Asia - Advice needed >> Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok

Hi,

First post, and I was wondering if I could get some advice.

Question 1
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I will be in Hong Kong in August-September, and I need to arrange flights for:
1) Hong Kong to Singapore --> Jetstarasia, $98CAD
2) Singapore to Bangkok --> Jetstarasia, $30CAD
3) Bangkok to Hong Kong --> ????????

I've got the first two covered with Jetstarasia, but I am not sure what my options are for #3.

I did a search, and seems like Orient Thai airlines is an option. Where can I get pricing, and where can I book a ticket?

What other low cost carriers service Bangkok to Hong Kong?


Question 2
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Planning on doing a 5-day 4-night tour while I'm in Thailand. So far, for a tour that includes Bangkok and Pattaya beach, it costs $190 CAD per person (double occupancy), and this includes food, hotels, transportation (tour guide & driver), our own minivan, a 1-hour thai massage, some cultural show, and some other stuff. (This is through Charmingholidays.ca)

Does this sound like a good deal?
I kind of want to go to Phuket also, but is it worth going there, since the Tsunami happened not long ago?



THanks for any advice! :)

Welcome to Flyertalk!

Have you considered doing the whole lot with CX? They fly all of those routes, and they are a lot higher quality and more reliable than the LCCs (and you'd get lounge access etc if you have status with AAdvantage). One of the HKG-SIN-HKG flights stops in BKK, so essentially you'd be looking for a HKG-SIN-HKG ticket with the freedom to do a stopover in BKK.

You can also book packages with them through http://www.cxholidays.com which are extremely good value. I don't think they have off-the-shelf what you are looking for, but why not try emailing them and seeing what they could propose as a custom package? It might well end up cheaper than trying to cobble lots of bits & pieces together.

Your only cheapie-cheapie options to Hong Kong are on Orient Thai and Thai Sky (http://www.thaiskyairlines.com/), both of which are seriously dodgy outfits that I'd steer clear of. Emirates and Gulf also do pretty good fifth-freedom flights and Dragonair can be pretty competitive too, return fares are around THB 4000 on a good day.

Planning on doing a 5-day 4-night tour while I'm in Thailand. So far, for a tour that includes Bangkok and Pattaya beach, it costs $190 CAD per person (double occupancy), and this includes food, hotels, transportation (tour guide & driver), our own minivan, a 1-hour thai massage, some cultural show, and some other stuff. (This is through Charmingholidays.ca)
I'd recommend doing the legwork yourself, package tours usually aim for the cheapest common denomination. For reference, the Bangkok-Pattaya bus in 1st class costs under 100 baht, a 1-hour massage is <200B, food is dirt cheap (20B on the street, 200B in a fancy-ish restaurant), and there are plenty of shows both cultural and less cultured in Pattaya and Bangkok. Also note that Pattaya's beach is probably the worst in Thailand and best steered clear of -- Hua Hin, Koh Samet are better options within striking distance of Bangkok, but better yet fly to Koh Samui, Krabi or even Phuket.

Hey, thanks for the input.

I just checked CX, and it seems like it'll cost around $400+ CAD for the HKG-SIN-HKG with BKK stopover.
There's a special right now until July, for around $2000HKD, which is decent, but it won't be applicable for my departure date.

So I guess Orient Thai is no good?
I need something reliable for BKK-HKG, because I have a connecting flight at HKG-YYZ (Toronto) on the same day at 3pm.
Dragonair would be nice, but with their schedule, I'd have to arrive the night before in order to catch my connect flight.

As for the tour, we're going to do some more research, and perhaps we might do tour our own. So how much is taxi, or tuk-tuk's? I can pretty much rely on that to get around town right?

What is the condition of Phuket right now? I'd imagine that its still in ruins from the Tsunami? Is it even worth going to at this point in time?

One last question - what's the best way to arrange for hotels? Around what price range are we looking at for something decent and safe (to storeour belongings at).


Thanks for your help guys!

.....

Hey, thanks for the input.

I just checked CX, and it seems like it'll cost around $400+ CAD for the HKG-SIN-HKG with BKK stopover.
There's a special right now until July, for around $2000HKD, which is decent, but it won't be applicable for my departure date.

So I guess Orient Thai is no good?
I need something reliable for BKK-HKG, because I have a connecting flight at HKG-YYZ (Toronto) on the same day at 3pm.
Dragonair would be nice, but with their schedule, I'd have to arrive the night before in order to catch my connect flight.

As for the tour, we're going to do some more research, and perhaps we might do tour our own. So how much is taxi, or tuk-tuk's? I can pretty much rely on that to get around town right?

It is easy to get around Bangkok by subway or skytrain. The subway is 20B a trip and the skytrain is priced depending on distance. They also have 1 and 3 day unlimited ride tickets, which can be very handy. Taxis tend to be inexpensive, and as cheap or cheaper than a tuk-tuk. Make sure that you get a meter taxi, and that the driver uses it.

What is the condition of Phuket right now? I'd imagine that its still in ruins from the Tsunami? Is it even worth going to at this point in time?

Phuket is almost totally recovered, and is fully functional. Many good deals are available now.

One last question - what's the best way to arrange for hotels? Around what price range are we looking at for something decent and safe (to storeour belongings at).

