I found it again! I wanted to add two things.

Our Bangkok Chinatown hotel was only about two blocks from the river - Grand China Princess. It's midway on the river between the Wat stops and the Oriental.

Why are you buying your tickets now? We went in November, bought our tickets in Sept when the prices went down. I wish I could remember how much we paid, but I feel like it was $1500 for the two of us. Definitely not more than that. I feel like prices were much higher before the United fare sale. (They fly out of San Fran as well to Tokyo.)

We didn't shop so that may affect the releventness (word?) of my answers.

gnr :D

Off-topic: Where do you find the smiley symbol codes? Is there a "help" for using the forum?

Note that the 500 Baht departure tax is only for international departures, not domestic.

We had to pay between Ko Samui and Bangkok.

The tax was also true in Siem Reap.

gnrbernstein

Thanks for your tips. In the process of planning this, we have decided to go to Krabi instead of Ko Samui so I won't be able to take your pictures for you, but I bet tons of people on this forum have them.

I'm not buying tickets just yet, but am trying to focus in on the most comfortable way to get there. The Evergreen service on Eva air looks appealing. Cheapskate that I am, I'm just trying to find a way to get some FF miles out of it!

Offwego- what FF plan are you a member of? You can ceretainly get FF miles for the whole trip on Continental. Its not being a cheapskate-just a smart shopper!

BillT

Continental is a good option for accruing the miles, but the prices are pretty high, when compared to the prices on Eva Air.

I've been in touch with your agent Bunnie and I think she's going to be able to help me get what I want. Can't thank you enough for the referral.

Lori

Greetings!

My husband and I were on our honeymoon recently (January 2004) - just around the same time you will be going next year. We started in Bangkok and then Koh Samui, Phuket, Chiang Mai and back to Bangkok. It was the most amazing time ever (and we are quite the travelers as well). We stayed at the Zazen Bungalows in Koh Samui and highly recommend the beachfront bungalow (get #2). All the staff were so nice and accomodating and the food at their restaurant was so presentable and delicious! Everything is "open air" so you constantly felt like you were being wined and dined right on the beach. I have to admit it was very romantic (quiet, secluded, relaxing), but we didn't mind it because we were on our honeymoon after all! Towards the end of our Koh Samui stay, the winds did start to pick up (monsoon season) so keep that in mind when you're planning your itinerary. Once we got to Phuket, it was all calm and beautiful once again.

You will love The Peninsula in Bangkok. It is amazing that you can live like "King and Queen" there - it's a great feeling to see your money go a real long way!

Enjoy your trip! Let us know if you have any more questions...