How much is a bangkok tour per head when going to any of these places?

i would like to avail of bangkok city tours while i'm there but i'm not sure where to book for these tours and how much these would cost. i heard that it would be much cheaper if i arrange for these tours when i'm already in bangkok as compared to pre-arranging it over the internet even before i arrived. i'm not sure if this is true. regardless, i need help/guidance from bangkok locals. please?



I would like to go several places like:



1. floating market and rose garden



2. ayuthaya



3. chao phraya river/dinner cruise



but i can only go to one place since the schedule is tight. where do you suggest i go to? i just wanna have fun with my family while sightseeing. and that it wouldn't be much of a hassle when it starts raining.



thanks

How much is a bangkok tour per head when going to any of these places?
Hi, it is quite easy to arrange tours to these places you mentioned. They are quite standard on most land tour packages to Bangkok. At your hotel, there will be a travel desk. If not, near your hotel will be a travel agency or anywhere that you may go. Even to the Skytrain station. They can easily arrange the tours for you and you will be picked up from your hotel even.



Various tour companies charge slightly different price, the rate that I will be reflecting will be the general ball-park figures.



The Damnoen Saduak Floating Market and Aprime Rose Garden tour is usually a full day tour. It will start early in the morning due to the half-day opening of the floating market from 0700hrs and also it is a distance away from Bangkok. Typically after the floating market you will be brought to the Rose Garden for lunch and the animal and cultural shows. Typical package is 1200-500bahts per person including the lunch.



Ayutthaya tour can comprise of a river cruise and lunch or bus trip to the destination including lunch. The price for the bus option will be about 1200baht per person while the river cruise option will cost about 2200 to 2500baht per person. This is usually a full day tour.



Chao Phraya river cruise / dinner cruise can be done from the River City Pier from the boat operators or through tour agents. The cost will be about the same. The tour agent will provide pick-up and return ferry from/to your hotel. Cost of either half-day river cruise from about 700baht to dinner cruise which varies between 1200-1600baht. All per person rate.



If you are short on time, you can do the floating market and Rose Garden in the day, followed by dinner cruise in the same night. Ayutthaya can be another day.



Happy holidays.
Reply:I think that you need a general overview of how tours in Thailand work in order to get a feel for whether you should book over the internet or once you get to Bangkok.



The first thing to understand is that there are 2 types of tour: 1. Joint tours and 2. Private tours.



Joint tours

Joint tours are a cheap mass-market product. This is where a tour bus comes to collect you from your hotel at the beginning of the tour and goes around the hotels of all the other people joining the tour before setting off for the destination. There is one guide between many customers. Times of the tour are fixed and there is normally some 'shopping' stops involved at the end of the tour at shops selected by the tour company which, without going into details, helps to subsidize the price of the tour. These tours are cheap and popular with budget travellers, students, etc.



Private Tours

Private tours are when you have an individual guide and driver allocated to you privately. Normally the transport is in a very nice car. You go straight to the site of the tour, receive personal attention from the guide and there is no required 'shopping'. The start and end time of the tour and the itinerary is much more flexible because the tour will be tailored around you as there are no other customers taking part in the tour - your tour. Also, sometimes, although joint tours are offered at a cheap price if there are not enough customers for a particular tour on a particular day to make a joint tour the customer will find that the tour is cancelled because it becomes uneconomic to make the joint tour at the cheap price if there aren't enough tourists on the day. his doesn't happen with private tours because the only people that the price has been calculated on is you - there is no risk of it being cancelled because of not enough other customers. With private tours there are no economies of scale - tourist to guide ratio / vehicle to tourist ratio - to reduce to the price per person of a joint tour.



The other thing to take into account is that if you and your friends/family travelling together are four people or more the price per person of a joint tour and a private tour becomes just about the same. Sometimes I hear of whole families travelling on joint tours - this is not so smart because they could have had a private tour - better transport - individual guide - flexibility - no shopping - for their family at pretty much the same price as they paid for a joint tour. I guess that they don't have enough information.



In an ideal world I guess everybody would want to be able to tour by private tour just like everybody would probably want to stay in a hotel rather than a guesthouse but sadly not everybody is able to afford good quality.



Once you know the difference between Joint tours and private tours I think that you will can check the internet. I think that maybe what someone who thought that a tour booked over the internet was expensive was actually comparing the private tour price offered on the internet with the joint tour price of a tour offered from a physical travel agency in Bangkok. That would not be comparing like with like and might lead to some confusion which I hope I have cleared up for you by explaining the difference in the types of tours. With the information that I have given you I think you will find that whether you book a joint tour or a private tour the internet priceis cheaper - it would be strange if it wasn't.



