[wildsdi5530]

Just wanted to point out that the Tuk-Tuks that you have photographed are not the real ones. The real ones look like auto rickshaws and make a characteristic sound.
Also car service takes 15 mons and is just the cost of oil and other consumables, unlike India where the car is kept for a whole day and where labour charges are more than the part itself.
Also a good idea to pick up car accessories and also OEM parts of Honda, Toyota, Maruti, etc.

[harry10]

Nice travelogue CD.
Brought a smile on my face seeing those pics especially of Phuket. We did a 10 days Phuket and Phi phi island trip in feb 2019. Great memories. Carried 10k mandatory thai baht for visa and rest in USD as exchange rate is much better in local markets. Planned the entire trip myself. Getting Indian food is quite easy there but it's double the price in comparison to thai or western food. Language isn't much of a trouble as they understand basic english.

Tuk tuk looks great but are expensive to commute and they usually try to fleece you. We rented bikes for entire duration as it gives you a lot of freedom to go where ever and whenever.

Sharing few pics of the trip. Hope you don't mind.

[Reinhard]

Loved the thread @CD. Truly enjoyable. Thanks for it. Rated it well deserved 5 stars. Rather than a magazine like travel experience - it was a real world narrative with routine things also covered (including cars that can be seen around ). Especially a good read considering since a couple of weeks I have not seen anything outside the gate of my housing society!

Keep more coming!

[bharatbits]

Loved the Bangkok city more than the beach places like the PhiPhi, Krabi etc. Great thread.

Been to Thailand twice in a span of 3 months. My first flight and it turned out to be an international one. Loved the country and it's welcoming people. Will definitely go again as and when i have some spare time and some spare cash to splurge.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by wildsdi5530

Just wanted to point out that the Tuk-Tuks that you have photographed are not the real ones. The real ones look like auto rickshaws and make a characteristic sound.

Yes. Absolutely right.

But the real ones were a rare sight close to the city centres, especially tourist hotspots. I could mainly spot them only ones we hit the rural highways between Phuket and Krabi.

Daihatsu and Suzuki seem to be capturing the modern day Tuk-Tuk market!

Originally Posted by harry10

We did a 10 days Phuket and Phi Phi island trip in Feb 2019. Great memories.

Sharing few pics of the trip. Hope you don't mind.

Absolutely not!

Infact, if you don't mind - please share your itinerary as well. Would love another visit whenever time and budget permits - but certainly not soon! If at all the opportunity arrives to travel that side - preference goes to Vietnam or Cambodia next.

[ashlil]

Damn. You brought some fond memories back. From 2004 till 2012, I must have visited Thailand more than 50 times. I have loved my experience there and I have seen most of the nooks and corners of the country. I have been going there since the time Don Muang used to be the main airport of Bangkok. It was very efficient those days. Visa on arrival used to take all of 15 minutes (visa and immigration stamp were the same counter). New airport is messy. Although, I have stayed in big hotels, my favourite accommodation used to be the bars. Most have, believe it or not, very quiet and comfortable rooms upstairs which you can have for 350 to 400 bahts (some throw in nice breakfast at the bar for free).

[mayankverma]

Nice travelogue CrAzY dRiVeR. I went to Phuket and Patong for my honeymoon back in 2014 and your pics brought back lots of memories. Nicely written, thoroughly enjoyed.

[Samfromindia]

In one word WOW ! This is how an international touristy travelogue should be, when coming from a Bhpian. There are so many references of all forms of transport, from cars to bikes to boats This only shows the common love we share for automobiles. Thanks for giving all details on whats good & whats bad and what to stay away from. Rated *****

[Sheel]

Beautiful travelogue CD, the one taken with family is so rejuvenating.

I never knew, you could take so beautiful pictures, all pictures are professionally shot.

You didn't do any wild things or not, you should have tried that crocodile, no?

[Amrik Singh]

Great Captures and the speed at which the TL has landed in it's best place.
Thanks for sharing.

[srinath34]

Very nicely written CD. I have always wanted to explore Thailand but have not gone beyond Bangkok considering choc-a-bloc official trips. I could do Pattaya on one of the trips but that was also an officially arranged one. Hope to make a personal trip once the travelling atmosphere becomes better.

Coming to flights, TG 326/325 is the best bet for return-Bangalore but not if you land in Bangkok on a weekday. I also heard Indigo timings are good for weekend travel.

The Japs have some really good choices of 2 and 4 wheels in Thailand and I remember seeing a shop in Pantip or MBK mall solely dedicated to aftermarket accessories. I guess IDP is required to ride/drive a rented vehicle.

Coming to food, Indian food is really expensive and the local delicacies are out of the world at times. I have had amazing Pad-Thai and Mango with sticky rice in one of the Sukhumvit Sois.

Looking forward to your Dubai travelogue as I have made virtual plans already.

Cheers!!

[theexperthand]

Thank you, CD for the travelogue. Those pictures are amazing.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

In fact, if you don't mind - please share your itinerary as well. I would love another visit whenever time and budget permits - but certainly not soon! If at all the opportunity arrives to travel that side - preference goes to Vietnam or Cambodia next.

Let me add a bit to this travelogue - soon after CD came back, I went for a Thailand trip (Bangalore - Bangkok - Phuket – Bangalore), with a lot of inputs taken from him.

I did the whole planning by myself and the majority of the itinerary was booked through Klook.com.

