Chels

Greetings!

We are in the beginning stages of planning a November trip to Thailand (Bangkok and Phuket). I'm in Florida, and I would like some advice re the time difference and jet lag.

I am familiar with jet lag as we travel to Europe often and have also made several trips to Hawaii and Tahiti. It is not coping with the long flight that I am concerned about; rather, I am looking for tips on the best way to handle the time difference. For example, I know that if I am going to Hawaii and Tahiti, the time difference will have me up early in the morning; therefore, the breakfast package is a good option even though I'm normally not a morning person. I know when landing early morning in Europe that the best option for me is to keep going all day and have an early evening; after that, no problem! I have no clue what to expect on this trip.

We have no direct flights from Miami, so it will be a long travel time. Flights get us to BKK either early in the morning or late at night. Is either option better? For those who have landed early morning, were you ok to tour the day or were you exhausted from the travel? If you landed at night, were you staring at the ceiling all night only to fall asleep at daybreak? Do you suggest traveling to Phuket first to recover or Bangkok and then Phuket to relax? I know opinions will differ, but I would love to hear the different vantage points.

Many thanks in advance for the advice!

Kathie

This will be a day for night switch, so expect to be more thrown off by the time change than you are for Europe or Hawaii. I like getting in around midnight because i can shower, go to bed and go to sleep, wake up in the morning feeling like I'm almost in the new time zone. Make sure to get some sun exposure early that first morning.

I go places do things the first day, but find I'm worn out by 6 or 7 pm or so. I sleep that night and feel like I'm functioning normally in the new time zone the next day. YMMV

Personally, I don't think it matters whether you are in Phuket first or Bangkok first - so do what appeals to you.

Chels

Thanks,Kathie, for the quick reply. This is the type of information I was seeking.

How was your adjustment upon return? We are going for 10 days, and debating whether we need one or two days to recover post-trip before going to work. Normally, we would stretch our trip to the very last minute, but this is new territory for us.

Many thanks again for your advice!

russ_in_LA

We went to Japan from Los Angeles in spring for each of the past two years. The first time we took an overnight flight and landed at 5am, after not having slept on the plane. It was a struggle to keep going all day and I was a mess the following day.

On the second trip, we took a day time flight, landing at 4:30pm. We grabbed an early dinner and hit the sack by 9pm. When we got up about 6am I felt like I was already in the new time zone. Yes, we started to drag again about 5 or 6pm, but it was much easier to keep going for just a few more hours, and the early mornings made for great, quiet sight seeing.

We are taking our first Thailand trip this November as well. We decided to take a day flight again, this time via Seoul, where we booked a transit hotel, right inside the airport.This means we can get to bed about 8pm local time get a good night's sleep, and continue the final 7 hours the next day, hopefully refreshed and in the new time zone, landing about 1:30pm local time. I think that will work best for us.

As for where to start, I always like to start in the city and end in the quiet location. The city keeps me going when I start to drag, and I appreciate the break at the end of the trip after the exhaustion of city touring. Have a great trip and let us know how it goes!

Chels

Thanks for the reply! Right now, we are looking at beginning out trip with 3 days in Bangkok, 4.5 days in Phuket, and the last 1.5 days back in Bangkok. Hopefully, it will work out well.

Many thanks for the input!

rhkkmk

this is a unique jet lague compounded by heat and humidity---far worse than FL.

the time difference is 12 hours.

we plan not to do much our first 2 days, so going to the beach first might be best. we fly from boston, btw.

we try to take a sleeping pill on long legs.

check out the jw Marriott at khao lak instead of Phuket..

shanladams82

When we went a couple of years ago we had a layover in Tokyo for a few hours and arrived at midnight. We were able to get to the hotel go to sleep and wake up early for our hotel breakfast that morning. We spent that day checking out the business district of the city like the MBK center (which took most of the day) and then had dinner. It was actually a more productive first day on a trip then we have had at any of the European countries we have visited. Although that could be because we didn't have our kids with us in Bangkok. Usually when we go to Europe we get in mid-late morning and track down our hotel and then let the kids rest for an hr or so but we always end up falling asleep and waking up too late to do anything except find dinner. We always plan to just chug along after we arrive there the first day and it never happens. You definitely don't want to do any of the more extensive sites the first day with only half a nights sleep, like the Grand Palace and stuff.

Oh and check out day tours over to Kanchanaburi (where the bridge on the river Kwai took place) it was very interesting seeing the WWII stuff from a different perspective.