Southeast Asia Itinerary Redux

Old Apr 3rd, 2007, 05:07 PM
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Southeast Asia Itinerary Redux

You all were so much help to the last person who asked this, I thought I might ask a modified version.

We have one month and want to hit the following:

Northern Thailand (Chiang Mai?)
Luang Prabang
Angkor/Siem Reap

We are not interested in spending any real time in Bangkok - we are plenty familiar with the big city experience.

But, we also really need some time at the beach - so we definitely want to do a little "high end" relaxation in the south as well.

I also am struggling figuring out how to put this thing together. Any suggestions?

Specific questions include:

(1) People's experience with Lao Airlines (for a CM-LP flight).
(2) People's experiences with Nok Air, which may be cheaper than the Discovery Air Pass.
(3) Whether it may be better to just come back through Bangkok for each leg?
(4) Is there anywhere you would recommend in Southern Thailand for beaches specifically?
(5) Is there anything we are foolish for not doing? Vientienne? Somewhere else in Thailand?

Thanks in advance for the help!!!
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Old Apr 3rd, 2007, 05:08 PM
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- forgot the kicker (and it is a big one). We will be there in July!

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Old Apr 3rd, 2007, 05:18 PM
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I suspect lots of peole will chime in to tell you that you're foolish for not spending more time in Bangkok. It is not your ordinary big city.

Anyway, Nok Air is quite good. Generally on-time, assigned seating, and you can upgrade to "Nok Plus" for a bigger seat and more baggage allowance.

While you can do CM - LP - SR, it might not be any cheaper than going back through Bangkok. You'll have to price it out.

Why focus in on Southern Thailand for beaches? Since you're going to Angkor, why not have a look at Sihanoukville in Cambodia? You can fly there from Seam Reap, so it might save you some money, as well as time.
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Old Apr 3rd, 2007, 05:18 PM
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In July, the weather will be best in Ko Samui for a beach. bangkok Air is the only carrier that goes to KS. therefore, a Discovery Pass is the best way to go. Bangkok Air is also the only carrier from BKK-Siem Riep. The Discovery Pass must be purchased outside Thailand. If you're in the US, the best way is to call the NY office of Bangkok Air and make the reservation. Payment will be due within a short time. They will send paper tickets. Of course, you will need to figure out your exact itinerary before purchase. Th cost is by the leg and differetiates between domestic and international. Map out a plan A and a plan B and call and price them out.
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Old Apr 3rd, 2007, 05:37 PM
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update on bkk air...someone reported in the last week that bkk air will now accept credit cards for an upcharge of 5%...i should think it is worth it myself...

when you call bkk air, know exactly what you want as they generally are not much help.....know the flights and/or times plus the dates....you may be talking to india also...

take a look at the amari emerald cove on koh chang as a possibility....also use bkk air to fly to nearby trat for this island....a perfect lux, lay back place....great food...

two days in PP might be nice either side of SR.....and same for Vient.....

personbally i would skip CM and head for chiang rai instead and stay at the golden triangle at the anantara....do thier cooking classes and elephant training....a great spot...

CM is just another big city imo....
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Old Apr 3rd, 2007, 06:13 PM
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Thanks for the help already.

Well, our main concern with Bangkok is that it, as a big city, it will be particularly stifling in July. Are we wrong?

Anantara looks amazing, but that may be a little outside too "high-end" for us. Are there any other nice options that are a little less perfect?

Thanks so much!
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Old Apr 3rd, 2007, 11:13 PM
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Bangkok is stifling NOW (been over 40 C all week). In July, it will be a lot cooler, with afternoon rain showers, and so will every place else you plan to visit.
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Old Apr 4th, 2007, 05:28 AM
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Never used Lao. But for Luang Prabang and Siem Reap Bangkok Air should be the best option. Especially when using theit Discovery Pass. I could not find any direct flights Chiang Mai-Luang Prabang or Luang Prabang - Siem Reap. The only way seems going over Bangkok.
If you have never been in Bangkok before, try it for 2 or 3 days. In some way it is like other big cities or even not.
Sihanoukville is no bad idea. Since not long they have a 4star hotel on the best beach Sokha beach.
Michael, since when can you fly from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville?
There are plenty of high end hotels nowadays on Phuket, Koh Samui or even Koh Chang (actually not being in the South). Look at the websites of sawadee.com, asiarooms.com. directrooms.com or others.
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Old Apr 4th, 2007, 05:37 AM
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rhkkmk,
whats all that hassle about Bangkok Air and credit cards? I paid with Visa by the end of last year already and there was no extra fee.
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Old Apr 4th, 2007, 06:42 AM
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Until recently, Bangkok Air did not accept credit cards for payment of the Discovery Pass (but did for regular flights). They have recently started accepting credit cards for the Discovery Pass in the US, with a 5% surcharge. Previously, a cashier's check or money order was required.

Lao Air has a Chiang Mai - Luang Prabang flight and a Siem Reap - Luang Prabang flight. Previously, Bangkok Air allowed these as part of the Discovery Pass, but Bangkok Air ended their alliance with Lao. Now, if you want one of those flights, you'll have to buy it separately. Also, there is a fake website that sells Lao Air "tickets" but while they will take your money the tickets are worthless and will not be honored by lao Air. So if you do decide to take a Lao Air flight, buy from a ticket agent in Thailand.

