aterug

My wife and I will be in Bangkok for 3 days and then phuket for another two in Jan 2011.

I was wondering if anyone here had ever hired a personal guide for a day or so while there and has any recommendations on who to hire ?

While I will be going through and planning my trip based on the excellent resources available here, I believe it might be worth it to have someone local work with us while there.

Thanks!

jiejie

If you are just a casual tourist who wants to see some of the major sites and get the flavor of the city, I don't think a personal guide is really of any benefit--just get a good guidebook or two, check out the internet, and do your own research for general background of sights, and for city layout and how to get around. Three days in BKK is not a lot of time, so don't overestimate what you can cover, and due to traffic, plan activities geographically.

I would only recommend a limited-use personal guide for people who have a professional or special focused interest in a particular topic, and need more in-depth information than a regular guidebook can give...or need special access to places not normally open to the public. In this case, some advance planning and arrangement is necessary, and probably not with a standard travel agent. This does not apply to 99% of visitors to Thailand.

goodeats21

I used a guide from "Tour with Tong" (google for their website) for a trip in March of this year. Tour guide was great and definitely worth the inexpensive cost. I used for the first full day in Bangkok and really learned how to get around the city quickly as we used public transport. Very knowledgeable guide and very willing to customize tour for your interests.
Also used for a day trip out of the city. Again, not too expensive and no worrying about routes, directions, etc. Absolutely worth it to me.

Only warning is it seems at times they do not reply to emails promptly. Not sure if it was just because they are busy, and everything worked out perfectly in the end, but can cause some apprehension.

Have a great trip.

glennaa11

Local guides can definitely be a big help in my experience, especially if it's your first time in Bangkok which can be a little intimidating. A good friend of mine is a freelance licensed guide. He has a lot of knowledge about all sorts of things. His website is directed towards gay travelers but he is an appropriate guide for anyone.

http://philguidebkk.com/

dsquared37

I'm always for hire and my fee is a good meal. Kidding (or am I).

I've never had a guide in Thailand and it's mostly unnecessary, but for the unintroduced, Bangkok can be difficult. If you do get a guide I'd recommend only having him/her for a day to get your orientation inline. After that explore on your own, it will more rewarding.

aterug

Thank you for all the info.

@goodeats21 - I did consider Tong but they feel very commercialized (maybe that's a good thing). I am going to go with Jan who is also recommended on tripadvisor and who has been pretty responsive to my questions.

@jiejie - While I have traveled widely, and have been to Thailand before as a young student, I feel this time, specially with my wife and I going for the first time as a couple and no longer needing to be as cheap as possible, it would be worth it to invest in a guide who would help cut down on the touts, help with transportation and in general just assist us with our desired itinerary.

@dsquared37 - is you are in bangkok, would be happy to buy you a drink.
@glennaa11 - thank you for letting me know about Phil, I may contact him for next time or we we don't feel comfortable with our current guide.

Again, thank you and I will be looking for places to eat at, traditional massages to get, the whole touristy thing I suppose now

Kalboz

Khun Moo (Sithichai Seangsurasin) who is fluent in both English and French has led us on tours many times (2005-2007). His last known mobile number is 01-9352338. He used to be with BE Tours and he is highly recommended:

http://betours.net/

TorontoSingh

The Thai mobile dialing system has changed a long time ago. If you are in Thailand, you should dial 081-9352338. From North America, dial 011-6681-935-2338.

Mr. Vker

Another vote for BE Tours. Hired them on two different trips for several tours. They are excellent.

mongobot

I used janthana "Jan" samleerangkul <[email protected]> before and my wife and I enjoyed our time with her. She was generous with her time and took us to all the places we requested and was fun to be with.

I later recommended her to some friends who were visiting Thailand for the first time and they also gave her a thumbs up.

Our target was to visit some fairly offbeat places and had a pretty good idea of the types of places we wanted to visit and the things we wanted to do. If you don't speak Thai it can also be a help to have someone willing to negotiate for you at some of the markets, etc.

aterug

@konoyaro - that is who I have booked! I am just in the process of putting together a list of things/places we want to see and do with her. Would you recommend something particularly offbeat/interesting that you and your wife were able to do because of Jan ?

mongobot

@aterug: We like exploring the klongs so we had Jan take us to the Prakanong canal to cruise around that area. There is a temple there which is related to a famous ghost story. The name of the temple is Mae Nak Phra Khanong and there is a movie made about this ghost story named Nang Nak.

Also we had her take us on a food sampling tour. We used this info as a general guide and had her tailor it to what we were most interested in.

We did our own walking tour in the Thonburi district and visited:
Wat Kalaya Nimit, Kuan An Keng, Santa Cruz Church, Wat Prayun Wong and enjoyed khanom farang kutii jiin. Discovering this older part of Bangkok was a lot of fun for us and I think Jan would be a great guide for this excursion.

Another idea would be to visit the 9 Sacred Temples. If it's your first time to Bangkok, it will take in the usual favorites (Golden Mount, Wat Po, Wat Phra Kaeo, Wat Arun) while exposing you to some lesser known places.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask!

aterug

Absolutely love the first picture of the bbq pork that comes up on clicking on the nine temples link

I am trying to browse the eating thread here on flyertalk but there is so much I think we will just eat what looks good while walking around. The wife is vegetarian with no seafood so it will be a lot of fresh fruits and whatever else veg stuff we can find (maybe Anotoi)

I think this is what we have so far for her to build something around. We will have one day by ourselves and then two days with Jan before leaving for Phuket.

1) Some temples (maybe Mae Nak Phra Khanong) , Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo
2) food - the nytimes article is in my first email, can we also use this http://importfood.com/saochingcha_guide.html as another guide ? I would love to sample a lot of different dishes and not sit in a fancy restaurant.
3) Tor Kor market
4) 'Love Scene' on 23 near Cowboy for fresh seafood - I love seafood.
5) Want to try Durian (if in season)
6) traditional thai massage outside wat pho or heartland spa ?

All suggestions welcome!

mongobot

2) The import food map is mostly about street food but it also mentions Chote Chitr favored by the New York Times.
I'd also check out Austin Bush's excellent food blog.

4) I've never been to Love Scene, but I've tried Kin Lom Chom Saphan, Ban Klang Nam and a few others. You could do worse than Kin Lom Chom Saphan and it has an interesting view of the Rama VIII bridge.

6) Having a massage on the grounds of Wat Pho can be fun but it's also quite crowded and can be relatively hot. The school next to the temple is ok and can be worthwhile. Heartland seems more professional and has more privacy. Be warned though, Heartland is popular with locals and visitors alike and can be fully booked at times so reservations are a good idea.
Another place I've been meaning to try is Ruen Nuad.

Dr. HFH

How did you get her to answer your e-mails? I've now sent two through Tong's response system and then tried to send a regular e-mail, but her mailbox is full and that one was rejected and returned to me. I liked her website, though.