Need help with Thailand Itinerary
 

Hey guys,

First post in the Thailand forums...Looking for some help with an itinerary for a family trip with my wife and my 1.5 year old son. We will be traveling from NYC and looking for an ideal situation especially with a toddler traveling with us. We love the beach, but also want to experience what Thailand has to offer. We are arriving in Bangkok on Dec 24th in the afternoon. I was thinking of taking a short flight on arrival to a resort area and staying there for a week or so. I was interested in Samui, Phi Phi Islands (which look beautiful) or even Phuket. I am open to any suggestions, just looking for some beautiful scenery, which I am sure is all over anyways. I also wanted to stay in Bangkok for 3 nights at the end of the trip before we leave.

You need to lay down some more parameters. Then we all can help you. Flying is OK with the little one, are long car rides ? Museums ? Temples ? Hikes ? Oh, you're not going for a year & he'll be 2 & 1/2 - better. Don't expect nice even sidewalks in Thailand. In BKK they are broken and very crowded. They're tough enough to walk on, without spraining an ankle, impossible with a stroller. I see you're SPG, so all the Starwood properties should work for you. The Royal Orchid Sheraton has been refurbished recently and is right on the river, near most of BKKs top sites. For Phi Phi you fly to HKT, cab to Phuket Town, and grab a ferry. Maybe fly in to Krabi, stay a couple nites, boat to Phi Phi - 1 nite, & boat to Phuket. Get a hotel there and fly back to BKK from HKT. Kao Lak and Krabi have nice pools, beaches, day care, and baby elephants you can swim with. The Phuket properties should work for you as well. Air Asia and Nok both fly to both Phuket & Krabi inexpensively. I can't say that for Bangkok Air & Koh Samui. It'll cost you about $150 each for that short flight, OW. They built the airport and had exclusive rights until recently. If you want to take the 1st or last flight, you can knock it down to $80 maybe. May I suggest Koh Chang. It's big, beautiful, & somewhat unspoiled. 5 hrs away by car, if you dare rent. You can get a cab or private driver for for $100-150. Minibuses are available from Victory Monument too. $20 each or so. They leave when full. So pick one almost full. My favorite island. Great beaches, mountains, waterfalls, etc. The hotel I stay in is remote & hard to get to. Not recommended for you. The KC Grande in White Sands Beach is nice and they have some special on TAT which looks like 1/2 price. Here's a good website for you: http://iamkohchang.com/

Thank you for the great suggestions. Our son will be 1.5 years old at the time of our trip, so we are therefore limited to hiking/biking. He is very well behaved. I have been doing a lot of research and I didn't realize there are so many places to see/go while in Thailand. We will be in Thailand for exactly 14 nights. I was thinking of doing beach for 7-8 nights in Phuket and then we can take day trips to Phi Phi, explore Phuket and what it has to offer. Can Krabi be done in a day or should I split Phuket into 4+4? I want to relax for the first portion as we catch up to the time difference and to also work on my tan. I am starwood gold and have a ton of SPG points, so I am currently looking at Westin Siray Bay(opening June 2010). How is the location of Siray Bay? I wanted to stay at a nicer hotel for this part of the stay, but many of the top places have no availabilities. (trisara, aman, sala). So, I figure 8 nights in a beach hotel. You also recommended Koh Chang. Can you fly there? Sounds interesting, I will do more research on it. We then fly up to Chiang Mai and stay at Mandarin Oriental or even stay at Le Meridien in Chang Rai. The reviews on the Le Meridien that I have read state is an excellent hotel and I can stay there on points if necessary. Which is recommended? Is there a big difference? For this part of the trip, we plan to do the classes that the hotels have to offer ( Thai Boxing, Thai cooking, explore some of the temples in this part of the area, the elephant experiences, etc). After 3 nights here, which I heard is a nice amount, we plan to fly to Bangkok (Penninsula, FS or hopefully St Regis if it's opened in time) to finish out our trip. What do you think of this itinerary? I don't think it is that intensive as we can explore the different parts of Thailand.

Can't fly to KC. Bangkok Air flies to U-Tapao which is in the vicinity. Not familiar with any of the hotels you mentioned. Krabi is huge, forget the one day thing. I love the Khao Lak property as well as the Sheraton Krabi. I'd give them both a couple days if I were you. You could fly into Krabi stay at those properties, take the ferry to Phi Phi and Phuket, and fly out of HKT. Or fly into HKT drive up to Le Meridien Khao Lak. Not much traffic and not scary at all. The place is isolated so it's good to have the car. Just make sure you stay in the lane that keeps your steering wheel in the middle ! wj

phuket
 

I just booked Bangkok air rt for $118 BKK to HkT. Since the baggage allowance is so much greater than Air Asia, I thought it was a good deal.

Siray Bay is on the east coast of Phuket making it convenient to take excursion boat to those two locations, as you will be facing Ko Phi Phi and Krabi. If this is your first time to Thailand and you have only 2 weeks, I would suggest that you do Bangkok and one (southern islands or the north). Bangkok is a great city with so many things to see and do. Don't waste your time spending days at airports or to & from airports, checking in-out of hotels dragging the little one. Phuket is excellent ... do a week there and take a trip to Phi Phi. IMHO, if you done one you done 'em all ... Phi Phi, Krabi, etc. they are all similar. Book a nice property in Phuket, relax and enjoy ... and when you are ready for action take a day trip to other islands/beaches. I did not see Phuket until my third trip to Thailand and CM on my fourth.

Bangkok Airways has daily flights connecting the thai capital to Trat. U-Tapao is a military air base just outside Bangkok (where the B-52s were stationed during Vietnam war and recently an escape route when Swampy was taken over).

Perfect, so I think we have figured everything out then.

Day 1...arrive in Bangkok approximately 2pm. Fly to Phuket, arrive in the late afternoon/evening

Day 1-8.. Phuket (Westin Siray Bay, which will be a brand new property)...side trips to Phi Phi/Krabi/temples and sights on Phuket Island)

Day 8.. Fly from Phuket to Chiang Rai (Le Meridien or Chiang Mai (Mandarin Oriental)

Day 11 or 12: Fly to Bangkok to explore city and sites for 2-3 nights

Day 14: 23:50pm flight back to USA, so we will have all day here as well.

Since we have a young child, I think 2 nights and 3 full days in Bangkok should be enough. It's hot and humid there and anything longer may be too much for him.

THAI, Air Asia and Bangkok Airways fly this route (HKT - CEI) with connection in BKK.

Bangkok Airways participates in Discovery Airpass program that you might be interested in:

http://www.bangkokair.com/airpass/fares.php

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thail...k-airways.html

Thai Airlines has a Discover Thailand Fares for 2010 (I am sure it will be renewed in 2011) that allows travel on domestic segments to destinations throughout Thailand. You must purchase a minimum of 3 coupons for $209 US. Up to eight additional coupons are available for $69 each. Children ages 2-11 50% discount. Infants not occupying a seat 10% of regular fares.

http://www.thaiair.com/offers/specia...fares-2009.htm