Thai Itinerary/Hotel, 1st-timer family
 

Hi Folks,
I’ve lurked and learned much from this wonderful forum. Would love to hear your advice on following ‘unorthodox’ itinerary to 'sample' Thailand, and to hear your hotel suggestions/comments. It’s a first trip to Asia for me and my 3 teen daughters, ages 13, 15, 17, and am using nearly 500K Delta Skymiles for Business Class seats for what we hope is a trip of a lifetime, but on a moderate sized budget (would prefer 3-star with AVERAGE daily Thai hotel cost below $80-$90)

July 20 Arrive BKK just after midnight. Freshen up at Amari Airport, take 6am BangkokAir flight to Koh Samui. Two days & nights Koh Samui to decompress, get used to time zone, see the next Phuket. We prefer one large room/bungalow rather than 2 adjoining. Can a triple fit us? Any suggestions for hotels/bungalows with large ‘family’ room able to hold 2 doubles and a rollaway or cot?

Return to BKK on Bangkok Air, spending 4-5 days & 4 nights in Bangkok doing the normal things (except no River Kwai). Was recommended hotels Asia-Bangkok, Amari-Sumkumvit, and Mandarin. Does anyone know if they have large rooms able to sleep 4 (in 2 beds + a rollaway or sofabed)? Any other hotel suggestions? Suggestions for favorite drivers (other than Rat)?

Fly to Ubon Ratchathani on Thai Air, using 1st leg of a Discover-Thailand trio. Spend 2-3 days and 2 nights at a hotel there or maybe Kong Jiam, hiring driver to take us to Baan Goom village, Chong Mek Laos/Thailand border market, and crossover into Cambodia to see Khao Phra Viharn Khmer temple complex (older, less-touristed version of Angkor Wat?). Any hotel suggestions? Has anybody been to Phra Viharn? Risk for my darling daughters?

Fly to Chiang Mai via Bangkok on 2nd leg of Discover-Thailand, spending 5 days and 5 nights to do the regular things, including elephant camp/rides, tribal village, night bazaar, day trip to Sukothai, etc. Was recommended hotel Chiang Mai Plaza, but don’t know how they’d handle 4 in same room. Any suggestions for places in town with family rooms?

August 2 evening fly to BKK and depart just past midnight to home in Atlanta, via Seoul (12-hour layover), and Maui+Waikoloa (6-day decompression and $$ teen bribe).

Sorry so long and so many questions. Thanks again for any comments, suggestions, advice.
Jim

For Ubon there are 2 hotels that I would like to recommend - Laithong hotel and Tohsang hotel. Both these hotels are in the middle of the city.

Since there are 4 of you I would recommend the junior suite(2 rooms - 1 bed room and 1 sitting room with 1 and 1/2 baths) at the Laithong hotel(sort of like a business type hotel). I've gotten the room for as little as 2,200 baht($55) a night with breakfasts. On average the room for locals will cost around 2,500 baht a night. A regular room there will cost around 1,100 baht and if you get a connecting room this might be your best option. The hotel is clean with cable TV and only about 5 minutes from the airport.

The other hotel, the Tohsang is more of a family type hotel. They actually have another hotel on the bank of the Mekong river bordering Loas. They have recently refurbished their suites but I'm not sure of the rate.

There are a few other hotels in Ubon, Nevada, Ubonrat etc but I wouldn't recommend them.

For the other cities I'll leave that to the other regulars here.

I certainly consider you a regular, Hanuman!

I have a couple of recommendations. First of all, the Amari airport hotel is ridiculously expensive for what you get. There are dayrooms in teh airport (though I've never used them) that are reasonably priced for such a short stay.

In Bangkok, you'll likely want adjoining rooms or a suite at a hotel. But why not consider a serviced apartment. Do a search on this board, as there are number of regulars here who have used them. The prices are very good and you'll get a lot of space for the price.

For your Chiang Mai segment, I suggest that you contact Sergeant Kai at ChiangMaitours.com. We used him last year and he was wonderful. We're using him this year for a 3 day trek for my son and his wife. In addition to settingh up any activities/tours, he can probably give you a very decent price on lodging that will fit your needs.

Dear Hanuman, Kathie, and Gpanda,

Thank you all for your speedy replies--I will follow-up on all of them. In general for best hotel rates would you recommend I book hotels thru a local, e.g. SargentKai in Chiang Mai, or use one the common web-based hotel sites?

Does anyone know anything about Khao Phra Viharn Khmer temple?

Thanks,
JayKayTee (Jim)

Having done a lot of traveling with husband and 2 teen girls (most recently in Bangkok & Tokyo this past december, I think you are going to be very unhappy if you try to cram yorself and 3 teen age girls into triples.

