Asia - Best way to travel in South Asia

I have a 2 week stopover in SIN in March and I wanted to explore South Asia a bit. I would like to visit BKK, HKT (to go diving), and KUL. What is the best way to travel to these places?

I was thinking about buying a paid one way ticket from SIN-KUL. Then redeem a Star Alliance Business award ticket and fly KUL-BKK(STOPOVER)-HKT on TG on the outbound and for the return fly HKT-SIN(Overnight)-KUL on SQ on the return. I would schedule the overnight connection in SIN to ensure I could receive my luggage and just skip the final segment from SIN-KUL the next morning.

Any other ideas for getting around? Is it worth it to get a Business Award for such short flights? This will be my first trip to Asia so any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks :)

I have done almost exactly the same itinerary a little over a year ago. After checking prices + options I finally did:

• SIN - HKT on Jetstar
• HKT - BKK on Thai (one way ticket!)
• BKK- KUL on Malaysia Airlines (also one way)
• KUL - Sin on a luxury bus

The thing that really helped me was the availability of affordable one way tickets on both Thai and Malaysia Airlines.

Pedantic note: you're asking about travel in South-East Asia. "South Asia" is the Indian subcontinent.

Personally, I wouldn't waste my miles on business-class awards within SEA, even the longest flight (SIN-BKK) is barely over two hours and the equipment used on regional flights is subpar. There are tons of cheap flights between BKK, HKT, KUL and SIN on Air Asia, Tiger, JetStar, Nok etc.

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Thank you both for your input.

Koby, how much did that itinerary end up costing?

jpatokal, I will definitely look at the airlines you mentioned. Are there any particular airlines I should stay away from?

[SIZE=1]Koby, how much did that itinerary end up costing?

I don’t have the original receipts anymore, but I’ve found a spreadsheet with a calculation of the travel budget.(Sorry, all prices in Euro.)

• SIN - HKT on Jetstar: 58,85 €
• HKT - BKK on Thai (one way ticket!): 66,19 €
• BKK- KUL on Malaysia Airlines (also one way): 127,99 €
• KUL - Sin on a luxury bus: 30 €

Hope this helps.

jpatokal, I will definitely look at the airlines you mentioned. Are there any particular airlines I should stay away from?
The four I listed are perfectly safe, reliable and comfortable, just remember that they're no-frills (Southwest style) and budget for the occasional delay. Do avoid One-Two-GO/Orient Thai though.