Kanchanaburi - Toi's Tours

Old May 22nd, 2013, 12:07 PM
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Kanchanaburi - Toi's Tours

Hello,

Does anyone have any experience with Toi's Tours in Kanchanaburi? I know that A.S. Mixed Travel is recommended in books, but I like what is included in Toi's Tours just a bit more even though they are also just a bit more expensive (negligible difference).

Thanks,
Judy
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Old May 22nd, 2013, 12:34 PM
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I've never heard of them. Is there a reason you want a tour rather than hiring a car and driver (and perhaps, a guide) to take you where you want to go?
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Old May 22nd, 2013, 12:45 PM
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Just for convenience. The tour we're interested in is pretty much what we'd want even from a private driver and the cost is low enough to be worth the convenience of just booking the tour. I've emailed them to ask how much it would be to make it a private tour, so I guess I'm already doing what you're asking us to consider. Again, this would just be for convenience rather than finding a car, driver and guide on our own. But, I'd also like to know about the quality before booking.

Thanks,
Judy
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Old May 22nd, 2013, 12:46 PM
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Do you, by any chance, have any recommendations for a driver/guide in Kanchanaburi?

Thanks,
Judy
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Old May 23rd, 2013, 04:01 AM
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Can't help with a guide in Kanchanaburi, but there seemed to be plenty around in the centre when we were last there. A pleasant alternative might be to get the train there and back and hire a guide in the town? Easily arranged as you could buy the tickets on the day at the station . www.seat61.com has info on timetables and fares ( v. Inexpensive) and pre arrange. A guide in the town . Kanchanaburi itself can be seen in a few hours but there are some Nat Parks with waterfalls close by that are worth a look and some caves not too far from the town.

Avoid the weekends as it is heaving with students partaking of a little too much Singha
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Old May 23rd, 2013, 04:12 AM
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We know a driver from BKK who goes out to the area frequently. Speaks fairly good English, but is not a guide. Has a nice van. If you want his particulars email us at [email protected]. I will have Bob send the info.
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Old May 23rd, 2013, 08:44 AM
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Thank you crellston and kmkrnn for your responses.

Crellston , we would like to possibly hire a guide in the town if we could get a recommendation and be able to set it up in advance. Unfortunately, the train schedule doesn't work for us, but we're in no particular hurry to get there, so we're going to take a bus. The train might be an option for our return though.

Kmkrnn, as we will already be in Kanchanaburi, we thought it would be better to get a local guide or tour.

Btw, I should mention that my bf speaks, reads and writes Thai fluently, so we're okay with someone who doesn't speak much English. The preference, however, would be to find someone who does speak English so my bf doesn't have to translate everything for me.

I've read other posts from people saying that they were lucky to find and hire a guide after they were already in Kanchanaburi. I'd prefer a recommendation and to set it up in advance, but does anyone know if guides are so plentiful there, it would be easy to hire someone when we arrive? Crellston, I think that's what you may have been saying, but I'm not sure.
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Old May 29th, 2013, 09:20 AM
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FYI - We hired Toi's Tours for a private tour at a very reasonable rate. I'll try to remember to come back to this thread to post our experience, but it will definitely be included in the trip report.
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Old Jun 12th, 2013, 07:07 AM
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Hi Judy

How was your tour with Toi's Tours. We are going next month.
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Old Jun 13th, 2013, 02:50 AM
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Hi Denise,

You'll actually have to tell me how YOUR tour was first! We won't be there until August. We're scheduled for our tour on Aug 13.

Have a great trip. And, seriously, would love to hear what you think of Toi's Tours after your trip.
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Old Jul 18th, 2013, 08:08 PM
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Judy and Denise - what were your experiences with Toi's Tours, or did you hire a local guide in Kanchanaburi?? I'm planning a trip in November, and I like their mix of the historical and naturalist sites. I hope you'll come back here to report!!
Lisa
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Old Aug 20th, 2013, 01:23 PM
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Hi all,

We went on our private tour arranged through Toi's Tours. Over all, I'd say I was very satisfied with them and wouldn't hesitate recommending our guide. Our guide was a young local man who worked for a different tour company in Bangkok, but came home on his days off and did tours for Toi. The taxi was a newish Toyota sedan with great air conditioning. Anda (not panda) spoke decent English although he said upfront that he wasn't fluent. I found no problems communicating with him.

Our tour was supposed to consist of going to Erawan Falls, lunch, Hellfire Pass w a stop at the museum, train, Bridge on the River Kwai, and Krasae Cave via the Death Railway. We paid 2200 baht for the driver, 800 baht for the guide, 200 baht each for Erawan Falls, lunch for us and our guide and we were supposed to pay 100 baht each for the train, but our guide knew the train employee so he talked him into letting us ride for free.

Anda was very solicitous. He helped me up and down rocky areas at Erawan Falls and always asked if we were doing alright. He carried all our stuff for us and offered to take my camera to take pictures of us. He was also a very socially conscious person, which I really appreciated. When he saw trash that others had left behind, he picked it up to throw away.

We didn't go to the Krasae Cave via the Death Railway. It was fine that we didn't go once Anda explained to us that we didn't go because it would be too dangerous as it had started to rain pretty heavily, but the thing I didn't like is that we had to ask about it rather than have the info communicated to us upfront. We also didn't realize that the train ride we took was actually the Death Railway. Maybe we should have already known, but it would have been nice to have been told. Anda tried to get us seats on the "good" side of the train, but none were available. We could still see, but he took my camera and ran around to try to get better shots.

Anda had asked us what our plans were for the next day. He gave us his number and the driver's number if we wanted to go anywhere. We told him that we were planning to go to the cemetery and the Thai Burma Railway Museum the next day. He had the driver take us to the cemetery (maybe because we missed out on the cave?) and showed us where the museum was since it was already closed. I think my boyfriend may have also been talking with him about the fruit we had seen when we first arrived, so Anda had our driver take us to a fruit stand to buy (and try) some fruit before returning us to our hotel.

As I said, over all, I was pleased with our tour. I guess my only criticism would be that I wish Anda had informed us of each place and let us know about the change in plans. But, given that we had other things added that were not planned, it was a fair trade off.
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