Have a lot of questions about BKK. Even after months of reading all the helpful info on this site. Will be in BKK for 5 days in Nov. Have taken your advise and have contacted Ratt for four of those days (too much?) There will be four of us when you say Ratt charges about $100 per day is that for each person? She replied that someone will connect you at the hotel at 8am. Does this mean it will not be her. Will I need any other confirmation than her email? We will be arriving in Laem Chabang by ship. A travel agent who booked our hotel (Oriental) the cost of the ride form the pier to the hotel would be 7800 for the four of us in a van . Could we do better?Thank you all for the useful info and I will let you know how our trip went

1. The price is for the car. If there are four of you I assume you will have the van which her husband drives.

2. Having her for four days is fine depending on what it is you want to see and do/ What are your interests?

3. The price for the airport transfer is outrageus. You can have the Oriental pick you up in a van for less than half of that.

Oopd== just saw you are coming by boat. I don't know what the normal cost for that is.

If Ratt does not say it will be her, it will most likely be not. I think business is good and she is branching out. I had to be very firm that I wanted her and noone else for our two days in February.

The 7800 baht is insane for such a short trip regardless of where it is from.

Have had so much good advise as to what to see in BKK it has been hard to make an itinerary. Have your list (glorialf) from 09/15 of places to go and will probably incude those in are final list do you think it's worth emailing Ratt to ask if she could be with us at least some of the days or all. If we have the van (4 of us) is it more expensive and is her husband the only one who will drive it? Is his English good and is he kwoledgeable. Thanks for replying

If it is four of you you will need the van but I would confirm all of this with her. Make sure she knows how many of you there are. Her husband is the only one who drives the van.

your taking a van from where to the oriiantal for 7800 baht?
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using her for so many days seems like overkill.. plus you may not get the true essence of being in bangkok you need some time exploring on your own. I understad when people get guides in bkk and other countries especialy when they've never been. but I must say bangkok is a safe town with lots to see at every corner.
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lol, 100 dolloars a day.. Ratt is actually a multi millionar in thailand. pritty soon she'l be sporting a FENDI purse.. that is after she builds her litle hotel and pays of her toyota. GOOD FOR HER I hope more thais can follow her hard work.

I think everyone is missing the fact that you're arriving in Laem Chabang, which is about 10 minutes from Pattaya but two hours from Bangkok. The rate is still rather high. You could probably get a van rental for about half that, but as there are few people arriving by cruise ship, finding someone who knows where to pick you up may be the tricky part. That's probably why they're able to charge so much.

You do not need Ratt for 4 days. I would use her for 2 days at most. Navigating in BKK is easy and very much part of the charm. If you use Ratt all those days, it will insulate you from the essence of BKK.

Van rental here is about Baht 1,600 to 1,800 based on 24 hours (you will get the lastest model red-plate with T.V. and DVD players for that 1,800) and you only fuel at actual cost. One-way from Laem Chabang to BKK is not more than Baht 1,500 for fuel. Please try some local websites for car rental as sawasdee.com (very reliable one).

And I agree to many, BKK is so easy to travel by yourself and map. If the guide charges you Baht 4,000 per day, that means she gains Baht 120,000 per month excluding commission of 30 % she will get from jewelry shops or any souvenir shops she takes you to buy things. It is the salary of a manager in a big company here in Bangkok. Think twice.

I am a Thai by birth and I do not mean to discredit local guide business. However, I do not want Thais to lose the charm of our warm and sincere hospitality.

Enjoy BKK

I think the prices you were quoting was for the car/van itself. I think the original poster is also hiring a driver.

As for bangkok being easy to navigate. It is if you don't take into consideration the heat and humidity which most of us are not used to. The advantage of having a car and driver for some of your time is you can see and do much more without collapsing.

I'm with Gloria again! (I find myself agreeing more and more with her- pretty soon I'll be singing the praises of the Oriental!). One does not need Ratt, but as Gloria points out, with her you will be able to do and see so much more as your energy will not be zapped by the heat and humidity. We used Ratt and found that returning to her air conditioned car, cold towels and ice cold water served to re-charge us and we were ready to do and see more. On the days in which we did not use Ratt- we ran out of "gas" much sooner.

Thanks so much for all of your advise. Pehaps we will try three days with Ratt and two on our own. Not afraid of doing things on my own but the couple we're traveling with reallly likes the creature comforts. Getting off the ship after 16 days it is really nice to have someone waiting rather than draging your luggage around loking for a rental office. I would think that picking up people from the port and bringing them to BKK would be a common thing there but maybe not. Thanks again any other advise would be really helpful since this is our first visit there (I guess you could tell that)

I think a lot of people who arrive in Bangkok via ship are on a tour and they are bused to their hotel.

Ratt for 3 days sounds like a good compromise to me. Don't use her to go shopping -- that's a read waste.

I have spent a huge amount of time at the Oriental in the last 20 years and would be happy to tell you about where to eat in it and around, where to shop nearby etc. It's one of my favorite places in the world.

The rate of van rental is with driver. It is known locally this price so I just quoted it in comparison with that Baht 7,800 your guide charges for transfer of 4 persons from the port. Too much charge.

Having her with van at Baht 4,000 lump sum (not per person) is O.K. I understand you can be melted by the weather. We Thais are not different.

where james A when ya need him.

anyways I may be hiring a van RT too Pataya soon;. my GF said it may cost 2000 baht for the full day.. but she was just guesing.. I really hope it's not 4000 or 7000.. if so, the group will be taking a fun filled magical trip to MBK.

I agree that Ratt or any guide for 4 days would be overkill. I'd say 2 days...3 absolutely max. Personally, I've never had a driver in Bangkok. Happy Travels!

orgy; got room for two more?

i think 4 days with ratt is too much also, but it depends on what you want to do...her van costs more than her sedan, maybe 30% more...$100 was for 13 hours with many miles driven outside of bkk which adds up fast...inside town might be 1/2 that price...

the van from the ship is a captive audience...i would contact my hotel and see how much they would charge to collect you or ask ratt to do it...its equal to $195 which is huge...problem is that you are 4 people...

my gf has been asking around on prices for vans she just called me to say we could rent a shoufer drivan van to hoi hin for 1600 (not including gas) for full day... now im waiting for her too do some window shopping for a van to pataya.. the new guess is 1200 (not including gas)

I'ts comman knowlage that farang pay a litle more compared to local thais. but the quote the original poster currently has is rediculous.. and it's only for a 2-3 hour drive. as opposed too hiring a van for the full day.