JWitt

I'm in the extreme beginning stages of planning a trip for 2007. I hope to study Thai massage in Chang Mai, Thailand in Jan and then Yoga in Chennai, India in Feb. Is there a cheap way to get from India to Thailand or vise versa? Perhaps a ferry/train combo, trains alone, or discount airline? Money is a big issue, time is not, and adventure is always welcome. Thanks.

Kathie

No trains/ferries between Thailand and India. You will have to fly. Bangkok will offer you the most connections, and you should be able to find reasonably priced tickets.

JWitt

The prices I am getting from Mobissimo and Expedia are $600+. Is this the best I can hope for? Would it not be cheaper and possibly more fun to take a train to northern India and over to Thailand? Again, time is not an issue, money is. If we can see more countryside for less price we're all for it. (BTW, we are 2 early 30s who are looking for adventure and have no money.)

rhkkmk

there are basically two flight from bkk to delhi....thai air and indian air....i am paying about $440 from a bangkok agent for thai air round trip...he says there are no fantastic discounts....that is a ticket that can be modified....you can get one about $30 cheaper which is non-changable...

eddie at sea tours is his name

[email protected]

orgy7

I'm don't know where you are originally coming from but it may be a good idea to do your trip per one way segments.

home town. bkk-chaing mai- bkk- chennai-home

here is a site that gives rough prices on consolidated fares. prices are in baht.

http://www.saveflights.com/country/india.html
- NEVER USE EXPEDIA for looking up prices for asia.

JWitt

We're starting from JFK but I have a cousin in Orange County so we'll probably buy a cheap flight from JFK > Long Beach through JetBlue ($160 r/t). Would it not be cheaper and more fun to take a train from BKK to Chiang Mai rather than fly? Individual flights sounds good and $400 from BKK to MAA sounds doable. Another option I'm thinking is to buy an "around the world" ticket ($3,000?) and visit some friends in Ireland, France, and Italy on the way to Chennai. I'm also hoping to go to Hawaii after Asia. Does $3,000 sound right for an "around the world" plane ticket in Feb? Oh jeez, my credit card hurts just thinking about this!

TracyB

I just flew from Vancouver to Mumbai on Cathay Pacific with a free stopover in BKK on the way back..Depending on where you are coming from and what airline you are taking could determine the correct answer for you!!

JamesA

A round the world (RTW ) is well worth looking at. If you use Star Alliance ( United, Thai, Lufthansa etc ) then you could certainly go NYC ( plus your friend can start in LAX ), you can either stopover in Europe if you wish or head straight to India. Thai fly from Delhi, Chennai, Kolkatta ( Calcutta )and Bangalore direct to Bangkok. You can then if you wish head up perhaps to somewhere else in the far East and then head back to the US, your friend's ticket finishing in LAX and your back on the East Coast.

If you start adding on sperate tickets the price can really go up, even a few hundred dollars here and there adds up. United/Lufthansa/Thai can easily get you around the world.

If you are including India then doing USA to India and then onwards then the Thai flights make sense being part of Star Alliance.

However....as it's for 2007 note that Indian air travel is booming and airlines such as Jet Airways are expanding rapidly into South East Asia, other airlines such as Kingfisher have big plans. So there will no doubt be an increase in flights between India and Thailand and hence cheaper fares as more competative.
For the meanwhile though I would look at a round the world with United/Star Alliance and also check with Thai.

If you 'don't want to do a round the world still look at using Star Alliance USA-India-Thailand.

There are no boat/train routesbetween india and thailand. But do the train from Bangkok to Chiang mai ( just one way is enough, use a budget carrier to fly back from Chiang mai to Bangkok such as Thai Air asia, Nok Air or One-2-Go )

orgy7

this site has a very good list of all the air passes and discount airlines; the site also has a nice guide for round the world travel.

http://www.airtimetable.com/airpass_asia.htm

hobbes

Cheapest fligts from India to Thailand are Calcutta (Kolkata) Bangkok. You could travel by train from Chennai to Kolkata. Indian Airlines offers fairly cheap fares on the Kolkata-Bangkok sector.

fuzzylogic

Such fun hearing of your plans. Your first post said Thailand before India. Is that still current?

