Oh, I see you already have Siem Reap in your original itinerary. Sorry. Just go to BA website and check out the routes for the discovery pass. You have to book it outside of thailand by phone at home. Have fun!

I have not used the discount airlines but Bankok airways took us to 5 destinations in Thailand in our last 2 trips and all went smoothly. Any delays were clogged air traffic at the old airport. The service was very good though smple. When we were spending so much money for a 3 or 4 week trip an extra $300 tops can take some strss out of your travels. On this Board and Lonely Planet I have read about some major issues with Asia Air.

Tania-resist the urge to do everything. Asia is best seen at a leisurely pace. I suggest that you priortize the things you want to do, block out the time for them (be realistic, travel is at least 1/2 day between locations) and then see whether you have any time left. You may not. You may have to skip something or somewhere. Don't worry, you are likely to be drawn back to Asia very soon. By my count, you have 26 days on the ground. This is enough time to see BKK, CM, MHS, Elephant Center and KS if you're doing K as a day trip.

Take a look at weatherbase.com for likely rainfall. August will be rainy in several of your destinations. However, many of the posters have gone then and reported having a wonderful time.

GPanda,

I'm reconfiguring my itinerary (cutting the 4 days in Kanchanaburi, making it an added one day trip from BKK.) So as I see it, if I follow my schedule, allowing for half a day travel from point to point, then (apart from the mahout course at The Elephant Conservation Center) I'll have an evening, three full days and a morning in Bangkok, Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai and Siem Reap, followed by 6 full days in Koh Samui.

That's KIND of liesurely, no? Or is that amount of time at each place, in your judgement, rushed? PLEASE ADVISE!!

I do not think that you're schedule will be too hectic. It seems to have enough time in each location.

As an aside, you might give some thought to reducing the beach time in KS. The beaches are wonderful and beautiful, but they are just beaches. The other locations are really special. For instance, if you're an urban person, BKK might have an added day. If you're a ruins person SR might get an extra day. These places can be magical. They pull us back, year after year.

I would reduce your time at Koh Samui by one more day and add it to Bangkok since you will be spending one day out of the city doing a day trip to Kanchanaburi.

I'm completely open to cutting my Koh Samui time, but my inclination is to take GPanda's advice and rethink this--and prioritize the things I want to do. And one of my priorities is getting out of the city, the crowds and the smog.
This trip is going to be very much about photography for me (I sell some of my work).
That said, I think for both the experience and the images, my best bet is to extend Siem Reap to 5 days. My gut tells me I'd be way happier there than in BKK.

This thread, by the way, has been SO helpful to me in that it's allowed me to (with all of your collective wisdom) rethink and begin structuring the timelines of what I know will be the trip of a lifetime.

So as it stands, I think this is as close to a final itinerary as I'm gonna get!

Arrive night of Aug 2
Aug 3,4,5 - Bangkok w/day in Kanchanaburi
Aug 6 - Fly to Mae Hong Son via Chiang Mai
Aug 7,8,9 - Mae Hong Son
Aug 10 - Fly to Chiang Mai
Aug 11,12,13 - Chiang Mai
Aug 14,15,16 - Elephant conservation Center
Aug 17 - Fly to Siem Reap
Aug 18,19,20,21,22 - Siem Reap
Aug 23 - Fly to Ko Samui
Aug 24,25,26,27,28 - Ko Samui
Aug 29 - Bangkok
Aug 30 - Fly back to Toronto

I think this is WAY better than my first itinerary....

If you want to avoid cities, don't extend your time in bangkok. However, I would only extend your time in Siem reap if you are very interested in archeology and temples. If you are you will find plenty to do; if you aren't -- are more into markets, people and scenery-- I would limit your time to the 4 days you now have and add the day to Fern Resort in MHS or someplace else in northern thailand.

You might want to have Tong take you to her secret place, a fishing village with lunch on a house in the bay. She can be reached at TourwithTong.com . There will be many opportunities for pictures.

Glorialf,
I might just fly straight home from Koh Samui, and bypass Bangkok all together. Apparently, there are direct flights from Koh Samui to Hong Kong,so it would be totally do-able.

