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Inter-Thailand Flights   Bangkok Airways (PG)

PG flights are bookable on points through JAL, CX, EY and AB.

JAL
Required Mileage: Transferable from SPG. JAL uses a distance based award chart and allows up to a maximum of 7 stopovers (8 segments). To figure out how many points you will need, add up the total amount of miles that will be flown (can do this on GCMap.com) and then find the appropriate row in the award chart (http://www.ar.jal.com/ar/en/jalmile/use/partner_air/p_jmb/jmb_mile_ar.html). If you are traveling before 3/31/2017 there is a promotion for trips up to 4,000 miles (see http://www.jal.co.jp/121campaign/pg_discount/index_en.html for reduced mileage rates). The promotion makes JAL the best award redemption option for PG flights. 

Booking the Flight: The only way to find out if there is availability on the flight that you want is to call JAL. Recommended that you do so before transferring points. JAL doesn't allow you to hold a reservation so you have to hope that the flight doesn't get booked up while you're waiting for the point transfer to go through. Once the points post to your JAL account, call JAL back to book.
+1 800-525-3663 (5:00 - 18:00 PT) press 1 - 4 - JAL membership number - # - pin - # - 0 (for human or 1 for computer search)

Traveling with Infant: Tell JAL that you are flying with a lap child. They will put the infant on the reservation, but they will also tell you that you need to call PG directly to get the infant's ticket issued and pay for any taxes etc. JAL will only charge you for the adults on the reservation. Unless you speak Thai, calling PG won't work (when you press 9 for English when calling any of the Asian offices, the message will tell you to go to their website, and the office in Germany can't issue tickets). To add the infant, send an email to reservation@bangkokair.com with your confirmation number and tell them you want to have the lap infant's ticket issued. They will email you back with the price (data point: it was ~$96USD for CNX-USM-HKG for me) and ask you to reply with your cc info split into two separate emails for security (one email with first 8 digits, exp. and name on card, second email with last 8 digits, cvv, and billing address). I believe they only take Visa or MC. You'll then get an email back with confirmation.

Baggage Allowance: Economy passengers are allowed 20kg, infants (and dolls) are allowed 10kg. Excess weight on domestic flights will incur a charge of 80thb ($2.25ish) per kilo. International overage fee chart can be found here. Join the PG FlyingBonus program to receive an additional 10kg.

Contacting PG: In general, if you have any questions, the only way to speak with them in English besides email is PG Live Chat. You can find the link if you log in to your Flyer Bonus account. Chat reps are very helpful.

IMPORTANT: MAKE SURE TO PAY (JAL AND PG) WITH A CC BELONGING TO SOMEONE THAT IS TRAVELING ON THE ITINERARY. PG WILL SOMETIMES ASK YOU TO SHOW THE CC USED TO PAY FOR THE TRIP WHEN YOU CHECK IN, AND RESERVE THE RIGHT TO DENY BOARDING IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT.

CX
Required Mileage:

EY
Required Mileage:

AB
Required Mileage:



Bangkok   BKK/DMK

Hotels                                              Activities                                          Chabad                                                                Additional Info
Viengtai Hotel (Ohr Menachem)
Davis Hotel (Beth Elisheva)
Shangr-La (Even Chen)
Sheraton Resort (Hua Hin)
Riva Surya
Kao Sahn Rd
Night Markets (near stadium)
Shopping Malls
Grand Palace
Kanchanaburi (2 hrs away)
Floating Markets
Beth Elisheva (Financial & Shopping district)
Even Chen
Ohr Menachem (Kao Sahn Rd)
ALWAYS use meter in taxis and
   try to say destination in Thai - if you
   need help with numbers as Cbs ;)
(Free) sim in airport at kiosks -(true move(h- sim), dtac
   (happy(micro) sim for iPhone)
Songkran (water fight week)- April 13th!
Kosherthailand.com
BKK Luggage Lockers - 100 baht/day/bag (~$3)
Public Transport
Domestic flights:
   Air Asia, Tiger Air, Thai, Bangkok Air
Tailor:
   Rajawongse




Phuket/Patong/Koh Phi Phi/Krabi   HKT/KBV

Hotels                                                            Activities                                                                            Additional Info
Westin
JW Marriott
Sala Resort
Sheraton Krabi
The Pavilions
Holiday Inn Koh Phi Phi
Ritz Carlton Reserve
places w/ private pools
Beaches
Monkey Show
Cable Skiing
Longtail Boats
Island Tour
Koh Phi Phi:
Diving
Fire Show (wed is biggest)
Maya Bay (full day trip)
Nice Lookouts
Kayaking (to Monkey Beach)
Thai Boxing
Beware of summer weather; monsoon season
Best weather: Jan - May
Island Tour (can be done as a day trip or overnight):
   Andaman River, Maya Bay, Similian Islands, Krabi Islands,
   Koh Lanta (Emerald Cave)




