In just over a week we will board our flight from Boise to LA and begin the Snowbird Escape of 2019. Planning for eight weeks in Thailand; U.S. Passport or Tourist Visa was the subject of our first research for this escape.
U.S. Passport allows for 30 days in the country of Thailand. In two of our previous visits we have flown to Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur and Penang) and then returned to Thailand after a little vacation from our stay in country. This year we considered Vietnam (you must have a Visa to enter; U.S. passport only is not sufficient) and Cambodia, specifically Phnom Penh. While we have a great desire to explore more Southeast Asian countries we decided to opt for a tourist Visa from the Thai embassy which allows up to 60 days stay.
To those of you who presently subscribe or for newcomers who read this blog post, you will find the Easy Instructions for applying for Thai Tourist Visa pdf on my resources page when it is published. Watch for that added benefit for you as a reader coming soon!
In the meantime, just a quick recap. I found the research easily taken care of on the Thai Embassy site. We were lucky as there is an embassy here in Denver. We met with the representative following easy email communication and got everything taken care of. She shared instructions efficiently and the process was seamless. I have another post on my list to write about that experience as she had to cancel our first appointment to travel home to Thailand. I’d love to relate the details of the interaction here as it truly reflects the values of the Thai culture. Maybe I’ll get it written on the drive to Idaho! It would truly be a Scorpion’s Tale ;-), just for the fun of telling it!
The plan for initiating our escape includes spending the night in the city of angels (Los Angeles, CA, USA) to fly out to Bangkok (ironically also known as the city of angels) the following morning. When heading out of the country we are much more at ease not sweating delays or missed connections so we book it separately and determine where we want to exit the country by flying there first, sometimes staying for a few days and exploring, but not this year. 2019 has us itching to get out of here. This is the beginning of planning for the actual eight week stay in Thailand. First things first after all, we have to get there.
We’re booked at the Westin in Los Angeles with shuttle service to and from the airport and they have a restaurant in house. Even we who are pretty darn daring don’t find it comfortable to wander the immediate LAX hotel neighborhood and we don’t advise it.
China Southern will be our hostess for the 22 hour and 35 minute trek including a layover in Guangzhou, China. Booking these airlines is not always easy. We do fly Economy, we’d much rather give up a little comfort as a trade out for partaking of more things in more destinations. We were however hoping to get an emergency row seat to give my 6’5″ hubby some leg room but alas even for the additional small fee we were not allowed to upgrade our seats. You must speak Chinese to sit in the exit row. Our airfare however is ridiculously cheap at $430 RT each. These rates pop up from time to time but are very specific. If we weren’t flexible and had planned to leave 2 days later it would have increased $190. Flexibility is the key to the bottom dollar travel rates my dear reader, and not just when it comes to flights.
Thanks to our earning of points, Expedia will be our host for our acclimation to the day ahead time difference we will find on what will be February 8 in Bangkok. After landing at Suvarnabhumi Airport we will plan to grab a taxi (with the leftover Thai Baht we brought home last year for just this purpose) to take us to our executive suite at the FuramaXclusive Sathorn. It is located in an area of Bangkok known as Silom. We have stayed near here before and will have an easy walk to Lumphini Park. We always enjoy our down time exploring in this crazy big city as we arrive in the land of smiles so we can get our inner clocks comfy again before moving on through the country.Â
Fortunate is how I feel to be comfortable enough to travel without all of our time completely planned. We have made the decision to take advantage of this trip to spend time in the coastal area and the islands. While we have visited Phuket and Pattaya before, we have not been to Krabi and so our first stop out of Bangkok on February 11th will be via Air Asia to this Central Southern coast Province and the gateway to some of the most pristine islands in the Andaman Sea. We will fly out of Don Mueang and arrive at our first stop which will find us at the Dee Andaman in Krabi Town where we will stay for four nights to get a feel for this area. While this little berg is not on the coast it is the main hub of the area and we’ve read and watched many You Tube videos that have created a desire to see how we feel about this lively locals community
The weekend of February 15th will find us moving a short distance along the coastline to AoNang and the Anyavee Ban Ao Nang Resort where we will soak up the sunshine and warmth and explore what this coastal beach town has to offer.
Tuesday the 19th. Yes, that will be the next thing we plan. Hahahahahaha! What will attract us the most? Where will we end up next? That’s what will be decided once we sink all the way in. #cometravelwithme
We do have some plans for March that I am supremely excited about. We will be attending the wedding of my hubby’s cousin to his bride whom we met on the back end of last year’s trip. (Check out the story!) The wedding will take place in Bangkok at the St James Hotel on Sukumvhit. We’ll be staying there for six nights. We’ve been special ordered some appropriate attire and will partake in the traditions of this countries celebration during the ceremony. After the wedding, we will still have a little over two weeks left in country and we have only scratched the surface of researching where we might consider going. We are sure it will be out of the city again to explore more of the beautiful land of smiles.
We are excited to share our adventures with you and entice you with tales of our travels as we continue planning for eight weeks in Thailand; U.S. Passport or Tourist Visa, which would you choose?
email: lisa@theinquisitivescorpionstale.com
