Thailand - Itinerary Review, Please

Old Oct 3rd, 2006, 03:00 PM
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Thailand - Itinerary Review, Please

Having recently returned from East Africa, our family of four (kids are 13 and 12) has been bit with the bug to start planning our next "big" vacation. Given all the great advice we relied on from fodorites to plan our Africa trip, I have hungrily read lots of the trip reports here before deciding to post a stab at an itinerary for March 2008 (yes, we plan or at least dream way ahead of time.)

We would have 13 or 14 nights in country. If it were up to DH, we would get in and out of Bangkok quickly because he does not enjoy congested cities but I have convinced him that Bangkok for a few nights is a must. Here is what I am thinking:

Bangkok - 3 nights. We love super modern,sleek hotels. Central location. Price not really an issue.

Early morning flight to

Siem Reap - 2 nights (Hotel de la Paix?)
Two full days of temples should suffice for us. Is this hotel the newest in the area?

Flight to Bangkok and switch to flight to

Chaing Rai - 3 nights at Four Seasons Tented Camp. We love to cook and entire family wants to do mahout training. This satisfies both and allows us to conjure up our Africa trip.

Flight to Bangkok and switch to flight to

Phuket or Krabi or ? 4 nights
We want to end with great hotel on the beach where we can relax, snorkel (we don't scuba), maybe go to Phi Phi for a day or do a day trip boat snorkeling.

By my current calculations, we can use Air Bangkok coupons and do all internal flights (including flight to Cambodia) for a total of $1,200.

Thoughts? The time of year and amount of time are fairly resolute. Our other options would be to go over Christmas/New Years when we might have another night or two but air fare and hotel rates tend to sky rocket. Please let me know if this is not the case with travel to Asia.

We like to try as much as possible to spend a minimum of three nights at a place so we don't feel we are constantly on the move, but I think two night in Cambodia will be enough unless we should eliminate Cambodia altogether.

Looking forward to everyone's comments!
AmyH is offline  
Old Oct 3rd, 2006, 03:41 PM
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I'm and early planner too...drives my husband nuts!

Your trip will be great. In Bangkok, we like the Peninsula Hotel. Our daughter (9 on Monday), in trying to convince me to reserve the Peninsula again instead of just as nice but less expensive options said, "But mom, the Peninsula just rocks." Enough said.

Bad news about the FS tented camp...no children under age 16 allowed. If you click on "policies" here http://www.fourseasons.com/goldentri...nd_suites.html you'll see that. Too bad, because it looks nice. An alternative might be the Anantara Golden Triangle, which people seem to like. BUT I have just had the most frustrating experience trying to reserve a mahout package there that I have actually changed my mind about going there and will return to the Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang instead www.changthai.com. It is far from luxurious, but we had a lot of fun there in December 2005.

I would spend more time in Siem Reap. 2 nights just won't do it all, or even come close. Hotel de la Paix is on our list. Check out www.theplf.org as well. We are going to Siem Reap in August 2007, for at least 6 nights, possibly more, depending on where else we finally decide on. It's HOT and you will want to sightsee in the early AM and enjoy the pool after lunch...you need more time to do everything you normally would do in such a hot place.

If you stay in Chiang Mai rather than the Golden Triangle, there is one non-stop per day in the morning on Thai Air to Phuket...we did this flight in Janauary, very convenient. We did 4 nights at Yaang Come Village, then 2 nights at the ECC in Lampang, then another night at Yaang Come Village (and we left our luggage there while we were at elephant camp). We found so much to do in Chiang Mai that my daughter and I are going back next summer after my husband returns to work (we get the extended vacation plan, yay!).

With 14 nights, I would do 3 places, maximum maximum four. We did 17 nights last time like this:
BKK 1 night (in late out early)
Chiang Mai 4 nights
Elephant Camp 2 nights
Chaing Mai 1 nights
Khao Lak 6 nights
BKK 3 nights

We found 6 nights in Khao Lak to be good...we could really relax into the place. Chiang Mai time including elephant camp was a week, and we wanted more time. 3 nights in Bangkok was OK, but a little short for us, and we'd already been there 3 times before.

