hautemama

marcis

Royal Palace and night markets at Bangkok

Kathie

Local flights are inexpensive. Look at Thai, Thai smile, Air Asia, Bangkok Air. I agree that. the Royal Palace is a must-visit, also Wat Po, Wat Arun - there are dozens of amazing wats. I also recommend a stroll though Chinatown. Stay along the river for easy access to the water taxis and the major sites to visit. Take the Skytrain to the big shopping centers. I'm not a fan of the night markets - tourist junk, much of it made in China.

I will admit I am not a fan of Chiang Mai.

If you want to visit a beach, the weather along the Andaman Sea will be getting nice in November.

hautemama

Kathie

I usually buy my domestic flights online before I go, but you should be fine if you decide to wait. You aren't traveling at one of the busiest times. Since you want to go to Phuket, I'd suggest Phuket instead of Chiang Mai. It's a short flight from Bangkok. With a mere 7-10 days, (can you make this trip longer?) I'd suggest not more than two places.

crellston

I quite like Chiang Mai, have visited many times and, in the context of the time you have, would be happy spending 2-3 days of your time there. the old city can be seen in one day on foot but there are also a few sights like Doc Suthep and Doc Intahnon which would make nice day trips from the city.

Bangkok needs maybe 3 -4 days but that largely depends on how much you like large asian cities.

Years since I had visited Phuket and it was not great then ( but I confess I am not a fan of large resort orientated islands.

Chiang Rai is a couple of hours drive from Chiang Mai but a world apart in pace and ambiance. it has a small town feel with a wonderful walking market and two sights definitely worth seeing - The Black House and teh White temple - some photos on our blog@ https://accidentalnomads.com/2015/10...ack-and-white/

As your wedding is in Trat, which is close to the Cambodian border, why not consider Phnom Penh or Angkor or both. it is pretty easy to cross the border to get to those places or somewhere like Kampot. some details of some of our travels in Cambodia @ https://accidentalnomads.com/category/cambodia/ - Sadly, I haven’t gotten around to posting about Angkor but for many it is the pre-eminent site in SE Asia.

As for buses in Asia. I would avoid if at all possible. safety records are not great. fly any longer stretches if possible and hire a taxi for the shorter journeys. Train is a fun option in some places but there is not an extensive network.

jobin

11/9? confusing dates, which could mean 9 November, or 11 September. November will be pushing into the SE Asia high season with various upwards prices.
Frankly i find the chinese calendar much more systematic than the multiple USA systems. In china it is ALWAYS : year-month-date.

And it looks like from Trat the only direct air flights are to Bangkok. Maybe 4000 baht return per seat = US$ 140.
Renting a car is a reasonable option (1000 baht per day) in Thailand and will take a USA driver 1/2 hour to figure out the opposite side of the road. But i suspect the Trat highways/byways quite slow and uncrowded.

I'm in Chiang Mai, never been to Trat but now have read a bit about the city and province. Possibly no high season there as few tourists arrive. Also possibly, few if any car rentals. Seems isolated, and very little english spoken. There may be nice clean beaches however. And Trat is a famous fruit growing region full of coconuts, durians, mangoes, etc.

Have a great holiday.

hautemama

stonestephany

Visit the market of exotic cuisine. Even if you do not want to try. Then take a look at the variety of local cuisine. Friends ate fried grasshoppers. They said that the view is not very, but tasty.

hautemama

Kathie

In Bangkok, I recommend staying along the river - lots of hotels to choose from in many price ranges. IIt places you where you can use the water taxis to access the most important sites (Grand Palace, Wat Po, Wat Arun and other buddhist temples).

You really don't have time for Chiang Rai or any trekking into the hills (you would need an overnight in order to get far enough in to make the trek worthwhile). If you want to do a day with elephants, you want to make sure you are visiting a place that is not abusing them (if they allow you to ride the elephants, they are abusing the elephants). I recommend the Elephant Nature Park. You can make a reservation online. I would book directly with the cooking class. I wanted, no need for an agency. The one must-do in Chiang Mai is Doi Suthep, the Buddhist Temple atop the "mountain." Hire a taxi to take you there - they have a fixed price for the trip.

Get yourself a good guidebook and start reading. There is so much to know about the history and culture that you don't find online, and you want to have that background before your trip.

crellston

You really don’t have enough time to visit all those places.

Chiang Rai deserves an overnight stay at least. If you wanted to visit some of the minority villages as well as the town itself, you would really need to spend all your time there. One full day in Chiang Mai would be sufficient just to cover the old city, markets and temples. Another full day or even an overnight for the Elephant Nature Park ( as I recall, it is a 1-2 hours drive from CM)
Doi Suthep is often cited as a "must do" but it is a little bit tacky these days and Fang NP is too far in the time you have. If you want some countryside/ Nature experience, then maybe consider a days trip to Doi Inthanon NP. I am sure there are a number of tours on offer which will include a vist to the park and probably could include a quick stop at Doi Suthep on the way back if you really wanted to visit.

There are a huge number of cookery schools in CM. We used https://www.thaicookeryschool.com/ which was very good but not sure if they do half day courses. A whole day would be a big chunk of the time you have there. We stayed at teh chefs house while doing the course and it was one of te best places we have ever stayed in the city! The food is great in Chiang Mai and it is definitely worth doing some research into the restaurants you may like.

In CM I would suggest staying in the old city. In Bangkok, either close to the river, esp Saphin Taksin Pier so as to be close to the riverboats which are a great way to get to the major temples, Chinatown and also BTS for the rest of the city. Difficult to suggest specific hotels without knowing you budget and the type of accommodation you enjoy.

RM67

kapia

If I remember it right weather in November is pretty okay compared to the rest of the year. Not as much rain but not immensely hot either. Chang Mai should also be dry by then.

hautemama

crellston

I prefer Doi Inthanon which has spectacular scenery and the advantage of being closer to CM for a day trip. Another alternative to consider is Chiang Dao. Chiang Dao Nest 1/2 are nice places to stay and have lots of activities and hikes. I am pretty sure you would need to stay overnight there.