MSPeconomist

Keep in mind the airport disruptions and flooding in BKK.

My choice would be SIN because it's so easy with quick and efficient airport access.

HongKong is also pretty good this way, but taxi fares to and from the airport when the express train cannot be used are high.

mario33

Hong Kong is not in South East Asia, it's actually 4hr from the centre of SE Asia which makes it highly inconvenient to travel around the region.

And I don't understand on how the airport disruption and flooding would have any bearing on where one should base themselves. The airport disruption was a one-off political side effect, and not a routine occurrence caused by frequent bad weather etc And in the past 10 years, how many times has Bangkok been flooded to the extent of the recent flooding ? Mind you Orchard Road was also flooded not too long ago, would you also view Singapore negatively due to that flood

5khours

If you are really looking for a big city to live in and cost is not a consideration, I think TYO wins hands down. Obviously not in SE Asia, and the flights are a lot longer, but if you are going to spend a lot of time at your base, then it's worth considering.

Also Jiejie's suggestion for a continuous journey is a good one. Not sure you really need a base camp.

mario33

To base oneself in Tokyo to explore South East Asia

It seems many are just nominating cities they have visited or which they like, without considering the OP's question or his needs.

I suppose if you can't beat them, you must as well join them. I suggest Sydney - great city, best beaches in the world, no worries lifestyle, friendly people, fabulous food ......

tentseller

You are dealing with three different regions:

E Asia: China Japan Korea Taiwan

SE Asia: Vietnam, IndoChina peninsula, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia Philippians.

S Asia: India Subcontinent.

If you want to is head from one region to the next from E>W or W>E.

You can also check airlines for regional all you can fly passes. I know CX has one from any of their North American gateway to HKG and then 30/60/90 days of travel to many of CX's destination from HKG. You can fly to each destination once but not all their destinations are included. It is just like an all you can eat buffet which is a popular pass time in HK.

bazers

We have considered a "continuous journey" as some suggested but am researching the hub concept because

1. We won't have to plan the whole trip in advance. We can get tips and advice from those living and traveling in the country to help plan our excursions.
2. You can get larger/cheaper accommodations (apartment/house vs. hotel) if you are renting by the month (even if you aren't there half the time because you are off traveling)
3. We get a lot of flexibility in case of illness or other things that my make us change our plans about what country/city we want to visit next
4. Sometimes it is hard to get from point A to point B easily or inexpensively -- but can be cheaper in the long run in you are in a hub city that has lots of cheap flights to many places
5. Instead of simply traveling throughout East Asia, we think it might be a nice idea to live in one particular place, immerse ourselves in the culture and community a little bit instead of feeling like travelers the entire time.

I am glad someone brought up the food question because we do want to have good/interesting/variety of food where we live. We are especially fond of Thai, Indian and Malaysian cuisine (I suspect we'll like Indonesian food too). Not so fond of shellfish or sushi.

bazers

You can also check airlines for regional all you can fly passes. I know CX has one from any of their North American gateway to HKG and then 30/60/90 days of travel to many of CX's destination from HKG. You can fly to each destination once but not all their destinations are included. It is just like an all you can eat buffet which is a popular pass time in HK.[/QUOTE]


I'd LOVE to find out more about the regional fly passes if anyone knows about them. I have heard of them for Australia but haven't come across anything for Asia as of yet.

dsquared37

Why is disruption plural? In December 2008 there was a political protest that shut down the airport. Why should that have any impact on OP's decision?

The same with the flood. The worst flooding in 50 years and somehow this should be in everyone's consciousness continuously? Perhaps you should caution OP to stay away from the upper Missouri River basin as well.

While I'm not disputing TYO is a great place, are you really suggesting it as a base for travel within SE Asia?

Personally i find Thai food to be overwhelmingly more interesting than the rest.

5khours

As I said, it depends on budget. I do it a lot and it's very easy but mostly because I have a lot of miles I use to fly F. I wouldn't want to do it in the back of the plane.

