Tour with Tong in Bangkok
 

We got back from our trip to Thailand a few weeks ago and I finally have a chance to sit down and writ about our amazing experience!

My friend and I are teachers in Japan and we had a one week holiday so decided to visit Thailand, where my parents met up with us for one week. We were in Koh Samui for 4 days and Bangkok for 3 days. While Koh Samui was beautiful we weren't satisfied with the service we received.

Thankfully we had an AMAZING time in Bangkok and this is all thanks to Tong. She was absolutely incredible and really went the extra mile to make sure we had a memorable trip.

Tong's English is excellent and she promptly replied to all our emails when planning what we would see and do in Bangkok. She was flexible and offered many great ideas and created tailor made itineraries for us.

When we arrived in Bangkok we were greeted by Tong’s smiling face. She has an awesome sense of humour and made us laugh the entire time. She created an incredible 2 day itinerary for us; complete with temples, the palace, shopping at the weekend market and floating market, massages, custom made suits and a dress for my parents, canal tour and lunches at authentic, local Thai food restaurants.

The best part of the whole thing was visiting a local orphanage in Bangkok where we had the opportunity to buy the children ice cream and spend a few hours with them. This is something I have always wanted to do and was one of the most touching moments in my life. When planning our trip I had asked Tong is this was possible and she arranged everything for us and ensured that the experience was not only worthwhile for us but also for the children.

Her van was really clean and comfortably cool. She always had snacks and cold drinks for us and cold wet cloths for when it got really hot!

The best thing about Tong is that she is an honest, genuine person with a heart of gold. She goes out of her way for her clients and treats them like family. I highly recommend her to anyone who is looking for a great time in Bangkok, seeing some places off the beaten track and meeting a local Thai person who is out of this world!

what was the problem in samui??

It would help if you gave her contact info and the rates she charges so that people can compare to Ratt

We just returned from a trip to Koh Samui, Bangkok and Tokyo. This was our first trip to Bangkok and was joined by our daughter and her friend. We used Tong as our tour guide. She has a Toyota mini van that seats 7 comfortably.

She picked us from the airport, did two days of touring and dropped us to the airport. She is an excellent & licensed tour guide who writes and speaks English fluently. Her knowledge of Bangkok, its history, including Buddhism is impressive.

She was very flexible in arranging our itinerary, which included sightseeing in Bangkok
(Palace, temples, canal tour, massages, shopping at weekend market.) , Floating market, taste of authentic Thai cuisine, custom tailoring and best of all Tong made prior arrangements at the request of our daughter to visit an orphanage where we distributed ice-cream to 100 children. She also took us to a couple of places seldom visited by tourist. We found her to be a wonderful person full of humour.

During our trips, she had cool refreshments and snacks, including cool wipes.
It was very enjoyable having someone who cares. Her charges were very reasonable.
We highly recommend her and will definitely use her on our next trip to Bangkok.

how do we contact tong in bangkok?

pornpitcha @ yahoo.com is her e-mail listed in another post here. Close up the gaps to use the address...gaps are for no spam. If you put TONG in the search box you'll find lots of other reports and information about her.

Happy to post Tong's contact info.
[email protected]
Tong is a licensed guide & driver.
Ratt is a driver.
Tong drives a Minivan.
Ratt drives a taxi.
If you want a driver to take you around, you can hire Ratt or any taxi. But if you want to have an informative guide to drive you around..so take the licensed one..no need to pay more if you might want one at the Grand Palace & Wat Po, for example.

Just to put my 2 cents worth in for Tong. She is GREAT. My 13 year old daughter and I had Tong for 2 days and it was wonderful. I would have had her for the entire Thailand trip if possible. She tailored everything, was friendly and my daughter loved her. I will definately use her again. Cheers for Tong!!
April

Hey RHKKMK,

Koh Samui itself was beautiful. The island was great and there was so much to see and do. We especially enjoyed the half moon party that we were lucky enough to be able to go to.

We stayed at The Bill Resort, and while the bungalows themselves are nice (not the cheapest ones but the mid range ones) the service we received was dissappointing. There were a couple staff members that were friendly but overall the staff made us feel as if we were inconveniencing them. The staff at the hotel restaurant were unpleasant and one lady was actually quite rude. We spoke to other guests at the resort who also felt that the service at The Bill was far below their expectations.

The airlines had lost my parents suitcase and they were supposed to deliver it to the Koh Samui airport. We asked the receptionist at The Bill to let us know when the suitcase arrived so we could go pick it up, but she kept brushing it off, like it was no big deal. When we didn't hear from the front desk on the second day, we asked if they could phone the Bangkok airport to find out what was happening, and they were getting annoyed with us. We finally managed to call the airport where they told us it had been at the Koh Samui airport along, the Bill staff just didn't want to call the airport for us. It was quite frustrating.

The Resort is on Lamai beach, and while the beach is beautiful the water wasn't the best to swim in, many jellyfish. But the town was really nice and a couple restaurants had fantastic Thai food.

Prices for Tong:

Her e-mail is [email protected]

3000THB for a full day (10 hours)
2600THB for a half day (5 hours)
Contact her for more details!

Because Tong is also a licensed tour guide, whenever you visit any places you don't have to pay for a guide. She also helped us bargain at the markets and ordered tatsy dishes for us at the restaurants. Tong also has a great relationship with many vendors so she will offer you the cheapest and best price she can get...and she is honest!

