Expique

A Bangkok tour company built on tuk tuks and street food

Expique is a Bangkok tour company that designs and runs its own tours. The homepage says so in two lines: "Experiences Designed By Us - The Local Experts" and "All Bangkok Tours & Experiences Are Operated By Us." The about page says Expique "has been operating in Bangkok since 2014," and the footer names the business as Expique Co., Ltd with "TAT License Number: 14/01576." Its tours run in Bangkok and on day trips from the city, to Ayutthaya and to the floating and railway markets outside town. The site also carries travel guides to Chiang Mai, Phuket and other regions of Thailand, but those are articles, not tours. Prices are shown in Thai baht (THB).

The company describes itself as "a boutique and innovative tour operator, with a passion for showing guests the uniqueness and beauty of Bangkok and the Thai Culture," and sums up its taste as "Thai food, street food, local markets, sharing stories of local people and culture, tuk tuk rides, exploring in unique ways." It promises "more than just a tour guide and a checklist of Bangkok's highlights," aiming instead for "an insight in to local life, the street food scene." The about page admits "it is difficult to find completely unique experience," and describes the aim as to "bridge the gap between mainstream and unique."

The about page tells the history. Expique launched with two tours, the Bangkok Night Lights Tuk Tuk Tour and a Diversity & Harmony Walking Tour, and says it has since "become known as Bangkok's leading tuk tuk tour operator." It states that "in 2018 our original tour won multiple awards including being recognized in the TripAdvisor Travelers Choice Awards as the Number 1 experience in Thailand." In 2017 it opened "The Market Experience," which it calls "our cooking school and workshop space hidden within the Flower Market." A recent blog post headed "Exciting Changes At Expique" says "our old team is taking ownership," and team profiles mention that the company "hibernated" during COVID before starting again.

The tours

The site groups its range into tuk tuk tours, walking tours, food tours, night tours, market experiences and family experiences, with bicycle tours marked "coming soon." The tours it prices:

• Bangkok Night Lights Tuk Tuk Tour, the original, from 2,425THB per person, 4 hours. "On this evening tuk tuk tour we will show you the beauty of Bangkok by night and discover a combination of temples, markets and food."
• Evening Food and Tuk Tuk Adventure, from 2,650THB per person, "every day except Monday," billed as a "semi-adventurous evening food tour" that combines "local food and tuk tuks."
• Bangkok By Day: Grand Palace, Wat Pho, Wat Arun Tour, from 1,750THB per person, to "explore Bangkok's Royal Temples."
• Family Canal and Tuk Tuk Adventure, from 7,000THB per booking, 5 hours, spent over "the afternoon and early evening."
• Bangkok Canal Tour, A 2 Hours Long-tail Boat Ride, from 1,200THB per booking.
• A Floating Market Boat Tour & Railway Market Adventure, from 2,500THB per person, 7-8 hours, covering "the history and the foods of the most iconic markets."
• An Ayutthaya Adventure: Food, Temples and History, from 2,700THB per person, daily, approximately 8 hours, a day trip to "the former capital city of Thailand."

The homepage also mentions a new tour called Dark Bangkok, without a price.

Note the pricing basis: most tours are per person, but the family and canal tours are per booking, which matters when comparing.

How the tours run

The site says its experiences "are available as small join-in groups or as private & customizable experiences." For teams, it says "all our experiences can be customised to cater for special groups and team building events," and it has a separate page on team building, special events and corporate meetings in Bangkok. The about page adds that the company has "adapted our offering to be suitable for both independent travelers and special groups and team building."

The reviews on the homepage, chosen by the company, give a picture of a night tuk tuk tour in practice. One guest writes that there "were 2 of us and 5 others," that the guide was "right there at the meeting place," traveled in "one of the 4 Tuk Tuks with us as we navigated traffic in convoy," and stopped at markets to sample food, before "our delightful driver dropped us back at our hotel." The reviews name guides including Jib, Nemo, Bee, Natt, Mr. Esso and Somboon, and one thanks the company for "accommodating all our changes in plan."

On its values, the about page says the company commits "to invest in training our team," and links to a page on being a responsible tour company.

Booking and contact

The blog backs up the food focus with long guides to dishes and festivals, including som tum (papaya salad), Thai noodle dishes and Loy Krathong, which are useful reading before a food tour.

Tours are booked on the site, and custom experiences start with the contact form. Support is by phone on +66 (0)85 873 3308 or by email at hello@expique.com. The footer links to an FAQ, booking terms and conditions, and a promotions page.

What the site leaves open, and who it suits

The tour cards give prices and, for some tours, durations, but the site does not show group size caps, meeting points or start times on the homepage or about page, and it does not say there what the prices include, such as food tastings, temple entry fees or hotel drop-off, which one review mentions. The site links booking terms and conditions, but the tour cards themselves do not state cancellation or refund terms. Durations are missing for the evening food tour and the temple tour.

What it offers is a long-running local company with a clear specialty in evening tuk tuk and food tours, a licensed operation, prices in baht, and a mix of join-in and private options. Expique suits first-time visitors to Bangkok who want to see the city at night and eat along the way, families looking for a canal and tuk tuk outing, and companies planning a team event in the city.