Bangkok Airways flights to Chiang Rai from Bangkok

Thai regional airline Bangkok Airways will fly to Chiang Rai from Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi) starting from 28 March 2014. The non-stop flights will be operated on 162-seater Airbus A320 aircraft.

Chiang Rai is the northernmost large city in Thailand. The historic city was founded by King Mangrai in 1262 and became the capital of the Mangrai dynasty. The city is located 860 km north of Bangkok, about 200 kilometres northeast of Chiang Mai City, 62 kilometres south of Mae Sai and the Burmese border; 60 kilometres southwest of the town of Chiang Saen on the Mekong River across from Laos; and 90 kilometres north of Phayao town. The Golden Triangle, the tripoint of the Thailand, Laos and Myanmar borders, is 55 km northeast of the city.

"We see Chiang Rai as another potential, yet competitive market in Thailand. The city has emerged as a popular northern Thailand alternative tourist base to larger Chiang Mai. Chiang Rai is a strategic gateway to neighboring countries such as the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Lao People's Democratic Republic as well as the southernmost part of China" said Bangkok Airways' President Mr. Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth.

Flights to Chiang Rai from Bangkok (Flight PG231)

Departure : 07:35 and Arrival : 08:55.
Departure :18:05 and  Arrival : 19:25.

Flights to Bangkok from Chiang Rai (Flight PG232)

Departure : 09:45 and Arrive Bangkok : 11:05
Departure: 20:10 and arrive Bangkok :21:30.

Siem Reap Air Airbus A320

Cheap flights to Bangkok with Etihad Airways for 2014

Globehunters will be providing cheap flights to Bangkok with Etihad Airways for 2014. The move coincides with the news that Etihad Airways has raised the bar for in-flight entertainment with the introduction of eight live television channels.

The national airliner of the UAE will be showing live coverage of the US Grand Prix and the Brazilian Grand Prix later this month, as well as a range of news and sport channels. Globehunters customers will be able to fly to Bangkok with Etihad and also book exclusive Bangkok holiday packages that include Etihad flights from London Heathrow.

In addition to live Formula 1 coverage, Etihad passengers can now watch other high profile sporting action unfold during their flights. Matches from the English Premier League and German Bundesliga will join the ATP World Tour Finals on the Etihad schedule. Earlier in November, passengers on select Etihad flights were kept entertained by live footage of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, won by Sebastian Vettel.

The airline has already incorporated many well-known news channels into its in-flight entertainment including: BBC World News, BBC Arabic, euronews and Sport 24. CNBC, Japan’s NHK World Premium, and CNN are currently being introduced, with Sky News Arabia to follow over the next few months.
The UAE flag carrier plans to add to its roster of sports coverage in 2014 with the FIFA World Cup, US Open tennis, the Winter Olympics and Ryder Cup golf. This continued investment in live sports is expected to attract more sports fans to Etihad flights.

Cheap flights to Bangkok with Etihad Airways for 2014

Globehunters will be providing cheap flights to Bangkok with Etihad throughout 2014. Globehunters customers can also take advantage of a special Bangkok holiday package which incorporates flights from London Heathrow with Etihad. A 3 night Bed and Breakfast stay at the 4*Novotel Bangkok Fenix is £529 per person from January 16th to February 28th.

To book flights or a Bangkok holiday package call 020 3384 6000 or enquire online.

Globehunters is a UK-based online travel agent that provides flights, accommodation and holiday packages to every corner of the globe. Globehunters is ATOL protected and IATA and ABTA members, providing comprehensive airline failure insurance to all its customers.

Bangkok Holiday - From Singapore to Bangkok

I have traveled to Bangkok from Singapore last weekend. This was my first time in Bangkok since 2010. I have a friend staying there in a hotel (he is there for business) so I have had a chance to stay free for 4 nights (I arrived to Bangkok on Thursday and left on Monday).

As usual, I took a budget flight from Singapore to Bangkok. I booked a Jetstar Asia plane with no check-in luggage on flight to Bangkok and no seat selection and insurance (I usually buy it separately). The ticket price for return flight from Singapore to Bangkok was 211 USD, which is not bad at all. And this was for a booking done just 4 days prior to flight.

Of course Jetstar Asia is not the only cheap flight option between Singapore and Bangkok. Scoot Airlines (flies with large body Boeing 777), Tigerair and AirAsia also operates budget flights between these two cities. I usually fly with Jetstar so I again chose them.

Flight from Singapore to Bangkok takes 2 hours to 2 1/2 hours depending on air traffic. It was a smooth ride. Jetstar Airbus A320 seats are quite narrow (you can buy a wider one for 20 SGD extra) but still enough to watch movie on my way from my laptop. I even had chance to write some posts.

I suggest you to take a flight going to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport instead of Dong Muang Airport. The reason is the fantastic Airport Rail Link which I will review here briefly.

How to go to Bangkok city center from Suvarnabhumi Airport?
You can go to Bangkok city center from airport by taxi, bus and airport shuttle. But all these have one problem in common: terrible Bangkok traffic! As the new government implemented a subsidiary to help first time car owners to buy a car, they say 1 million new vehicles have hit the roads in recent years and made the traffic situation worse.

