Thailand Travel Tips and Meet Up Time
Travel Tips
It's a good idea to plan to arrive in Bangkok no later than the night before the program begins, to allow for any travel delays.
There are lots of perks, of course, to booking online. First, you get to see the options from which to choose. Second, you usually earn more reward miles. Third, often the best fares an airline carries are only listed on the internet. From our experience, no one avenue always has the lowest fare, so you are probably best checking several of the sources below.
We think its worth checking out the major discount booking sites first, to provide an overview of what seems to be out there.
Expedia http://www.expedia.com
Orbitz http://www.orbitz.com
Travelocity http:// www.travelocity.com
Then, check on the airline websites for those major carriers which seem to offer the lowest fare. Airlines often have their best webfares listed only on their own websites. American Airlines http://www.aa.com/ 1-800-433-7300
Continental Airlines http://www.continental.com/ 1-800-231-0856
Delta Airlines http://www.delta.com/home/index.jsp 1-800-241-4141
Northwest Airlines http://www.nwa.com/ 1-800-447-4747
Singapore Airlines http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/app/saa 1-800-742-3333
Sometimes consolidators, who book directly with airlines in negotiating their own fares, have the best rates.
http://airtravelcenter.com/atcbroker.htm
http://www.airlineticketsinfo.com/info/consolidators.htm
And sometimes even travel agents have access to special fares, or are more knowledgeable about routing a fare to where you can get a better deal. If you're already working with one, it's best to start there. Otherwise, you might try asking who your employer uses, or your friends. One we've used and been happy with is Jane Becker: beckerj@netins.net
Incidentally, websites like www.sidestep.com claim to search several sites at once to find the best deal, but we have found that it frequently does not yield the best deal.
If you do not care about knowing which carrier you go on, it may be worth trying to bid on airfare (Ebay style) at: http://www.skyauction.com.
Sometimes consolidators have the very best fares of all. One we've found that seems to have great fares to Asia is:
Amy Zhao
Kitty's Travel Inc.
38W. 32nd St, Suite 1209 New York, NY. 10001
Tel: 1-800-801-8448 1-212-594-1416
Fax :1 -212-643-0656
Email: kittystravelinc@hotmail.com
Often, the major carriers can get you into the capital city of a country, but not further. Often, the best value you can get from the capital to the destination city is to take a regional carrier. For example, in Latin America, try the following to get from the capital to the destination city.
You will be brought back to the airport the following Saturday morning before noon.
Bangkok Hotels
Many volunteers have found that places near Kao San Road offer reliable bargain hotels, near plenty of police and se curity guards. While it is a good idea to book in advance, you'll find that so many are clustered there that you can go from place to place checking out which you like best upon arrival. Kao San Road it se lf can be quite noisy at night as it attracts so many people, and you will se e that this is an area where many westerners congregate due to its high concentration of incredibly priced se rvices such as laundry, food, internet access, etc.
Therefore many past volunteers have found that beyond the bend from Kao Son Road along Soi Rambutri. There are many places that will give you a private bath and air conditioning for under $20 a night, such as Sawdee House 281-8138, My House (282-9267), Wild orchid (02-629-4378 8 Soi Chanasongkarm, Pra Arthit Road.
For a step up in accommodations and price, the Viengtai Hotel (280-5434 42 Thanon Rambutri) is a reliable choice for deluxe rooms around $60.
You can also choose to stay at the hotel at the airport - the Amari (http://www.amari.com/), for around $50. Many of the hotels in airport area are twice as expensive as in town. There's the Don Muang Mansion (566-3064) which is about 1200baht for a small air-conditioned room - though you can bargain to about 800B. Divide by about 40 to see the rate in US$
Some say better value is Comfort Suites Airport 552-8921-9; pinap@loxinfo.co.th 88/117 Viphavadi Rangsit Highway) about 5 min south of airport and cost about 1600baht to book through a travel agent - and are actually nicer than the Don Muang Mansion.
A super cheap near airport hotel is We-Train International House wetrain@linethai.co.th for about 600baht - though the taxi ride costs more because of where it is on the highway, you have to u-turn, etc. To avoid this, you can take the pedestrian bride in the airport to the entrance of the Amari hotel and take taxi from there, which will save you over half the taxi fare. The WE-TRAIN International House is a rather unique existence. Basically, this is a fund-raising project for a non-profit, charitable organization called "Association for the Promotion of the Status of Women" and the hotel is surrounded by several such buildings. It's located in a suburban residential area, away from any shopping/tourist areas. Their room rates are 400B for a standard twin room or 500B for a delux twin room. They have a dormitory for 80B/bed, but this is at minimum 10 beds (800B), and you need to make a reservation in advance.
You may experience difficulty giving the taxi driver the directions. (Want to walk? It's about 4km.)
http://www.we-train.co.th If you want a taste of luxury prior to your volunteer experience, Bangkok has quite a few to choose from in the $150 range, many on the main river, such as the Regent Bangkok (251-6127) and the http://bangkok.peninsula.com/iflash.html.
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