes

We didn't have any problem with the regular meter taxis but we weren't out particularly late. As said, journey from the airport to centre is unbelievably cheap compared to other cities and since the last time I went (the old airport and piss-poor public transport system) the journey was a breeze and the airport really well organised.

HTP99

22,443 posts

139 months

Monday 11th September 2017
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I've just checked my carrier (EE), 500mb of data is £5 for 24hrs, so I might just do that.


ruggedscotty

Original Poster:

5,606 posts

208 months

Monday 11th September 2017
quotequote all
looking at staying here....

Centra by Centara Avenue Hotel Pattaya

http://www.centarahotelsresorts.com/centra/cah/