Travelling to Thailand- New Years Eve

[william3rd]

I have decided to sneak over to Thailand without telling my wife. She thinks I am going fishing with my son for his birthday. This break will cover the down time between flying from LA, transfer to the domestic, and flying to Udon. I plan on calling her from downstairs on my domestic cell and tell her that I had a great time fishing. This will pay her back for the surprise birthday party from last summer.

I am flying nonstop on Thai Airways. 17 hours. To be honest, I do not spend a great deal of time shopping for the absolute cheapest rate. I will fly Thai or Cathay Pacific because of the arrival times. Thai arrives at 630AM barring headwind problems and Cathay arrives at 1030 AM barring headwinds. As far as saving a few hundred dollars and spending 30 hours or more in transit, no thanks. I am looking at shortest flights and arrival times.

These arrival times allow me to fly to Udon on Thai domestic with the shortest layover. Three hours. The problem with most of the carriers is that they arrive in the evening. To me, there is nothing worse than arriving at midnite in Bangkok. Wide awake with nothing to do and no flights onward until after 7AM, Thai cable is still pretty weak.

 I have arrived at 1AM with China Air before. Spent over 6 hours at the domestic airport. Didnt make my day.

[jm21-2]

Hey William,

Could you give a brief rundown on some must-dos in Thailand? You mentioned Andaman lobster in another thread I believe. Still deciding exactly where to go but thinking central and/or southern Thailand on the coast. I'm into SCUBA and boating, she's more into playing on the beach, we're both interested in historical sites. I read a bit about elephant rides and that seems like a great experience. Would be interesting to spend at least a little time in the jungle.

I was thinking it might be cool to take an express train to Chang Mai for a couple days but maybe it's too much travel to be worth it. We'll only have 9 full days. But at least one way you could do overnight.

edit:
I have only traveled by train once and thought the route was probably scenic, so a train ride north would still be somewhat vacation for me.

[william3rd]

THere are some great elephant shows close to bangkok but if you are up in Chiang mai, the mae sot valley is good- you can find your elephant rides there. You can hook up with some tour agencies at the hotel to get a feel for the tourist stuff. Tours are relatively cheap and many include great lunches. Temple Doi Sutep is a must. The Epiphany of Buddha statue is unique. Night bazaar for shopping is good. Travel up into the golden triangle on a long tail boat. If you go to Chiang rai, try the little Duck hotel.

Fly to Phuket. Phi Phi Island, diving, lobster. best beaches are patong and karon. Most touristy as well.

Two days in Bangkok for temples. Wat Po and Wat Phrae Keow/Palace can be done in a morning. Wat Tramitr the home of the 5 ton gold buddha, Wat Benchamopit- the marble temple.

If you come through Udon, the Napalai hotel is a 5 star costing 20 dollars a night. We would be happy to have you over for a drink.

Any more info desired, do not hesitate to ask.

Dinosaur digs are in korat

[Ray]

I have decided to sneak over to Thailand without telling my wife. She thinks I am going fishing with my son for his birthday.

I plan on calling her from downstairs on my domestic cell and tell her that I had a great time fishing. This will pay her back for the surprise birthday party from last summer.

Great plan William! But maybe you should count the shoes outside the door before calling upstairs?

Oh, just kidding…   

Have a safe trip!

Ray

[william3rd]

Actually- I should warn her because she may not have cleaned the kitchen since the last time I was there

[jm21-2]

Have you ever been there during mid-February when the Chinese and Taiwanese have their 1-2 week vacation? She's freaking out and thinking we need to be making hotel reservations as quick as possible because all the hotels will be fully booked within the next few weeks. It looks like it's not peak season though so I'm not as sure and don't want to get locked into a schedule too much if possible, or end up with a reservation at a crappy hotel, or find out the internet price is double the local price. The prices I'm seeing online are kind of expensive (one hotel was over $350). 5 stars for $20 seems pretty amazing.

I saw a youtube video of trekking in the mountains and it might be too rigorous for her tastes. If it is then Chang Mai might be out. That's the big draw for me, but I know long uphill hikes aren't for everyone. If we do go, it doesn't seem too expensive to fly so maybe that's the best idea given a bit of a time crunch. Only about $110 roundtrip from Bangkok to Chang Mai which is not that much more than the train and many times faster.

In Bangkok it looks like on Sundays there is a boat tour to a river island called Koh Kret that looks interesting. Also, a tour of the old capital Ayutthaya that is by boat there and by bus back. Yeah, I like boats . So at least a couple days in Bangkok. I get there extremely late Friday night and she gets there Saturday night so I'll have most of Saturday to see anything she's not that interested in.

[william3rd]

Look up TK Palace in Changwattana, Bangkok. Many decent guest houses are available when you get there.

WHen is the Chinese New Year?  Lots of folks are there in the Chinese New Year.

[william3rd]

TK is about USD 80 a night. Pool , massage, breakfast, weight room. you will like it.

THere is also my friend's place- Bourbon Street Hotel and Restaurant. Sukhumvit soi 22. Good food and an OK room with not much else.

Got more info if you want. Just keep asking

[jm21-2]

In Taiwan the holiday this year is Saturday, Feb 13 to Sunday, Feb 21. In China I think it's one week longer until the 28th. I can't remember off the top of my head but the 14th is either New Year's Day or New Year's Eve. We both fly home on the 23rd. We'd probably spend at least the first few days in Bangkok and fly out to somewhere (probably to Chang Mai) mid-week, maybe the 16th, then fly back to Bangkok and off to somewhere else (probably Phuket) on maybe the 19th or 20th. Then back to Bangkok on the 23rd and off home. I'm thinking she might want more time at the beach though, Asian girls do not seem to really like hiking, and it's a lot of running about, so maybe it's better to just head to Phuket or somewhere similar by land and hit up several places along the way. Unfortunately the time difference makes it difficult to talk things over and her boss has banned IM'ing at work so probably won't get to talk much until the weekend.

We're looking for inexpensive and clean with AC pretty much as far as hotels go. I never spent much time at hotels except for if I got a sunburn or illness. A pool would be nice and looks like they're pretty common in Thailand. We'd probably eat out rather than at the hotel. Maybe spend one or two nights at a really nice place as a splurge.

[jm21-2]

Man, is it just me or do these hotel sites suck for booking a hotel in Thailand? Some show one type of room, others show 3, others 5...

Looks like the rates get down to about $40 at TK Palace online but all the websites say rooms are unavailable...but it's unclear what type of room they're actually looking for (standard, superior, deluxe).

[william3rd]

Go straight to their website and try there. TK is great.

You can go to the Bourbon street oyster bar and hotel website but they have no amenities- room minibar and ac is all you get

[sbcheflino]

I went to Thailand in 2002...I was on Phuket Island....The snorkeling was incredible....I camped out over night on a deserted Island with a female companion...was the time best ever....and the cuttle fish (curry style)was the best I have ever eaten in my life......I hope I hit the lottery one day so I could be free to travel as I please....

Wow..I am surprised I even remember that much.....the Thai whiskey was cheap!

[jm21-2]

The prices at the hotel sites appear to be quite a bit cheaper than buying directly from the hotel. Almost half price in some cases. Just a lot of them only offer one type of room and they don't tell you which until you're almost done booking.