GPanda,
I'd already looked up tourwithtong.com after seeing mention of her in another post, but noted that the site was under construction. I'd bookmarked it, and will check its status as I get closer to summer.

Tong's website has been under construction for ages now, but she's fully booked months and months in advance. If you are interested in her being your guide, you had better contact her sooner rather than later. tourwithtong at yahoo dot com.

Thanks, Kim. I'm on it!

When you're in Ko Samui, you may want to visit Koh Phangnan. Thong Pan Noi beach there is considered one of the best in the country. I think you will get lots of great photo opportunities on the north side of that island.

I thought I had finalized my idea for the perfect Thailand vacation - and now I hear about Kanchanaburi. How far is that from Bangkok (how long to drive there?) and what is there to see and do there? Is that where I could go to the tiger temple and fishing village - I think I am getting myself confused.

I currently have 4 days in Bangkok - 3 days Golden Triangle and 3 days in Chiang Mai. Final destination is Hong Kong for 3 days, from where I will fly home. I have one full travel day between each destination so I don't think I'll be rushed.

Finally, I was planning on Four Seasons Golden Triangle, but have been reading a lot about Anantara. Does anybody know how those two compare?

Any comments about Kanchanaburi would be appreciated. Is a day trip there ok or do I need to stay overnight? Any comments about Anantar compared to 4 Seasons GT would be appreciated.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Tania,

Fly direct from Toronto to SF or LAX, so that you can take Thai Air's nonstop flight to BKK (it's 18 hours west & 14.5 hours east)... forget about stopping in Hong Kong. You can put the miles on United Mileage Plus. Thai Air International is one of the best carriers in the world, lovely service & decent food. If you have the $ upgrade to Premium Economy, the outbound is only $198pp. Their flight leaves LAX @ 9:30 PM which gets you into BKK @ 6:40 AM... and if you want to fly immediately up north or a beach resort on Thai Air, you can check our bags in LAX through to HKT (Phuket).

I agree with cutting down Kanchan. to a day visit (with Tong or one of her associate guides) from BKK.

I'd caution you to consider a different beach resort island than Koh Samui... because it's so overbuilt with hotels & many beaches are polluted. It's also a terrible time of the year, diving/snorkel-wise to visit the Gulf of Thailand... the water is not clear due to storms. If you are set on the Gulf of Thailand, think about Koh Tao instead. If you're interested in the west coast of Thailand... think about Khao Lak (Posiden Bungalows) or even to the much less visited southern provinces.

There are other things to do in the Siem Reap area besides view temples; the landmine museum, teaching English at a school or helping one of the local charities that guide Ponheary Ly, guide Leng Tek (Little Angeles near temple Preah Ko) or one that the owners of (terrific boutique hotel) Journeys-Within is aligned with. Taking a day's excursion out to the Preak Toal Bird Sanctuary (it's a 1.5 hour each way boat ride in the dry season, so the wet season is probably 2 hours each way) to see birds that are found nowhere else in the world... there is also another bird sanctuary that is reached via car that involves climbing trees to sit in blinds to watch birds... and of course driving out into the countryside to see the remote temple of Koh Ker (which may not be accessible in Aug. due to the rains) which takes 3 hours each way or Beng Melea which takes 2 hours each way. So, your wish to spend more time in REP is a good idea. Artisan's d'Angkor is the school where they learn traditional carving & handicrafts.

If you have extra days, why not visit the Isaan Region? It's in NE Thailand... and probably the least touristed area. In wet season you can fly to Udon Thani from BKK or Chiang Mai, get a shuttle to the Mutmee Guest House, which is on the Mekong River, near the Friendship Bridge that leads into Laos & then rent a car & drive to the surrounding national parks, which will have beautiful waterfalls that time of year. The Isaan region was once conquered by the Khmer, so there are many temples, also cave paintings & interesting geological formations.

NE Thailand is very different from northern Thailand... there are different ethnic groups, different food (very spicy) & you will be in an area that very few tourists visit.