Getting there

Thailand currently has nine main international airports: in Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang), Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Hat Yai, Krabi, Phuket, Ko Samui and Pattaya (U-Tapao). The vast majority of travellers fly into Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Air fares to Thailand generally depend on the season, with the highest being approximately mid-November to mid-February, when the weather is best (with premium rates charged for flights between mid-Dec and New Year), and in July and August to coincide with school holidays. You will need to book several months in advance to get reasonably priced tickets during these peak periods.

The cheapest way of getting to most regional Thai airports is usually to buy a flight to Bangkok and then a separate domestic ticket. However, there are dozens of potentially useful, mostly seasonal, international routes into Phuket, including direct flights with several airlines from Australia. Most international flights into Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Krabi, Ko Samui, Pattaya and Don Muang are from Malaysia, Singapore and China (including Hong Kong and Macau). Krabi also handles seasonal, mostly charter flights from Scandinavia, while Korean Airlines from Seoul is a popular route for North American visitors into Chiang Mai Airport, which has links with Myanmar and Laos too. Qatar Airways has recently started nonstop flights from Doha to Chiang Mai, Krabi and Pattaya airports.

Flights from the UK and Ireland

The fastest and most comfortable way of reaching Thailand from the UK is to fly nonstop from London to Bangkok with Thai Airways (thaiairways.com), British Airways (ba.com) or Eva Airways (evaair.com), a journey of about eleven and a half hours. These airlines sometimes have special promotions, but a typical fare in high season might come in at around £800–900. Fares on indirect scheduled flights to Bangkok are always cheaper than nonstop flights – starting at about £450 in high season if booked many months in advance with Qatar Airways (qatarairways.com), for example – though these journeys can take anything from two to twelve hours longer.

There are no nonstop flights from any regional airports in Britain or from any Irish airports, but rather than routing via London, you may find it convenient to fly to another hub such as Frankfurt (with Lufthansa; lufthansa.com), Doha (Qatar Airways), Abu Dhabi (with Etihad; etihadairways.com) or Istanbul (with Turkish Airlines; turkishairlines.com), and take a connecting flight from there. Return flights from Newcastle upon Tyne with Emirates (emirates.com), for example, currently start at around £500 in high season if booked far in advance, from Dublin with Qatar, at around €550.

Flights from the US and Canada

At the moment, Thai Airways is no longer offering non-stop flights from the West Coast to Bangkok, though it’s considering restarting them, either from Seattle or, possibly, San Francisco. Plenty of other airlines run to Bangkok from East and West Coast cities with one stop en route; it’s generally easier to find a reasonable fare on flights via Asia than via Europe, even if you’re departing from the East Coast – if you book far in advance, you can get a flight from LA or New York for as little as US$700 return in high season, including taxes. Air Canada (aircanada.com) has the most convenient service to Bangkok from the largest number of Canadian cities; from Vancouver, expect to pay around Can$1250 in high season if booked in advance; from Toronto, Can$1500. Cheaper rates are often available if you’re prepared to make two or three stops and take more time.

Minimum flying times are around twenty hours from New York or Toronto (westbound or eastbound), including stopovers, twenty hours from LA, and eighteen hours from Vancouver.

Flights from Australia and New Zealand

There’s no shortage of scheduled flights to Bangkok and Phuket from Australia, with direct services from major cities operated by Thai Airways (thaiairways.com), Qantas (qantas.com) and half a dozen others (around 9hr from Sydney, Melbourne and Perth), and plenty of indirect flights via Asian hubs, which take at least eleven and a half hours. There’s often not much difference between the fares on nonstop and indirect flights with the major carriers, nor between the fares from the major eastern cities. From Melbourne, if you book far in advance, you can get a ticket to Bangkok in high season for as little as Aus$450, on a low-cost carrier such as Jetstar; nonstop flights with the major airlines from the east coast more typically cost from Aus$900 if booked ahead. Fares from Perth and Darwin can be up to Aus$200 cheaper.

A better kind of travel

At Rough Guides we are passionately committed to travel. We believe it helps us understand the world we live in and the people we share it with – and of course tourism is vital to many developing economies. But the scale of modern tourism has also damaged some places irreparably, and climate change is accelerated by most forms of transport, especially flying. All Rough Guides’ flights are carbon-offset, and every year we donate money to a variety of environmental charities.

From New Zealand, Thai Airways runs nonstop twelve-hour flights between Auckland and Bangkok, costing from around NZ$1300 (including taxes) in high season with advanced booking. Qantas flights from Auckland make brief stops in Sydney, adding about three hours to the trip, and other major Asian airlines offer indirect flights via their hubs (from 13hr, but more typically 17hr); fares for indirect flights booked far in advance can start as low as NZ$1000 in high season.

