First time to Bangkok.
 

Hi. I am headed to Bangkok for the first time in August and would love some help. How is the weather in late August? Is it raining all the time? Has anyone flew Thai Airlines? Has anyone booked through an airline consolidator company for inexpensive tickets? What is the going rate for r/t tickets? Any decent hotels around the $50-75 range in central Bangkok? How far is it to and from the airport? What is the current exchange rate? Thanks.

I flew Thai Airlines from Tokyo to Bangkok (around a 7 hour flight) and on several domestic flights within Thailand. I was very impressed, the service on the flight from Tokyo was excellent, better than the service on JAL from Chicago to Tokyo. The staff was constantly walking down the aisles with glasses of water and juice (even when most passengers were sleeping, but it wasn't disturbing to anyone). The seats weren't as comfortable as those on JAL, which I found to be more comfortable than most other airlines.<BR><BR>From the airport, it took us about 45 minutes to get to our hotel (The Peninsula, which wasn't very far from one of the highways.) Some of the more central hotels would take longer due to the traffic problems.<BR><BR>I booked our flight at Expedia, but I did use www.onetravel.com last year for a trip to Turkey and Greece. I was very happy with them.<BR><BR>The current exchange rate is right at about 44 baht to 1 USD. www.oanda.com has a currency convertor and a cheat sheet you can print.

I flew Thai Air and found the staff to be the friendliest that I have travelled with.<BR><BR>Weather in Bangkok during August will be on average hot, humid and rainy. But don't let that put you off !<BR><BR><BR>http://www.bangor.ac.uk/~fos007/fb2b.htm<BR><BR>

Bangkok is a dirty smoggy place that is interesting enough for a few days but Thailand has so many nice places to visit. Visit the mountains of northern Thailand or the beaches of the south.

Francis - try www.pacificdelighttours.com for some great prices. We were able to get round trip tickets LA to Bangkok plus 5 nights hotel (Amari Atrium Hotel) for $555. Our add on from Minneapolis was only $60 and the flight is on Northwest Airlines. Taxes ran about $50. The cheapest air alone I could find out of Minneapolis was close to $1000. We are also earning almost 18,000 frequent flyer miles, which is very close to a free continental US flight. We're not leaving until March 13, so I can't give specifics about how it was, but so far we are extremely pleased.

I'm not sure what your taste in travel is like but an excellent hotel in Banglamphu is the Viengtai. They have a website which is easily accessed thru google.com. I go to Bangkok every year and I do agree that it does take getting used to....But, if you're the type who hates snotty hotels and high-priced neighborhoods, then the Viengtai and the Khaosan district is a lot of fun. It's also walking distance to the water taxi which is an inexpensive and enjoyable way of getting around the city.

I second Tim's recommendation. <BR>Tim -- I hope you enjoy your trip as much as I did. I took the exact same package you did at the same price and was really thrilled with it. If Paul is your "local host" (guide), we thought he was excellent.