marcy_

I知 in the process of planning a trip to Hong Kong, Bangkok, and the Golden Triangle in January, and have found so much helpful information on this board! Also, thanks to Bob (rhkkmk) for sending me information and links to his photos!

I知 a longtime Fodorite - usually found on the Europe board, but this trip we池e trying to branch out a little.

The basic outline:
5 nights in Hong Kong, staying at the Intercontinental
3 nights at the Oriental in BKK
4 nights at Anantara in the Golden Triangle
Then one last night in BKK at the Peninsula before heading home, so that we can take a stand in the big debate about which one is better!

Right now I致e been working on the Thailand portion of our trip, and already I知 wishing that we had more time in BKK, but I guess that means we値l just have to go back!

Anyway, here are a few specific questions that I知 hoping some of you Thailand experts can help me with:

1. What are typical store hours in Bangkok? Specifically, does anyone know how late SJ International Jewelry is open in the evening, and the same for Cotton House, and other tailors?

Our flight to BKK gets in at 4:15 PM, and we were hoping to check into our hotel and go straight to Oriental Place mall to get a few items of custom-made clothing started that evening, if possible, since we値l have limited time for fittings.

Right now I知 tentatively planning a stop at SJ International to look at jewelry at the end of the afternoon the next day (Saturday), but I wanted to make sure we don稚 get there too late.

We've hired Ratt for a couple of days, and want to pack in a lot of sightseeing, but I've got to squeeze in a <b><i>little</i></b> time for shopping!

2. We池e planning to rent a car in Chiang Rai for our stay in the north. Do we need to reserve it ahead of time, or can we wait until we arrive?

3. Have any of you done any of the hotel痴 excursions at Anantara? If so, did you feel that they were a reasonable value? They seem rather expensive by Thai standards, but sound interesting.

We do plan to take the cooking class, and have some spa treatments at Anantara.

I know I値l have lots more questions, but these are a start.
Thanks in advance for your help- you致e already all been more helpful than you know!

Marcy

rhkkmk

kathie will tell you when sj is open...probably until 8, but not sure...

most shops are in full swing from about 10AM to 8 PM....

cotton house should be open in the early evening...why don't you make an appointment and i am sure she will accomodate you timewise....they close for about an hour at lunch... actually you could ask the conc. at the oriental to ask for you....

i just looked in my shopping guide and it does not have the times for either shop...

car rental....you could wait until you are there but what if they are all rented?? it is not a pre-pay so why not reserve before you go over....avis and budget are the most common....lots of specials when you are there as well...

you can look at the bangkok post on line for info as well...it is bkk's english language newspaper...

marcy_

Thanks again, Bob.
I think I will email Cotton House and see if I can set up an appointment.

I was also wondering about a couple of health-related issues:

I checked the CDC website,and for the Golden Triangle area, and we are planning to take Malarone for Malaria prevention.

Hepatitis A vaccine was listed as one that &quot;may be recommended.&quot; for Southeast Asia.

Have those of you who have traveled in Thailand been immunized against Hepatitis A?

I'm thinking that we will probably go ahead with it, just to be on the safe side.

(I'm also planning to take along some Tamiflu, just in case, although I'm trying not to be paranoid about avian flu)

Any other health issues to think about?

Kathie

Marcy, I've been hunting for the information on SJ's opening hours, but can't find it. Call them when you get to Bangkok and check. I fear that they may close at 6 on Saturday night. Do tell them that Kathie from Seattle sent you - it will drop the price significantly. By the way, they will pick you up and return you to your hotel.

When I stayed at the Anantara, we hired a car and driver for the day (almost US$100) and designed our own itinerary. We also had them include ground trabsport in our reservation package, which at that time cost us only US$60 RT. We prefered that arrangment over renting a car in Chaing Rai.

rhkkmk

we have had hep a and b, polio updates, typhoid, tetnus and all the regular shots....we go to the health clinic at beth isreal deaconess hospital in boston and they tell us what we need....our hmo covers it all--harvard pilgrim....some do not....sadly...

malerone was fine for both of us twice...on the last trip we took it for 29 days....one other fodorite had very bad stomach problems with it and had to switch mid stream...

marcy_

Thanks, Kathie,
I'll give them a call.
If we can't work it out on Saturday, then we'll just make time another day.
Do most places have shorter hours on Sunday as well?

Thanks for the referral!

Kathie

Marcy, I concur with Bob's immunization recommendations. Hep A is something you want to be immunized against even if you are staying home.

lcuy

SJ closes at 6 pm, although they won't shoo you out until about 6:30 if you're inside already. I think they open at 10am.

Their number is 02-243-2446, so call ahead for a car to come get you. email them at [email protected] .
Nittaya is an excellent salesperson- great English, knows hers jewelry, not the least bit pushy or impatient.

Cotton House
TEL: 02-266-0186-96 ext 1021-2
email: [email protected]

glorialf

Cotton House's normal hours are 10-7. However they do close for a certain number of days around New year and the chinese new year. Getting to them the first night will be very tight since you are arriving at rush hour. So by the time you get through immigration and get your luggage and a taxi and get to the hotel it could well be 6 or 7. The suggestion that you call ahead and see if they will wait for you is a good one.

I love Hong Kong but if I were you I would reduce your time there by one day and add it to bangkok.

By the way -- when will you be at the Oriental? I'll be there from Jan 11-15 and again from Jan 20-26.

marcy_

Wow! You guys are such amazing sources of Information!
Thank you so much!

Gloria, I agree, I would love to take a day from Hong Kong, but my husband is really excited about being there.

The funny thing is that this trip started out as a trip just to Hong Kong (with maybe a side trip to China) because my husband had spent time there before and was eager to take me.

Thailand was added on basically as an afterthought! But now that I'm researching it, I'm finding myself fascinated with Thailand, and I think he'll love it, too.

One plus about leaving a little more time in Hong Kong is that we'll be pretty jet-lagged at first, since we're coming from the midwest of the US, and won't see as much the first couple of days.

So I think we're just going to have to come back to Bangkok again, soon, to see the things we don't see the first time!

We're going to miss you at the Oriental- We'll be there Jan 6-9, and then when we come back through BKK for our last night we're staying at the Peninsula (the night of Jan13.)

Gpanda

Marcy-be prepared to be captivated by Thailand specifically and Asia in general. We haven't been to Europe in several years. The lure of the Far East,

marcy_

Gloria,
I ended up taking your advice and changing our flight to BKK to a day earlier, and I'm so glad I did! Having only 2 full days in Bangkok just wasn't enough.

Now I feel like it will be much more relaxing, with time for a little more shopping, and maybe a massage, without feeling so rushed. Besides, if we're going to stay at such a great hotel, we ought to at least be there enough time to enjoy it!

GPanda, I bet you're right- I think my first love, France, may have some competition.

If I make it to next year's Boston GTG, I may not know whether to sit with the Europe group or the Asia group!