10 days in Thailand... help with itinerary...
 

My friend and I are studying abroad in China this summer for 2 weeks and are wanting to extend our trip and spend about 10 days in Thailand. Originally we were hoping to go to Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and down to one of the south beaches, possibly to Koh Phi Phi. Now that I'm looking at logistics, I'm wondering how much that will cost and if it is stretching our time. We are trying to make the trip as cheap as possible (wanting to spend under $600-is this even possible?). The trains seem like they would take forever, and the plane rides seem pretty expensive. So my question is: are the previously places mentioned doable for the price we are wanting? Or should we consider skipping a beach and stay up north, maybe adding Chiang Rai? I'm also really hoping to stop by Ayutthaya.

Any suggestions would be really helpful!

personally i would cut chiang mai and the north and do just bkk and an island/beach...

you might want to consider hua hin for the beach because you do not need to fly there---take bus, train or taxi.... 3 hour ride...

air asia would get you to phuket or krabi which also would be cheaper than samui.... ao nang in krabi is a hangout place...

eat simply and limit your drinking and you might be able to squeek it out for $600.

getting from china to thailand might be the most expensive...look at air asia and other discounter flights...

hotels can be quite reasonable... look for rooms with a/c however...

hotel listing: www.sawadee.com

Try Thorn Tree forum (Lonely Planet)- most of the posters on'Fodors are quite elderly and don't really have the experience to help you.

Roads offer the cheapest forms of transport. (Buses, Minibuses)
As said above though you're looking at rather a lot of KMs in a rather short time

Don't spend too much time in Bkk - especially at the beginning - it can use up a lot of money and you will be better acclimatised after you've spent a little more time in Thailand.

Not sure if the US$600 includes airfare, if so, I agree that even staying in hostels, that budget will be quite tight for flights, accommodation, food, local transport, etc. The cheapest fare I am seeing from Shanghai to Bangkok for July is on Air Asia, via Kuala Lumpur, and even that is US$260. However, once you take out the airfare, it leaves you less than US$30 a day, which even in Thailand, is going to be difficult to cover all your needs for 12 nights, IMO. You obviously won’t be shopping.

I would say either spend less time than 2 weeks, or consider using ground transport to get to Thailand as much as possible. You could consider taking a train to Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Macau or perhaps Hong Kong, from where you may be able to get cheaper flights on to Bangkok than from other PRC cities like Beijing or Shanghai. Look around. Also consider flying to Singapore or Kuala Lumpur from those locations or elsewhere in the PRC, as flights may be cheaper, and you can train to Thailand from either.

You can also go overland from the PRC to Thailand, I believe this is a combination of train and bus. I can’t estimate the time it would take (night trains are an option), but this would be extremely interesting if you have the time, IMO. My guess is that this will cost you somewhere in the neighborhood of US$100 all in, so again, doing 2 weeks on your overall budget may be hard to do.

From you other posts, I know you like the <i>Lonely Planet</i> books, which IMO will be invaluable in Thailand, also their website which should have good budget reccos. The <i>Rough Guide</i> series may also be helpful. Kho San Road in Bangkok is probably your best bet for hotel/hostel options. (If your folks have hotel points which you can use, those might come in very handy as well.)

Koh Phi Phi/Phuket and the west coast of Thailand is pretty rainy in the summer, it’s part of the monsoon season. Look at weatherbase.com and other websites to make sure you are comfortable with the amount of rain you might encounter, and note that there will be cloud cover as well on many days which makes snorkeling or diving a bit of a bust. IMO you are better off going to Koh Samui, Koh Phangnan or other areas on the east coast/Gulf of Thailand. You could also consider Hua Hin and mainland beaches which are only about 3 hours by bus or train from Bangkok and would be cheaper than flying (train is US$11 for 2nd class air con). To get to Koh Samui, you can fly from Bangkok, you can also train down to Surat Thani and take a ferry, compare air and train prices and see what you think. Train/ferry price is about US$24. The train takes the better part of a day (or a night train), so with only 2 weeks, that is why Hua Hin and other coastal towns nearer to Bangkok may be a better option if you don’t want to pay for flights.

From Bangkok, you can train to Chiang Rai or Chiang Mai from Bangkok quite cheaply, should be less than US$20 for 2nd class air con. There is a day train which departs at 8:30 am and would let you see the countryside, otherwise night train options are available too (a bit more expensive for the night train). With enough time, you could train from these areas down to Surat Thani (via a change in Bangkok I believe), this would probably take 24 hours. Buses may be possible as well, I don’t know a lot about bus travel in Thailand.

Ayutthaya can be done as a day trip from Bangkok, you can take a train or bus. You could also overnight there, there are hostel/backpacker places. Have a guidebook or hire a guide, as the ruins are not curated, and unless someone tells you what you are looking at, IMO, it can look like not much more than piles of bricks. The temple/wat areas seem to be the most intact.

If I were going to give up anything, I would actually say to give up Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai in favour of a beach and the coastal areas of Thailand. Not sure where you have been in China, but you may find the landscape of Chiang Mai to be similar to what you have seen elsewhere in southern China. I also think you would enjoy the beach on a budget more than you would city hostels in Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai. Sea breezes and less crowded areas make budget living a bit better, in my experience. Chiang Mai as a population close to 200,000 and gets over a million tourists a year, it is not a village by any means.

If you wanted to go to the northern part of Thailand to see tribal areas, by all means stay in the PRC where you could do the same without having to pay for airfare, and would also pay less for accommodations.

Lol, good one kw. Funny stuff.