Luxury Thailand Travel Review: Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Koh Lanta, Two-Week Honeymoon, Street Markets, Elephant Sanctuary, Raft Trip

Our travel planner and his team helped my wife and I plan our 14 day honeymoon to Thailand, during which we spent time in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Koh Lanta. From our first introductory call with our travel planner we felt very comfortable trusting him to plan a trip for us to an area of the world we were totally unfamiliar with. We were slow to commit to plans initially, but our travel planner was very patient and continued to work with us through all of our planning questions and trip iteration requests in order to get us exactly what we wanted. Our travel planner worked within our budget and considered all our desires such as where we were willing to spend more on a hotel versus where we were okay with more budget friendly accommodations. Overall, working with him during the planning process helped put our minds at ease and really focus on the excitement of our upcoming trip.
Although our pre-trip experience with this travel agency was great, where they really shined was once we got off the plane in Thailand. From the minute we got through security in Thailand we were taken care of by our travel planner's team (drivers, tour guides, office staff, etc.). Our full itinerary was organized by them on the Trip Plans app and we got daily morning messages from our travel planner's associate, with necessary documents such as flight information, tickets for tours, etc. From a logistical standpoint everything was flawless and my wife and I barely needed to think about anything, we could just take in the sights and enjoy the experience.
In addition to the flawless planning and execution of the trip, several steps our travel agency took made our trip truly amazing.

1. We were paired with the two incredibly tour guides during our time in Thailand, both of whom we will both never forget. During our time in Bangkok we spent nearly two full days touring with a guide and wouldn't have changed a thing. From the first minute we met her she had a huge smile and helped ease us into our trip. She was a wealth of knowledge, answered all of our questions with ease and was always looking to help to find a great photo opportunity. In Chiang Mai we were paired with another guide. Once again, everything with this guide was perfect. He couldn't have been more friendly and did lots of small things during our tours to give us a unique genuine local experience. After only a short time with each of these guides, they truly felt like great friends.
2. We were set up with experiences, not just tours, that were intimate and felt genuine. We did lots of the typical tourist things in Thailand (street markets, elephant sanctuary, cooking classes, etc.), but there was an obvious effort made by our travel agency to make these experiences as genuine and customized as possible. Without our travel expert's planning we surely wouldn't have taken a bamboo raft trip through the mountains of Chiang Mai during our trip to the elephant sanctuary. We likely would have ended up at a more commercial cooking class instead of the amazing experience we had at a local family's house learning to cook in Chiang Mai. Every activity we participated in through our travel agency clearly was developed with lots of thought and effort to create a great opportunity to experience Thailand in an authentic way.
3. During the trip planning process, due to our delayed decision making, the room type we wanted at the resort in Koh Lanta was no longer available, but we shrugged it off and moved forward with our trip. However, our travel planner knew we really desired a certain room type. Upon arriving at the resort in Koh Lanta we learned that he had called ahead and worked his magic to get us a room upgrade, not just to the room type we were hoping for, but even better. We were at a loss for words and the effort our travel planner took to make this happen, truly made our honeymoon unforgetable.

I would recommend our travel agency for anyone who plans to visit Thailand, but particularly for those that aren't seasoned international travelers. They made everything so easy that we were never stressed or overwhelmed being on the other side of the world. Our trip was enhanced so greatly by having them on board, particularly with their local presence, and we couldn't imagine having went on this trip without their support.