Unwrapped travel

The airline industry in Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam has changed immeasurably over the last few years. With the advent of low-cost-carriers (lcc) the costs of domestic and some regional flights have plummeted. While legacy carriers such as THAI International, Lao Airlines and Vietnam Airlines (Cambodia has no functional stare carrier) continue to fly the trunk routes, there has been less discounting than expected and they remain considerably more expensive than the LCCs.

For the traveller, the budget carriers have made flying far more affordable and attractive. In some cases taking a flight can be cheaper (and faster) than a bus or train ticket to the same destination. The main players in the region are AirAsia and its subsidiary Thai Air Asia, Nok Air (owned by THAI International), Jetstar Asia (Owned by Qantas), Orient Thai Airlines and Tiger Airways (49% owned by Singapore Airways).

All these carriers are no frills - you’re expected to book your tickets online and don’t be surprised if you can only pay with Mastercard or Visa. Many travel agents in Thailand will not book tickets for you on budget carriers, instead telling you to go to the nearest internet cafe and do it yourself. You’ll need to pay for any food or drink that you want to eat on board, and there are no newspapers or magazines offered. Flights are sometimes at rather inconvenient hours. Check-in allowances are generally 15kg. Watch out for the small print — all the carriers are equally guilty of advertising a ticket for say $20 only to pay in the small print there is another $30 in fees and taxes you’ll need to pay.

Despite these minuses, for a flight of anything less than two to three hours, they are more than adequate. For detailed information on the carriers, along with regularly updated Airline news, see Asia News Desk. For user feedback on airlines worldwide, see Airline Quality.

As with budget carriers across the globe, the earlier you book and the more flexible you are, the better the range of fares you’ll have to choose from.

International departure taxes in Thailand and Indochina can be hefty. Some of the main airport departure taxes include:
Phnom Penh $25
Siem Reap $25
Bangkok 500B
Chiang Mai 500B
Phuket 500B
Hanoi $14
Saigon $12
Vientiane $12
Luang Prabang $12