Thailand Recap

 Dec 18 - Phuket

Dec 19 - Phuket

Dec 20 - Phuket

Dec 21 - Phuket - Bangkok

Dec 22 - Bangkok - Vancouver - Toronto

Before we headed to Vietnam, we spent a few days in Tokyo. TOKYO RECAP

We would then go on to Thailand after Vietnam. VIETNAM RECAP

Click on photos to enlarge.

This will be  shorter recap from our November/December trip. It was part of the Vietnam tour package but a lot less regimented.

Map of Thailand portion - we flew from Ho Chi Minh Vietnam.

HOTELS

Breakfasts included.
Bangkok at the Mandarin 4* hotel in a standard room - didn't love the location, restaurant closed at 9.
Chiang Mai at the Movenpick Suriwongse 4* hotel in a standard room - WORST hotel room in a great location.
Phuket at the Ramada by Wyndham Phuket 4* hotel in a standard room - nice hotel, great location with restaurants nearby and beach. Good pool.
Bangkok at the Amaranth Suvarnabhumi Hotel 4* hotel in a standard room - checked in very late and out very early. Nice staff, take away b/f provided.

BANGKOK THAILAND

Dec 11 - Ho Chi Minh - Bangkok - escorted to and from hotels/airports
Dec 12 - Bangkok Thailand on our own
Dec 12 Weekly Recap
Dec 13 - Bangkok on our own
Dec 14 - Bangkok - Chiang Mai escorted to and from hotels/airports

Other than being met at the Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) in Bangkok and taken to the hotel we were on our own. You can read about our exciting airport greeting in the daily recap, link above. It was after 10 PM when we got to the hotel.

On the first full day there was a half day sightseeing tour included but we had been to Bangkok before and done that tour. So we had two full days on our own, other than the dinner cruise we had arranged ourselves. The dinner cruise was a highlight.

We were happy to spend some time in the Thai Airlines Royal Silk Lounge before boarding our flight to Chiang Mai.

CHIANG MAI

Dec 14 - Chiang Mai arrival

Dec 15 - Chiang Mai half day tour

Dec 16 - Chiang Mai on our own

Dec 17 - Chiang Mai - Phuket

In a nutshell, Chiang Mai is gorgeous and full of temples, fun bars, great food and night markets!
We arrived in Chiang Mai late afternoon and wandered around.
The next day we had a half day tour, we did two temples and the market.

After a late lunch we enjoyed the rest of the day on our own. The next day was on our own, seeing many more temples!! And the night market.

Chiang Mai had a fair share of murals.

We had good food, but let's say, John is not a matcha fan!

PHUKET

Dec 18 - Phuket on our own
Dec 19 - Phuket on our own
Dec 20 - Phuket on our own
Dec 21 - Phuket - Bangkok on our own
Dec 22 - Bangkok - Vancouver - Toronto

Again, we are on our own, completely, this portion of the package. We were taken to our hotel along with some other people, and we never saw any of them again!

The hotel was adequate. It had a pool and we enjoyed using it. Breakfast was fine. Otherwise we liked the pizza place next door for dinner.

We had booked a Thai dinner show with pickup. It was extremely organized. The food was not very good at all.

We spent a day in Old Phuket town. 

And of course, we checked out one of the beaches, since that is what everyone raves about.

We enjoyed walking around Patong. 

BANGKOK - VANCOVER - TORONTO

Other than having to be up really early in Bangkok our flights home were comfortable and pleasant.