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pianowill
Joined: 11 May 2009
Location: Bundang
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 Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 7:55 pm Post subject: Help! Need Thailand Advice! |
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I'll be spending 4 days in Chiang Mai and would like to know if anyone here can recommend a good place to stay in the city and what to do there. I'd like to stay in the same place every night.
What's the best way to travel around Thailand in general? I'm spending a week on an island in the south before heading up north, so I still need to find out the best way to get from south to north.
Essentially, I'm flying into Bangkok, heading down to Koh Phangan for 7 nights, then heading up to Chiang Mai for 4 nights before going back to Bangkok. Do you guys recommend the bus or the train?
I figure if I stay at a hostel in Chiang Mai, there will be people there who can recommend things to do. I'm up for anything. I love hiking and doing the outdoorsy things (elephants, canoeing, treehouses, zipline, etc.).
How much do I need to plan in advance? I've read that Thailand is kind of a "show up and go" kind of place.
P.S. I'll be traveling with my girlfriend. |
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Yaya
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul
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pianowill
Joined: 11 May 2009
Location: Bundang
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| Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 9:00 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks, Yaya, but I'm looking for more of a personal experience feedback kind of thing.
But I will check out the links provided. |
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pianowill
Joined: 11 May 2009
Location: Bundang
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| Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 9:08 pm Post subject: |
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Actually, I've just thought of a very specific question I need answered.
Should I get my won converted to baht at Incheon or in Bangkok? Can I use my Nonghyup bank card there? If not, am I going to have to take all the cash I'll need for my entire stay there?
When I went to Taiwan, I took 600,000 won and had it all converted to Taiwanese money when I got to the Taipei airport. That worked out okay, but I had a crapload of cash on me.
Suggestions? |
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Drew345
Joined: 24 May 2005
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| Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 9:32 pm Post subject: |
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I would say change your Won to dollars in Korea, then change the dollars to Baht in Thailand. Eventhough two exchanges, I think you get the best rates this way and the $100 bills are convenient to carry.
Best way to Koh Phangnan is the overnight train / fast catamaran ferry. Most any travel agent should be able to sell you the ticket, or just take the train to Chumpon and the ferry agents will be at the train station. Spend a night in Chumpon if you like. Only problem taking the bus is that the Bangkok Southern Bus terminal is way inconvenient to get to (in my opinion anyway).
Don't worry yet about getting from South to North. Wait til you get to Phangnan and they should have good ideas there on getting to Chiang Mai.
For best hotels look at tripadvisor.com for Chaing mai. You put in your price and they rate the hotel based on reviews.
Lot's of Outdoors stuff in Chiang Mai. But even better in Pai. Take the minibus to Pai (about 4 hours) and you can do tons of outdoor mountain stuff there.
The rains are coming, but shouldn't be bad until Sept and Oct. |
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BoholDiver
Joined: 03 Oct 2009
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 9:42 pm Post subject: |
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Thailand is not a small country, really. It looks small on the map, but flying is definitely the way to go. Buses will eat up your valuable travel time.
I exchanged my money here at Woori Bank. At least some branches had Thai baht in all denominations. |
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Yaya
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 9:50 pm Post subject: |
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| pianowill wrote: |
Thanks, Yaya, but I'm looking for more of a personal experience feedback kind of thing.
But I will check out the links provided. |
Both sites are user run, as in people post their experiences with hotels and other stuff on it. |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 10:32 pm Post subject: |
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| pianowill wrote: |
Actually, I've just thought of a very specific question I need answered.
Should I get my won converted to baht at Incheon or in Bangkok? Can I use my Nonghyup bank card there? If not, am I going to have to take all the cash I'll need for my entire stay there?
When I went to Taiwan, I took 600,000 won and had it all converted to Taiwanese money when I got to the Taipei airport. That worked out okay, but I had a crapload of cash on me.
Suggestions? |
That one is EASY...
DO NOT TAKE WON OUT OF KOREA - FULL STOP.
Buy some baht here and get the rest in US$.
Dollars are small to carry, easy to exchange and save you a ton of grief.
