need some itenary help
 

We (2 senior couples with age range of 60-72) will be on a short 12 day visit to Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Siem rep (Angkorwat)in late January early February 2009. After reading Fodor's forum we have gotten the courage to try to arrange this entire trip on our own. Hope this works out.

Would welcome help from the readers for making the arrangements for good (english speaking) local travel guides/drivers in each of the three cities. We would prefer to have an A/C car for the four of us if that is available and preferred for the sight seeing in these places. Any comments?

Based on what I have learned on this board we plan to buy 4-coupon Discovery air pass from Bangkok air. Any input on that process would be welcome. Does another airline offer a similar air-pass which is good for these 3 cities?

We plan to spend 5 nights in Bangkok, 3 nights in ChiangMai and 4 nights in Siem Rep, in that order. We would arrive in BKK from USA and at end of this trip return to USA from BKK.

With regard to the hotels... thinking of ..Shangri La in Bangkok, Chiang Mai Plaza in Chiang mai, and Angkor Century resort in Siem Rep. Any input on how to get the best deals for these hotels.

Also which is a mid range hotel at (or near) Suvernabhumi airport (with shuttle service ??) for a one-night stay when making a early morning flight connection.

thanks in advance for your inputs.

abof

I think you will certainly enjoy your trip! Don't worry a bit about arranging by yourself...you'll get plenty of help here.

Your time division sounds good.

We have used Tong for a guide in Bangkok, and loved her. www.tourwithtong.com Another recommended driver but not guide is Ratt...maybe someone else has her details.

In Siem Reap, we had the pleasure of having both Ponheary and her brother Dara as our guides...both excellent, lovely family. ponheary at yahoo dot com

Bangkok Air is your only choice for flying between Bangkok and Siem Reap. I thought they also had a flight between Chiang Mai and Siem Reap...but I can't pull that up now...maybe someone else can help out with that.

Since your international flights are via Bangkok, you might do 3 days on arrival and 2 days prior to departure in BKK to avoid any stress about making your connection to go home.

Shangri-La is very nice, especially the Krungthep Wing. The regular wing is undergoing renovation, and I am not sure of the completion date...something to consider.

The Chiang Mai Plaza in Chiang Mai is a hotel that I really do not care for. It is a concrete high rise, with a quite nice lobby and quite less than average rooms. It is used by many group tours, and is fine for the money, but is just not special in any way. You might look at Yaang Come Village right next door, Manathai, Baan Orapin, Tamarind Village...there are many more nice places in every budget. Maybe take some time to browse the listings and photos on www.sawadee.com.

In Siem Reap, we stayed at the Victoria Angkor and loved it. Wonderful staff, fantastic pool, great bar for afternoon/evening cocktails and snacks, good food in restaurant. We'd go back there.

For early morning flights, it isn't much to get to the airport from a Bangkok hotel. We stay at the Peninsula, and leave there are 4:00 am for a 6:00 am international flight without problems. There is a Novotel at the airport that is convenient, but others are a drive away that makes them almost the same timewise as the city hotels at that time of day, but they are not as nice.

Just want to second Kim's recommendations for guides. I would contact both of them ASAP as they book up quickly!! For Chiang Mai, I would recommend Sgt. Kai (http://www.chiangmaitours.com/about.html).

the two guides i prefer are cherry ([email protected]) and tong--as above for bangkok and around....cherry will also go to chiang main with you and can arrange SR guide....

dara, ponheavy's brother, is very popular with tourists...

i have a restaurant listing for bkk if you wish to recive it, ask me:

[email protected]
i will be updating it after july 1 when i return to usa...

for hotels in bkk may i suggest the marriott resort and spa as our overall favorite---we are 64, btw...

the peninsula is also a favorite...they are having special pricing at the moment i believe---look at the penn web site and watch for the specials at the top...

we stayed a couple of weeks ago at the plaza anthanee and it was quite nice...

generally we prefer river locations, especially for first timers....it gives you a real essence of bkk....

all cars will be a/c...
with 4 of you a van would be better...it costs more but believe me you will want the extra room in sticky bkk and thailand in general...

may i suggest you split bkk at the beginning and end of your trip, doing the touring at the end of the trip....it will take you a couple of days to adjust once you arrive...imo, 4 nites in CM is toooooo many---3 would be better adding another day to bkk..

i just read that you are interested in the shangri-la and that is a great choice...right next to the skytrain....make sure you join their FF club for extra privledges like late check out and probably a better room.....you may even get free or reduced price breakfasts which are excellent there btw....

i would stay in the city and skip the airport hotel---the only decent hotel there is the novotel...it took us only 30 minutes to the airport twice in the last two weeks...stay in town, have a good dinner and get AOT or AAC limo to drive you to airport...worth the extra money....AOT is the official airport limo service...available in the baggage pick up area of the airport...cost about 1000B....$30..best money you will spend especially on arrival...