Totally agree with you.

choster

I echo mario33, with the additional caveat that if you want to focus on mainland SE Asia, SIN may be less central than BKK. Of course, the additional distance would only be an hour or two depending on where you're going, and you'd save time if you plan to hop about Indonesia.

On the other hand, Tokyo is over 3300 miles from KUL or HKT, or 3600 milest o CGK. Basing yourself at TYO to explore SE Asia when you have only a couple of months may be fairly compared to basing at BOS to explore Western Europe.

tentseller

I'd LOVE to find out more about the regional fly passes if anyone knows about them. I have heard of them for Australia but haven't come across anything for Asia as of yet.[/QUOTE]

Check CX's website or subscribe to their specials newsletter.

5khours

Well think about it (again cost aside), assuming you are going to be spending half your time in your base, wouldn't you rather spend an extra 48 hours in the air to have the best base....especially if you're flying F.

TrueBlueFlyer

I just started a similar thread, though mine focuses on a much longer stay than a few months.

I did however spend seven months living in Singapore, six of them working on a workholiday pass. Fantastic experience, and I did exactly what the OP wants to do... based myself in the heart of Southeast Asia to explore the region.

I was on a very tight budget, and I did have to work so the majority of my trips were either day trips or weekend trips. It was super convenient, and relatively cheap. But in comparison I find Kuala Lumpur to be about half the price of Singapore in just about every respect.

From Singapore I managed to do about a dozen trips to Malaysia, both mainland and Borneo. A day trip to Jakarta and Bali. A weekend trip to the Philippines, Macao and Hong Kong, Taiwan, as well as several trips to Phuket and Krabi.


My experience going to Bangkok was not successful. It was too expensive when compared to other similar destinations so I simply didn't go there. Even flying from Phuket to Bangkok wasn't cheap. Though after leaving Singapore I've noticed prices came down slightly or at least there appears to be more sales.


While living in Singapore I did not exclusively fly Air Asia, in fact I flew more on Tiger and Jet Star Asia instead. What I found was leaving Singapore was the cheapest on Tiger Airways... they leave from the budget terminal which is outside the main 3 terminals of Changi, and you can often get free'ish flights, especially to KUL... for which I paid something like $17 SGD... Air Asia has recently started charging fuel surcharge which often doubles the very low fares they offer... but I did quite a few trips on the $2 bus across the Causeway into Johor Bahru to catch a cheap Air Asia flight to Borneo, as it is domestic from JHB and cost as low as $30 SGD round trip to Kota Kinabalu when I went... a similar trip originating from Singapore cost $40 SGD on Tiger, out to Kuching, Sarawak. Jet Star Asia often had the best timings as compared to Tiger, because they would allow you to leave early in the morning and return late in the evening... one of those trips I did to Jakarta for $50 SGD... one of my favorite trips. Though remember that Indonesia has both an visa on arrival and the departure tax, which I believe added up to be more than my flight there. Still a good way to see the city without having to stay there.


Best of luck to whatever you decide on. You really can't go wrong... the whole region is beautiful and I cannot wait to return there. I have already decided that Malaysia and probably Kuala Lumpur in particular is best fit for me

--Russ

jiejie

I hope OP can separate the wheat from the chaff, because there has been some crappy advice given from some posters here, that is unresponsive to the needs of the OP.

I'm absolutely at the idea that anybody would propose basing oneself in Tokyo. I guess if you fly F and have tons of miles and stay in nice hotels for short trips it's OK, but consider:
--Distance
--Paid airfares from Japan are expensive, and having to do it for a family, regularly?
--Do you have any idea how problematic renting an apartment is in Japan, with key money requirements, reluctant landlords when it comes to foreigners, and tiny spaces...for a family?
--Overall cost of living for other daily necessities?
--Visa issues?


Come on people--please before you give advice to others, make sure you really understand enough about a place to know what you are talking about, and how to apply it to the poster's situation at hand.

I won't even comment on the BKK airport issue, since dsquared and others beat me to it. Another

TrueBlueFlyer

Tokyo was like a kick in the pants after visiting it on the tail end of my Singapore trip.

Extremely expensive for the most basic things, and I had a free place to stay.

Japan is ridiculously expensive in every respect.