Need Thailand Itinerary help- Phuket to BKK

[@dam]

Hi guys. I leave for Thailand on Saturday night. My itinerary is pretty full, and I'm going to see much of the country over almost three weeks. However, my itinerary ends in Phuket on a Wednesday, but I managed to get a couple of more days off so I don't need to be back up at BKK for my flight out until Friday (flight leaves in the middle of the day- already changed).

I would've already purchased my ticket from Phuket to BKK, but I'm not sure if I should leave on Wednesday, Thursday, or on Friday and just transfer over directly from the puddle jumper to my international flight (how reliable are the plane schedules- I don't want to cut it too close!).

So, what I'm wondering is if anybody has any suggestions on some really cool things to do between Phuket and BKK. Where would you go? Right now I'm leaning to Phuket and maybe exploring the nearby mainland a little, but I'm not sure. It'd also be nice to hit BKK so I can get all of my souvinier/clothes/gift shopping done all in one shot on the last day of my trip, but I'm not really a city person, and I already have the reservations and everything to spend a few days in Bangkok at the start of the trip.

[LiveFreeorDie]

There's a few places you could go, you could go check out Krabi or Khao Lak (the place most devestated by the Tsunami, but making a comeback) on the mainland somewhat near to Phuket. Go check out Koh Phi Phi for a day or so (take a boat from Phuket). Not sure what you like, so these places are a stab in the dark.

As for flights......I would recommend you leave Phuket on Thursday to catch a Friday mid-day flight. It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to get from Patong Beach and surrounding areas to the Phuket airport. Then roughly an hour in the air. Get your luggage at BKK. Then, you have to hike from the Domestic terminal at BKK to the International terminal. This is about 3/4 of a kilometer walk through a long tunnel (air conditioned luckily) - make sure you grab a luggage cart to throw all your stuff on - the walk can be long if your lugging something with no wheels (like a backpack). You want to check into the international flight 1.5 to 2 hours early - check in lines can be long and then a good walk to the gate, security, etc.

My personal opinion is it would be really tight to get the earliest flight out of Phuket and make your international flight without some stress thrown in and at least some odds of missing your flight.

BTW - I really like Nok Air to fly between BKK and Phuket. Especially if you have a heavy piece of luggage. You can buy the Nok Plus ticket which allows up to 30kg of luggage and is sort of like first class (but not really). It's usually only a little more. Otherwise, if you buy a regular ticket, they usually charge you for over 15kg. If you fly Air Asia they rape you on excess luggage fees. Thai Airways is usually the most expensive of the bunch in general. If you pack light, you don't need to worry. Good luck!

[@dam]

I know I didn't phrase my question very well, but you mangaged to give just the sort of answer I was looking for anyway. Thanks.

So, can I just purchase the Nok Air ticket somewhere in Phuket the day I fly out or the day before? Do you recommend buying the ticket online at an internet cafe instead?

Also, my bag ring now is only about 11kg, so I don't think I'll go over the 15 kg limit by much if at all, but thanks for the advice.

My flight back home leaves BKK at 12:35. Are there interesting places to stay that are relatively close to the airport, or is it worth it just to go back downtown?

[LiveFreeorDie]

You can likely purchase a Nok Air ticket close to when you leave, probably even same day (but it is a bit risky). My experience has been Asians in general do not book flights much in advance and so finding a last minute flight is not usually that difficult. You can book Nok on-line or go to one of the hordes of travel agents around everywhere. you could also just head to the airport and see what you come up with. Nok usually has some really cheap flight specials on-line, though.

As for staying in BKK, I would just stay downtown somewhere. The airport hotels are rather away from the city. If you want something to do the afternoon before your flight, try going to Panthip Plaza. It is a huge electronics mall - the taxi drivers will know of it. The ground floor also has lots of booths selling pirated DVDs, video games etc. However, what makes it somewhat unique is that they also sell CD's full of MP3s for about $2 each. For example, you can get a CD with the entire red hot Chili Peppers catalog on it in MP3 format for $2. Its an interesting place to just browse around. There is a really cheap food court up a couple of floors as well and the food is decent.

Enjoy your trip!

[@dam]

Holy crap- good tip on the MP3 disks- (especially the chili peppers- my favorite) Even if you have the CDs it is worth it just to not hassle with ripping them!