I might add to this answer later when I get a chance to look at the pricing of the previous answerer but as I quickly read it before starting writing I noticed a price for Chao Phraya dinner cruise that seemed too expensive to me. I think that you can get this for about Baht 950 per ticket - booked over

the internet.



[Added later



I looked at the rates for the website referred to in the answer below. They seemed normal to me, rather than particularly cheap, for a tour operator offering private tours e.g. Baht 3,500 - 3,000 per day for driver and guide + fuel when driving outside Bangkok. For this price, I would have expected a Toyota Camry as the car rather than a Bangkok taxi - Bangkok taxis are Toyota Corollas. Camry's are bigger and more luxurious than Corollas. I think there are many operators offerring this service at this price.



HK gal's price and itinery indicate than she was on a joint tour. A private tour would also have gone to Sampran Crocodile Farm as well as the Floating Market %26amp; Rose Garden and the price for 2 people would have been about Baht 2,750 each.



The customer is always the boss and its up to them to figure out if they want to use joint tours or priavte tours to see Thailand. I am a member of a number of travel forums and YA does have much more of a 'what's the cheapest way to.... ?' mentality to it rather than 'what's the best at a reasonable price' which is the sort of question that comes up elsewhere on the net when it comes to travelling in Thailand. I am not sure why YA Thailand has developed in this way.
Reply:The cost of tours is around 1000-1800 Bhat per person. What I did was check out several travel agencies, there are lots in our hotel lobby, there were lots at the airport and just outside the streets. They generally have similar prices, much cheaper than internet rates.



We got the floating market and rose garden whole day tour with lunch for 1200 per person.



I heard that Ayuthaya is also another good tour. You can just come to the Chao Phraya River and look for various dinner cruises being offered. Your hotel can also arrange this dinner cruise for you.
Reply:Organising a tour has already been explained so I won't go into it



Chao Praya river cruise can be done at night so you may have time to do the other tours you mentioned.



Ayuthaya is ONE FULL DAY at a minimum so, you have to chose if it is worth it or to see around Bangkok instead. There are so many things to see.



The floating market and rose garden is worth doing. The Rose Garden tour usually inlcude the Cultural Village and this might be good for a family as you will get to see the life of Thai people ourside the "western" lifestyle.



It's still you choice.



Hope you have agreat time.
Reply:If you are staying in any of the larger hotels they will all book tours for you.

Travel agents will book them cheaper, of which there are many in the streets.

The floating market tour starts very early in a morning.

Temple of the Emerald Buddha is a good day out.

Generally Bangkok is congested, dirty, polluted and the pavements are cracked and broken, if you have time move out of Bangkok where there are lots of things to see and do.

If you are only in Bangkok for two days you can generally see all the sights worth seeing.

Shop around for prices and don't pay anyone locally at the attractions they are only after your money.

Expect to pay more than locals at attractions as they have a 2 tier pricing foreigners pay about twice as much or more than Thai's, this can only be changed if you can read the signs written in Thai.
Reply:Can't give you cost but it is better to arrange your tour at your hotel. Almost every hotel has a tour agent available. Your be able to arrange a tour the day you arrive and go the next day. The floating market and rose garden tour can be combined into one tour, as the previous writer mention the tour starts early about 7 am they will pick you up at your hotel. This tour usually ends late afternoon. In the evening you can then go on the chao phraya river/dinner cruise which usually starts sometime about 7 pm and last for about 2 hours. If you have time the second day please try to get to the Royal Palace Wat Phra Kao, this would be a half day tour. There are requirements for dress at Wat Phra Kao, your tour agent can explain it to you. Hope this helps you have a great time
Reply:The best thing to do is go to www.ratservice.com

I have been to Bangkok before with friend and a tight schedule. She (Ratt) was refered to me by all my friends that went to Bangkok. She is professional, courtious, and warm .

Not to mention a bargin!!!!! (About $8US per hour) Your private driver!!! For 4 people, doing a 10 hour tour is only $20 a head. You can't get any cheaper with such quality!!!You can go to more the 3 places in one day.You can do the floating market, rose garden, snake show, and elephant ride all in one day. Please make note that it takes about 1 1/2-2 hours to drive to the floating market.Don't waste time the day you arrive. Have them pick you up from the airport and go straight to see some temples and sights first. Then had dinner and head back to your hotel.Check out there site and ask them to email you there quotes and tour design layouts. Or tell them what you want to see and they will customize it to fix your needs.You can't go wrong with them!!!! Enjoy Bangkok!!!! I DID!!!