How easy is it to DIY travel to Thailand and not go via eg Trailfinders?

[tricerotopsrule]

Exactly that...!

I've had a quote from Trailfinders for Feb 2025 for 5 of us (two parents and 3 teens) to go on a multi centre trip (Bangkok, Chaing Mai and Khao Lak) for two weeks to Thailand.

With flights, 4 or 5* hotels, breakfast, transfers and several excursions they are quoting £13k!

Is that about right or a rip off?

Can we arrange it all ourselves re booking flights and hotels? How hard is it and has anyone done that?

Thanks

Yes you can do it yourselves, it's pretty easy and will be cheaper too.

It just takes a lot of time to research everything as there are so many options for travel and accommodation! But I prefer doing it that way as I can find independent and interesting hotels and an itinerary to suit us - and I always save us money!

I went to Thailand over Easter, me and my 17 yo. I booked my long haul flights and two hotels in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, one was 4, one was 5 via British Airways but flying with Qatar Airways (£2.2k), the multi centre option. I also went to Koh Samui but booked the hotel myself via Booking.com and flight transfers I booked myself. Internal flights were about £50-60 each.

How are the rooms set up though, are the teens all sharing a room and then the adults share? I think I paid just over £3k for two weeks on flights and accommodation for two adults.

It is worth pricing it up yourself though for comparison. Also it’s worth booking the excursions when you’re there via Viator or at the tour places as you get a better deal. When in Feb are you planning to go, over the half term?

Super easy. I've not travelled long haul through an agent or travel company for 30 years! And I do a lot of long haul travel.

complete and total rip off!

having travelled quite a bit in SEA, I recommend:

book the flights directly through airlines to get max flexibility if things go wrong. Qatar is very good to bkk, as is Emirates. Royal Thai used to be good but its trash now. also avoid air india. British Airways is kind of OK but definitely not my fav. for 5 people, the flights will be roughly 3.5 in economy, quite a bit more if in business depending on who you fly with.

Hotels- again I would book directly through their websites. Thailand has great, extremely affordable five star hotels. please don't book via booking.com or other such websites as they are a pain to deal with and prices directly through the hotel are pretty similar.

I reccommend the Shangri-la at Bangkok, and where you can stick to international hotel chains. I normally just have a Google in the region and read the reviews carefully. tours the hotel will organise for you when you get there. with five people, you can just hire a tour guide for each location and they will drive you around and show you around. again this is extremely affordable.

even staying in five star hotels, i would be shocked if you manage to spend more than 4k on accomodation for two weeks. food is ridiculously cheap. all in all you will probably spend 9- 10k max and that is with pulling all the stops out.

please don't change currency at the airport - take cash gbp and change in local banks/currency exchanges it is soo much better. if using credit cards to pay for hotels, make sure they charge in their local currency otherwise the shitty hotel exchange rates will increase your bill significantly.

have fun!

@SnowfallSnowball yes Feb half term 2025 plus the week before it. It's a one off big holiday to celebrate several things so I want it to be amazing and a big adventure. I know it will be £££££ but wondered if we could arrange things ourselves rather than going via a big company to make it less painful on the pocket!!

it's not just the money, you will have so much more flexibility when booking it yourself. I would also book the local flights separately as it will be much cheaper

also make sure to get really good holiday insurance.

@therealcookiemonster wow thanks for your comprehensive reply! I spoke to a Trailfinders guy today and felt a bit restricted and pressured. He gave me an itinerary with specific hotels on it and no choice and said to secure it I'd need to pay a deposit by tomorrow. I asked him for a few more options to compare as I like to research!

Easy to do yourself. In Bangkok I recommend staying near a sky train stop as traffic can be horrendous.
have stayed here three times - good location, lovely staff
https://www.ariyasom.com/
and here in chiang mai
https://www.secret-retreats.com/hotels/thailand/chiang-mai/rachamankha

@therealcookiemonster what websites are good for the internal flights booking? And how do we get from the airport to hotels? Just an airport taxi for 5?? What if it's a very long transfer?

We've either had transfers within a package deal or hired a car so I'm not sure what the other options are

For local flights - Bangkok air was fine.
it’s easy to organise a car and driver from Bangkok if you want to go to Kanchanaburi for the day or to Ayutthaya - both worth a trip imo.

for the airport to the hotel I have always arranged airport pickup though the hotel.
In Phuket there were fixed rate taxis where you pay in advance so you do t get ripped off.

