Planning a trip with my sister
 

Hello.
My sister will be turning 50 in November and wants to have a all out celebration! She wants to plan a trip to Bangkok for 4 days then travel to Phuket for 3-4 days. Does anyone know the best way to travel back and forth?

The easiest way to travel from Bangkok to Phuket and vice versa is by air. There are a number of airlines to choose from, from full-service airlines like Thai Air to budget airlines like Air Asia.

You will be flying in and out of bangkok. the best way to set out the itinerary is;

2 days-BKK
4 days-Phuket
2 days-BKK

Thai Air, Bangkok Air and Air asia (cheaper) all fly between BKK and Phuket.

If you give us a per night budget, we will be glad to give suggestions for hotels in BKK and Phuket.

BTW, the weather in November will be great in BKK and Phuket. We've been six times in November with great weather each time.

from some places in asia you can fly directly to phuket... you don't say where you are coming from, but generally you arrive in bkk first and then move on to phuket....i would suggest you move quickly to phuket upon arrival and then return to bkk at the end..

air asia is easy and cheap

The only problem with the 2/2/2 itinerary is that my sister wants to be in Bangkok for the weekend market.
That is why she is thinking flying into Bangkok for 4 days and then to Phuket for the other 3-4.

That's alright just store all your purchases from the weekend market at the BKK airport. On your return flight from Phuket just pick them up and fly home. If you do choose to fly home immediately I would fly with Thai Airways for the Bangkok - Phuket - Bangkok flights. They will be more reliable and perhaps you can check your bags from Phuket to your final destination as well.

How concerned should I be about the civil unrest in Bangkok? We are planning our trip in October/November time frame.

It's waaaaay to early to be worried about the unrest in Bangkok. Watch and wait, but I expect things will be significantly different in 6 months.

It's always worthwhile to keep up with developments there. Watch the active threads here on the situation.

Just bear in mind that November is the last month of the rainy season in Phuket. So you may have more cloudy days than sunny days, esp. if your trip is more toward the beginning of the month. While you won’t have days/hours of downpours like you would have in the summer months, you can have some rain and of course just cloudy days. It’s also windy as the monsoon is moving out of the area. This can make snorkeling and diving more difficult as currents are stronger. (And of course clouds make the coral much less colourful.) As long as you are OK with the possibility of clouds and some rain, then Phuket would be fine in November. Just know what to expect. See weatherbase.com and other weather websites.

I agree that without knowing where you are coming from, it’s hard to give routing advice. If you can tell us your home airport, we may be able to give better routing suggestions. It’s good to know that you want to include the weekend market, so you can plan around that.

I would not at this point worry about the unrest still continuing in November, but make sure air fares are refundable before you commit to a purchase, and check the rules on cancelling hotels if you have to pay in advance. Also look into trip insurance, although it may not cover civil unrest (read policies carefully). Refundable air fare (or a ticket you can use for up to a year after purchasing) and hotels which you can cancel with 3-7 days’ notice would be a better option, IMO. I think you would have some bargaining power with Thai hotels now to work these types of cancellation policies into any reservation, so even if it was not their policy in the past, they may agree to it for future or near-term bookings.

Tell your sister that 50 <u>is</u> fabulous.