I got the rate for sedan..2,500 baht/10 hrs.
For Minivan,I think she says 3,000 baht for 10 hrs, 2,300 baht for half day tour..guide fee is included..
email her to make sure..
[email protected]

thanks for the clarification on why samui was not up to snuff for you...

that would make anyone mad!!

Interesting that it was you Tiffin that asked to do the ice cream at the orphanage. I must have used Tong shortly before you did, as she told me that she was the one going to make merit by buying ice cream for all the orphanage kids last month. Maybe I misunderstood. All in all I do agree with you overall comments about Tong, we liked her too. Only side note is that she works/worked for Ratt, and Ratt is not too pleased that Tong is getting customers outside after she spent two months training her.

I don't think Tong is working for Ratt anymore. That is pretty much what she told us last week when we used her. I agree with the other posters--Tong is a very lovely person and will go out of her way for you.

well..koala..
sorry for my long msg..but I think it's time for me to declare something I have known all along.
Tong and I now are friends..we have been contacting for months.
She is a Licensed guide,trained and graduated from a famous governmental university..not Ratt. Ratt's business is not licensed and I bet she knew most of the attractions from her guide course. Ratt might suggest some but not all.
My Thai friends and I used Tong in Jan and later found that she was the same one who offwego toured with.
I didn't contact her through Ratt, I got her business card (which I later lost it) from my friends who toured with her, they reserved a private tour through R.R. tour(or something), a travel agent in Bangkok which offered them a freelanced guide.
Tong is a freelanced guide who was a reporter/translator/teacher/shop owner.. other than being a writer and a tour guide for now.
Apart from that, she worked in a travel agent before working for Ratt. So I dont think she is a nobody..and 2 month-training is not enough to train a great guide if he/she doesn't know anything about it..and obviously her english is better than Ratt's (from some reports).
She told me that normally, when she worked for other companies, she has a driver with her..
so when she needs not to follow any travel agent's or Ratt’s program. She has been surveying and creating her own style, never once did Ratt take her out to train..never..
and remember..she is a guide..she has her knowledge about sightseeing. From some reports, she has taken tourists out to some places that Ratt never did..like orphanage, or freshmarket to buy fish to free or buy a coffin..etc.
I asked her many times why she now works independently, she finally explained to me gently..
you were right, she said Ratt was not happy that she's getting jobs from the outside, but Tong told Ratt the truth earlier before her clients come..to remind Ratt that she wouldn't be available because she had her own clients on those days and Ratt said nothing.
She thought that Ratt would understand because Ratt herself never guaranteed her incomes..
She had first job from Ratt in Dec, the second one was in mid-Feb.. No job in Jan..If I were her, I wouldn't just wait for Ratt as well. Meanwhile, she asked her friends, some are air hostesses to distribute her cards..
She got a few jobs from Ratt a month. Ratt has a big team, so Ratt had to give jobs to her family and Tong's friends before giving to her..that's understandable for me in Ratt's case..
But Tong has to earn for her family too, and she has to pay monthly on her van now.
Ratt wasn't pleased to give her a job unless she had no one to work for her on that day.
A job,Ratt called to wake her up at 6 am to take clients at 6.30 am without any advanced notice. And her house is very far..around 1 - 2 hour drive.
that's what I think why she wasn't quite happy to work for Ratt. She has her little daughter to take care of…Planning is preferable for her.
Also she tried to tell clients who know Ratt or who were Ratt's clients to contact her through Ratt..and one day..her clients who used her and told her that they would come back to Bangkok and would requested her..so Tong told them to request her through Ratt.
A month later, she received an email, sent to her address directly to ask why she wasn't available on the day she actually was. They toured with Ratt's husband instead.
Tong didn't ask Ratt and was confused who she could trust. She said maybe her clients didn't request her.. but I think at least, she has her right to know that her clients came back whatever.
I trust her words, never once did she lie to me..and she always helps me in any case as much as she can and always keeps her promises.
I did ask her about tour guide in CM since my mom is going there next month..I would like to have a reliable guide who she knows personally..
But her reply to me, she recommended Poon as a driver and Sergeant Kai as a guide. She knew some guides in CM ..but she said it seemed Poon and Sergent Kai are much better!
I really think that she is a very lovely lady..who is so optimistic.. I do agree with TiffnTokyo that she has a heart of gold.
I think this is why she is more outstanding than other guides in Ratt’s team..and I know she doesn’t like to be compared to Ratt..She personally pays respect to Ratt.. Just that..they couldn’t get along with each other..and they are different though as I always say..

I think Ratt is getting "beaten-up" by several of the above comments. While I have not used Tong, Ratt spoke well of her and at least said that she uses her when she or her husband are too heavily booked and Tong is available. From what I gather it has been more than 2-3 times Ratt has outsourced to Tong in the past 6 months. The doormen at the Peninsula know Ratt and let her park in no parking areas near the front but make other drivers and guides keep moving. I was that once in 5 days in April. The extra 500Baht for a new van is probably worth it, that is $1.25 extra/hr. Ratt would love to buy a new car but with mouths to feed she has to keep this car for 2 more years she said. I can tell you the A/C works very..very well and you need it. I just wish Ratt's English was better and the same for Poon in CM.