lilladki

Hi,

My husband and I are arriving in BKK on Dec 23 at night and have not booked any domestic flights yet. We wanted to go to Chiang Mai (4 days), Phuket (4 days), Siem Reap (3 days) and Bali (5 days), and spend 4 days in BKK. I tried Bangkok Air's Airpass after reading a lot of posts here but it seems like most flights are booked since we are trying at the last minute. Also, it seems like Thai Airways is the only airline that goes to Bali, and they are VERY expensive. What can I do? Is there a Bangkok travel agent that anyone can recommend that can help me out? I have tried emailing Eddie at Seatours (again after reading the posts) but my emails keep bouncing back. Should I remove Bali altogether and just spend the 21 days in Thailand? Should I re-arrange my itinerary and add in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore instead of Bali? Please help! We will be leaving BKK on Jan 14.

Any help would be appreciated! Thank you.

Gpanda

You should book the flights as soon as possible. It will only get worse. First of all, Bangkok Air is the only carrier that flies BKK-SR. Therefore you should find these flights (BKK-SR and SR-BKK)and work around them. I would call Bangkok Air, find out when these flights are available and then try to book a Discovery Pass. If this does not work, book the BKK-SR and back flights anyway and then you can fill in the other flights with Thai Air or a discount carrier, e.g., Air Asia. Also, I suggest that you skip Bali this time and perhaps add Luang Prabang (Laos).

Scotters

I would agree with Gpanda and leave Bali for another time. Add the 5 days on to Luang Prabang (3) and Cambodia (2) for a visit to the capital Phnom Penh. The reason I suggest PP is that it is well worth 11/2 days to see another side of Cambodia as well as being able to get back to Bangkok in case all the flights back to Bangkok from Siem Reap are full. Bangkok Air has a special fare of $87 from here but you can also use discount Air Asia for $46. Here is what I might suggest providing there are available seats in some sections.

Dec 24 BK to CM using Bangkok Air or a discount airline such as 1/2 GO or Nok

Dec 28 CM to Luang Prabang - Direct flight with Lao Airlines

Jan 1 LP to Siem Reap - Direct flight with Lao Airlines. Siem Reap Airlines does this on certain days also.

Jan 5 Taxi or Bus to Phnom Penh. Taxi will cost about $45, bus $9 each. Time about 5-6hrs over a good road.

Jan 7 To Bangkok with either Bangkok, Siem Reap, Thai or Air Asia
To Phuket with a regular or discount airline

Jan 11 Back to Bangkok

Since you will be traveling in the peak season both airlines and hotel should be booked as soon as possible. As the discovery pass is good for flights on Siem Reap and Lao airlines, you might inquire about a pass for those sections.

BeniciaChris

Wow-you guys have me a little nervous. I am in the planning stages of a trip to Bali and Thailand October 2007.It looks as though there is a problem getting from one place to the other. I sure hope not. So far I have a timeshare in Bali October 13-20th. I have a timeshare in Pattaya October 20-27th.We are open at both ends for a longer trip,so that is not a problem. I also read about a 3 day trip on the River Kwai. Any help would be appreciated. [email protected]

Kathie

Benicia, your situation is entirely different from the OP. The OP is talking about a trip less than 6 weeks away at the highest season of the year. October is not high season in Thailand, so you won't have to deal with flights being as full. Nonetheless, I wouldn't wait to book flights intil 6 weeks before your trip.

BeniciaChris

Kathie-Thank you for your reply. I'll probably book in Dec or January. Not sure what airline at the moment as I like to upgrade and I need to see where my miles are. I have some Thai friends and they said EVA airlines has a class above coach that is comfy and not quite as expensive. I may go in and out of Thailand and do a round trip to Bali. In the research stage now. Thanks Chris

Kathie

A number of people on this board have posted about Evergreen Deluxe Class on Eva. It sounds like a good deal, and the reports have been positive.

MichaelBKK

Re getting to Bali - Thai is the only airline with a direct flight that I know of (there might be some fly-throughs from Europe). However, you can get to Bali through Singapore, going by either Singapore Airlines or Jet Star Asia (budget but nice).

Bali is quite torpid at that time of year, not to mention daily thunderstorms. So if it were me I'd leave it out and add Koh Chang or something like that instead.

jenskar

Lill
I've been trying to make SR/Bali work for weeks and the flights either get very complicated (in and out of Singapore) or expensive as you noted (Thai Air tonight was 29000 baht for 2 round trip/BKK to Bali). That plus Michael's comment re: thunderstorms has got me thinking that regardless of our hotel options in Bali, it seems to make more sense to leave it out and concentrate on Cambodia and Thailand, as I really want to get to Siem Reap before it gets any more developed than it is.
I'll be interested to hear what you decide. It does sound like you want some beach time. Check out Bangkok Air as I believe they have a flight to Phuket from Siem Reap -- which would cut out one flight if you went BKK to SR, SR Phuket, Phuket BKK.
We are now thinking:
Newark to Phnom Penh Jan 9 arr Jan 11
PP to SR via taxi Jan 13 or 14
SR to BKK 3 or 4 days in SR
Possible BKK to CM and back
return to NY Jan 23 or 24
And of course, am waiting to hear when Poheary is available, as she didn't have Jan 10th - 14th
I have been to PP but it was for work, so would like to go back and see the museum, wats, etc. I missed.