To ask for help in planning a holiday to Thailand

[Growlingteddybear]

Would go for up to 3 weeks total in August (including stop offs there and back)
Never ever been anywhere like it but fancy a change. Hate long haul flights....that's the big issue so direct flights would be a no. Where else is good to combine with it? Flying ideally no more than 7hrs from UK. 3 adults and an older teen.

Most flights will stop over in the middle east. Qatar airways is my favourite and you can always do a stopover in Doha.

Where are you planning on visiting in Thailand? As a lit if places will be rainy season then

You'd usually stop in the middle east, Dubai or Doha. We did it with Emirates via Dubai.

I would stopover in Singapore. In fact earlier this year my cousin's family planned for 3 weeks in Thailand but got bored by the 2nd week and changed their plans to spend the last week in Singapore. You could do 2 weeks in Bangkok and a beach resort (Phuket, ko samui, krabi etc), or you could also venture over to Vietnam. Lots of cheap flights in the area.

When I went to India some on the trip booked with Turkish airlines because they get a free stopover in Istanbul, might be worth looking.

Otherwise Dubai is a common stop.

Or take some antihistamines and sleep the whole flight, that’s what I would do.

You can also fly via Istanbul if you don't fancy the Middle East.

I personally find that it's better to fly direct at least one way because you notice the extra 3-4 hours less than the faff of the airport twice.

Where in Thailand, OP? Bangkok is very different to Phuket, Koh Samui and so on. The only general advice I'd give would be avoid Pattaya.

Edited - got countries mixed up!

That’s not a stopover though, Singapore is further away!

We stopped over in Kuala Lumpa for 3 days.

We flew with Emirates and had a stopover in Dubai. We visited Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. It was absolutely amazing, the holiday of a lifetime.

Dubai or Istanbul are your best bets.

I know you said you didn't want direct flights but I'd honestly fly direct to Bangkok, it's about 12 hours, stay there 2 or 3 nights then fly down to Koh Samui where you can then island hop. Booking boats etc is so easy. I absolutely love Thailand & have done most of the islands. 3 weeks is a great amount of time to explore!

Yeah my bad 😬
We always fly into Singapore and use it as a base for south east Asia that's why it sprang into my mind.

UK to Singapore is a longer flight than direct to Thailand. Like 12 hours

How on earth did they get bored in Thailand in 2 weeks? Unless of course they just went to beachy island places

But there are cities, mountains, riverside with beautiful CV countryside about etc. can't comprehend it. I will be doing my 8th visit to Thailand in Jan and never get bored staying a month or 6 weeks

Singapore however is ok for 3 days max

@ThianWinter this sounds wonderful. Did you book a package or organise for yourself? All hints/tips very welcome, would love to do this! Thank you.

You can travel round Thailand very easily.
Bangkok
Chiang Mai
Koh Samui for example.

I have no idea whereabouts in Thailand yet. Haven't got that far in planning yet! Just working out which surroundings countries to also visit.

Its rainy season do you would be better off going over Christmas (if tied to school holidays).

Re the flight honestly just fly direct as all the waiting at airports with a stopover make the journey unbearable ime.

Bangkok is amazing, so I would stay there in a decent Hilton type hotel for a good few days after your flight before you move on. There are incredible ancient monuments, temples, river markets, and also super modern sky bars, and roof top views. Ayutthaya is the ancient capital which you can do in a day trip from Bangkok.

Chang-Mai is worth a few days if time.

Then fly or train to Krabi from where you can visit Railay beach, Phi Phi etc etc or Phuket. Just stay in average price places here and move around. It's set up for that and food and board is super cheap.

Finally I'd go to one of the southern islands nearer Malaysia (like Koh Lanta) where you can find proper R&R and 5+* luxury with excellent service at a fraction of the prices of the UK. Weather will be better down there in August too.

Enjoy - it's wonderful!

As others have said, it is rainy season so Krabi/Phuket will be out. Ko Samui should be OK (though I went in August and it was still pretty overcast most of the time). Hua Hin should be OK.

If you want to break up the journey half way there, it is generally going to be Middle East (Dubai or Doha) or, as someone else has suggested, Istanbul if you fly with Turkish airlines.

I have done this journey many times & with stop offs at different places.

However it depends on your budget & what sort of things you want to do on your travels

My preference is to fly overnight for long haul & sleep.

Use Skyscanner to look at flights. You can change the dates to find the cheapest flights.
Use the actual airline websites to book the flights directly

You could fly
UK or Europe to Turkey or Egypt

To Sri Lanka or India

To Thailand

You can stop as many times as you plàn to
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Once you arrive in Thailand.
Flights are affordable from Thailand to Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore etc

Always buy travel insurance

Hua Hin has to be the worst place I have been to in Thailand - dreadful beach crammed with beach beds and horses. Couldn't wait to leave.

We organised it ourselves - booked accommodation for the first two nights, then after that used Booking.com in the various countries to arrange homestays (like Airbnb), so much cheaper. Travel was either by train or bus and was also inexpensive and an incredible experience. There are tour operators who do similar holidays but they cost ££££££££. Everywhere we went the people were incredibly friendly, but we needed to use google translate an awful lot, so I'd advise taking a decent phrase book, or learning some stock phrases. I can now say where's the toilet in several different languages.😂

Wow - that is SERIOUSLY impressive! And inspiring! Thanks for sharing.

Sounds like my sort of travel . Pretty much how I wander round SE Asia twice a year with my trusty Osprey 40l