Day1:
Bangalore to Bangkok and Night Cruise at Chao Phraya river:

Stay: Sukhumvit Suites Hotel

Booked the Indigo flight which lands at Suvarnabhumi airport at noon. I took the visa from here itself, after hearing about the long queues at Suvarnabhumi airport from CD. In retrospect, it was a very good decision and it ended up saving my evening plans from being a complete washout. The flight got delayed and we landed at Suvarnabhumi airport around 1 hour later than planned. The queue for taking Visa On Arrival was huge, but thankfully the queue for people who have already taken the visa was very small, so we finished emigration within around 20 minutes and the first part of the business was to get some lunch – we went to the Magic Food Point cafeteria at 1st Floor, which served a lot of Thai food options at a very affordable budget.

After grabbing a quick late lunch, we went to the Klook counter to collect all the vouchers I pre-booked - The ARL passes from Airport to City, BTS one day passes, Sea Life Ocean World passes and Chao Phraya Princess Cruise tickets.
The stay was booked by booking.com at Sukhumvit Suites Hotel, which is right next to Asoke BTS station.
ARL dropped us at Petchaburi and from there, we took the tube to Asoke. By the time we reached our hotel, we were running late and was not sure that we will make it to the night cruise. Did a quick check-in and a super quick freshening up and we almost ran to take the MRT to Saphan Taksin, from where we were supposed to take a free ferry ride to Asiatique riverfront, to start the cruise. By the time we reached Saphan Taksin, it started raining and since time was running out, we opted for a paid transfer to the Asiatique and just made it in the nick of time for the cruise.

Thankfully, rain stopped by the time we started the cruise and we were treated to a bird’s eye view of the nightscape of Bangkok. One of my bucket list items for this trip was to click Vat Arun at night and the cruise helped me to tick that box. The boat was comfortable, and the buffet was well laid out and the liquid entertainment was well priced. There was a live band and they did belt out some good numbers and kept us entertained. We finished the day with a quick tour of Iconsiam – sadly, I could not taste the crocodile because I was already full from the sumptuous buffet during the cruise.

Vat Arun at night:



Asiatique - night view:









Food Time:







--Anoop

[theexperthand]

Day 2 - Sea Life Ocean World - Siam Paragon-Siam center-MBK-Terminal 21

This day was dedicated to seeing the city sights and some shopping. After a leisurely breakfast from the hotel, we took the MRT to Siam Paragon and visited the Sea Life aquarium.



We reached early so we could beat the rush and could enjoy the attractions (my son enjoyed this a lot). After this we went to do some window shopping – Siam Paragon houses most of the luxury\sports car brands and we ended up spending considerable time here ogling at the beauties.

A sample of the beauties:









For lunch, we went to the food court and I made a beeline to try the famous Phad Thai from Thipsamai and it didn’t disappoint.





Rounded off the lunch with a plate of mango and sticky rice ( which quickly became our favorite dessert). After lunch, we went to MBK and did some cursory shopping.



As you go up, prices will decrease, so don’t fret if you couldn’t snag that dress you liked – chances are that you will find scores of shops selling the same dress even cheaper. Be prepared to bargain hard and if the shopkeepers think your price is too low, they will politely say so.
After spending time at Siam Paragon and MBK, we came back to the hotel for some much-needed rest – MBK is huge and you will end up walking considerable distance. For diner, we took a stroll to Terminal 21 which was right across the street.



This is a theme-based shopping mall where the floors are fashioned after famous cities in the world.
For dinner, we had some Thai delicacies and rounded off the dinner with ice creams and guess what – the mango and sticky rice dessert.
One interesting thing I noticed is that prices at food courts are much lesser than the prices at restaurants and a family can have lunch\dinner at a food court for the same price of a single dish from a restaurant.

Day 3 – Bangkok – Phuket

Stay: Novotel Kamala Beach

This was the day that went totally cuckoo on us. We initially booked a flight that lands at Phuket by 2.00, hoping that we can spend a relaxed evening at the beach, but the flight got canceled and we were moved to an afternoon flight.

After a relaxing breakfast, we took a walk to the Benjakiti park. I was hoping to catch a Grab taxi to the airport but saw that due to the time slot, the prices were surging so I opted for hotel transfer. The transfer vehicle was an Innova and had an interesting conversation with the driver using whatever English he could manage.

We reached the Don Muang airport and came to know that our flight was delayed by an hour. We had lunch from the airport and got some snacks from a 7 Eleven store and we got into the plane almost 1.5 hours later than the departure time and it took another 30 minutes to taxi out. By the time we reached Phuket, it was almost evening and luckily, the transport we booked via Klook was waiting or us.

The ride was a brand-new Toyota Corolla, and the drive from the airport to Kamala Beach was an enjoyable one.
By the time we reached the hotel, the night was falling, so we couldn’t even step out to the beach. We took an evening stroll to a nearby food street and after a quiet dinner, we retired to our room, exhausted by all those waiting – this was supposed to be our less hectic\recharge day, but it ended up as the most draining day.

--Anoop

[Samba]

This travelogue can be an excellent guide for those who are planning to go for the first time.
Breathtaking pics, backed-up by beautiful narration made this an excellent read.
You should consider writing travelogues more frequently!
Rated 5*

[theexperthand]

Day 4 - James Bond and Khai Islands Speedboat Day Tour
After a relaxing breakfast (the breakfast spread at Novotel was excellent and the location of the restaurant is perfect – right on the beach), we were picked up by a Toyota Commuter to the transfer to Royal Phuket Marina, from where the trip was starting.

Few pics of Royal Phuket Marina:








The trip was organized by SeaStar Andaman and I have to say that it was a very well-arranged trip – they made us feel really pampered and were always one step ahead when needed. I will let the pictures do the talking.

The cockpit:



The Scenery:




















After spending a day fully mesmerized by the tranquil waters and amazing beaches, they dropped us off back at our hotel by evening. We spent the evening playing at Kamala Beach and took a stroll to the food street nearby for dinner and finished the day with a night walk at the beach.

Night view from Kamala Beach:



--Anoop