Koh Samui   USM

Hotels                                                            Activities                                                                          Additional Info
The Conrad
Sunday Resort
Sheraton
Le Meridian
The W
Le Murrya (Near Chabad)
Fx Hotel (Near Chabad)
Beaches
Diving (Koa Phangan, Koh Tao)
Ang Thong Marine Park Islands
Water Sports (at chaweng and boh phut),
Safari Island (elephants, tigers, zip line)
Scooter (around island)
Kayaking $30
Koh Tao and Koh Nangyuan Island trip w/ snorkeling
The Conrad will gladly make arrangements with
   the Chabad restaurant for Kosher food. Email them at usmks.fb@conradhotels.com




Chiang Mai   CNX

Hotels                                                            Activities                                                                            Additional Info
Le Meridien (10 min. Walk to Chabad)
Shangri La (2 min. Walk to Chabad)
Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi
Sukantara Cascade Resort
Maese Elephant Show
Maetaeng Elephant Park
Patara Elephant Farm
Thai Elephant Home
Thoms Pai Elephant Camp
Bamboo Rafting
Tiger Kingdom
Monkey Shows
Snake Shows
Crocodile Shows
Zip Lining
Trekking
White Water Rafting
Longneck Tribe
Gun Shooting
Night Safari
Temples/Palaces
Chiang Mai River Boat (To Cooking School)
Extreme Sports!
Repelling
Caving,
ATVing
Bungee
Segways
Rent motorbikes (5$ day)
3D museum right down the road from Chabad
   (if you have an hour or two to kill)
Sunday Market (ratchadamonoen  Rd, old city)
Night Market (Changklan Rd, near Chabad & Le Meridien)
Sat Night Market (Wua Lai)
Tiger Kingdom is best in morning
Use ישראל 669  as travel agent for trips
   (next door to Chabad)
Recommended Zip Line: Flight of Gibbon or Flying Squirrel,
   can be reserved through Yackov (המרכז המטייל)
   for best price.
When reserving tours, ask for a discount due to
   using your own transportation
Tailors:
   CM Tailors
His and Hers- 3 minute walk from LM on the way to chabbad.




Chiang Rai   CEI/4hr drive from CNX

Hotels                                                            Activities                                                                            Additional Info
Le Meridien
Four Seasons Tent Camp Golden Triangle
Black House
Queens Residence
Night market
Day trip to Burma/Myanmar
Waterfalls
White Temple
Ruaamit elephant camp
Pai village (3 hr drive)
Hot Springs
Scooters
Golden Triangle

« Last edited by CR on July 26, 2020, 11:38:14 AM »

Author Topic: Thailand Master Thread  (Read 749920 times)

Offline CS91

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Re: Thailand Master Thread
« Reply #3580 on: August 31, 2016, 10:02:20 AM »
who do u use in HK?
Maxwell Clothiers. Been using him since I was a little kid. He travels around North America to all the major cities so he was in PHL right before I left. Went to get measured and choose patterns and he delivered them to my hotel.

Paid $239 for four shirts (four is the minimum) so not that cheap, but I would equate their shirts with Thomas Pink quality-wise.

Offline benjie1305

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Re: Thailand Master Thread
« Reply #3581 on: August 31, 2016, 10:04:38 AM »
Are there resorts not too far from chabad in phuket or koh samui where you can stay with a few kids and that have things for the children to do

Depends what resort you stay in. See > http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=64593.msg1532304#msg1532304
Work hard, Play harder!

Offline Feivish

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Re: Thailand Master Thread
« Reply #3582 on: August 31, 2016, 10:23:39 AM »
http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2016/08/31/starwood-resorts-promotion/

The Vana Belle (Luxury Collection) in Koh Samui which goes from 40k to 26k points per night is great since its walking distance to Chabad.

Offline yitzyul

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Re: Thailand Master Thread
« Reply #3583 on: September 02, 2016, 02:39:40 PM »
http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2016/08/31/starwood-resorts-promotion/

The Vana Belle (Luxury Collection) in Koh Samui which goes from 40k to 26k points per night is great since its walking distance to Chabad.

I have stayed in the Vanna Bella and highly recommend it. It is approx. 25 min walk to Chababd  (not difficult). THe "ocean view rooms" are not real ocean view rooms as they are blocked by trees and not a so "on the water" as the Conrad. The service is spectacular. If you have any questions about them, let me know!