I frequently use Royal Exclusive Travel (Ms. Nar), and they have always been very reliable and reasonable. The websit is royalexclusive.com. You can check out the prices and locations on the website. I stay at the Hotel Manhattan off of Sukhumvit, and they will store luggage. I have never had a problem there, and the hotel is clean and safe. The rates are about $30 US with buffet breakfast and all taxes.

Good Luck and have a great trip.

Thanks for your help guys!

No, Phuket is definitely not in ruins. 95% of Phuket was not hit by the Tsunamis at all. Almost everything has been rebuilt. I was there in April and hardly no traces of the floodings. Please go there and support the local people; you will not be disappointed. Too many people have the same fears as you and are reluctant to go, so lack of tourism is the actual threat.

Pattaya has a bad reputation (although I have never been there) but is conveniently close to BKK. AirAsia and other LLC's fly to Phuket. Fares are very decent, around 3500 THB return. Thai Airways in more expensive but much more reliable. If you are really on a budget, take the over-night bus between Phuket and BKK.

Book your hotel accommodation on www.siam.net. In my experience you will not find better rates elsewhere.

As for the tour, we're going to do some more research, and perhaps we might do tour our own. So how much is taxi, or tuk-tuk's? I can pretty much rely on that to get around town right?
Steer clear of tuk-tuks or I'll have to scrape you off the pavement with a spatula when you run into a truck while careening the wrong way down a one-way street. Use the Skytrain, subway and river boats when you can (which is almost always if you pick your hotel carefully), use taxis when you can't. Bangkok's taxis are possibly the cheapest in the world, 100 baht will get you all the way across town or one hour sitting in a traffic jam.

One last question - what's the best way to arrange for hotels? Around what price range are we looking at for something decent and safe (to storeour belongings at).
2000 baht will get you excellent digs (I love Reflections (http://www.reflections-thai.com/rooms.html)), half of that will get you the basics but no more, half of that will get you something barely tolerable and half of that again will get you a backpacker fleapit on Khao San. Then again, most of FT would recommend doubling the 2000 baht and going for a 5-star, they're very good value in Bangkok.

What do you guys think about the following airlines:

1) Tiger Airways

2) Bangkok Airways


I'm thinking of doing this:
Singapore to Phuket (one-way) Sept 5, 2005
Tiger Airways shows 95.98 SGD ($70cad)
http://www.tigerairways.com/

Phuket to Bangkok (one-way) Sept 8, 2005
Bangkok Airways shows 2500 Baht ($75cad)
http://www.bangkokair.com/


I did a quick search, and it seems like Bangkok Airways is pretty good.


BTW, I still haven't been able to find a cheap flight from BKK to HKG. Dragonair seems to be charging around $200 cad, but the timing doesn't work with my connecting flight :mad:

Actually, for Phuket - Bangkok, I am going to book through Air Asia.

Phuket - Bangkok, Air Asia www.airasia.com
908Baht = $27.25 CAD

I've read some reviews on virtualtourist.com and alot of people recommend this carrier

.....

Me personally, from Phuket to Bangkok I'd take Nok Air (http://www.nokair.com/). They only cost a little more than AirAsia but assign seats online and they fly repainted Thai Air 737's which are a bit nicer than AirAsia's 737's. Nok Plus for 500 Baht extra (~US$12.50) is the same seat as a Thai Air domestic 737 first class.
A ^ for this, I just flew BKK-HKT on Nok last Friday with no problems at all. There's really no reason to fly Bangkok Airways on this leg, as Thai flies on the same route a lot more (almost hourly) and usually costs less to boot (I paid B2100 one way yesterday).

I'd recommend doing the legwork yourself, package tours usually aim for the cheapest common denomination. For reference, the Bangkok-Pattaya bus in 1st class costs under 100 baht, a 1-hour massage is <200B, food is dirt cheap (20B on the street, 200B in a fancy-ish restaurant), and there are plenty of shows both cultural and less cultured in Pattaya and Bangkok. Also note that Pattaya's beach is probably the worst in Thailand and best steered clear of -- Hua Hin, Koh Samet are better options within striking distance of Bangkok, but better yet fly to Koh Samui, Krabi or even Phuket.

Yeh, Pattaya was a nice day trip to get out of BKK but would seriously grate on my nerves after a while. There are some hidden cultural things here and there but for the most part it was an obnoxious beach town. It's also fairly seedy, though cleaned up in the past 10 years from my understanding. Kind of like Vegas in the sense of cleaning up the seediness and making it more family friendly.

I most certainly wouldn't pay $190 to go. You can get there and back for about $5, and as was said, massages (sans happy ending) are under $20. Transport in Pattaya might run about $5-10 or so. Food is cheap and lodging can either be cheap or expensive depending on if you stay at the Hard Rock Hotel or something more local.

If youre looking for a few days trip, go to Chiang Mai instead. It's been a year and my brain doesn't work like it should but I think the cost was about $100 to fly up on Thai Air and the hotel was about $30 a night for a nice place. Food and whatnot is cheap. The only added expense is Doi Sutep which is outside the city a bit. Skip the Puping Palace and, for God's sake, skip the hill tribes. Flight is about an hour. Many LCCs have started service since I went so the flight may be cheaper than what I paid.