I realize she is very busy, but just curious how long it usually takes you to hear back from her.

I sent her an email a little over 2 weeks ago (and received the auto reply that she is touring, but nothing more) Is this what others experience?
Thanks!

Hi kimberly, this is a question that gets asked every so often here. You are right, she is just really busy. Was 2 weeks ago the first time you had contact with her or have you already set up a date with her yet? My wife and I still talk with her a few times each week, I will ask her if she is getting back with you soon. If you do already have a date set with her, you will have an awesome time!

Jeffrey

Hi Kimberly, I had the same problem a couple of weeks ago and I actually sent her a second e-mail this past Monday when I hadn't heard from her. She had not gotten my first e-mail. So if I were you I would contact her again. I was glad I did since one of the two days I wanted her in June she was already booked! I'm hoping she can connect with someone almost as good for the day she is not available.

A little over 2 weeks ago was the first time I had contact with her. I actually sent her 2 emails about a week apart (one from work and one from home) since I thought she might not have received the first one. I haven't heard from her on either email and the last one was sent to her on Nov. 11.

I do not have anything booked yet -which is why I am anxious to speak to her and get her availability.
Should I send her another email? I really don't want to be a bother, but I just read a post that she is already booked into June and we are visiting in April.

send her another one...never wait...she won't care

I agree. I have been e-mailing her back and forth over the past week about some dates in June and whether she would be able to work out someone to guide us on a date she was booked (she will, so we're all set). So I would definitely send her a follow-up e-mail.

I just heard back from Tong and unfortunately she is completey booked for our April dates.

After reading the post from jcasale it seems that either one of Tong's guides or Ratt are good alternates.

Which places require licensed guides?

What places do you suggest we go with guides vs. on our own? (this will help us determine how many days with guides/drivers we want.)

Can Tong's guides take us to the "special" place? Has anyone done this with her team before?

What type of places are you looking to go to, when we know that we can all help you with what you can do on your own. Most everything you can do on your own, if you want to do something like the floating market then its a good idea to have a driver take you there EARLY in the morning. For the Grand Palace, you would want a guide, I guess you could do that on your own but for us the first time it was a good thing we had a guide. Im sure several people here will tell you that BKK is an easy place to get around on your own.

Thanks Travelduo. It is our first visit and I haven't finalized an itinerary yet so open to suggestions.

Definitely want to see the big ones: Grand Palace, Wat Pho, the Emerald Buddha and Wat Arun. Tong's special place sounded interesting, but not sure we'd have time. I was also intrigued about taking a klong tour (is this different that the floating market?) and getting better educated about Thai culture.

I haven't done that many searches yet forum for must do things, just trying to book a guide since Tong/Ratt seem to book fast. Does this help?

We'd like to visit the weekend market, possibly Jim Thompson House and Chinatown but I think we can do on our own. And of course get lots of massages!

How many days do you have in BKK, and how many of those do you wish to spend with a guide?

Well you are right, the weekend market and JT house and for sure on your own. But i think that some people have used a driver for the weekend market just to help carry stuff and have a car ready for the drive back, we never do, just take the sky train or the subway. The khlong tour is different from the floating market, the FM is outside of bangkok, i think about 45 mins(we only went once). some people would call it a tourist trap now and other really like it, if you go, you need to go VERY early, when we were leaving, it was over run with people.
We are not big on the wats so someone else will help you with that, but we have used people from wat pho to come to our hotel room for massages! The GP was cool, once, doubt we would go back again, the guide really help us there.
Do you know where you are staying yet? Will you be in BKK the entire time?

We have 4 days in BKK (staying at the Peninsula) at the beginning of our trip and approx. a half day before we head home. (spending some time in Chaing Mai and Phuket as well)

Although we land in the morning our first day, I don't want to commit to a guide since we will probably want to ease into things (maybe visit Jim Thompson house and take a klong tour).

That said, not sure if we will want a guide the entire time. Maybe one or two days.