Hong Kong (flight in and out) and 12 days in Thailand

Posted by TimB_123 on 03/02/18 09:29 PM

Hi!
My girlfriend and I are planning on spending some time in Hong Kong and Thailand and are looking for suggestions to fit in the right stuff in our short(ish) time frame. We fly in and out of Hong Kong, direct from San Francisco. We get into HK early morning on Saturday May 26 and leave back to SF late at night June 9. As of now the plan is to stay in HK until Monday (2 days/nights) and then fly into Thailand with travel there for 11 or 12 days. We are thinking of staying in Chiang Mai and Bangkok during the first week and spending some times in the islands during the second half before flying back to HK to leave.

Has anyone flown into Chiang Mai from HK or is it better to go into Bangkok?

How much time is the right amount and any must dos?

Any suggestions on what the weather might be like at that time and what Islands to visit (we heard that the islands on the east coast like Koh Sumui and Koh Tao were less likely to see rain during this time)?

Thanks for the help!

Posted by Chani

Tel Aviv

03/03/18 11:45 AM

15794 posts

Check what flights are available between wherever you choose in the south (I'm not a beach person, so can't help there) and HKG and Chiang Mai and HKG. The most efficient way is to go to the wiki pages for those destinations. You'll find a chart listing all the airlines and destinations from each airport. Then just go with whichever works. It really doesn't matter much which order you visit the places in Thailand. There are plenty of daily flights between CMX and the south and BKK. My only other advice is to spend your last night in HK. Budget airlines are not always on time and flights can be cancelled.

Posted by Sally

Spain

05/15/18 04:55 PM

162 posts

12 days isn't very long.
I spend a lot of time in Thailand, but you could do what you referred to. The flights into Bangkok are going to be on larger equipment and more comfortable, but maybe fly into Chiang Mai, and out of Bangkok, it takes a lot of time to go from BKK to CMN. You might want to start in Chiang Mai, go to Bangkok, then go to the Islands. Koh Tao is VERY small and you could do 2 nights there then take the boat to Koh Samui, from Koh Samui, fly back into BKK and then to Hong Kong. Look into flights on Air Asia (cheap but good) or Bangkok Air for flights from Koh Samui back to Bangkok. Plan to do visit the elephant nature park while in Chiang Mai. BOOK IN ADVANCE!!! That will be amazing! If you are there on a Sunday, the Sunday night market in town is a lot of fun and a great place to buy souvenirs. In Koh Samui they also do a Sunday night market in the Lamai area.

I was in HK last year for a week and I was SO sorry I had planned to stay for so long. I had been there in the late 80's and loved it, but it has changed SO much, and not for the good. It is now Chinese Bangkok and I couldn't wait to leave. I had done all the tourist things when I was there previously so didn't feel I needed to do it again. It was very expensive.
Enjoy your trip it will be so much fun!

Posted by David

Bellevue, WA, USA

05/17/18 05:40 PM

811 posts

it sounds like a great trip. You may consider a side trip from HK to Macau for a quick visit. While in Thailand you should check out Chiang Mai, and if possible take a bus to Chiang Rai, it has some interesting stuff that you wont' find in Chiang Mai. You can also fly to one of the islands. The last trip I took I went to Phuket it was a lot of fun. You'll run out of time before you know it, so plan your time well.

Posted by csu15269

Atlanta, Georgia

05/27/18 07:34 PM

451 posts

I would get to Angkor Wat temple complex in Cambodia. It is truly amazing. You can visit in a long day. It is the single most amazing man made structure that I have seen. (FYI. Egypt is still on my list to visit.) Thailand is amazing but Angkor is a step above to me. HK was not as impressive. Your arrival day and maybe one more.

What ever you do, you will not regret it.

Posted by David from Seattle

Seattle, WA, USA ☔️

05/27/18 09:02 PM

6811 posts

Probably wasted effort to offer additional trip planning advice to the OP at this point. Their trip began yesterday (if they stuck to their stated dates May 26-June 9).