We're considering travelling to Chiang Mai, C Rai and Luang Prabang from BKK this fall.
Any suggestions on what would be the best order in which to visit these cities for ease of travel? It appears that to go between CM and CR you have to fly back to BKK, but you can fly from CM to L P. Should I start in CR, travel overland to CM and then fly to LP, then back to BKK? Suggestions would be appreciated. If overland is suggested, what's the best way to go, how long does it take, what are the roads like, what's the cost, etc.

investigate the air discovery pass at bangkok air..they have an 800 # in usa...$50 for domestic legs and $80 for international legs...
what you suggest may make sense...fly to CR on thai air (don't think bkk air does this)...tour...car to CM...tour///fly to LP...tour...fly to bkk...you can make all the reservations directly with thai air on the phone at the same time you get the passes---there is a minimum of 3 passes per person so you would have to work that out...looks like bkk-CM...car to CR and back to CM...CM-LP....LP-Bkk....that would make 3...
i personally like to have short stops in bkk to re-group, so we usually return to bkk for a couple of days before going on, but you may not have time for this...it sometimes costs more as well...

We're thinking of doing a similar itinerary next trip: spend time in BKK, fly to LP on Bangkok Air, fly LP to CM & spend some time there, then by car from CM to Anantara in Golden Triangle for a few days, and end up in BKK again for a day or two before flying home.

my reply above says thai air for booking but i ment to say bkk air....

Decide whether you want to drive from CM to CR (or reverse). It's a long drive, and I'm not sure it's worth it in terms of what you see. The Anantara at the Golden Triangle is an hour away from CR so you'd spend a lot of time in the car. Thai Air flies between CR and CM (not going through Bangkok) or did last time I was looking at those routes.

i think it is only between $20-30 to fly CM-CR as kathie suggests...i believe it is about a 3 hour drive and anantara is one hour further...the CR-anantara is a very easy drive...we rented a car at the airport and the drive was very easy...very few roads and there was no traffic...roads are well paved and well marked...hard to make any mistakes...

thanks for the great input. i'll let you know what i work out. when i looked at thai airways, i thought they didn't travel between CR and CM without going back to BKK, but I'll look again

The only flights I found between CM & CR were via Bangkok, which didn't make sense. If you know about flights that are direct CM - CR, let me know. Thanks.

I did try to book via 800# with Bangkok Air in US.ended up speaking with Gavin in New Delhi as US offices don't answer...gave up; an ex-pat aquaintance in BKK gave me the name of a BKK travel agent who booked everything for us with ease and even changed somethings around as I changed my plans. Also, her hotel prices are about $10 less than ALL of the Thai-based hotel web sites. credit card to be charged a few weeks before departure and I have confirmed emails for hotels and air travel.I would recommend her highly to you. Toom at [email protected] good luck

janak---why did you give up on bkk air? was there a problem with taking to their site in new delhi?? i don't understand the complaint..

Janak626-Did you book flights between CM and CR without returning to BKK? That's what I'm trying to avoid, if possible. Thanks for your post, please let me know