Offline yitzyul

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Re: Thailand Master Thread
« Reply #3584 on: September 02, 2016, 02:40:58 PM »
http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2016/08/31/starwood-resorts-promotion/

The Vana Belle (Luxury Collection) in Koh Samui which goes from 40k to 26k points per night is great since its walking distance to Chabad.

If the dates you want don't have any SPG promos the hotel might have some cash sales and then you might be better off paying with a prestige of 3 get the 4th free as it might be a better value.

Offline Aaaron

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Re: Thailand Master Thread
« Reply #3585 on: September 03, 2016, 08:34:57 AM »
LM CNX Pro Tip: For shabbos, leave an ID and room key with the concierge. They're more than happy to take you up and let you in.  We didn't do it before shabbos but the security team in the loading dock down on the left side let us up the stairs then met us on our floor to let us out of the staircase.  They then took our IDs and keys for us to the concierge. Easy breezy from there.

Offline shauly

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Re: Thailand Master Thread
« Reply #3586 on: September 03, 2016, 10:31:21 AM »
LM CNX Pro Tip: For shabbos, leave an ID and room key with the concierge. They're more than happy to take you up and let you in.  We didn't do it before shabbos but the security team in the loading dock down on the left side let us up the stairs then met us on our floor to let us out of the staircase.  They then took our IDs and keys for us to the concierge. Easy breezy from there.

I spoke to them before shabbos, and they knew exactly what to do. I started to say we can't use the key and the concierge just asked beit Chabad? You want the stairs? Everytime we left we just gave the key to the concierge and someone escorted us when we got back. No explanations needed.

Offline yuguy

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Re: Thailand Master Thread
« Reply #3587 on: September 15, 2016, 01:05:25 PM »
Anyone know how the Conrad is in BKK, location-wise to the main attractions in BKK? I mostly see comments about the one in USM.

Online mochjas

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Re: Thailand Master Thread
« Reply #3588 on: September 15, 2016, 01:18:53 PM »
Anyone know how the Conrad is in BKK, location-wise to the main attractions in BKK? I mostly see comments about the one in USM.
thats because its kind of a waste of time to go to BKK. the activities and markets in CNX are much better.

Offline yuguy

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Re: Thailand Master Thread
« Reply #3589 on: September 15, 2016, 01:34:03 PM »
thats because its kind of a waste of time to go to BKK. the activities and markets in CNX are much better.

I only have 1.5 days/1 night, so that's why I'll be in BKK as opposed to elsewhere.

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Re: Thailand Master Thread
« Reply #3590 on: September 15, 2016, 01:38:53 PM »
I only have 1.5 days/1 night, so that's why I'll be in BKK as opposed to elsewhere.
yes in your case it makes sense to go but I'm just explaining to you why there isn't so much BKK info here. But I'm pretty sure AJK has a part in his TR about BKK you might want to start there.

Offline yuguy

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Re: Thailand Master Thread
« Reply #3591 on: September 15, 2016, 01:52:03 PM »
yes in your case it makes sense to go but I'm just explaining to you why there isn't so much BKK info here. But I'm pretty sure AJK has a part in his TR about BKK you might want to start there.

Thanks i'll check it out!

Offline bendor

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Re: Thailand Master Thread
« Reply #3592 on: September 27, 2016, 12:49:43 PM »
Has anyone been to Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai in April? My wife and I were planning to spend a week there after Pesach, but I just heard about this rice field burning business, which apparently makes it very hard to breath, ruins visibility..
Any personal experiences?

Also, is it still worth going to the Le Meridian Chiang Mai now that it's a category 3? I see that the Le Meridian Chiang Rai is still category 2. We're not really looking for night life, but we would like to do some nice day-hikes, some elephant shows/riding and maybe some extreme sports... (And obviously, CNX has Chabad)

Offline shauly

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Re: Thailand Master Thread
« Reply #3593 on: September 27, 2016, 04:32:02 PM »
Has anyone been to Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai in April? My wife and I were planning to spend a week there after Pesach, but I just heard about this rice field burning business, which apparently makes it very hard to breath, ruins visibility..
Any personal experiences?

Also, is it still worth going to the Le Meridian Chiang Mai now that it's a category 3? I see that the Le Meridian Chiang Rai is still category 2. We're not really looking for night life, but we would like to do some nice day-hikes, some elephant shows/riding and maybe some extreme sports... (And obviously, CNX has Chabad)

I can't answer the first question, but you can still get great values at the LM CNX. I stayed 6 nights in the executive suite for ~$700 after counting in the 4th night free from the Prestige. That's a great price especially since the hotel itself is very nice and the service there is outstanding.

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Re: Thailand Master Thread
« Reply #3594 on: September 27, 2016, 04:39:45 PM »
Has anyone been to Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai in April? My wife and I were planning to spend a week there after Pesach, but I just heard about this rice field burning business, which apparently makes it very hard to breath, ruins visibility..
Any personal experiences?

