My fiance and I are thinking of Thailand for our honeymoon in late November. Not counting travel days, we will have about 9-10 days in Thailand. We would like to have some beach time and spend some time in Bangkok, preferably in that order.

I'm looking for recommendations on:

1. flights - we're flying from Austin, TX.

2. beach locations - from what I've read, the area near Phuket is better weather-wise that time of year. We are looking for someplace relatively non-touristy and low-key to relax for a few days after the wedding, nightlife isn't a priority.

3. travel agents - we've always arranged all of our own travel independently, and I'm comfortable doing the research to find good deals, but it would be more convenient if a reputable travel agent could get us the same deals and save us some time. Any recommendations?

Thank you!

My recommendation is to book it all yourself. It's easy to do and will save you money.

For beach, take a look at Phuket and Krabi. There are busier beaches and quieter beaches. If you can tell us how much you want to spend per night, we can offer suggestions. For hotel booking in Thailand, I usually use www.sawadee.com Browse through hotels on that site to get some ideas. Tax and service on hotels add 17% to Thai hotel prices, but sawadee (typically) has tax and service rolled into their price, and sometimes has breakfast as well.

For air arrangements, do you have a carrier you fly frequently? For flights this long, it's worthwhile to consider frequent flier miles (accumulating/using). You'll want to book international air as soon as possible. You can wait a while to book intra-Thai flights. While there are some flights into Phuket from places outside Thailand, most often, you'll have to go through Bangkok. I believe Cathay Pacific has a flight from Hong Kong to Phuket and that Singapore Air has a flight from Singapore to Phuket.

I would recommend Le Meridien Khao Lak which is a beautiful resort, great pools quiet location etc. The only downside is you would need to catch the shuttle into Khao Lak itself which is 10 km away for nightlife or alternative restaurants. Alternatively there is a little beach place that serves lunch on the beach not far from the resort or you could walk to the similiana or around the rocks to a few more beach restaurants and then taxi back. Great place, we have travelled to Ko Phangan, Phuket, Ko Smui, Krabi and we liked this location the best. I agree with the above post book it yourself if you can much cheaper.

For flights, take a look at Cheapair.com and Kayak.com. You can also play around to see if there are cheaper ways to go from LAX.

The beach hotel choice depends on your budget. There are some super hotels in Phuket or Krabi for $3-400 per night. There are some very good ones for $200 per night. We can advise.

Don't ignore Bangkok. It's a wonderful place and a trip to Thailand should sample some of its wonders.

We did our Thai honeymoon in late november also!

For the beach part, we went to Koh Chang and LOVED it! It is very low key, and not much nightlife.

From TX, AA usually has good fares thru NRT, but like Andy said, check kayak, or try itasoftware.com

we can send you pics of our trip if you like, just ask!

Jeffrey and April

Knowing your budget will help those giving recommendations tremendously!

we spent our honeymoon in thailand 2 years ago. i usually book things on my own, but actually ended up using a travel agent for that trip.

i found a travel agent who did not charge for trip planning, only got commission from what you booked through her. i also told her up front that i was going to be doing research & pricing it all out myself through the internet. she was able to get us a better overall price than what i was. (although this has not worked out the same way when using her to plan other trips we have since taken).

we spent a few days in phuket - staying at the le meridian. we did a private thai cooking class at sunset on a hilltop overlooking part of the city. i know it sounds cheesey -- but it was our honeymoon, & i really enjoyed the experience.

we then spent 2 nights on kho phi phi at the holiday inn. very nice hotel. it was on the far side of the island, so while it was all tourists, it was very quiet & relaxing. definately no nightlife at that particular hotel.

we also spent some time in bangkok & hong kong (our flight was through hong kong back to la, so we just stopped there for 2 nights instead of the 8 hour layover).

we did all of this in 10 days. it was definately a lot. we thought that since we were going so far, that we should try to see as much as possible. but remember to account for some jet lag (we did miss out on some bangkok nightlife b/c of this). and i think 3 places at the most for the 9-10 days would be good. we did 4, but we probably didn't need to do 2 different beaches.

oh - airlines. we flew cathay pacific from la. they sometimes have pretty good specials. you can sign up on their website for email alerts.

If you want lux on Phuket, take a look at Mom Tri's Villa Royale. It is very private, but also very expensive. The location is between Kata and Kata Noi beaches. The villas are not sitting right on the beach, but rather on a rocky outcropping overlooking Kata Noi. You can easily walk down the stairs to get to Kata Noi. Take a look at their web site at villaroyalephuket.com. The photo gallery brings back such great memories of staying there!!

I would recommend one of the villas with a name rather than the newer villa suites (although they are also very nice).

I've stayed in Dhama-Raksa, which is really HUGE and very quiet as it is the farthest from the pool and steps down to the beach. I've also stayed in the suite that sits right above the main pool, Fueng Fa is the name. Much smaller than Dhama-Raksa, but cozy and great view of the water!

The most expensive villa (Dao-a-Dung) is probably already booked, as it gets booked out a year in advance during the more peak season time. It has its own large private terrace.

Have fun planning your honeymoon!

Carol

i second the meridien khao lak...i was just there last month and it would be perfect for a honeymoon...

another alternative would be the amari vogue near to krabi...

K/L is a 1.5 hour drive from phuket airport

krabi has its own airport

look at air asia to get to both places...make sure you buy express boarding--lets you on the plane first--open seating...

as for transpacific---look at eva air from texas....look at thai from LA non-stop....all the regulars also: northwest, united....ANA must also have a flight through japan to bkk from the west coast...

Wow, thanks for all of your help! Budget-wise, we're thinking of an average of $200/night. If we splurge a little on one hotel, we can just make up for it on a different one.

We would like to go straight to the beach so we can relax and recover from the jetlag and wedding-lag for a few days. Right now it's looking cheaper to buy separate sets of tickets (ie AUS-LAX then LAX-stop-BKK), but we're not sure if it would be better for paying for the convenience of checking our bags straight through.

It seems like the best deals might be found booking it ourselves. I'm sure I'll be back with more questions soon. This board is great!

Whether you buy on one ticket from Austin to Bangkok made a couple of differences. First, as long as you aren't flying a budget airline (such as Southwest), the airlines will check your baggage all the way through to Bangkok or Phuket. But, if you hold separate tickets and there is a delay getting to your international gateway, you may be out of luck. If you've booked all the way through, the airlines will endeavor to get you to your destination even if they have to re-route you. Also, take a look at whether you save money by flying AUS-US gateway city-Asian refueling stop-BKK-HKT, then buy a Phuket back to Bangkok ticket separately, then your return, BKK-Asian refueling stop-US gateway city-AUS.

I did some quick searches thru itasoftware, and it looks like it is pricing out about $1,200 on AA, which is the cheapest. Thats aus-dfw-nrt-bkk, with the nrt-bkk on ANA metal. thats not too bad at all.

For $200 a night, you could get a nice beachfront bungalow on Koh Chang!

Good luck and have fun on the trip!

ANA is fantastic....i might try to fly them all the way from ny the next time, now that thai has folded on the ny flt.

Bob and I think a lot alike....

I am like the young,skinny, tattooed version of him!

Oh, my! What a visual image!

kathie...accent on skinny and youngish

LOL, Bob.