First trip to Thailand: Bangkok-Phuket-Koh Samui-Bangkok
The idea to visit Thailand has been in our minds for a long time, but because of the distance, and more because of the long flight there (I'm not a fan of this business), I still did not dare to implement this idea. But the stars and the situation around were so formed that I decided, come what may, and I will buy plane tickets! And I bought. . . a year before the trip, i. e. in March 2014. The dollar exchange rate was then very pleasant and, therefore, the cost of tickets at that time was not stressful, I would even say attractive. The route itself, as I realized later, was not the most successful, because they flew from Kyiv to Bangkok via Vienna by Austrian Airlines. A / c is good, no one argues, but what prompted me, in principle, a traveler with some kind of experience, to make such a strange detour with a 10-hour flight... I don’t even remember. Next time, and it will definitely be sometime, I will think over the flight option in more detail (via Dubai, for example). Well, okay, we flew well - the Austrians were on top, the planes were new, the seats - I thought it would be better, but the distance between them is normal, the entertainment system is modern and the food was good. Although dinners on board at half past two in the morning and breakfasts at 2 pm local time are still a pleasure! My body did not appreciate L.
We tried to use the upgrade to business class service on the terms of whoever offers the most, and the seat (if any) offered by the Austrians, but it didn’t happen, because the plane was 100% full and the business class didn’t offer anything at all .
In general, the program of stay in Thailand was very intense, even too much, I would say (this is also the subject of work on the bugs), namely:
2.5 days in Bangkok - sightseeing
5 days in Phuket - beach holidays and islands
5 days on Koh Samui - beach holidays and attractions.
1.5 days in Bangkok - rest before the flight home and walks around the city.
So, we flew to Bangkok in the afternoon and stayed there for 3 nights. I took some money at the airport (for a visa, travel, a deposit at the hotel), went through passport control with obtaining visas (as of March 2015, Ukrainians needed visas on arrival). In order not to stand in a long queue, we used the expedited visa service (+200 baht / person overpayment to the regular rate) and in 15 minutes we were already with visas. There was some hitch when receiving luggage - we received only one suitcase, the second was not. But there were about 20% of all passengers like us, the employees worked quickly enough (they found out that one container with luggage from our plane was mistakenly sent to some other terminal), returned it, and within half an hour we left happy and tired airport.
Initially, we planned to get to the hotel by Skyline metro, because I booked the hotel taking public transport into account, but after the flight we got really tired and decided that a taxi this time was the best option. Conveniently convenient, but this was the first time they tried to brazenly cheat us. I studied a lot of information about the options for cheating by taxi drivers, so I was ready for this kind of fraud. In short, the taximeter worked 3 times faster than it should and wound up the corresponding amount. Therefore, through tough, but not aggressive negotiations with the driver, they agreed on an adequate amount of 400 baht (a / p - Pratunam) instead of 1700, which "twisted" the taximeter. Well, they also paid 2 times 25 baht for travel on the autobahn. We did not use more taxis in the BKK, or public transport or tuk-tuk.
When checking into the hotel, they took a deposit of 2000 baht. I read on the forum that you need to give it in baht, because if you give a deposit in dollars, then they give it in baht at a completely uninteresting rate. Our hotel was very interesting. As I wrote above, I chose the Pratunam area - it is convenient to many attractions and within walking distance to Baiyoke Sky, Skyline train, Siam Paragon and other retail outlets. There are tons of hotels in this area for any wallet, I studied them for a long time, booked several, as usual, but in the end we stopped at The Berkeley Bangkok Palace (positioning itself as 5 *) - Agoda offered an excellent 55% discount on the hotel with non-refundable, the reviews were positive. This hotel chain is owned by the Chinese and in fact about 80% of the guests were Chinese (the only negative of this hotel, if I may say so. The Chinese are very noisy!! ). The non-refundable payment was a very pleasant surprise for me! When I booked this hotel more than six months before the trip, Agoda fixed the price in dollars and also showed the price in UAH, but the amount was not immediately debited from the account. The amount was debited from my card about a week before the date of arrival at the hotel, when the dollar rate soared up, BUT the amount in UAH. I was charged exactly the one that was indicated in the original booking. I saved almost 2.5 times! We really liked the hotel itself - I recommend it!
So, we got to the room by 17:30, we were settled on the 32nd floor of the north tower. The room was good - large, with two wide beds, quite a large bathroom. We left our things in the room, took a quick shower and fell asleep. I set my alarm to wake up in 3 hours. Later, we unpacked our things and even walked around Bangkok at night for a bit, and it was already past midnight. But, oddly enough, the city did not sleep. The clothing bazaar has just begun to take shape, BKK after 18:00 turns into one continuous market! Although it was already late at night, it was hot, stuffy and crowded outside. We walked to Bayok Skye, stocked up on a simple meal at 7/11 (a lot of water for walking around the city, bought all sorts of delicious yoghurts and sweets for a snack).
The next 2 full days were devoted to sightseeing. The entire travel plan was made independently, using various forums and the Orange Guide guide. No rush!