Also, is it still worth going to the Le Meridian Chiang Mai now that it's a category 3? I see that the Le Meridian Chiang Rai is still category 2. We're not really looking for night life, but we would like to do some nice day-hikes, some elephant shows/riding and maybe some extreme sports... (And obviously, CNX has Chabad)
I have been there in April. I was expecting the worst after reading all the reports online. It was def hazy at times but really nothing to worry about.

Offline Moishebatchy

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Re: Thailand Master Thread
« Reply #3595 on: September 28, 2016, 02:44:10 PM »
I spoke to them before shabbos, and they knew exactly what to do. I started to say we can't use the key and the concierge just asked beit Chabad? You want the stairs? Everytime we left we just gave the key to the concierge and someone escorted us when we got back. No explanations needed.

Oh, I trained them quite well the 5 times that I was there for Shabbos. They told me they keep everything that I taught them on file for whenever they have Jewish guests. 8)

Offline Moishebatchy

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Re: Thailand Master Thread
« Reply #3596 on: September 28, 2016, 02:45:33 PM »
I have been there in April. I was expecting the worst after reading all the reports online. It was def hazy at times but really nothing to worry about.

👆 גם אני מצטרף להנ״ל

I've been there twice in March/April. No problems other than a little bit of haze.

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Re: Thailand Master Thread
« Reply #3597 on: September 28, 2016, 02:46:53 PM »
Oh, I trained them quite well the 5 times that I was there for Shabbos. They told me they keep everything that I taught them on file for whenever they have Jewish guests. 8)

Well you did a great job!  ;D Literally every single person we dealt with needed no explanations. It really helps make the hotel and CNX in general an amazing place to spend shabbos.

It's a great city but how come you went 5 times?  ;)

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Re: Thailand Master Thread
« Reply #3598 on: September 28, 2016, 02:48:25 PM »
I'm not one to post Charidy campaigns usually, but in this case, I'm making an exception.

Chabad of Thailand is running Charidy campaign now. I'm sure everyone's been swamped with enough Charidy campaign ads in the past that I don't need to bore you with all the details of exactly how it works ("ONLY 24 HOURS!!!","every dollar you donate will be matched and QUADRUPLED!!!", "we MUST meet our goal or we get nothing!!!" - etc. etc, blah blah blah blah blah). I'm not gonna bore you with all the nitty-gritty details, accompanied by many unnecessary exclamation points; I just want to appeal to you to help this amazing organization right now, during the 24 hours that this campaign is live. If you've already been to Thailand, you've seen their work firsthand - and this is also an opportunity to show your hakaras hatov (times 4, no less); and if you haven't yet gone (but are planning to in the future), consider this "paying it forward" in advance. And if you haven't gone and aren't planning on going at all... well, it's still a good cause, anyway. :P

Please visit their campaign at https://www.charidy.com/jewishthailand within the next 19 hours (or so), and make a donation. You can choose from that page to donate to a specific Chabad house (for example, if you've spent Shabbos in Chiang Mai, you may feel like donating specifically to Chabad of Chiang Mai), or the "donate to everyone" button to donate to Chabad of Thailand as a whole.

Tizku l'mitzvos!!!

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Re: Thailand Master Thread
« Reply #3599 on: September 28, 2016, 02:58:46 PM »
I'm not one to post Charidy campaigns usually, but in this case, I'm making an exception.

Chabad of Thailand is running Charidy campaign now. I'm sure everyone's been swamped with enough Charidy campaign ads in the past that I don't need to bore you with all the details of exactly how it works ("ONLY 24 HOURS!!!","every dollar you donate will be matched and QUADRUPLED!!!", "we MUST meet our goal or we get nothing!!!" - etc. etc, blah blah blah blah blah). I'm not gonna bore you with all the nitty-gritty details, accompanied by many unnecessary exclamation points; I just want to appeal to you to help this amazing organization right now, during the 24 hours that this campaign is live. If you've already been to Thailand, you've seen their work firsthand - and this is also an opportunity to show your hakaras hatov (times 4, no less); and if you haven't yet gone (but are planning to in the future), consider this "paying it forward" in advance. And if you haven't gone and aren't planning on going at all... well, it's still a good cause, anyway. :P

Please visit their campaign at https://www.charidy.com/jewishthailand within the next 19 hours (or so), and make a donation. You can choose from that page to donate to a specific Chabad house (for example, if you've spent Shabbos in Chiang Mai, you may feel like donating specifically to Chabad of Chiang Mai), or the "donate to everyone" button to donate to Chabad of Thailand as a whole.

Tizku l'mitzvos!!!

Thanks for sharing!