9 nights in Thailand, Help!
 

We're very confused on our vacation. Not sure what to do. We keep on changing our itinerary. There are four of us. We love adventures, so we plan on trekking and biking up in C.M.
Thought we would fly to Chiang Mae immediately after arriving in Bangkok Airport. But we are concerned about being tired and hanging out at airports all day. We were going to spend 4 nights up at C.M. Then fly to Bangkok and then to Ko Chang for 2 nights, and then to Bangkok for our last 3 nights. Is that too wild?
Our other option is to kill Ko Chang and just do C.M. and Bangkok.
How long does it actually take to get from Bangkok to C.M. or C.M. to Ko Chang? We don't want to spent all of our time in airports.
Help! We're going in early April.

What time to do you arrive in BKK? You might want to spend a night or two there on arrival..depends on you. The flight to CM is only an hour. Ko Chang doesn't have an airport...you fly to Trat then take a bus/taxi then a boat. With the limited time you have you might actually consider Phuket, as there is a direct, non-stop flight from CM at 11:00 am I think on Thai Air. Or Koh Samui, you can fly there too, but not directly from CM.

With 9 days and your interest in trekking and biking, I might actually skip the island altogether and do BKK, CM, and Chiang Rai or Pai or Mae Hong Son.

The flight to Chiang Mai takes an hour and there are lots of flights so you should be able to make a fairly quick connection depending on when you land. In 9 days I would definitely skip Ko Chang and spend all your time in bangkok and Chiang Mai.

'd probably spend 2 days in Bangkok at the beginning of the trip followed by 4 or 5 days in Chiang Mai bangkok and another 2 or 3 days in Bangkok.

Another option, depending on your international flight schedule, would be to spend 4 or 5 nights in Bangkok follwed by 4 or 5 nights in Chiang Mai and fly to Bangkok and connect to your homeward bound flight. That would save you one trip to the airport and thus save some time.

the only flights to koh chang are from samui and bangkok...so you would have to pass through bkk to get to chang...

i would plan on rest for the first two days where ever you are so i would stay in bkk at a place with a nice pool...i assume you are coming from north america?? you will be dead!!

you could never do a bike ride the day after you arrive and enjoy it in any way...

i would do bkk 3 days, then koh chang and then CM and finish in bkk...

quite honestly CM is not all that great, imo...

Bkk, 2 days, CM, 4 days, BKK, 3 days. This will give you time to acclimate in BKK. If you're exhausted, you can take things slowly. If not, you can jump right in. After 2 days, you will have regained energy (again, many people are not overly fatigued) and you can visit CM for your adventures. 3 days back in BKK will let you accomplish many of the primary activities, which are not to be missed. The travel to and from Ko Chang will eat up at least 1/2-2/3 of a day each way. The BKK-CM flight is an easy hour.

You don't say what you want to do or what you want to do.

Personally, I would do the following. When you hit Bangkok, you will be overwhelmed and tired. The heat/humidity will hit you like a ton of bricks. The bad air quality, noise pollution, insane traffic and being jet lagged, you want to do anything except to go take a shower and relax. Spend 1 or 2 days max in Bangkok to see the Grand Palace and the Wats adn then make your way up to Chiang Mai and stop at Kanchanaburi, Ayuthaya and Sukhothai along the way...Sukhothai is a must IMO. This these places are along the way to Chiang Mai and there are frequent trains and buses...including overnight sleepers.

http://www.railway.co.th/httpEng/

I will be in Chaingmai in May from 5/22-5/25, have reservations at the Sheraton Hotel(formerly the Westin) as it was recommended by one of my friends, who stayed there.Has anyone else stayed at this hotel, would like your imput. Also am planning to go to the elphant training camp, night dinner cruise on river, night bazzar. Any other suggestions would be appreciatedand if you recommend some good restaurants and good place to get a massage other then hotel(wife loves them). Thanks

peppersalt
I just stayed at the Sheraton a little more than a week ago. I always stay at this hotel. It's really nice!! I upgraded to a suite (HUGE) and really enjoyed the jacuzzi and all the space. I've posted photos of this hotel suite at cjscollection, just click on the photo gallery link on the left side of the page, and then click on the Asia album.

Have a great time in CM!

Carol

Thanks Carol, am looking foward to our stay. Can you recommend any restaurants and places where you can get massage. Understand it is very inexpensive. Also what is the tipping policy in Thailand.
We have been to Bangkok twice several years ago and I'm sure that has changed dramaticaly. Also spending four days in Singapore and three weeks with our daughter in Tokyo. I'm finding this web site to be the most informative and people are very helpful.