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

@HerbalRefreshmentt oh that sounds excellent thank you! It's now higher up on my wish list! Yes the pool rooms are set back a little and it's good to know you can't remember guest floating past you every two minutes 🤣

@Tricerotopsrule. We did Siem Reap independently from Bangkok in 2014 and used this company:
https://www.angkorpartnertravel.com/tour/4-days-expedition-from-bangkok-to-angkor-wat

Absolutely superb!

We were collected by a really luxurious 4 x 4 from our hotel in Bangkok - we had booked to return to same hotel for one night following this 4 day trip so the hotel kept our excess luggage safe for us. The company assisted with obtaining our visas at the border, the guide and driver were fantastic - we were chauffeured around in the same 4 x 4 throughout the whole trip and felt like VIP’s 😀 - and the real bonus of a private tour is that the guide is happy to do whatever you want.
Hotel in Siem Reap was amazing and brilliantly located too. Price was extremely competitive and we would do this trip again in a heartbeat if ever we wanted to return.

At the end of the tour we were taken back to our hotel in Bangkok for one night and then flew down to Koh Sami the next day.

Flights to Siem Reap are very expensive from Thailand so would 100% do it this way by road. Can highly recommend! 👍👍👍

We went last July and would echo what everyone else says. Really easy to book independently and FAR cheaper.

We are 2 adults and 2 teens. What we did is probably not for everyone but worked for us. We flew to Bangkok, had booked a hotel for 3 nights (that’s enough). One day doing temple/ river markets and one doing shopping/ central area. We got a taxi from airport to hotel.

We did the night train to Chaing Mai. We didn’t book in advance but did book on first day we arrived. Would recommend. Not just cheaper than flying but was an amazing experience. Really clean train, massive seats that become beds and train station is like an airport!

In Chiang Mai we went to an elephant sanctuary and did booked a street food tour. That was really useful as we then felt confident to go to street food markets and food was so cheap. DM me if you want to do either.

we then flew to Phuket, took boat to Phi Phi Islands and back to Phuket after 3 days. Bus/ boat to Koh Sumai and another boat to Koh Tao which was our favourite place. Then boat/ train back to Bangkok.

we only booked the first hotel. Did everything else when there and booked hotels through booking.com. Meant we could be fluid on how long we stayed in each place. We went for 3 weeks though so if you can only do two would probably miss Phuket and Phi Phi as although amazing, might mean too much travel and could fly to Koh Sumai instead. But do a couple of islands

We are considering Thailand for next summer. We cannot go at any other time of the year. How did you find the weather in July?

We were in Koh Samui last July and it was beautiful. Think we had one downpour in the 5 days. We worried so much about the weather but really didn’t need to

We did 3 weeks in July. Like you we put Thailand off as worried about weather. And I was particularly worried about Phuket and Phi Phi as can be quite wet. We had one day of rain and that was in Koh Sumai which is meant to be the driest area in July. Didn’t spoil the holiday at all.

I think Chaing Mai might maybe potentially be in the burning season in February. It gets really bad about a month later but if any of you have asthma then the air quality can be an issue.

@HerbalRefreshmentt can I ask if the huge winding Marriot pool at Khao Lak is freshwater or salt water?? Thanks!

This is what we are doing to Africa. I priced it with BA sale and separate internal flights and was about £700 cheaper than TF for all 4 of us. I'm struggling to be OK with that but am terrified local flight will be cancelled or delayed and if booked separately we'd be stranded. I think if I was travelling independently I'd leave a night in-between but we have two weeks so I've sucked it up and bought car hire and flights / internal via Trailfinders to get ATOL protection.

Their accommodation was all hotels, no apartments (and I made them go through it with me). We've ended up booking nicer apartments via air B n B which is much better for our family of four. Safari booked independently.

Their original price was £16-20k for four of us. Have done it for about 10k for just under 3 weeks including safari / food and excursions.

That's with the more expensive Trailfinders flights.

Well, very easy. You just book your flights to Thailand and download the booking.com app onto your phone. You will be guaranteed to find a hotel for a few nights at a time whilst you’re travelling. That is if you want to do the whole backpacking thing. I did this in my early twenties and it gave me a lot of flexibility as far as timings and you can be more spontaneous. I’d imagine SEA hasn’t ch aged that much in terms of pricing, it’s much cheaper than here so your money goes far.