exlurker1962

I am currently planning a trip to Thailand with my best friend, her son and my son and need some more seasoned opinions regarding where we should go.

We decided to fly to Hong Kong, then fly a budget airline to Bangkok due to the low price we found on a direct United flight from Toronto-Hong Kong ($2092 for 4!!). We are going to be in Asia from August 25-September 6th and this was our original travel plan:

Aug 24-25th Fly to Hong Kong, overnight hotel stay to catch early morning flight on 26th

Aug 26th-30th Go to Chiang Mai (Must do CM during weekends because better night markets) via Air Asia

Aug 30th-Sep 3rd Phuket via Air Asia

Sep 3rd-Sep 6th Bangkok.

Depart at 3:35 AM on Sep 6th to go to Hong Kong via HK airlines, that arrives at 8AM, leaves enough time to connect and catch flight for Toronto at 10:45 AM.

However, the ending portion in Bangkok seems confusing and the amount of small flights throughout our holiday seem a bit overwhelming so we thought of cutting Bangkok and just doing Hong Kong so we could just head straight to Toronto after our holiday finishes. This is our revised plan:

Aug 24-25th Fly to Hong Kong, overnight hotel stay to catch early morning flight

Aug 26th-30th Go to Chiang Mai (Must do CM during weekends because better night markets) via Air Asia

Aug 30th-Sep 3rd Phuket via Air Asia

Sep 3rd-Sep 6th Hong Kong via Air Asia

Fly back to Toronto.

The issue with the revised plan is we wouldn't get to "complete" Thailand as we wouldn't be going to the epicentre of Thai culture- Bangkok; we're skipping to Hong Kong before finishing what we started (Thailand). I am second guessing my plans. What should I do?

CrazyInteg

I'm not sure if Thailand has an epicenter of culture, but I can assure you that Bangkok (a large city) is not it. If you do skip Bangkok, you shouldn't feel bad.

This is the only part that worries me. Having only been through HKIA a couple times, I can't advise you on this, but somebody should eventually post in this thread about this connection. Will you have any checked bags?

glennaa11

I agree on that last point. HKG is a big airport and depending on whether you have to deal with checked bags and/or get from one end to the other it can take some time. And you have to hope your inbound flight operates on time. You also mention children but don't say how old they are. So spending a little more time in HKG at the end seems reasonable to me, even if it's just a day. (But HKG wasn't my fave place when I visited there a few year ago...altho I know lots of people love it)

For me personally all that time in Phuket wouldn't be interesting. But I am not at all a beach person.

I love the chaos of Bangkok. But it can be a little overwhelming, especially at first.

I like Chiang Mai. And there are some interesting day trips as well as things to see in CM itself. Every market in SE Asia seems the same to me, so I don't know if the ones there are necessarily "better" than anywhere else.

Sorry I am such a Negative Nellie. Everyone has their own likes and dislikes after all. :-)
It might make sense to put this thread in the Thailand forum instead.

Swiss Tony

Check the climate charts.

I understand that Chiang Mai is prone to flooding in August as the rains are that heavy.

Also, you might be better off looking at the East coast of Thailand rather than Phuket, again based on the rainfall.

exlurker1962

The kids in our group are 17 and 16.

chrisphh

Personally, I think you should spend time in Thailand only. If you need more information and advises, you can refer the website: https://asiatravel.news/en/category/...hailand-guides

RustyC

Seconded. If there are rains/floods in the north then that would be the time of year, though it's might still be tolerable. September is the top month for rains and October for floods. Some years are bad, some aren't.

I think the night bazaar is overrated, but if it's a first trip you'll find plenty to buy (it took me 7-8 trips to start ignoring the opportunities to buy things like the fake watches (cheaper and better then) and other unique stuff). The night bazaar also is more pleasant and far less crowded than the weekend market in Bangkok.

On Phuket you'd be there at the time of the Andaman monsoon. I was there once in July...the overcast skies and rain bursts are more pronounced than what you get on the eastern seaboard. Ko Samui is to the east side what Phuket is to the west, though both have gotten overdeveloped for my tastes. Another thing to consider with Phuket is that boat tours to places like Ko Phi Phi may not be operating due to low demand and/or rough seas. Samui also has boat tours (Ang Thong Marine park is recommended. There's also the full-moon party on Ko Pha-Ngan if you time it right, though that's not for kids).

Even an imperfect first trip can be memorable and thrilling, so you'll probably have a great time regardless.

EmailKid

+1

Though as someone else mentioned, I too enjoy the chaos of Bangkok.

txflyer77

+1 for heading to the Gulf of Thailand side instead of Phuket at that time of year. IIRC Bangkok Airways has a CNX-USM nonstop, makes it easy.

Daawgon

"Depart at 3:35 AM on Sep 6th to go to Hong Kong via HK airlines, that arrives at 8AM, leaves enough time to connect and catch flight for Toronto at 10:45 AM."

Very very risky - what if that LCC flight is cancelled or late!

TravelDream

HK Airlines is not a LCC.

That said, I've flown them 8 times and I've landed on time... zero times. They also tend to park at the satellite concourse at HKG, which makes a quick connection impossible.

I'm not sure that it's 'very very risky', but it's certainly a risk I wouldn't take if on a separate booking.


Bangkok is my favourite Thai city. So much to do, see, eat and buy. Try and visit if you can. You can see all the highlights in three days if you must.

RustyC

I've been going to Bangkok since 1992 and would have to say that the Skytrain and subways have been real game-changers. They didn't solve the traffic problem but DID give you a choice if you could plan around it. I remember the pre-Skytrain days when you could easily get stuck in a taxi for an hour or more trying to go just about anywhere. It was a real impediment to exploring. Much of the city is now transit-reachable8, which helps greatly.