Thailand is hot and dirty...you are going to go crazy waiting for the bathroom and the rooms will really warm up fast with all of you in there!

You mention going to Maui as a decompression...I think after 14-15 days in Thailand that they will be ready to go home. Maui will just delay this and cost more for those six days than the entire Thailand portion.

Instead, I'd spring for more spacious accomodations in Thailand and save Maui for another trip.

Two separate hotel rooms in Thailand are often much cheaper than junior suites. Get adjoining rooms if you are worried about security... Your girls will love having their own space.

As Kathie recommended, a serviced apartment can meet a lot of your needs at a lower price. They usually have some sort of kitchen and the buildings are often run like a hotel.

Whatever you choose, have a great time in Thailand!

Since lcuy raised the issue, let me second it: Maui will cost you more than Thailand. For a few dollars more, you can live in absolute luxury in Thailand. And I agree, do rent two rooms or a large suite or apartment. If your daughters want beach, add a few days at the beach to Thailand, or a second beach resort. (By the way, I'm not sure what you mean by seeing the "next Phuket" as Koh Samui is as built up as Phuket is.) Your daughters will no doubt be stunned by the shopping opportunities in Thailand. Let them order their own custom-made clothing in Bangkok, for instance, for less than the off the rack price in the US.

The similarities between Angkor and Phra Viharn is that they were all built by the Khmer civilization. Angkor has several dozen temples over a wider area, Phra Viharn is MUCH smaller. It's also very hard to get to, as it's on the Thai/Cambodian border and there are frequently disputes about whether you can enter from Thailand or not. If you are really interested in the temples, visit Angkor Wat. SInce the status of whether you can actaully get to Phra Viharn changes frequently, you'd need a local source to let you know the status once you were there. Hanuman may know what the current status is.

As far as risk is concerned, I expect that area of the Thai/Cambodian border is malarial risk. I assue that you and your family will consult with a travel medicine clinic before going to get all of your immunizations up to date and to consider the issue of anti-malarials.

On the issue of booking, you can probably do best in BKK on your own. I'd suggest picking a hotel or two by pricew and location and try several different services or even directly through the hotel. However, hotels are generally so cheap compared to the US or Europe, there's little reason to try to squeeze out an extra $10-$20 pernight in savings. In CM, using Sergeant Kai may give you extra insight to matching your needs. Also, you may want to go on a trek and will not need an in-town hotel.

Skip Maui. Thailand can be amazingly relaxing, if you free yourself from the need to cover all the bases. If you're like us, you'll be back soon anyway.

JayKayTee
I am posting as someone who has stayed in Bangkok in three different serviced apartemtns (besides some of the city's finest hotels). I have stayed in a very basic, no swimming pool, but very clean and near shopping and skytrain place with two bedrooms, to two very nice highrise apartment buildings, with swimming pool and gym, but in locations not quite so close to shopping and transportation.

I agree that our girls are going to LOVE the shopping in Bangkok!! You should give yourself plenty of time there for such activities. Also, I really think your girls would enjoy taking in a movie at the EGV Gold Class Theater at the Siam Discovery mall. This theater is unlike anything in the states!!! ONly 30 seats, and each one is a Lazyboy recliner, complete with pillows and blankets and footies and a little table for your popcorn and soda. It's an amazing theater.

I understand that bowling is also a real kick in Bangkok. Try the lanes at Mah Bon Krong (MBK) shopping mall! You get your shoes from a "shoe-ser" machine!!! What a hoot! My son has been bowling a number of times and always has a great time doing so in BKK.

Back to apartments... if you need a nice pool and two bedrooms and a kitchen, livingroom, two baths, nice TV, modern appliances, try the Grand President on Sukumvit soi 11. You have to walk down a busy narrow street (soi) to get to the skytrain, but once you get to the skytrain, you can get to Bangkok's best shopping venues very easily.

I have also stayed at a place called the Omni Towers. It also has nice apartments with two bedrooms, nice pool, and gym. But the location is not as handy as the Grand President, and the location on soi 4 would not be as family friendly for teens... and the walk to the skytrain station has a couple of turns.

I am sure Grand President can be found on a BKK hotels website, but at this time I would have to research which one. I really think Grand President would be a great choice for you though, and I'm sure it would not be a s costly as two hotel rooms!

Carol

Don't want to be a wet blanket but I've stayed at Mandarin in Bangkok and would not recommend it. Plenty of other better places. Have a great time. Cheers!

Kathie,

I'm currently in Beverly Hills, CA on a business trip so I can't really help out here. If you would like to know what shop has a sale sign posted on Rodeo drive then I can help!

I stayed at the Chiang Mai Plaza -- they may have suites but two rooms would probably be cheaper. You might also consider Baan Orapin which is a boutique B & B and has suites as well as a house for very little money.