Tong is Already Booked
 

I thought that by contacting Tong now for dates in June 2008 that we would be able to get her, but we can only get her for one of the days :-(. I have asked if she can arrange for someone else for the other day (I had seen a reference to a Tom who works for her), but haven't heard back yet. Does anyone else have a good suggestion for a guide for the temples, palace and maybe the khlongs? I think we will be able to use Tong for our day to the floating market, Tiger Temple and River Kwai bridge.

you do not need a guide for the klongs really...

cherry or ratt may be able to help you on another day, but i would wait for tong to reply...

Thanks. How long do you think we would need her for if we just had her take us to the main temples and the Grand Palace? Maybe we could book her for a half day the first day we are in town. I don't want to plan much for that day since we don't get in until midnight the night before. I figure we won't see the light of day until about 11 or so in the morning :-P! But I will wait to hear back from her. I imagine she's pretty busy with all of the chatter I see about her on this board!

personally i would not book much of anything on my first day...i would lay low....you will probably be awake very early....your clocks will be off...

stay by the pool and relax...

then on day two book heavily...the palace will take a couple of hours and its very hot....the wats will take an hour or so each...some less

I agree with not doing much on the first day. Also, if Tong is booked and you still want to use a guide, you can ask her to arrange one of the guides she works with. I've used Nui and Aon and met Jerry once. I'm sure you wouldn't go wrong with anyone Tong recommends.

You will find comments about folks who think Ratt is the greatest and others that Tong is the greatest. Cherie get's o.k. comments. The difference between Tong and Ratt is Ratt is not a licensed guide. She has always worked and failed to take the time for the classes. I have used Ratt 3 times and could not want better. The only thing is at 2 places you will want to visit only licensed guides are allowed in with travelers. Why I do not know since Ratt and others have the knowledge.She knows the guides well at these places, like the Grand Palace,and who are the better ones and get's them for you. I think the cost was $4USD/person for 1 hour guided trip which is more than enough. To see enough of the more interesting temples/wats you need 5-6 hours and I agree your first day most people are out-of-commission for touring. I believe Tong and her people are slightly more expensive than Ratt but only maybe $10 for a 10 hr. day.
The guide/drives DO NOT like half-day assignments because they sometimes cannot fill in the other half. A whole day with the weak dollar is probable $85-$90 for 10 hours.I know Ratt will drop you off at your hotel for 2 hours and not count that in the 10 hours. Tong may do the same.

I would also put in a BIG endorsement for ratt. I have used her numerous times and have always been extremely happy. To be honest she may not be a licensed guide but she knows more than most guides and is willing to share her knowledge, humor and humanity.

Thanks so much. I will wait to hear back from Tong and if she isn't able to set up something I will get in touch with Ratt. And thanks for the confirmation of my belief that I do not want to do much on our first day there. We may feel up to venturing out to Jim Thompson's House or something, but I want to wait until the next day to do some high powered temple viewing!

OK - I heard back from Tong and she is going to put us with Nui for our tour of the city, Grand Palace, and various temples. Then Tong will be our guide the other day. Thanks so much for everyone's input! I can't wait to meet both of them and visit Bangkok! Of course we have Buenos Aires to visit prior to then, but it's hard to not get excited as I read all of the posts here :-)!

Glad you heard back from tong and have your dates all sorted out. You'll have a wonderful time with them both. Nui's very nice and well traveled too.