Quote:
Originally Posted by jayjayuk
Thanks alot, great advice, I will spend some time arranging and organising my trip, do you reccommend any books or online docs?
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Seems to me you are a bit too worried, don't worry the trip will come together by itself! If you are going soon, then you are going in the low season, then there will be no real need for advanced bookings and prices are low. If you go in September or later it is going to be more busy and you need to think of some advanced bookings. If you go around December and January, pre booking is pretty much mandatory and prices will be much higher.
For travel in Thailand there are a few budget airlines:
Air Asia and Nok Air are the best price wise. Bangkok Air and Thai Airways tend to be more expensive. Make sure you understand that Bangkok has two airports.
You can book one way tickets online, and usually if you book up to a few days in advance you can get a decent price. No need to book round trips since you won't get a discount.
Alternatively you could take the bus and the train but generally that costs you a lot of time. One exception is the night train to Chiang Mai.
For accommodation you can use various websites, I happen to like asiarooms.com, but the cheapest budget places usually have no online presence.
Chiang Mai is very cheap and if you want strict budget you can get accommodation for under 250 BHT a day. You want to book a place near or in the old city. No point in booking trips in advance. There are lots of small travel agencies in Chiang Mai. Make sure you do not book a trip in a hotel, they are almost always more expensive.
Go on an elephant ride, whitewater rafting, visit the big temple, visit the mountain tribes and take a tour to the golden triangle, but don't take the one day tour, that one is too short for the distance you have to cover.
From Chiang Mai there is a direct flight to Phuket on Thai airways but this one is much more expensive than taking a Air Asia to Phuket with a stop over in Bangkok airport. If you want nightlife in Phuket then stay in Patong otherwise stay at the more relaxed beaches. Plenty of tours from here as well. If you like Phi Phi I would suggest not to take a one day tour but instead take a taxi to Phuket town, then take the ferry to Phi Phi. You have to stay overnight since you won't have time to see the island since the ferry goes back a few hours later and they only go once a day. From Phi Phi you could take the ferry to Krabi or back to Phuket. You can fly back to Bangkok both from Krabi or Phuket.