Next trip will be
Singapore 3 nights
Siem Reap and/or Phnom Penh and/or Luang Prabang 10 nights total to work with, won't do more than 2 places
Bangkok 4 nights
Husband goes home
Chiang Mai 10 nights with 2 or 3 nights at elephant camp in Lampang included
1 final night in BKK before flight back to Japan

Be careful when pricing Bagnkok Airways coupons for the Discovery Pass, as the $90.00 international and $50.00 domestic price does NOT include the surcharge and tax, so the price is a good bit more....if I recall, the $90.00 coupon to Siem Reap ends up being $130.00 - $140.00 per person each way after tax and surcharge. So really, your round trip to Siem Reap for the 4 of you is going to be around $1100.00, not yet including your flights within Thailand. The price of the flights to/from Siem Reap and the fact that you only want to spend two days there makes me want to recommend that you skip it altoghter..doesn't make sense financially or logistically really.

Prices at Christmas and New Year are the highest of the year, but March isn't far behind as it is high season still. Would you have more time at Christmas? I would go at the time we had the most available time to get the max number of days, and not worry so much about the price difference between Christmas and March, as in many places it's not that big of a difference.
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Old Oct 3rd, 2006, 04:21 PM
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i will post more shortly, but the anantara at chiang saen might be an alternative to the 4 seasons.....there is a nice pool, a good cooking school and mahout training---all on the property....i'm guessing that you would need two rooms there....the rooms are nice, but not huge...more later after dinner
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Old Oct 3rd, 2006, 04:21 PM
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When you're in Chiang Mai...one of the most memorable things we did was spend a day with Lek at Elephant Nature Park.
http://www.elephantnaturepark.org

This woman has taken it upon herself to rescue elephants and also to provide working elephants in hilltribe villages with free veterinary care. The place is staffed by volunteers and the elephants live free on this land purchased and donated to Lek for this purpose. She is amazing and was the subject of a National Geographic documentary. You will interact with the elephants in a most humbling way, bathe them (if you wish), feed them, play with them, and yes, ride them--but bareback and sitting on their necks.

It was the highlight of our trip and is not to be confused with the other kinds of elephant places.

Please visit her website to understand what she does for the elephants and you will really want to visit them.
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Old Oct 3rd, 2006, 04:25 PM
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p.s. on Elephant Nature Park: You can do overnight trips there but it is VERY rustic as their main concern is the elephants and not human creature comforts.

Also, they will come and get you from your Chiang Mai hotel.

Do visit the website

http://www.elephantnaturepark.org
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Old Oct 3rd, 2006, 04:33 PM
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I don't know where you are travelling from but it sounds like the USA. You will need some time in Bangkok - 2 full days (3 nights) to adjust before heading onward. The Penn is modern and sleek and as centrally located for touring (but not shopping) as any.

You need 3 full days in Siem Reap. If you arrive early morning, you will still need 3 nights to achieve that. Don't rule out the Vietnamese floating village at Lake Tonle Sap and do check out visiting a school and making donations with Ponheary or someone else. The Hotel de la Paix is very new and THE place to stay. We loved it - it is very super modern, super sleek and perhaps totally over-the-top for Siem Reap.

The Anantara gets great reviews on this board. We have not been to the area since 2000 but there is much to do.

Beaches in Thailand are over-rated in my opinion - don't know if you did beaches in east Africa but we didn't think the beaches there were worth the bother either.
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Old Oct 3rd, 2006, 04:59 PM
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We had a wonderful time at the Anantara at the Golden Triangle. They have wonderful cooking classes, and the man who runs the elephant conservation center is really wonderful as well (Kim, so sorry you're having trouble setting up your mahout training.) The setting is lovely, the pool is very nice and they have a great spa.

I agree you really need at least three full days in Siem Reap. Hotel de la Paix is the one getting rave reviews these days.

It sounds like the Pen is the hotel of choice for you in Bangkok.

I'll let others comment on the beach issues.
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Old Oct 3rd, 2006, 05:02 PM
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If you want super modern in Bangkok then it's the Metropolitan Hotel. I have stayed there and loved it. Get a split-level suite which is great. In the suite,there's a diningroom area where they will serve your meals in your room.
Or go to the serviced apartment building that I live in and get a serviced apartment there. It's Emporium Suites. Take a look at the website....emporiumsuites.com. you'll love it there. Apartments with a park view,facing west, are my favorites. You can get a suite on the 42nd floor,jacuzzi on the terrace and overlooking the city for less than a room at a 5-star hotel. And the building is attached to the skytrain station and the Emporium Mall where there's a supermarket,foodcourt,shops,movie theater,etc. Happy Travels!
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Old Oct 3rd, 2006, 07:38 PM
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guen"s metro idea is good as is the westin on sukhumvit...it is sleek imo....i don't find the penn sleek....i find it traditional and up to date and lux and perfect...