Look it would be brilliant if you could travel overland - good on ya! And it might be possible - post on the Thorn Tree for current tips from folk who can live on the edge. Cos I can't imagine it would be easy. How experienced a traveller are you? How much risk and hassle are you up for?

Otherwise, check out Royal Brunei Airlines - or any connex between Calcutta and BKK.

Best of luck

Kathie

fuzzy, this question gets answered on Thorntree all the time. Basically, it is not possible to travel overland from Thailand to India in any direct (or even semi-direct) way. While the land borders bewteen Burma and Thailand are now open much of the time, because of travel restrictions within Burma, you must still take part of that journey into Burma by air. (Exactly what parts are open or not open to overland travels varies from time to time.) However, the land border on the opposite site of Burma (with Bangladesh) are closed. While there are rumors of opening that border eventually, there is still no way to cross Burma overland without a flight or two. Do go to Thorntree and read about this issue. Others on the board may have other airline suggestions for you. The Bangladeshi Airline has the lowest fares in a couple of sectors in the area, and may have a good fare for you. But I believe that they don't sell tickets on Expedia et al.

Now while the answer is basically "no," someone on Thorntree posted within the last year of managing some special arrangements crossing Burma (mostly) overland. The complications involved (it took many months of arrangemnts) would likely convince you that it wouldn't be worth the time and money (turns out to be more expensive than flying!) even if you could get the special permissions.

JWitt

So much info, I love it!

Sorry for the confusion, my friend and I will both be starting from the North East U.S. I have a cousin in O.C. who I was thinking about visiting on our way to Asia.

Thanks for all the info. Shopping for plane tix is always fun for the first few hours, then I tend to get a little addicted and zombie like. Anyway, we are both moderately seasoned travelers in the U.S. and Europe but neither of us have been out East yet. We are easy going, and more adventurous than most. That being said, the land route does sound like too much.

We will be taking a month long course in Chennai and another in Chang Mai which could prove to be quite intense. I think a little R&R in the form of travel and exploration between the two will be welcomed, and of course a beach stop is always a must! We're also interested in checking out some Ashrams or Buddhist temples on the way, possibly for some Seva (work/study volunteering). I am going to do some more research with all of the great info you all have shared and come back with another thread and some more concrete answers and details. Thanks again.

P.S. Is $10 USD/day a good estimate for lodging and spending money in both India and Thailand? A/C is not required or even desired. We just need a reasonably clean and safe room to rest.

JamesA

Another cheap one CCU to BKK is druk Air, but only a couple of times per week, these would still probably cost about USD 150+ one way, once you settle where you are flying from it is easier to see the best route.
using Star Alliance Lufthansa can get you non stop from Frankfurt to Chennai and then Thai from Chennai to BKK.

TexasSlim

I don't know if they're still running or not but in the past there were ferries from Penang to Madras. Maybe you could check around and find out more about that option. If they are still operating then it's very easy and cheap to take a train down to Butterworth.

fuzzylogic

Kathie - it's not me who is thinking of travelling from Thailand to India overland - it's the OP. You should be paying greater attention.

I point the OP in the direction of the TT just in case they are really up for an adventure. It may not be possible but that is where you will get the most up to date info.

But I'm fascinated by your erudite post. Have you perhaps tried to do this border crossing yourself?

Would love to hear when you last crossed a land border (and I'm not talking Europe - say Africa or Asia).

Do tell.

Kathie

Fuzzy, I was aware it was the OP and not you headed from Thailand to India, but I had started to write a comment to you about the ThornTree, then thought I'd stay on topic, and forgot to erase your name. I can't use the excuse of no coffee, as while it's true, I don't drink coffee... so I'll just have to plead guilty to no proofreading.

Last land border crossed? Alas! from your restriction that you won't allow the actual last land border I crossed (US to Canada near Vancouver BC)... so the last land border I crossed in Asia was Hong Kong to Macau. But it wasn't as interesting as the crossing from Thailand in Laos which wasn't as interesting as the crossing from Jordan into Iraq. And neither of those was a weird as crossing from Morocco into Algeria...