Kanchanaburi to Luang Prabang: via BKK or N or NW Thailand?

Hi

Re: Kanchanaburi to Luang Prabang: alternatives to flying via Bangkok airport: best to go via Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai, or via Udon Thani?

I will be in a group of 8 friends and we will already have travelled through Malaysia and Sth Thailand until we fly Phuket to Bangkok late April (flight already booked). Our aim is to go straight from BKK airport to Kanchanaburi and stay for 2 nights.

Then our aim is to get to Luang Prabang but we may only have 3d / 2n at most to accomplish this (if we only enter Thailand on the new 15 day entry rather than paying for a tourist visa in advance).

I think the quickest way to get to LP in Laos would be to go back to BKK and fly direct from there however this post is really my attempt to pre-plan a different route in case Bangkok happens to be in turmoil and having any problems getting a flight out like the past couple of weeks.

So my questions are:

- What is the QUICKEST way from Kanchanaburi to get to Luang Prabang in Laos if you need to avoid Bangkok?

- What is the CHEAPEST way (as opposed to quickest)?

- Is it possible to go from Kanchanaburi to Ayutthaya and sightsee around Ayutthaya in one day and still have time to catch an overnight train to either Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai(NW Thailand) or Udon Thani (N to NE Thailand)? How long does it take to get to these places by train, by bus, or if we hired a van and driver (or hired a van ourselves)?

- Does anyone have any opinion on whether it would be better to fly into LP, Laos or catch a slow (or fast) boat from the border up near Chiang Rai?

- Or would it just be easier to go back to Bangkok, forget Ayutthaya alltogether, and catch a train to the border of Laos at Vientiane and then bus or domestic flight up to LP?

Sorry for all the questions but trying to work out a way around the tight time constraint we may now have (since they cut the 30 days to 15 days entry last week) or if Bangkok airports happen to be in trouble again while we are in Thailand. We have a flight booked out of Vientiane back to Malaysia then Australia at the end of our trip so we know we have to end up there, and by when. Just would have liked to get to Luang Prabang if we could as we are getting such rave reviews about the place from so many people.

I have posted this same thread in the Kanchanaburi, Bangkok, Chiang Mai %26amp; Laos forums so please forgive seeing it come up in several places - I am hoping the exposure will enable the right person/s that can help will see it in one of these and reply!

I am happy to receive short dot point help or very long detailed explanations of possibilities - the main aim being to get from Kanchanaburi to Luang Prabang in less than 3 days (preferably 2 to play it safe with the length of visa stay).

Cheers... wishtago :)

Kanchanaburi to Luang Prabang: via BKK or N or NW Thailand?

Sounds like you are in a hurry. I havent heard of the Thai cutting tourist visas - are you sure? Wouldnt make much sense since they are now hurting from diminished tourism.

The quickest way from kanchanaburi to LP would be to go back to bangkok and go from there to Vientiane by bus or train, or a flight BKK to Udon Thani and then on to Vientiane by bus(about 90mins). If you need to avoid Bangkok as you say, you%26#39;d have to take a combination of buses, with waits in between, to go Kanchanaburi up to laos.

Once you get to Vientiane, if youre in a hurry you can then fly Vnte - LP 3 x every day.

If you want to do the boat option you need time.

Ayathuya is a comfortable day trip from Bangkok - a couple of hours from the northern bus station near Chatuchack market, buses every hour.

Kanchanaburi to Luang Prabang: via BKK or N or NW Thailand?

Thanx heaps bluecramp...

If you look over at the Thailand forum you will see that Thailand has cut their OVERLAND (or by sea) entry to 15 days (except for Malaysians which stays at 30 days apparently). I am from Australia. We can get a normal tourist visa in advance apparently which is for 30 or 60 days so may do that instead and then we don%26#39;t have this mad rush to cram everything into such a short time frame in Thailand first.

Do you know an approx one way price for flights from Vientiane to Luang Prabang (and visa versa) for the month of May? The Lao Airlines website only shows prices until mid March so I am unsure what season May is - peak, low etc.

Also... is it likely we would be able to get 8 people on one of these flights at short notice or are they fairly small planes so we would have to book quite a bit ahead to ensure seats?

Any help is appreciated...! :)

Hi - this month the LP return ticket fare was 1,300,000kip so about $154. It may change by May but not by much. May is outside the peak season of about Nov-March, although Lao tourism throughout the full year seems to be getting busier.

For a group of 8 you should try to book a week in advance at least - the planes have about 60 seats but its a busy route for non-tourists too. If we book a couple of days before for a group of 3-4 we often end up on different planes.

cheers

Thanks for the reply. Much appreciated.

Have worked out a few scenario%26#39;s now keeping the %26#39;book beforehand%26#39; advice in mind!