Tour guide or guide book?

Should you get a tour guide or guide book?

IMHO, it depends. It depends
- where you are going to visit
-whether you had sufficient time reading up
-whether you will come back again
-how big is your group

The last point is of course an uncertain answer. What I could say is if you are from a really faraway country and you think you have very little chance of ever visiting this country again, you could consider yourself as falling into this category.

Where are you going to visit?

• Is that place accessible without private transport?
• Does that place have a lot of interesting history or culture ?

Eg if you are going to Ayuthaya and The Summer place and you a a first time visitor, I suggest getting a tour guide (1600B for group tour using coach and a river cruise, and 3500B for a private guide with private car, tickets, and buffet lunch by Bangkok Smiling Tours). This area is not that accessible, and there are plenty of places to cover-under the HOT sun. You will be glad that you could seek 'refuge' in the air-conditioned car/bus between the sites. The place is also full of history and lots of interesting details, and these are not put up at the sites. You just get simple brochure in Bang Pa In and nothing at all in some sites. Therefore, having a guide makes sense!

Do you have suffifient time to read up before you go?
The eyes cannot see what the brains do not know. If you do not read up well before you go to Ayuthaya or the Grand Place for example, you will miss alot of things. At the Grand Place, there are plenty good books detailing the history and the architecture of the Palace and the Wat Phra Keow. At Ayuthaya, you might find yourself staring at some ruins and bricks scattered here and there. I was glad I had a guide who told me about what these were eg ruins of palace grounds, corner stones of temples etc and why certain places were more 'ruined' that others. Otherwise... you wasted a trip.

Will you come back again?
I went to Grand Palace twice within 2 years, and will go again in a few months time, if possible. I must be nuts? The first time round, I spent about 4 hours there, wandering around, refering to guide books, pamplets and the books we bought at the compound. We really tried hard to 'capture' the fascinating and awesome place in our minds and hearts. However, we were just too tired and thirsty under the scorching sun, and missed a lot of things. We only realised what we saw was so and so after reading the books agaiin when we reach home. I went with my good friend again two months ago. I thought I knew that place pretty well. To my pleasant suprise, I learned a lot of new things about it! I am definitely going back for a third time. This time will be armed with a digicam and a notebook!

How big is your group?
Simple mathematics. The bigger your group, the more cost effective it is! You could consider private car tours and not the group tours which tend to be more rushed!

Should you book before you leave? Yes and no.
Asia Travel for example, offers a slightly cheaper rate than when you actually book in Thailand. I generally find that booking through the internet can sometimes be 100-200B cheaper/person than booking through the tour agents available at your hotel lobbies. I suggest shopping aroud for it.

If you are from US/Europe, book from an Asian based company!You get much better deals! Yes, much better deals than the packaged deals offered by the brand names in your home country. Surf the net a little and do some comparison. Many of these Bangkok based tour companies accept booking online. If if you decide not to book immediately, it still help you to make decisions when you need to book at the hotel.

If you are going around sept and through the rainy season, booking fr Bangkok after checking the weather is an advantage. (Book 1-2 days before) The rain will keep you away from many outdoors places.