Trip to Bangkok, Udon, Phuket, Samui, Bangkok, Udon

Caution: Written with my usual dose of rose-colored glasses

Just finished up a vacation with our daughter and her 2 friends from Texas. I flew Nok Air to Bangkok to meet them. No problems with the airline.
Arrived in Bangkok in mid-afternoon, taxi from Don Meuang to Silom Rd, The Tower Condos…..46th floor penthouse condo...3 full bedrooms, a workout room, 3 balconies one with hot tub, washer, full kitchen, all the bells and whistles of home…airbnb. Walk to BTS, walk to Taksin boat pier, tons of shopping and high quality street eats within walking distance. Emerald Temple by boat, return to Silom by tuktuk. Taxii to MBK, tuk tuk back to Silom. Jack’s Bar along the Chaophaya. 3AM restaurants and coffee shops (with alcohol).
64th floor has a open top bar with spectacular views and vip bar service. This area is the same that Mark Wiens documented in his TV series for great street food. We visited several of his recommendations…...all excellent. ไม่เพ็ดไม่กิน…..we weren’t disappointed.

Flew Air Asia to Udon. Since I made all the bookings together, the airline allows you to consolidate your weight…..our bags weighed 102 kg and we were allowed 120. Also had 3 large carry on and 3 small backpacks allowed without weighing.

Rented a Budget SUV from Udon Airport. Easy in/easy out. Did Uncle Mustache’s lahb, S&P at Central, VT, Beyond Cafe, Jing Jai market, Nongwahsaw Market, Nongwahsaw Cafe for koi and giant Amazon snakehead fish for photos, duck soup at kilo 22,

Air Asia to Phuket. Again, bag weight was consolidated for 4 people with lots of carry on allowed. A rental SUV in Phuket to our airbnb condo on the southern tip of Phuket. 4 bedrooms, all the bells and whistles of home, condo pool, beachside. Speedboat to Phiphi…...extremely attentive to passenger safety…..lunch at Phiphi, snorkeling, Italians, Indians, French, and the 4 of us keep the front of the boat laughing and swapping stories. Sea eagle photos at one of the high-up lookouts, then elephant camp just before closing time. Lots of good food and drinks all around…..reasonable vacation prices.

Bangkok Air to Samui. Consolidated weight, again, and no problems with lots of carry on. Picked up and delivered by to the airport as part of the airbnb package. Northern part of the island. Rented a small car from the condo manager but he upgraded to a small Ford SUV at no extra cost. 4 full bedooms, private infinity pool, garage, views galore, beach access, drove to 2 beautiful waterfalls, Fisherman’s Point, loads of really good food at reasonable prices, Lamai Beach for supper, rain didn’t slow us down but sun came out for our final day and a half.

Bangkok Air back to Bangkok with a night stop in The Cottage, 10 minutes from Suvarnaphumi. Again, heavier bags, but no issue with the airlines. Airport transfers and breakfast included……..I found my replacement for Tongta Resort (getting dated and service declining).

I flew Thai Smile back to Udon and our daughter and friends flew JAL back to the US.

Despite forum noise about prices in Phuket and Samui, we found even the best restaurants (that we ate in) reasonable. Of highest note was the Sasatorn Coffee and Lunch shop in Samui. The highest attention to pimping every detail of our food and drinks…….at very reasonable prices. Some portions of the road in Samui were under a foot of water but no problem with the SUV. Lots and lots of inexperienced motorcycle tourists…….but you just up the caution-meter and all’s well.

Our daughter and her friend managed to do a cross-town online shopping trip to their MBK purse store…..instagrammed photos with the owner while in Samui….agreed on prices…...and packages delivered to The Cottage by a deliveryman for inspection and payment.

No ripoffs at The Emerald Buddha temple, no problems with tuktuks or taxis or Chaopaya River taxi, Noted some but not many Chinese tourists but more than before Indian tourists in Phuket and Samui.

Sounds like fun, with good memories, at a reasonable cost.

mak wrote: ↑

December 22, 2018, 7:18 am

The name of the replacement for the Tongta Resort.

The Cottage

Fake News!
Everything was wonderful, inc the the country, the people and the places?
Impossible.
I always read & heard everybody and everything is truly crappy in this godforsaken 3rd world country...........
Glad you & your family enjoyed themselves.

Wow.
What a great itinerary!
Your daughter and her friends had a wonderful time thanks to your Intel.
Well done.
Thanks for sharing.

In year's past, we've stayed in hotels near Siam Square when our daughter visits. With our stays in airbnb in San Francisco/Houston earlier this year and again in Bangkok, Phuket, and Samui this past month, there's no going back to hotels......except for one-night stands.