The one advantage of the Chinese airlines is the ability to fly into and out of lots of different cities, on one ticket,
which might save time, and help streamline your trip in the long run. You could fly into Luang phabang, then do Thailand, and depart from Siem reap, or Phuket, or loads of other variations, rather than have to spend time in Bangkok twice. Also look at flying into and/ or out of other airline hubs like Singapore, Hong Kong, or Kuala Lumpur, which might have cheaper, or quicker flights from Canada. Onward flights within Asia are cheap.

You shouldn't have any issues with local unrest in Thailand or Laos. Some of the more remote villages in Laos can be a little wild - I've never had any problems whatsoever, but use common sense, particularly when deciding where to try and spend the night.

Chiang Rai province has some beautiful, interesting places. Mae Salong has an interesting history, and lots of options for hiking in the surrounding countryside. For more off-the-beaten-path places in Laos, head to Muang Sing and the surrounding region. I don't know if much has changed there recently: I haven't been since before they built the bridge to Burma.

Good advice, but there's no unrest on the Thai side anywhere except in the far south along the Malaysian border. There has been some sporadic unrest in Saisomboon and areas along/adjacent to routes 13N between Phou Khoun and Kasi and on the new road between Kasi and Muang Nan, but that seems to have died down in the past year or so. Even so, as you say, it's good to take precautions and definitely avoid night time travel.

There is no right and wrong way. If you are a shopper I would end the trip in Bangkok

If you wish to go from Trat to Chiang Mai or vis versa by plane then make sure that the flight to or from CM is out of Suvarnabhumi Airport which is the airport for Trat so as to avoid the transfer between airports.

I will leave it up to you to decide on including CM or not

Hi Lynsey,

#sorry about some of the people on here and what they said to you.

I go to Thai all the time. I should even be in Bangkok at the same time as you then I normally go down to Koh Phangan because its my island :) and has the Full Moon party etc for NY plus its beautiful. I also had a job in Chiang Mai but for this time of year I would say the islands plus Koh Samui is next to KP and then you can explore the rest of Thailand also. Bangkok is also great for a few days. Hola at me if you want.

Take Care

Kim

Not sure if there are local buses on some of the smaller roads in Thailand near the Laos border you could take but there is a way using bigger roads that’s longer. I took a Phetprasert bus a couple months ago from C. Mai to Loei that goes on Hwy 11 thru Den Sai and continues to Phitsanulok and then on to Loei and Udon Thani. From Loei there are daily buses to Chiang Khan and also to Pak Chom where you can catch a bus to Nong Khai. See my posting on the C. Mai to Vientiane thread on this forum a few days ago for details about the leg from Loei to Nong Khai. In the past there has been regular minivan bus service between Den Sai and Nan (and on to the Lao border above Nan) that goes thru Phrae with a few scheduled trips each day. I can give more details later if you’re interested.

If the OP is actually from NZ, there's not much you cant buy in NZ now from countries like Thailand. Anything over $750 will attract Duty and Import costs.
I could sell my teak furniture bought in Chiang Mai in 1990 and 1995 and make a substantial profit but costs to replace now outweigh keeping it.

For the last 3 years I have spent 5 months every year on Koh Samui ( between mid May and mid October) and at least a couple in Malaysia. Weather is hot and mostly dry. Monsoon is on its way but not quite there by the time we leave.
Before that from 1990 I have travelled to most SEA countries. Thailand always has been the easiest for first time backpackers and shows no sign of that lessening.
Timewise, you could do the pancake trail. Chiang Mai and spend some time away from it. There's Mae Hong Son, there's the area along the Golden Triangle. An island or two. And a bit of time in Bangkok. As someone else said, get a guide book and read through it. One trip won't be enough.

Maybe 'Expect a fake', but you expect a fake that works.

Thanks for posting it up. The Walkmen Village places (there is/was one in Luang Prabang also) sell merchandise trucked down from China. You have to look on them as Caveat emptor. That said I have a couple CD and DVD fake/copies from a decade back that work fine.

Historical places that are easy to get around (for the woman with the sore knee) are Ayutthaya, Sukhothai and Chiang Mai. Plenty of beautiful scenery in the hills just outside Chiang Mai but you would need to go on a trip to see them.
For Sukhothai you could stay at the attractive but not touristy Phitsanulok.
The child will probably enjoy the boat trips on the river and Klangs (canals) of Bangkok. You could also do a day trip to Kanchanaburi (River Kwai) from Bangkok.

Thanks Chris!

I guess how hot it is depends on the weather and where you go. I also thought of Thailand and Lao as fully tropical hot countries until I once visited Chiang Mai, Luang Prabang and Si Pan Don (south Lao) around christmas / new year - and froze quite often!

Looking at the map I thought much of Myanmar should have a similar climate, and because we like it warm, we ruled out the other school holiday season when we could do the trip, christmas / new year.

How is the temperature at night - does it cool down noticeably, or does it stay hot even at night? I'm asking because of the accom - normally we prefer without a/c, except in places where it stays very hot even at night.