I assume you know that Lao Air has a bad reputation for safety, given your question. I believe the warnings for foroeign diplomats and NGO workers is still in effect "don't fly." But Lao Air has upgraded their fleet in recent years and hasn't had nearly as many accidents or in-flight incidents. It's still not a stellar airline.

In terms of your itineray, if you don't want big cities, you need to skip Chiang Mai. It's Thailand's second largerst city, and a victim of urban sprawl. The particulates in the air are much higher than in Bangkok. I always recommend the Anantara at the Golden Triangle as a wonderful northern Thai experience. I see you are concerned about price... you may want to skimp a bit on some other hotels to afford this special place.

Overall, I think you have a good plan. I am one who loves Bangkok and can't imagine going to Thailand without spending time in this amazing and vibrant city. But if you want to avoid big cities, you'll want to avoid Bangkok.
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Old Apr 4th, 2007, 07:43 AM
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Thanks for all of the help so far. I think we've been convinced that we shouldn't write off Bangkok so quickly and that Anantara may be worth tightening our belts for.

In terms of beautiful spots on the Ko Samui side, are there any places, islands that are particularly recommended?

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Old Apr 4th, 2007, 08:30 AM
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Some corrections to what has been said in above posts.

Lao Air is still part of the Bangkok Air Pass according to the their office here in March/07. Lao Air is quite safe to fly and has been for several years. All those warning you see are based on when they were using old Russian and Chinese planes. Their fleet has been updated and they use mostly French built planes (Bangkok Air uses these too).

Michael is right about flights from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville. PMT Air will fly this route but I am not sure that it has started as yet. Was suppose to begin in january this year.

Since you want to spend some time in northern Thailand as well as seeing Luang Prabang and the Angkor temples outside Siem Reap I might suggest the following.

From Bangkok fly to Chiang Rai using a discount airline (one/two/go or air asia). Either stay here or further north up by the Golden Triangle. The Imperial Golden Triangle is a good 3+ star hotel (not far from the Anantara) and around $55-65 net with breakfast.

From CR to CM you can take a bus or taxi or if you have a few extra days take a small boat to Thaton {around 4+ hrs and used to cost about 250 baht) Stay in this small river town (Maekok River Village is a good and reasonable place) and either take some hill country tours or just relax and watch the river traffic pass by. From here either take a bus or hire a taxi for the 31/2 ride to CM

From CM you can fly to Luang Prabang by Lao Airlines (4 days a week up to july/31 and then daily) Cost is around or slightly over $100 with tax.

From LP to Siem Reap Loa has a flight 2 to 3 times a week. Otherwise you can fly to Bangkok and onward to SR with Bangkok Air.

From SR if you want to see a little more of Cambodia you can take an excellent bus to Phnom Penh (5hrs) or a taxi if you wish. Spend a couple of days here and then head back to Thailand for some beach time. You could go to beach town of Sihanoukville but be warned that july is one of the hottest months and it might not be so pleasant lying on a beach in 40C.
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Old Apr 4th, 2007, 11:06 AM
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As said before, Bangkok airways does charge extra for credit card payments. I just paid it today. I felt it was wrong, but then calculating the costs overall, it almost works out to be just $5-10 more (there is no BK airways local office here in SF), so I'm not all that unhappy about it.

Lao Airline is still a part of the Discovery Airpass since our flights from Luang Prabang to Siem Reap were booked on this airline and not Siem Reap Airways. This is a direct flight and not routed via Bangkok. The downside of going via Bangkok from Luang Prabang to Siem Reap is that this will be counted as an extra leg. The upside is that you can be flexible about the days.

Another option of going from CM to Luang Prabang could be the cruise. I've not done this before but this is what we're planning to do. Take a bus from Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong, cross over to Huay Xai and then take a single day cruise to Luang Prabang. Just thought it might add some change to the trip.

I've not done any of these, but have booked/planned this for our upcoming trip later this year.
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Old Apr 4th, 2007, 11:20 AM
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Scotters and rahulm, it's useful to hear that The Discovery Pass still allows Lao Air flights. Several people have posted that they were told (in the US) that the alliance had been dissolved.
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Old Apr 4th, 2007, 02:28 PM
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Scotters, that sounds perfect. Thank you all so much. I'll let you know what we decide as we finalize.

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Old Apr 5th, 2007, 12:31 PM
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I'll second the recommendation for Nok Air, we also had a good experience with them. We ended up using a combination of Discover Pass (because it was the cheapest way to get to Siem Reap) and discount carriers and had good experiences with both (although the treatment of BKK Air may spoil you!!)

Just a note of friendly disagreement, don't skip Chiang Mai - we found it to be a charming place to spend a few days and there's lots to do from there. I don't think it has a big city feel at all.

I'm not knocking BKK - I'm from NYC and now live in DC, and have been to lots of big cities worldwide, and still found BKK to be a place worth spending a few days in (and it was bloody HOT while we were there!). But CM is worth a (more relaxing) visit, too - great for cooking classes, exploring temples, seeing the countryside, etc. Of course, as rhkkmk said, you can also get this experience in CR.

Enjoy! Cheers, Carrie
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