We got to them by city water transport (cheap (11 baht / person and exotic), since the pier was just opposite the hotel (another "+" to the location of the hotel), 15 minutes - and you are near Wat Saket (Golden Temple mountains). We really liked this place - there are not many people (well, or we always got there), you feel peace. Yes, and it’s not stressful to climb! The panorama of the BKK opens up excellent! We visited it several times and other temples near it (daughter is very impressed Buddhism). In general, we often went to different temples, where it was very nice to just relax in the coolness.
Then we walked along the route, reached the Giant Gate and went to catch our breath in another large Buddhist temple, where a service was just taking place. After this temple, we took a tut-tuker to take us to the Royal Palace. He drove us, but then we were intercepted by some woman dressed in a uniform and with a badge and began to tell us that the temple is now closed, but Wat Arun (Temple of the Rising Star), which is located on the other side of the river, is open. In general, - another scam for tourists. In doing so, they sell expensive 1.000 baht per person one-hour canal boat trips. We bought into it and still went to see it all. But, with some 6th sense, realizing that this was a scam, after tough trading, I still brought down the price by 2 times, but still - the price of 1000 per boat is not adequate! Be careful and do not be fooled by the "temple is closed"! It doesn't close for lunch or technical hour! I do not regret, of course, that we went, it was interesting to see the channels all this with my own eyes, but a lot of money was paid for this!
After returning from a one-hour trip, we rested near the pier, bought small chicken and seafood skewers from macaroons, ate delicious mango slices and went to see the Reclining Buddha, where we spent the rest of this hot (in the truest sense of the word) day. Everything was very impressive! We returned by tuk-tuk to the boat (bring down the price by 2 times! ), and then by boat to our hotel, where we had a little rest by the pool on the 11th floor (even slept) and then went to the observation deck of the tallest building in BKK - Bayok Sky . The ticket price was 400 baht per person, which also included a free drink. For me, who visited the Empire State Building in New York in 2012, visiting Baiyoke Sky was not so exciting, although interesting. Lera, on the other hand, was in a wild delight, but she did not dare to go out onto the open rotating platform, she only stood “at the door”. And so ended our 2nd day in the BKK.
In the morning, after breakfast at the hotel tour agency, I bought 2 tickets to Bangkok Aquaworld and Madame Tussauds to go there in the afternoon, and drove on to see the sights. We were already taught by yesterday's bitter experience, therefore, after taking a boat to Wat Saket, we immediately took a tuk-tuk for 100 baht and rushed to the Royal Palace with a breeze, then rented 2 skirts there (100 for two), bought entrance tickets (expensive - about 1000 baht for two, but includes all the temples) and 3 hours pushed around (there are a lot of people! ) around the temple. The heat often drove us into the shade, tired!
Then we got back by tuk-tuk and boat to our Pratunam stop and went on foot to the aqua museum and then to Madame Tussauds in Siam Paragon, since everything is nearby. We got a lot of pleasure from different fish and from the Tussauds Museum. After that, we tried to shop somewhere and eat. We ate some kind of bourda in the shopping center, so in BKK we still ate more at McDonald's or bought our own food in supermarkets, because the local street food did not appeal to us. In the evening, we went to the nearest shopping centers, but apart from the World Trade Center (opposite our hotel), all other multi-storey shopping centers did not arouse interest, because they all represented a large Thai bazaar with things of the appropriate quality.
In the evening, we packed our things and were ready for our next destination - about. Phuket.
In the morning after breakfast, we left the hotel, caught a tuk-tuk and for 70 baht we got to the SkyLine (it was possible to walk, because it’s not far, but it’s very inconvenient, because the sidewalks are uneven and occupied by stalls with things or food, yes to also dragging with 2 suitcases in the heat !! ! ) where we bought a ticket for 40 baht / person and safely reached the airport in a comfortable and air-conditioned carriage.
At the airport, we found the Bangkok Airways counters we needed, checked in our suitcases and went to the Bangkok Airway Lounge. A little about this airline…
Bangkok Airways is an expensive local company, but I was somehow afraid to take local low-cost airlines due to the fact that low-cost flights can be canceled, and this happens very rarely with regular airlines. In addition, this airline offers more comfort (separate lounges as in business class, meals on board, seat reservation when buying a ticket, etc. ). But since I took tickets in advance at a rather low dollar rate, the prices were still acceptable for me. We had 3 domestic flights: BKK-Phuket (on a Boeing 737), Phuket-Samui (on a turboprop ATP) and Samui-BKK (on the ATP). Everywhere at the airports in the halls of the airline it was possible to have a snack for free. From Koh Samui, I made a little mistake with the choice of flight, because I fly to BKK up to 10 times a day, and if I had been more attentive, I would have seen that ATP was flying somewhere, and Boeing somewhere, but I didn’t pay attention to this and we can say we were not lucky, because our plane was ATP and it flew to BKK for 1.5 hours, while Boeing takes passengers from Koh Samui to BKK in 50 minutes. The cost of flights is absolutely the same.
To be continued….