But now there is a very good (and the best indeed) alternative to go to Bangkok city from Suvarnabhumi Airport: Airport Rail Link. This new system goes to both BTS Skytrain and MRT. There are 2 types of trains. Express directly goes to Makkassan (for MRT) and Phaya Thai (BTS Skytrain). It comes in every 30 minutes and if you have luggages it has enough space for them. It costs 90 bahts from airport to Skytrain line by Express.

City Link trains (second option) stops in every station from airport to Phaya Thai. It is cheaper (45 bahts) but slower and does not have enough space for big luggage.

I took City Link from airport to Phaya Thai. From Phaya Thai to airport I took Express. Express cars are like intercity train cars (large space for you and your luggage) and City Link cars are like metro cars.

Below is the current rail systems in Bangkok. The pink one is Airport Rail Link, the greens are BTS Skytrain lines and the blue one is MRT.

Bangkok Public Rail Systems
Source -top-travel-bangkok.com

I stayed in ALoft Hotel Bangkok which is walking distance away from BTS Skytrain Nana station. So for me the route was:

• City Link (45 baht) to Phaya Thai. 20 to 30 minutes.
• Here I walked to Skytrain Sukhumvit line and took a car in Bearing direction (30 baht).
• Left at Nana and exit station from Exit 3.
• Took Soi 11 and arrived at ALoft Hotel in 10 minutes

If you are planning to travel to Bangkok from Singapore for holiday, do not forget to check our Bangkok from Singapore package deals entry for some great packages.

For the Spanish version of this article visit Vacaciones en Bangkok – De Singapur a Bangkok.

8 new weekly flights from Singapore to Bangkok by Jetstar Asia

Singapore based budget airline Jetstar Asia is adding eight additional flights to its weekly schedule between Singapore and Bangkok from 8 July 2013 to cater for increasing demand from leisure and business travellers. According to Jetstar Asia Chief Executive Officer Barathan Pasupathi, Bangkok and more broadly Thailand is one of the biggest market for Jetstar. “We are adding capacity to Bangkok to meet ongoing strong demand from both the leisure market and an increasing number of business travellers attracted to our low fares and our expanding schedule. Last year alone we welcomed 30 per cent more people on this route than in 2011 with more than two million passengers carried. With our new offering of up to five services a day, we can give more choices and better connection times to even more leisure travellers not just from Singapore but transiting through our Singapore hub on other Jetstar services,” Mr Pasupathi said.

Bangkok is worlds number one tourist destination and receives a significant number of tourists from Singapore. With the new services, the Jetstar Group will operate 106 flights a week to Thailand with services from Singapore and Sydney to Phuket and services from Melbourne and Singapore to Bangkok.

One-way Economy Starter fares for flights from Singapore to Bangkok start from SGD $114 or THB 2699.

Jetstar Asia responds to increasing passenger demand between
Singapore and Bangkok by adding 8 weekly flights on the route.

Jetstar Asia Airways operates services to regional destinations in Southeast Asia to countries such as Burma, Cambodia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The budget airline also flies to regional routes in East Asia such as Japan, Taiwan and China including special regions like Hong Kong and Macau. It is the main feeder airline for its parent company Jetstar Airways for budget passengers flying to Australia. Its sister airlines include Jetstar in New Zealand, Jetstar Pacific and Jetstar Japan.

Source : Jetstar Asia boosts flights to Bangkok

Emirates flights to Bangkok and Hong Kong set to increase

Dubai based Middle Eastern airline Emirates is increasing its South East Asia capacity by increasing capacity on its Bangkok and Hong Kong flights. Thailand's capital Bangkok will receive a second daily, non-stop Airbus A380 service from 27 October 2013, operating as EK 372 which departs Dubai at 09:40 hrs and arrives in Bangkok at 18:40 hrs. The return flight from Bangkok, EK 373, will depart at 20:40 hrs and arrive in Dubai the following day at 00:30 hrs. Bangkok joined Emirates' network in 1990 and is one of Emirates’ earliest destinations in the Far East. Emirates will also strenghten its commitment to Hong Kong by adding a fourth daily flight to Hong Kong from Dubai. Non-stop service, EK 386, will depart from Dubai at 21:00 hrs and arrive in Hong Kong the following morning at 08:05 hrs. The return flight EK 387 will depart Hong Kong at 09:40 hrs arrive in Dubai at 14:55 hrs. Emirates will operate these new Hong Kong flights with Airbus A 330-200 in a three class configuration and later upgrade it to Boeing 777-300ER later in 2013.

“The addition of a second daily A380 flight to Bangkok and a fourth daily service to Hong Kong demonstrates Emirates’ commitment to both Thailand and Hong Kong. Earlier this year we launched our fifth daily flight to Bangkok and the passenger demand has led to the decision to operate the second A380 on the route. Thailand has been part of the Emirates network for over 20 years and in December we added Phuket as our second Thai destination,” said Salem Obaidalla, Emirates’ Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations Far East & Australasia.

“We have been steadily increasing the number of services to Hong Kong and this fourth flight gives our customers the flexibility to choose a departure time that fits with their schedule and connect through Dubai to destinations on our ever expanding global network,” added Mr Obaidalla.

An Emirates Airbus A380

Emirates fly to Dubai, Hong Kong, Sydney and Christchurch from Bangkok and fly to Dubai and Bangkok from Hong Kong. Emirates has a particularly strong presence in the South and Southeast Asian region, which together connect Dubai with more international destinations in the region than any other Middle Eastern airline.