STOPOVERS & MULTI-STAYS
A little
taster
With its world-class airport and location at the heart of Asia and half-way to Australia, Thailand is the perfect stopover or multi-stay choice
B
angkok makes a great stopover as part of a wider itinerary, with world-class shopping, great-value spas and cultural sites that can be seen in a day. Even on a short stay, it’s also easy to reach Thailand’s beaches: Pattaya is about an hour from the airport and Koh Samet and Hua Hin are also ‘flight-free’ destinations.
TWIN STARS
DUBAI: With Emirates flights, holidaymakers headed for Bangkok or Phuket can now make a handy mid-way stop in Dubai, to see its record-breaking towering buildings, go shopping and take desert excursions. ASIA COMBOS: Thailand is often combined on twin- or multi-centre holidays with Singapore, Hong Kong or Malaysia, using the countries’ flag carriers. Regional Thai Airways, Thai Smile, Nok Air, Bangkok Airways and Air Asia flights also help. You don’t have to route via Bangkok; for instance Bangkok Airways links these neighbours to Samui and Air Asia links them to Phuket.
UP AND COMING
Neighbours Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia make a great combination with Thailand, using regional flights or river cruises. Indochina tours plus a relaxing finish on a Thai beach are popular. Angkor Wat side-trips are possible from Bangkok. Bangkok Airways and Thai Airways fly to Thailand’s northern neighbour Myanmar and several operators now make crossborder tours by road.
ONWARD CONNECTIONS
Onward travels from Thailand to Australia are possible with Emirates (Dubai, Bangkok and Sydney being a possible itinerary), Qantas and regional carriers Thai Airways, Jetstar, Air Asia and Virgin Australia. Thailand can also be twinned with the Maldives via Bangkok Airways.
FLIGHT-FREE TWINNING
The Eastern & Oriental Express links Malaysia and Singapore with Thailand by luxury train. Mekong cruises, from the likes of Avalon Waterways and Wendy Wu are a boom area, combining Thailand with Indochina (usually with Bangkok-Siem Reap flights).
Laos ‘the Asia of yesteryear’, with Thailand, equals a perfect combo of culture, adventure and relaxation
POTENTIAL TWIN ROUTES
LESLEY WRIGHT, GENERAL MANAGER COMMERCIAL UK, TRAVEL INDOCHINA
THAILAND MULTI-CENTRES
Bangkok, Chiang Mai/Chiang Rai and a beach destination is the classic Thailand multi-centre offered by most Thai specialist operators. Many others have multi-stop cultural tours and packages which cover other areas like the national parks. Mainland beach and island combinations are also popular; Krabi with Koh Lanta and Phuket with the Phi Phi or Koh Yao islands are easy combinations logistically.
Dhabi; Qatar Airways
DOUBLE CHOICE
via Doha; Aeroflot via
STOPOVERS
Moscow; EVA to
Codeshare routes
POPULAR ONE-STOP
Bangkok then
with different
FLIGHTS:
onwards to Taipei
stopovers out and return:
Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong; Singapore
ONE-DIRECTION
Air India/Sri Lankan:
Airlines via Singapore;
STOPOVERS
out via Delhi back
Codeshares with a
via Colombo
stop on either the
Air India/Jet Airways:
Emirates via Dubai
outward or return
out via Delhi back
only (the other
via Mumbai
MORE UNUSUAL
journey is direct):
Air India/
OPTIONS:
BA or EVA/Jet Airways
Malaysia Airways:
Royal Jordanian via
via Mumbai; Etihad/BA
out via Delhi back
via Abu Dhabi;
via KL
Emirates/EVA via
Air India/Aeroflot:
Dubai; BA/Aeroflot
out via Mumbai back
via Moscow
via Moscow
Malaysian Airways via Kuala Lumpur;
TOP TIP Check out Thai and Bangkok Airways’ multi-stop passes
Amman; Air China via
which discount domestic and
Beijing; Sri Lankan via
regional combinations.
Colombo; Air India via Delhi; Etihad via Abu
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