Thailand forum

I'm not sure what this means: mekong to nong khai: 2 days

It is a morning to get from Vientiane to Nong Khai and you probably don't want to spend more than one night there if you feel you're short on time. I think that extra day would be better assigned as a buffer in your travel from Chiang Rai to Luang Prabang .

Which brings me to my main point that I think think this is a fine route and a good schedule, but I wouldn't book too much ahead so that you can be flexible if you like. It may be that with what you've paid to get into Laos you'd like to spend more time there - perhaps check out Luang Nam Tha on the way down to Luang Prabang (if going overland) or take a couple nights to get a little out of the way up to Nong Kiaow or Mung Ngoi which is a nice 3/4 night trip north from Luang Prabang.

Keep your schedule loose and think of this as a rough itinerary, but be prepared to scratch one of the 3 islands you are planning on and give yourself more time to relax and get settled into one or two of them - and/or save time for other parts of the trip.

I also think 5 days at the start in BKK is a bit much, give yourself 3 nights to enjoy and get adjusted, and then plan to get back to BKK a couple days early before your flight out. That way, if you change your mind and want to spend more time somewhere else you can and it just comes out of the BKK time at the end of the trip, or you get to spend that time in BKK after returning from a long trip and it feels like coming home.

You may want to consider going from Sukhothai to Mae Hon Song and then to Pai and Chiangmai, rather than going to Chiangmai - Pai - Mae Hon Song - Chiangmai - Chiangrai ... to avoid backtracking.