Internal Travel

[nagasaki]

Just like first to say what a great forum this is for people who have an interest in Thailand, but happen to be sitting watching Everton v Villareal on the telly 6000 miles away!

I would like to know abit more about internal travel facilities within Thailand, any recommendations and insights you could give would be much appreciated

I am coming to Thailand from UK for 4 weeks holiday in November, basically just chilling and exploring. I have been twice before on short package holidays so aint completely green, however this time am doing it independanently from travel agents

I will probably do the Bangkok, Chang Mai and Phuket triangle, with Bankok as central point, however i want to be very flexible up to as late as possible in terms of booking/paying etc, finance in itself is no great problem, however would like some rough idea of the cost

so

1 - Flying, how much would flying be approx 3 internal flights Bangkok - Chang Mai, Chang Mai - Phuket (if thats via bangkok no problem), Phuket - Bangkok, and is availability reasonable right up to departure date, Thai airways websire appears to offer alot of scheduled flights. I dont to book these prior to arrival in Thailand

2 - Bus/Train, I am considering these because i dont really enjoy flying flying and with being in LOS for a month have a bit of time, but if these journeys are just long tortuos affairs without much cultural or scenic value I probably would not be interested, could you let me know if this is the case please, and how much it may cost (am assuming that availability is fine right up to departure)

thanks for your time

[jackr]

Just like first to say what a great forum this is for people who have an interest in Thailand, but happen to be sitting watching Everton v Villareal on the telly 6000 miles away!

I would like to know abit more about internal travel facilities within Thailand, any recommendations and insights you could give would be much appreciated

I am coming to Thailand from UK for 4 weeks holiday in November, basically just chilling and exploring. I have been twice before on short package holidays so aint completely green, however this time am doing it independanently from travel agents

I will probably do the Bangkok, Chang Mai and Phuket triangle, with Bankok as central point, however i want to be very flexible up to as late as possible in terms of booking/paying etc, finance in itself is no great problem, however would like some rough idea of the cost

so

1  -  Flying, how much would flying be approx 3 internal flights Bangkok - Chang Mai, Chang Mai - Phuket (if thats via bangkok no problem), Phuket - Bangkok, and is availability reasonable right up to departure date, Thai airways websire appears to offer alot of scheduled flights. I dont to book these prior to arrival in Thailand

2 - Bus/Train, I am considering these because i dont really enjoy flying flying and with being in LOS for a month have a bit of time, but if these journeys are just long tortuos affairs without much cultural or scenic value I probably would not be interested, could you let me know if this is the case please, and how much it may cost (am assuming that availability is fine right up to departure)

thanks for your time

Use the budget airlines: Air Asia, Nok Air, and Orient Thai One-2-Go for flights. They all have websites and online booking and will save you money; Nok Air is the best imo with more flights and assigned seating. Average costs between your destinations are between 1,000-1,500 baht including surcharge and taxes. Book in advance, or you can buy seats at the airports (not recommended). Flights go via Bangkok but sometimes it can be a hassle to get them to match up.

Travelling by train is fun on the Bkk-CMai route. A second class air-con sleeper (lower bunk) is your best bet and will be between about 600-800 baht on that route depending on rating of train (speed). Don't bother with trains down south (none direct to Phuket) and a bus to Phuket from Bangkok is more than 12 hours. If you do take the bus use a special 24-seater VIP...worth the extra baht.

Taking the train to Chiang Mai and the overnight VIP bus back to Bangkok is a good option for saving some money and two nights' accommodation.

[Rinrada]

Thai Air are running this promo which might be of interest....

DISCOVER THAILAND FARES 2005

(Effective for travel during 01JAN05 – 31DEC05)

THAI gives you the chance to see more of Thailand by offering a special pass that entitles you to fly to three cities for only US$ 169.

The three coupons can be utilized to fly economy class to any of THAI's domestic airports during a period of three months.

You can discover Thailand with three coupons by starting your preferable trip for examples, from Bangkok - Chiang Mai - Phuket – Bangkok (actually costs US$ 210). For extended stays, you can add a maximum of 8 coupons for US$59 each.

Children (2-11 years) pay half price and infants (under two years) pay 10% but must be accompanied by an adult. Ask your travel agent for the 'Discover Thailand Fares' when you book your flight to Thailand.

The coupons must be purchased outside of Thailand as part of an international trip ticket to/via Thailand.

Note - Fare box to show USD and if payment made in other currency the amount of such currency, converted by BSR, will be shown in equivalent fare paid box.

PERIOD OF APPLICATION

These fares are valid for sale and travel commencing on/after 01JAN05.

Applicable period is from 01JAN05 to 31DEC05.

All travel must be completed by 31MAR06.

[valentinoxxx]

Cheaper than that is the Bangkok Airways Discovery Airpass; http://www.bangkokair.com/en/package/

But cheaper still of course, would be the low cost airlines aforementioned by jackr

http://www.airasia.com/general.php?p=pmain&l=en

http://www.nokair.com/

http://www.fly12go.com/en/main.shtml

[dee_jai_maak_maak]

Travelling by train is fun on the Bkk-CMai route. A second class air-con sleeper (lower bunk) is your best bet and will be between about 600-800 baht on that route depending on rating of train (speed).

I gotta agree with this. The night train to Chiang Mai is a great journey. I've dome it a couple of times and I slept like a baby. And it's great to wake up and look out of your bunk bed to see beautiful countryside and jungle going by.

And as Jackr says, you gotta get the bottom bunk. The top bunk has no window and is a sauna!

djmm