Hopping over to Thailand

In November of 2019, I visited Thailand and Malaysia for a short 9 day trip. 

Short Thailand Trip?

Normally, I like to spend more time exploring a new country. But with some timing constraints I only have a little over a week. So why travel this way instead of going somewhere closer or more relaxing?

The first reason, are my friends Cactoose and Gimpy are already in that part of the world. They are on a multi week Southeast Asia trip. And by tagging along for the last part of their trip, I get to travel with friends and also take advantage of an already planned itinerary!

Secondly, while I know I won’t get a good chance to explore the countries I visit the way I normally would. I do get an opportunity to “sample” them. So future trips to this area will allow me to be a bit more knowledgeable in my planning.

Finally, a trip through this region gives me a chance to go on a bit of a “mileage run”. I have been looking for a reason to take a few flights in this area in order to challenge for Krisflyer Gold Status. Normally obtaining this level of airline status is fairly difficult as a leisure traveller (which I am!). However, I plan to take advantage of a few partner offerings which allows me to challenge for this status. Ultimately, I’m required to take three Singapore Airlines or Silk Air flights within a certain time frame and I get the status!

Itinerary

So with all this said, I end up with an itinerary that looks like this:

• Fly from Vancouver to Bangkok (via Hong Kong) to Krabi and meet up with Gimpy and Cactoose.
• Spend some time in Krabi
• Fly back to Bangkok
• Explore Bangkok for a day or two
• Leave Gimpy and Cactoose and fly to Singapore (On Singapore Airlines)
• Fly from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Malyasia (On Silk Air)
• Spend a day in KL
• Fly back to Singapore (On Silk Air)
• Fly back to Vancouver (via Hong Kong)

It’s definitely a lot of flying and not a lot of exploring on the ground. But since my goals and expectations for this trip are a little different, I am happy with it! Onto the trip!

Getting to Thailand

After checking in and clearing security, I make my way to the Sky Team Lounge in YVR’s International departures terminal. Normally I visit the Plaza Premium Lounge, but this time I mix it up and I’m glad I did. The lounge is located in an open area on the second floor above the terminal. Its a nice airy open space with lots of seating and some good food selections. There is a made to order noodle bar which really hit the spot before my flight.

Flying to Hong Kong

Soon it’s time for boarding and I leave the lounge and make my way over to the gate. I haven’t been on a Cathay Pacific flight in a very long time, and am a bit eager for it. I always see them as a more “premium” airline and wanted to see if my expectation matched reality. Thankfully, I can safely say that for the 13.5 hour flight to Hong Kong, they are pretty good! They’re “new” seats are comfortable, the food is tasty and the in-flight entertainment is also quite good too! As far as economy products go, I didn’t have a lot to complain about.

After watching two movies and eating dinner, I settled in for a few hours of sleep. Before I knew it we were making our approach to Hong Kong International airport where I have a three hour layover.

The Centurion Lounge at Hong Kong International Airport.

After disembarking the plane and clearing a security checkpoint, I find myself back in the main terminal of the airport. With an hour or two to spare, I set out for the Centurion Lounge but not before taking in some views of this major airline hub.

The Centurion lounge itself is nestled on one end of the terminal on the second floor. It offers some seating, a full service bar, shower facilities and some great eats. As it’s the morning, I make sure to get myself a mimosa and some breakfast. I spend the time at the lounge looking out at the apron watching planes go by.

Flying to Bangkok

Before I know it, its time for my flight to Bangkok, Thailand. This time it is on a pretty new Airbus A350. In fact this is my first time onboard this type of airplane so there is some extra excitement for me. While the flight is only a few hours, I did enjoy this plane. The new cabin and some of the new features like external cameras adds to the flying experience!

Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi) Airport

After landing in Bangkok, I have a 7 hour layover. Originally I intended to dip into Bangkok and do a little exploring since the layover is quite long. However, I didn’t anticipate how long and busy Thailand immigration and customs is. By the time I made it through everything, my layover was closer to about 5 hours. With a 45 minute transit in each direction to get into the city, the prospect of making it back and clearing security didn’t seem as appealing anymore.

After deciding to stay, thankfully there are a slew of restaurants and services available to pass the time. My first order of business is to get some Thai food. While I don’t believe that I had the “best” Thai food at the airport restaurant, it did hit the spot and started my Thai culinary adventure!

A little bit longer

After eating, I find a small shop offering Thai Massages. Since there is time to kill, it’s as good a time as any to have one. Everything seems normal at first, then the lady starts standing on my back, and from there the uniqueness of the Thai massage takes over! A limbering hour later I am back in the airport checking into my final flight to Krabi. Unfortunately, upon arriving at my gate, I am perplexed to see another flight on all the signage. It turns out my flight has yet to arrive and so, my last flight on this longish day of travel to Thailand will be a little bit longer.

Eventually my flight is announced and I make my way to the new gate. At this point, I think I’ve been transiting for about 30 hours now and this flight delay didn’t leave me in much of a mood to take too many photos. So for that I apologize!

The final flight to Krabi is pretty quick and thankfully very uneventful. I’m also thankful that the arranged transportation to the hotel is still there and before long I’m putting my bags down and greeting Cactoose and Gimpy in our hotel! Soon after, I take a much needed shower and settle in for some well deserved sleep. Tomorrow we set out for Phi Phi Island so its going to be a “go go go” kind of trip!