Flights from South Africa

Thai Airways’ nonstop code-sharing flights with South African Airways (flysaa.com) from Johannesburg to Bangkok have been discontinued, so you’ll be making a stop in East Africa, the Middle East, Singapore or Hong Kong, with fares starting at around ZAR7000 for an advance booking in high season, and a journey time of fourteen hours (via Singapore) or more.

Agents and operators

All Points East UK 023 9225 8859, Thailand 081 885 9490; allpointseast.com. Southeast Asia specialist operating small-group adventure holidays with off-the-beaten-track itineraries.

Andaman Discoveries Thailand andamandiscoveries.com. Award-winning village-based homestay community tourism programmes around Khuraburi on the north Andaman coast, which allow visitors to experience daily activities such as cooking and batik-making, cultural activities and the local flora and fauna. Other tours include trips to Ko Surin National Park to snorkel and learn about Moken life and to Khao Sok.

Asian Trails Thailand asiantrails.travel. Western-run company that offers cycling adventures, inland cruises on the River Kwai in Kanchanaburi, plus more typical package tours.

Backpackers Thailand Travel Thailand backpackersthailandtravel.com. Activities and accommodation packages in Ko Pha Ngan and the south, as well as homestays and volunteer programmes in Singburi in the Central Plains and cultural and food tours in Chiang Mai.

Eastern & Oriental Express UK 0845 077 2222, US 800 524 2420; belmond.com/eastern-and-oriental-express. Tours by luxury train between Bangkok and Singapore.

Grasshopper Adventures Australia 03 9016 3172, Thailand 02 280 0832, UK 020 8123 8144, US 818 921 7101; grasshopperadventures.com. Cycling half-day and one-day trips around Bangkok and Chiang Mai, as well as three- to eleven-day tours to the north, west and south of Thailand.

Hivesters Thailand hivesters.com. This social enterprise and sustainable travel company offers interesting tours mostly in Bangkok, but also with the chance to be a fisherman for a day on Ko Yao Noi, and runs a project, APPEAR, to revivify six of the capital’s neighbourhoods.

Local Alike Thailand localalike.com. Online marketplace that gives access to responsible tourism activities in communities from Chiang Mai to Surin, and from Trat to Trang.

North South Travel UK 01245 608 291, northsouthtravel.co.uk. Friendly, competitive travel agency, offering discounted fares worldwide. Profits are used to support projects in the developing world, especially the promotion of sustainable tourism.

Nutty’s Adventures Thailand nutty-adventures.com. Fascinating, multi-day, community-based-tourism trips going off the beaten track all over the country, many with homestays and farmstays, including island-hopping on the Andaman Coast and cycling and boating from Kanchanaburi to Ayutthaya.

Origin Asia Thailand alex-kerr.com. Cultural programmes that teach and explain living Thai arts such as dance, music, martial arts, textiles, flower offerings and cooking. Courses last from a day to a week and are held in Bangkok and Chiang Mai.

Responsible Travel UK 01273 823700, responsibletravel.com. One-stop shop for scores of fair-trade, ethically inclined holidays in Thailand, including trips that focus on cycling, cuisine and family activities.

Spice Roads Thailand spiceroads.com. Escorted day and multi-day bike tours – including mountain biking – through all regions of Thailand.

STA Travel UK 0333 321 0099, US 800 781 4040, Australia 134 782, New Zealand 0800 474 400, South Africa 0861 781 781, Thailand 02 236 0262; statravel.co.uk. Worldwide specialists in independent travel (with branches in Bangkok and Chiang Mai); also student IDs, travel insurance, car rental and more. Good discounts for students and under-26s.

Take Me Tour Thailand takemetour.com. Online marketplace for one-day tours with local guides all over Thailand, from boating through Tha Kha floating market to being an organic farmer in the north.

Telltale Travel UK 0800 011 2571, US 866 211 5972, telltaletravel.co.uk. Tailor-made, upscale company that offers off-the-beaten-track wildlife, cultural, family, homestay and cooking tours.

Thailand Birdwatching Thailand thailandbirdwatching.com. Specialist birdwatching tours in national parks and nature reserves.

Trailfinders UK 0207 368 1200, Ireland 0167 77888, trailfinders.com. One of the best-informed and most efficient agents for independent travellers.

Travel CUTS Canada 800 667 2887, travelcuts.com. Canadian youth and student travel firm.

USIT Ireland 01 602 1906, Australia 1800 092 499, usit.ie. Ireland’s main student and youth travel specialists, with a branch in Sydney.

< Back to Basics