murka

I am planning to buy a tour to Thailand for January, 2007. What tour operator (or agency) would you recommend?

fuzzylogic

You don't need to buy a tour. It is the easiest of countries to visit. Just go.

Is there some reason why just getting on a plane and doing it is beyond you?

Kathie

I don't recommend a tour. It is very easy to travel to Thailand independently. Read some of the posts on trip planning here.

You need a ticket in and out of Thailand (easily purchased online), intra-Thai tickets (easily purchased online) and accommodation (easily arranged online).

Do enough reading on Thailand to decide where you want to go, and many of the people on the board will be glad to help you figure out how to put it all together.

acctg

fuzzylogic, there's no need for the sarcasm. Tours CAN BE advantageous for certain people and certain circumstances. Older people, esp. those traveling alone, often are more comfortable and will find company on a tour. Sometimes it's downright cost effective to do the tour, letting them get group discounts on airfare, hotel and transportation. Sometimes it's just less stressful to let 'someone else do the driving' so to speak.

I've done both kinds of travel, and see advantages of both kinds of trips for different purposes.

Friendly Planet and SmartTours do excellent and very well priced trips to Thailand. For the price, it was truly a bargain and we had no complaints. Nearly perfect mix of company supplied tours and independent time to explore on our own.

Note that in the past they have combined the tours from both companies into one group. Essentially both companies offered the same tour, going from Bangkok north to Chaing Mai (Amazing Thailand, I think they called it). The pricing and tour was the same, but the customer service at FP was generally better than ST. HOWEVER, it now appears from the website that FP has changed their tour, using a different airline, different hotels and going from CM to Bangkok. I personallly think the original itinerary was better. Regardless, do check both of these companies. China Focus also seems to get some good buzz around here.

Femi

Acctg-I just wanted to say thanks for answering the original poster's question.
Many on this forum (in all areas) are anti-tour, but as you state there are many circumstances in which an individual may prefer a tour. This should not be discounted nor dismissed.
I have travelled both ways, and have enjoyed both.

Murka- if you would consider a personalized tour, I would reccommend Dielthem (sp.?)

Gpanda

For our first trip we used Gregg at Innovasian.com. He eased our anxiety immensely. It was an individualized tour that was great. You can easily do Thailand without a tour, but a tour will take out any worries.

sandi

Another vote for Innovasian. They were able to coordinate everything for our independent visit to Thailans and Siem Reap (Angkor Wat) Cambodia. They can design an itinerary to meet you wishes and at your budget. Contact them.

If looking for a group tour, you may wish to contact OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel) who have excellent itineraries, prices (including Intl air) and group size is a maximum of 16 people. The age of participants is anywhere from 45-80 (often depending on the itinerary and destinations.)

jlaughs

My daughter and I took a 12-day Pacific Delight tour to Thailand and thought it was great. It hit a lot of the popular sites and allowed leisure time to explore on our own. After spending 12 days on an organized, escorted tour, I felt comfortable navigating 5 days on our own.