Bangkok-adv deposit with Tong?

[jdymiller]

Has anyone used Tong for their private tours? She is asking for a pretty hefty deposit for our May tours and I thought I read on the boards that no deposit was required? Judy

[mcjyl]

We have had the same problems with Tong, for a practically full prepay deposit. We have decided not to go for it even though it is a pretty good company. On the other hand, there are plenty of good tour companies in

Bangkok. Many tour operators come and go in Asia. We are not comfortable with sending several hundreds of dollars to some companies in Asia in which I have no recourse of getting the deposits back. We have decided to go with Chang Thai. We will pay the driver who will pick us up at the airport. This company is also highly recommended by members of this roll calls. Their prices and service are similar to Tong's.

 

Jim

[Ms Understood]

Tong never responded to my emails so we went with Bangkok Day Tours. Dennis responded to each of my many emails promptly and with good humor. Having just returned I can recommend them without any hesitation. Dennis was at the pier to greet us and then we were off for 2 days with May and a driver who's name I regrettably cannot recall. Anyway they were just great. Recommned them highly.

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Helen

[JSR]

We have decided to go with Chang Thai.

 

Jim- would you mind providing contact information for Chang Thai?

 

Thank you,

Jean

[mcjyl]

You can check their web site at changthaitravel.com. You can also email them at petrada@changthaitravel.com. Ms Petrada is the person for handling their booking and correspondents. You might want check with their web site first to evaluate thier services and prices. We have booked with them for airport pickups, tour of Bangkok, and Bangkok to ship transfer. We will be on the Diamond Princess cruise in April. Good luck.

 

Jim

[JSR]

Jim,

Thank you. I will check out their website.

 

Jean

[brandonjordan]

Tong never responded to my emails so we went with Bangkok Day Tours. Dennis responded to each of my many emails promptly and with good humor. Having just returned I can recommend them without any hesitation. Dennis was at the pier to greet us and then we were off for 2 days with May and a driver who's name I regrettably cannot recall. Anyway they were just great. Recommned them highly.

---------------

Helen

Hi, could you please tell me how much Dennis and Tong charge per day? thanx

[Ms Understood]

Brandon, dont know Tong's rates as she never answered me but Dennis' really depend on what you want to do. We used them for 2 full days with 7 people including lunch on each day and admissions to things etc... we did his cruise ship 2 day tour to Tiger Temple and we added the Floating Market. It was not at all pricey, in fact well worth the $, I just dont really recall exactly what we paid, maybe $200 pp? Check out his website Bangkokdaytours.com , his prices are listed.

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Helen

[aussie down under]

We have just returned from thailand.

We used Tong for 2 full day tours. Our 2 days with her were memorable and most enjoyable.,

We had 4 people in a VIP van, the 1st day was 14 hours and the 2nd 9 hours. We were absolutely exhausted, but had a fantastic time.

We visited floating market, railway market, tiger temple, bathed with elephants, fed wild monkeys, and went to bridge over river kwai on day one.

Day 2 was reclining buddha temple, fishing village tour, and visit to orphanage.

If you check out her website- tourwithtong, her rates are there.

It cost us approx $70-80 each plus entry fees to some of the places. We paid for our lunches but tong provided water, softdrinks and snacks in the van.

Also Tong bought food for us at the floating market for us to try- iced coffee, pork and beef satays, chicken drumsticks and noodles. Our only dining experience from boat/street vendors!

We paid our deposit on paypal, and although Tong was slow to respond to some of my emails, she always replied.

I would highly recommend booking with tong.

 

Michele:)

[Miss Jolly]

Thanks for sharing this info. We will be with Tong this time next week repeating almost your first day's itinerary. Glad you had a good time with her.

[aussie down under]

Tell her michele, richard, mikaela and helen say a big hello.

You will have a wonderful time with her, she has so much energy!

Have a wonderful holiday, wish I was back on the diamond.

Michele:)

[MVPinBoynton]

We have Tong booked for February, so please post about your tour when you return.

[Omega1]

We have just returned from a vacation in Thailand and used Tong's services for three days plus airport transfers. All I can say was that the arrangements were superb and everything went like clockwork. Our guides (Tom and Nat) were fantastic - helpful and courteous and always willing to amend the itinerary if we wanted to.

We didn't try to cram too much into each day:

Day 1: Kanchanaburi - River Kwai bridge; museum, war cemetary and Tiger Temple (10 hours)

Day 2: Bangkok - the usual palaces and temples, long tail boat around the khlongs, chinatown and Khao San Road. (10 hours)

Day 3: Floating market, railway market and fishing village (incuding lunch) 9 hours

We had another day in Bangkok to 'do our own thing' including riding the ferries on the river, Jim Thompson house, Teak Mansion etc

You could do these trips cheaper in larger groups on buses etc, but we saved loads of time by being with guides who knew the area and didn't try to take us to bazaars we weren't interested in. Having a guide and driver in Bangkok was a bonus - we were droped off at the gates of temples and palaces and when we were ready to leave, Nat phoned the driver who was waitng at the gate with the air conditioned car, bottle of cold water and a cool towel wipe - luxury in 36 degree heat and high humidity!!

Wouln't hesitate to use Tong's srvices again.

[seasoned]

Tong is terrific! I've used her for two different trips to Bangkok. You can see photos and read about our 2008 experiences on my website:

 

http://www.planetsukey.com/PlanetSukey/Bangkok,_Thailand,_Day_1_-_April_14-15,_2008.html

 

and

 

http://www.planetsukey.com/PlanetSukey/Bangkok,_Thailand,_Day_2_-_April_14-15,_2008.html

 

I strongly suspect the reason she is now asking for deposits is that travelers have unfairly and unethically booked her services and then stood her up. This is an expensive loss for her, as she could have booked someone else for the same time. She's very popular, and you'll see why when you meet her. She is a lively, fun and excellent guide.

 

If you're booking with her, please say hi from me!

 

-Sukey-

[MVPinBoynton]

Sukey,

Thank you for your post and the photos. I was glad to see what Tong looked like, so that I would be able to recognize her in about 300 days.:)

[bumskisc]

My wife and I used Tong in April for three days of tours. She did ask for a deposit which amounted to around 35% of the total charge for the three days. Since I had been communicating with her for over a year, I had no problem using PayPal to provide her requested deposit.

Tong assigned Tai be our guide for all three days (Bangkok Highlights, Ayutthaya, and Floating Market with Elephant ride). She was absolutely outstanding. I know I have read similar comments about Tong's other team members, but we would find it hard to believe that they could be better than Tai.

 

Dennis