Most Filipinos I hear traveling do not hire a tour guide. Hiring a tour guide when traveling is not so popular for us. I guess because we feel that we are only increasing our expenses by doing so. My two most memorable trips - Coron and Bangkok- were the trips where my boyfriend and I hired a tour guide. Unless you have a lot of time to spare or adventure is really what you are after (the risk or getting lost is not an issue), then I guess not hiring a tour guide is fine.
The advantages of hiring a tour guide in Bangkok are:
- If you are going to the Grand Palace and Buddhist Temples, they can give you a historical background of the country/ place. If tour guide is Buddhist, then you'll have a better understanding of their religion as well.
- The trip from Manila to Bangkok is 4 hours and is usually early morning or late at night, it is quite relaxing to have someone wait for you in the airport so that you can get to your hotel right away and rest. Note that taxi scams abound in Bangkok. If you are unlucky, you can get ripped off by a taxi driver. To feel cheated after a 4-hour trip is the last thing I want to experience.
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| The air-conditioned van we rode the entire tour (including airport transfers). Note that there were only 3 of us in the trip. This van's chair can be reclined. |
- Time is more precious than money for me. Hiring a tour guide definitely saves you time. The tour guide knows what time you should leave the hotel and what the best route going a certain place is (note that Bangkok is known to have the worst traffic in the world). Also, the tour guide can give you tips on where to eat, where to buy souvenirs, etc. You have a person to answer all your questions regarding Bangkok.
WHY WE CHOSE MR OAT AS TOUR GUIDE:
I know there are a lot of good tour guides in Bangkok because I see a lot of good reviews about it. But I really appreciate Mr. Oat as a tour guide that I am compelled to write this blog entry for him (most of my blog entries contain only photos because I am not so confident about my writing skills. Please forgive me for my grammatical slips as well).
Let me tell you why we chose Mr. Oat. Although we were willing to spend money, we wanted to make sure we get the best deal (I think I already said that. =P). Now, I thought that the best way to get the best deal is email some of the recommended tour guides in the list I found http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g293915-c125475/Thailand:Finding.A.Tour.Guide.html
If I remember it right, I emailed the first 9 tour guides listed. I asked them to give me their quotation for airport transfers, Grand Palace (this already includes Emerald Buddha) and Temple tours (I had to be specific that I wanted to visit Wat Pho and Wat Traimit), try the dinner cruise around Chao Praya river and most importantly, visit Khao Yai National Park to ride an elephant. I also included in my email that I don't want to wake up early on the first day of the tour because we will be arriving Bangkok 12 midnight. Plus, there are only 3 people in the tour- my boyfriend, my brother and myself but we were willing to join other groups.
Most of those I emailed replied right away. I think the idea of joining a group is not so popular because most told me they do it. Looking back, it was good that it was a private tour that we got because we really had control of where to go and what time. After receiving all the replies, one tour guide rose above the rest (in terms of tour cost). And hailed as winner was... Mr. Oat (oat747@yahoo.com)! ^_^
The best thing I love about Mr. Oat is that I never felt that he wanted to take advantage of us. And I believe he understood the fact that we wanted to limit our spending in Bangkok so would always give us tips to save money (where to take a cab from MBK to lessen taxi fare, where to buy souvenirs, etc). He also didn't want us to spend a lot of money calling his mobile. He said he was able to subscribe to a promo which allows him to contact the Philippines for very low cost. He called us even after the trip to ensure we arrived safely.
The Grand Palace and Temple Tour we had felt like a field trip because he really gave us a lot of information about the place. He is Buddhist so when we go to the temple, he would also share his faith and why they would do certain rituals, etc. Because we love taking pictures, he would tell us where to pose to get the best shots. I specifically was impressed when, without my brother saying anything, Mr. Oat noticed that my brother wasn't feeling so well. He had medicine ready for my brother.
Everyday of the trip, Mr. Oat would also always give us a little something. I felt he shouldn't have, but he did.
And the items are really nice. Thanks Mr. Oat!
When we arrived at the airport, he handed 2 small bags which contained the items in the picture below:
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| Some items he got from Chiang Mai (his hometown)- Grade A tamarind, 2 big ethnic bags, a small pink bag, a table runner, a card holder and a map |
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| He also gave us some cookies, dried bananas and huge Thai Bananas. |
During the trip, he would buy us some local street food. Whenever we tell him he would pay for it, he would decline. I know the items don't cost much but we find it very thoughtful of him.
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| Thailand mango. This comes with a plastic of pink salt where you can dip it (i think the salt has a little sugar as well). I prefer the Philippine mango better. |
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| Cut up pineapples (THB 10). Very Sweet. Sweeter than the pineapples I've tasted in the Philippines. |
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| We also tasted (not the monkey, don't worry) some local chips the money is holding in this photo. |
Too bad we were so hungry when Mr. Oat gave some some waffles so we missed taking a photo of it. The waffles has some corn in it. But is very similar to the waffles that we have here in the Philippines. But it was good because we got it hot.
In the itinerary I gave Mr. Oat, I only included Grand Palace and Emerald Buddha, Wat Pho and Wat Traimit. He said he really wanted us to see one of his favorite temples, the Marble Temple. He didn't even charge us extra for this. And we got some nice photos from that Temple (more photos in next posts).
He also bought us what looks like tupig which is sold outside of the Marble Temple.
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| Wrapped in banana leaf, this local delicacy is made from sticky rice (and coconut , I believe) . It tastes sweet and it has either sweet potato or banana inside. THB 10 each. |
I also asked Mr. Oat if he could put us in the upper deck of the Chao Praya Princess Cruise and he was able to do that without charging us extra. It was big deal because I noticed from the blogs/ reviews I read that those who are seated in the upper deck enjoyed the cruise more than those in the lower deck. He said he friends with one of the managers. Not a biggie but still a sweet gesture, he also gave us his free juice coupon.
Since Mr. Oat's home town is in Chiang Mai, I am hoping we could travel to Chiang Mai with him. But we need to save money first. That would have to wait.
I hope you would get Mr. Oat as your tour guide as well. And no, this is not a paid advertisement. Haha! I really just believe Mr.Oat is such a beautiful soul and Feel sad I do not read a lot about him in the internet.
Contact Mr. Oat by sending him an email: oat747@yahoo.com
How much was the hiring cost you?
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