Our guides
Thirty-four people on payroll, most of them from the region they guide in. That is the single biggest difference between a tour that works and one that is a sequence of facts.
Our 34 guides are on salary, not commission, and most are from the region they guide in. That is why there is no shopping-stop incentive and why the same guide stays with you for a whole trip. All hold a Thai guide licence and first-aid certification.
- Guides34, salaried
- LicenceThai guide licence
- First aidCertified
- Shopping stopsNone
Why salaried matters
A freelance guide in Thailand is usually paid per booking and often earns a commission from the shops and restaurants they bring you to. It is not a conspiracy, it is how the economics work for them. Our guides are salaried with a fixed monthly income, which removes the incentive entirely. It also means they stay — the average tenure is nine years, and the northern team has been together since 2016.
How they are chosen and trained
A licensed guide in Thailand has passed the TAT exam, which covers history, geography, culture and law. Beyond that we look for two things: whether they can read a group, and whether they will tell a guest that a plan is a bad idea. Both are harder to teach than facts. New guides shadow for three months before leading, and everyone renews first aid annually.
Who you are likely to meet
Ploy — eleven years, Bangkok and the central plains, our most requested guide for families.
Nattapong — northern, based in Chiang Mai, walks the Doi Inthanon road weekly and knows every coffee stop.
Aom — southern specialist, Phuket and Phang Nga, grew up on the Andaman coast.
Somchai — fifteen years, Ayutthaya and Sukhothai, the person we send guests who ask hard historical questions.
You are told the name of your guide before you pay, not the morning of the tour.
Can we request a specific guide?
Yes, subject to their availability. About a third of our bookings do.
Do guides come into the temples with us?
Yes, and they handle tickets, dress code and timing. They are licensed to guide inside, which freelancers often are not.
Is tipping expected?
No. It is appreciated and never expected, and our guides know their salary does not depend on it.
How we hire
Every guide holds a Thai guide licence, which requires a formal course, an exam and a criminal record check. On top of that we require first-aid certification and two days of shadowing before anyone leads a tour alone. About one in eight applicants gets through, and most of the ones who do not are fluent but cannot hold a room.
We hire for region first. A Chiang Mai guide grew up with the mountain roads; a Bangkok guide knows which entrance at the Grand Palace has the short queue at 09:00. Sending a Bangkok guide north is cheaper for us and worse for you, so we do not do it.
How they are paid
Salary, not commission. This is the single most important difference between us and most operators, and it is why there is no shopping stop in your afternoon: a guide on commission earns from the shops, a guide on salary earns from the tour going well. We also pay for the days when there is no tour, which is what keeps good guides from leaving for the competition every high season.
How we assign one
The specialist who plans your trip assigns the guide, based on the route, the language and the group. If you are travelling with young children we assign someone with children; if you are photographers we assign someone who shoots. You get the guide's name and a short profile before you arrive, and you can ask for a different one at any point — it has happened four times in fifteen years.
What a guide is not
A babysitter, a butler or a walking encyclopaedia. They will not carry your bags or recite every date on every plaque. What they will do is get you in before the queue, order your lunch in Thai, and tell you when a plan is a bad idea.
Tell us the trip you have in mind.
Dates, people and the one thing that must happen — we come back with a route and a real cost.
Written and checked by the Travel Thailand Tour team, Bangkok · Last updated · Prices are per person and were correct at the time of writing.