And BRAVO for doing it yourself.

Thanks for your inputs

KimJapan - I did not mention in my initial post that we arrive in Bangkok via Sydney (a 2-week stop), so the jet lag may not be a big issue..Stll will think of splitting our Bangkok stay.

Thanks for comments about Shangri-La and other hotel suggestions for Chiang Mai. Will check them out on the site you suggest. Does anyone know how long the SL renovation is going to last? By the way, we would like a room with either two doubles or a king size bed. how do I do that? The Asiarooms web site does not display that option.

Will try to contact Tong shortly. Do you have any idea how much a A/C van with driver plus guide may run in Bangkok?

jgg -- thanks for your input. I just found your earlier post (thread..?? per Fodorites..??) of your recent family trip earlier this year. Found it very informative and helpful. Will contact Sgt Kai. Suppose he would know which of the good elephant camps are near Chiang Mai.

After reading your posts have decided to add Kanchaburi side trip for tiger temple and River Kwai bridge. Since you did not go, do you have any suggestions about Ayutthaya? Was it because not worth or because you lacked the time? It would another 1-day side trip, I think.

rhkkmk-- Thanks for input on tour guides. Will check Pen for any special rates for Jan/Feb 2009 when they are displayed. What type of Van are you suggesting? A mini van or something else? Any idea how much such a Van + driver may cost?

In your opinion is Auytthaya trip worth consideration? Or nothing much different or new there? let me know your thoughts. All of us interested in historical as well as natural beauty.

Dogster -- thanks for the vote of confidence. How come no other input on this trip? I have read some of your good and very informative comments (on Fodor's) when we were considering a trip to Nepal. May still do it but not till late next year.

Any way hope to hear some more ideas and inputs from you and others. And thank you again.

We chose not to do Auytthaya because most people on this board did not think it was worth trying to fit in, particularly if we were also headed to Siem Reap, which we were.

There are rates on Tong's website www.tourwithtong.com for costs with an a/c van. She is very reasonable. But, as I said, I would contact her ASAP as she will book up, even that far in advance. If you haven't booked your airfare yet, you might even want to contact her to see when she is available so you can plan your trip around that, (yes she is that worth it!!)

Ahhh, you don't need my input here - you're already surrounded by experts. There's SO much on these three places in the forums - as I'm sure you've noted - that your only difficulty will be what to choose. Which is all part of the fun of doing it yourself.

You may not have seen this report that snuck in under the radar a few weeks back. 'Trip Report: Thailand May 2007' It's a [somewhat belated] honeymoon trip report that I just loved with lots of detail and some excellent restaurant reviews. [I've just found their blog - www.hitherandthither.net ]
So let me add that to the mix.

I'll be watching your progress and supporting from the side - I'm using all my energy savaging Indian travel agents at the moment [heh - see 'Trip to India in December Booked!']

KimJapan and JGG

what has been your experience about how fast does Tong normally reply to your e-mails?

3 days back I sent an e-mail to Tong via her web-site (but not yet a reservation request) giving her an outline of our stay in that area, the date of our arrival in BKK (airline, etc) plus the breakdown of our planned stay in each city. (i.e. how many nights in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Siem rep).

I asked her on which days (out of total 12 ) she was free and available for conducting tours for us. I was looking for her input and/or suggestions and recommendations about BKK sight seeeing before we book our hotels as well as the Discovery air pass.

Guess I will wait one more day and if no reply then fill out a temporary tour reservation request. May be she responds only to such requests.

Have you or anyone have had such a difficulty making contact with her in the past?

Tong get many, many e-mails and with the schedule she keeps she has trouble keeping up with them. You might send it again.

Yes, persistence is the name of the game here with Tong. She gets TONS of e-mails. Plus, she is extremely busy, usually out with her clients from 7am - 7pm, 7 days a week. I would just send her another e-mail. I never communicated with her through the reservation page, but only by e-mail. Although, one time she had trouble getting my e-mails from my regular address, so I started to use my yahoo.com address and then she got them.

Abof - My husband and I (53 & 66) will also be in Thailand for 3 weeks late January/early February. We are working on an itinerary now - similar to yours, except that we are not sure we will have time to do Siem Rep, as much as we would like to.

We are contemplating renting a car - possibly in Ayuthaya or Sukothai and then driving towards Chiang Mai & Chiang Rai. Any thoughts from anyone on driving outside of Bangkok on your own?. The other alternative is to use a combination of train, guides and possibly a return flight.

Any thoughts on places not to miss outside of Bangkok or what should be avoided?

All recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Thanks - June