Thailand/Cambodia Q's
 

Some miscellaneous questions have come to mind as we close in on our departure date. All of you Fodorites are just wonderful in your help to us newbies, and even fellow newbies ask some great questions!
1. How far in advance to arrive at Chiang Mai airport for flight to BKK? Is security tighter/slower after the New Yr bombings?
2. I assume that flying to and from Cambodia will require airport arrival 3 hours in advance to and from BKK?
3. Are you expected to negotiate with tailors, or do they only work with set pricing?
4. Is similar quality and lower price to be found in Chiang Mai for silk bedspread/comforter, pillow covers etc. (presumably night market) compared to Jim Thompsons in BKK? How much lower are prices at JT's outlet store in BKK than its regular retail, and is the quality as high there?
Thanks - Claire

In my experience, 2 hours is plenty early to arrive for your flights to Cambodia. We arrived one and a half hours early for our domestic flights and that was more than plenty.

JT in Bangkok will have the best quality silks. The outlet store (which is the same quality as the regular store, just discontinued designs) is typically 30-70% off. In the Night market in CM, beware of items labeled as silk which are not. It used to be (20 years ago) that merchandise was less expensive in CM than in Bangkok. That was not true on my recent trip, where the prices looked to me to be equal to Bangkok prices on most merchandise.

My experience at tailors is that the more you buy, the more of a discount they will give you off their regular price. It never hurts to ask if you can have a discount.

Ditto on the 2hr arrival for BKK to Cambodia. It's more than enough time.

Thanks - I'm cutting the CR flight back to BKK pretty close, so this is good news, assuming an hour drive from Anantara to CR airport. Also glad to hear about Cambodia flights. Thanks Kathie and Filmwill - Claire

at the CR airport you will think you are on a deserted island...it is very small and the security check is easy but can take a few minutes....the day we were there several passengers were handing over their hand guns for safe keeping during the flight....interesting!!!

CM airport is also very easy...probably 1.5 hours is more than enough...

for cambodia, i think 2.5 hours total is plenty....the walks at the new airport can be quite distant however...

i pay my tailors what they ask...you can politely ask them if any discount is available?? insisting on discounts may affect the quality of the finished product...

some quality in CM is excellent, but generally we feel that the quality is far higher in bkk....many things are manufactured in CM so if you come across a company store you may get some great buys...

generally we buy when we see things first rather than waiting....it may not be there when and if you return...

kathie has given excellent estimates of JT outlet prices...40-50% is a good estimate we find....make sure you also visit the JT main store on suriwong...it is fantastic and has all the current items...