Travel around and from Japan

Hi all,

I have 2 questions initially (likely more to follow!)

1: So i'm going to be in Japan from June to July this year and i'm looking at rail passes. One of the things i really wanted to do was travel on the Shink but i don't think you can get an inclusive ticket for that wiht a standard rail pass?

Anyway i was looking at the Japanese rail companies' sites and they are pretty complicated! Anybody have an idea of whether it's going to be cheaper to buy a rail pass or just buy single tickets? And whether it's cheaper to buy in advance like it is here in the UK?

2: I am looking to find a cheap flight from Japan to Thailand in early July. I wanted to avoid Air China if possible as i have not read very good reports from them (but open to corrections on this from you guys if you have stories?). The cheapest i found was with Malaysian airlines but when i went back to book the flight a week later it had magically gone up. A lot. So back to the drawing board.

I am now thinking it may be cheaper to fly from Japan to Hong Kong as flights from Hong Kong to Bangkok are extremely cheap! Looking for any clever ideas around this. I will be visiting Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia before heading to Singapore but wanted to fly into Thailand for the 1 month visa (instead of the 14 day overland one).

Sorry for the long post and i look forward to any advice you good folks can offer :)