. |
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alwaysbeclosing100
Joined: 07 Feb 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 4:31 am Post subject: chiang mai hostel |
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one of the best hostels i have ever stayed in anywhere in the world
http://www.greentuliphouse.com/
i hate buses and trains and the flights are cheap in thailand if you shop smartly......lots of budget airlines fly inside of thailand and compete |
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tiger fancini
Joined: 21 Mar 2006
Location: Testicles for Eyes
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| Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 5:13 am Post subject: |
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| Spend a little extra and fly around. This will save a lot of valuable time. If you're planning to go anywhere by train or bus, add between 2-6 hours on to the quoted time. Any kind of transfer (bus - bus, train - bus - boat etc) takes a long time in Thailand. |
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pianowill
Joined: 11 May 2009
Location: Bundang
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| Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 6:08 am Post subject: |
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| tiger fancini wrote: |
| Spend a little extra and fly around. This will save a lot of valuable time. If you're planning to go anywhere by train or bus, add between 2-6 hours on to the quoted time. Any kind of transfer (bus - bus, train - bus - boat etc) takes a long time in Thailand. |
Skip to bottom for TLDR version.
What's a reasonable price to pay for a flight? I read at the following site (http://kohphangan.com/travel/gethere.html) that the best way to get to Kho Phangan from Bangkok is to fly from Bangkok to Koh Samui via Bangkok Airways or Thai Airlines and take a boat from there.
Through Bangkok Airways site, I can purchase a roundtrip ticket, which will take me back to Bangkok and make it easier to get up to Chiang Mai, and this will cost $232 per person. I'm going to use US dollars in this post to make it easier to relate. It costs half that price for the one way flight - makes sense.
So if I want a one way from Bangkok to Koh Samui ($116), a one way from Koh Samui to Chiang Mai ($194), and a one way from Chiang Mai to Bangkok ($59), it will costs us each $369 just for the long distance travel within the country.
I haven't done the math on bus travel, and frankly, I'm kind of exhausted after configuring all those prices based on the date and time of departures and arrivals. It's a tricky situation, and I got myself into this mess by planning my itinerary after booking my tickets to fly me in and out of Bangkok.
I've got some cash to spare, as I'm teaching here, but my girlfriend is flying in from the states, and she doesn't have a lot of dough to toss around. Anyone have any idea if there are monetary penalties for changing the airports we'd be flying into and out of in Thailand? Is that even possible?
So, ultimately, I need to compare the cost of flight within the country VS changing my entry and exit airports + Koh Samui to Chiang Mai VS bus travel VS train travel VS any combination of the previous four options...
...and all the while pray that I can make it to my reserved accommodations on the nights I have already paid for, not to mention maintain my sanity.
I only have the first eight nights paid for at a resort on Kho Phangan. That leaves me five more nights I still need to reserve or hope to reserve when I get there.
Jeepers..Thailand is supposed to be a cheap place to go and relax, but it sounds like I'm going to be blowing a wad of cash on in country transportation and suffering anxiety from making it to my destinations on time!
TLDR: Is it reasonable to expect to book flights and hotel/hostel accommodations while already in Thailand without a significant monetary loss? If so, I'd prefer not to book any more flights and reservations than I already have, and just do it as I need to so as not to burden myself with a strict itinerary. |
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shostahoosier
Joined: 14 Apr 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 6:50 am Post subject: |
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I know that you want to be prepared but Im worried that you're overstressing yourself. Obviously if you do all the planning now you'll have less to do when you arrive, but realize that Thailand relies heavily on tourism, and that you can probably throw a rock in the air and hit 10 hotels/hostels/resorts that have vacancies.
Obviously for airlines, the longer you wait, the more ticket prices will increase.
BoholDiver is right, Thailand is not a small country, especially from North to South. I would really recommend a flight. As I've posted before on here, I got a great price on tickets from Air Asia. I did a quick look at your prices and they're a little high. Asia quoted me about $55 from Bangkok to Kho Samui alone (well...to Surat Thani). Maybe you should check out the low cost airlines in Thailand, there are lots!
If you take the overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, you can save money on airfare AND get some sleep. I dont know how well you'll be able to sleep but people do it all the time.
I booked my tickets at the list minute and was able to just show up get hostel/hotel rooms. That was in February though and I'm not sure if Thailand is busier now.
I stayed at Ban Pim in Chiang Mai. It was a really nice room at a decent price. |
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