if you cannot stay more than 2 nites in SR then i would take the 7PM flight out on the nite of day #3, thus giving you another full day...otherwise i could can it..

craig's comment about down time when you arrive is very important or it will ruin you trip...for day one and 1/2 of day 2 plan to laze around the pool---this is a good reason for the penn btw...

its a lot of moving around...each move will take a min. of 1/2 day and in some cases almost all day....too bad to waste so much time...i would dump the island stay and stay in bkk where there is a nice pool at the end of my trip, like the peninsula or the marriott resort and spa....
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Old Oct 4th, 2006, 11:57 AM
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Thanks for all the quick responses. I have some specific questions --
KimJapan - could you provide a little more detail on the accommodation at ECC? Did you spend one night out in the jungle with the ellies? The website seemed to indicate that was an option? What were the rooms like in terms of bathroom/shower etc. Did you do the two night/three day course or is one night/two days enough?
Anantara sounds like a very good option but have read reports that food is not that good? Any recent experiences?

Regarding the beaches, we actually regret not adding a few days to our Africa trip to chill out after our safari so we really would like to find a great resort on a great stretch of beach to relax for a few days. Ideally, it would be an hour or less from the airport, nightlife and town are irrelevant -- the hotel property and the beach are the key. Would love some suggestions as to which area -- Phuket v. Krabi v. ? and specific resorts.

Also, if someone wants to suggest a more active trip with a few days of trekking in the Chaing Mai area we would really be interested in that. We like to be active so it is likely that we may either omit Angkor Wat or actually leave the city of Bangkok itself for another time in favor of a more active vacation.
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Old Oct 4th, 2006, 12:48 PM
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Actually KimJapan, I just saw your thread on tips for ECC and that answered all of my questions regarding ECC. New question. Before you got frustrated with the folks at Anantara, did you get a quote for the mahout training at the resort?
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Old Oct 4th, 2006, 01:13 PM
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We didn't mind the accommodation at all at the ECC...it's not luxe but it is all you need except air con, which wasn't necessary in December but I suspect would be necessary at other times of year. We did the 2 night 3 day mahout training program, no nights in the jungle. The most recent price for that course is 8000 baht per person ($200.00 or a little more).

The Anantara has a Mahout Discovery Package that varies in price throughout the year. It is priced for adults and they say that children staying in the room with parents cost $90.00 for an extra elephant. I inquired about what that $90.00 included, and the reservations staff just could not answer my question. So I asked about rates for the package and got an answer, OK, then the price for the child kept changing, and at one point was an additional $57.50 per day extra ON TOP OF the full adult price. Now it appears to be worked out, no thanks to the manager or the reservations staff, but John Roberts (the elephant man there who patiently answered all of my questions and worked out the reservation problem for me) and we are paying the full adult price for 2 of us, me and my daughter. According to him, the 3 day mahout course there costs $250.00 per person without hotel. The package is $980.00 for 2 people, includes mahout training for 3 days, breakfast, and Hall of Opium pass and hotel for 4 nights. It's a more expensive option, but not by much when you consider the ECC is 1/2 the price for 1/2 the nights.

So now, we've decided to go to the Anantara, for the air conditioning, for the pool and spa options, for the beds with real mattresses. We will stay 5 nights though, to give us time to see something else around there.

The food at the Anantara....I've heard that it's good but expensive and not so good as well. We will probably eat there or figure out on our own how to get to Chiang Saen by local taxi/transport, as apparently the Anantara likes to keep guests there and is not forthcoming on that option and their price for transportation is very high. I hope we've made the right decision....at least we will be in a part of Thailand we've never been before.
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Old Oct 4th, 2006, 07:27 PM
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quite honestly the food at anantara is ok in the main dining room but quite good in the italian restaurant...the price is moderate...

you will not find it convenient to go elsewhere to eat dinner....its a long way and the cost from the hotel is quite expensive....we had a car and went out one nite about 3 miles away at thai kitchen....the food was fair at best but low cost....we were surrounded by drug lords we were sure....the parking lot was full of benz, bmw's etc...loud american music was played all during the meal....ugh!!

you will like the anantara....we did not do elephant training but drove down one day to look at the beasts....

the opium is the best museum i have been to in asia!! the hotel will drive you over there and come and get you....its right across the street from the hotel
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