Tour with Tong & other private tour companies
 

I have not heard a response from Tour with Tong despite repeated emails. I emailed another Bangkok private tour company that was highly recommended on Trip Advisor and no reply as well. Will I definitely have to book these tours before I arrive in Thailand or will I have better luck with the concierge making contact with them on my behalf when I am in Thailand.

One comment on Tripadvisor said that they not get responses as well however they got more of a positive comment when they phoned the tour company and said they were in Thailand.

Any other suggestions on private tour companies. I would really like to visit the Bridge on the River Kwaii but don't want to go there with a busload of other peopls.
Thanks.

You are right she is sometimes no responsive for periods and then turns o.k. It may be the volume of requests so she get's bad business for she can always hire someone to assist her but it could be personal or health reasons.
I use RATT who sometimes has non-respnsive periods but from what I see on the Forum for shorter periods so I attribute it to volume and now she also owns a quaint B&B. But that is not an excuse in my opinion.
When I used RATT (3 times) I insist on her and not her team and sheis the real deal. Because she never took the license test ewhen she was young there are 2-3 Temples where she hands you off to a Temple guide that she knows and you pay a amount than normal for the tour. But she is so enthiastic and helpful, wanted to cary all your puchased, etc. that we are always pleased. If you search the forum I tell about an incident with aquiring a magnificant tea pot that is a treaured possession and at a price 15-20% of US prices.
But the deals seem to haapen with both even though I have used RATT for a total of 8 days in 3 trips.

Thanks stan... I have looked up their website. Not too informative about what they offer but I will contact them. Thanks.

what address are you using for tong?? do you have face book? i heard from her 3 times today on there

chances of getting any of the top guides at the last minute are slim

We were more successful communicating with Tong thru Facebook. And even then there was often a considerable amount of time between our email and her response. In the end it all worked out.

We have used Ratt on our 3 trips to Bangkok. We did not want a tour guide as much as we wanted a driver. On our first trip we used her a lot to take us around to all the sights and it made a big difference as we had a lot more energy. She knows enough about the sights to give you some info - but frankly we did not want a real tour guide. On our subsequent trips we used Ratt for pick up and drop off at the airport and for getting us to Pattaya and back. On these trips we knew our way around using the skytrain and river taxis so that we felt we did not need her services as much.

I would differ with BillT. RATT knew a sufficient amount thatat I found little difference when I used one of Tomgs Team. In fact earlier in the forum I tell of a story where she took us to a home about 8-9 miles out of BK where we saw hand painting of plates, tea sets and commissioned ome that Ratt arranged to make arrangements to get to us in the US because this little speciality cottage industry was so backed up with orders. To be hones we had read much of Fodors and Lonely Planet prior to our visit which helped.