I’ve sent you a pm

from what I remember the transfer from bkk Airport to city centre is not too bad. its the traffic that's the issue. personally I would ask the hotel to book the transfer - will be a bit expensive (not by uk standard) but I personally think its worth it.

I use Google flights for everything and then go into the airlines website to book. also worth buying business class for the local flights if possible.

obv you can use skyscanner too. but I reccommend to just book through the airline website.

Complete rip off and really easy to do yourself!

Between Bangkok & Chaing Mai do way with an overnight train, book through Seat 61, you can have the tickets delivered to your hotel. It’s a brilliant experience :)

https://www.seat61.com/index-mobile.htm

Excursions are really easy to arrange should you’re there if you don’t want to pre book, and I’d recommend the Elephant Nature Park sanctuary in Chaing Mai as a brilliant place to visit/stay.

Super easy. We have stayed all over the place and it's so cheap. As is travel. We got a taxi 200k for £40!! A week in a Holiday Inn Express cost £144 in breakfast for a week!!

Flights to Ko Samui are expensive but everything else is easy and cheap. I find it better to get there and work it out as I go with travel, but I book the hotels where I want to be.

I would also recommend using the Grab app, works similar to Uber and is really cheap in particular in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. Booking.com also offer airport transfers, I used this when going from Bangkok airport to my hotel, with no issues. For your long haul flight I’d go with Qatar or Eithad, unless you wanted a direct flight then go with Thai Airways. Never had any issues with Qatar or Eithad though. As others have suggested book hotels via booking.com, you can filter accordingly. I stayed in the Shangri La in CM, it was amazing, it was definitely a ‘fuck it, we deserve it’ choice mind you 🤣. Also don’t stay longer than 2-3 nights in Bangkok! It’s worth the research time.

For internal flights I’ve used AirAsia and Bangkok airways and booked directly on their websites. The prices don’t change that much but they vary, for example the earlier flights are always cheaper than say midday or after noon flights.

My son went last year and I booked everything for him. Flights from UK to Chiang Mai via Bangkok (separate airlines worked out cheaper), then flight back to Bangkok and a hotel stay there. Quite straightforward, just time consuming doing the research.

Ahh I’m jealous, making me want to go back again! 😁

Last time I used a private hire place from the airport to hotel. Super reliable and cheap. www.taxi-service-thailand.com/

Picked us up on time with a board with my name on and gave us free drinks.

In Bangkok I stayed at Tower Club at Lebua State tower for a few nights. Expensive but amazing. Hotel Indigo Wireless is fab if you have kids, really cool inside. Hotel Clover was also lovely.

Elephant Jungle Sanctuary is an ethical sanctuary that loon after rescued elephants and they pick you up fro. Your hotel and feed you all for £75 each. They also take professional pics and let you have them for free. You get to feed, wash and have a mud fight with the elephants and then make elephant poo paper. They have sanctuaries all over Thailand including Chang Mai.

Koh Phangnan is amazing too. Totally worth the extra cost of flights. Bottle Beach look out is amazing.

I’ve always booked my trips to Thailand myself, multi city. I normally get an AOT car from BKK to my hotel. There is a fixed rate, and they will have something big enough for all of you. It can take some time to get to the centre because of the traffic, I’ve had 30 minute trips and 1.5 hour trips.
Get SIM cards at the airport - really good value data for 2 weeks.
internal flights are cheap. I’ve used Thai airways, Thai smile and Bangkok airways.
I’ve hired cars outside of Bangkok. It’s also easy to get a mini bus with driver and guide for trips. All hotels can organise it.
I recommend Bangkok food tours. The evening tuk tuk food tour is really fun.
I haven’t been to Thailand since before Covid now nd need to get back there.

DC1 and friends have just got back from four months in South East Asia, granted the accommodation was mostly hostels but the whole trip was under £4000 for everything.

Yes of course, pretty easy these days. Plenty of specific advice online but you can book most via the same booking sites y used Europe. If you are U.K. based might be worth watching the race across the world episodes in Thailand too if you haven't already for a bit of extra inspiration.

We are thinking of going next year ourselves, just booking the flights and first night hotel in advance

Have a look at BA flight & hotel deals, they can be amazing value. You don't have to book hotels for every night, it's totally flexible so you can book other accommodation to suit you. You only need one night of accommodation booked with the flight for it to count as a package with all the protection that entails.

Following

Thanks everyone! Has anyone flown to Cambodia from Thailand as Siem Reap is another contender that we might do (so Bangkok, Siem Reap and Kao Lak). Is that doable in two weeks given it's going into another country?