Nikki Tour Guide

A Bangkok guide running private tours with a small team

Nikki Tour Guide, which also trades as Nikki Travel Tours, is a private-guide business run by Nikki, a Bangkok tour guide who writes the site in the first person, guides tours personally and works with a team of named, licensed guides, and every tour is private: the homepage says tours are "totally exclusive, just for you!" and "tailored to your needs", with "professional transport and drivers". The tour pages concentrate on Bangkok, with full-day, half-day, food, market and evening tours around the city. The menu also lists Ayutthaya, Kanchanaburi (spelled Kanchanabhuri on the site), floating market, Pattaya, combination and "Main and Secondary City" tours, and the footer calls the business "your expert partner for personalized cultural and historical tours in Bangkok and Ayutthaya". Prices are shown in Thai baht, per group.

The homepage explains the pitch. Group tours, it says, are "much cheaper but are a totally different experience", where "you'd be shuffled along with others never treated as an individual". Nikki starts by asking what a traveler wants to see and then drafts "a suggested Flexible & Customizable itinerary that you can adjust". On pricing the site says the guide's fee is "standard single amount for each full day tour with no variation", and that prices move only with tickets, entrance fees, activities and fuel, so "there is no reason for me to ever recommend an activity just to make money."

The Bangkok tours and their prices

The Bangkok tours page gives each tour a code, an itinerary, an included and excluded list and a price table by group size, from 1 person up to 7 or 9:

• Bangkok Classic Full Day Tour (BK1), about 8 hours by private air-conditioned minivan. Pick-up from the hotel lobby is at 8:00 AM, followed by the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, a 1-hour private longtail boat trip on the Thonburi canals, Wat Pho, lunch at a riverside restaurant, Wat Arun, and the Pak Klong Talad flower market and Chinatown, with drop-off at 4:30 PM. It costs 11,350 THB for 1 person and 20,170 THB for a group of 9.
• BK2, the same route by taxi, tuk-tuk, BTS Skytrain and ferry, "recommended for groups of 5 or less", from 9,050 THB for 1 person.
• Half Day Bangkok Tour (BK3) by minivan, with an 8:00 AM or 12:00 PM pick-up, covering the Grand Palace, a canal boat trip, Wat Pho and Wat Arun, from 8,650 THB for 1 person. The page says guests near a BTS station with good mobility can do it by public transport for approximately 900THB less, which is the public-transport version, BK4, from 7,750 THB.
• Evening Bangkok Food Tour (BK5), through the Ratchada train market, Wang Lang market, Or Tor Kor market and Khao San Road, from 6,300 THB for 1 person. Food is extra, at approximately 200-300THB per person, and a private minivan adds 2,000 THB per group.
• Weekend market tours: BK6 pairs the Grand Palace, Wat Arun and Wat Pho with the Chatuchak Weekend Market, which the page says sprawls "across more than 25 acres"; BK7 adds the Khlong Lat Mayom canal market to the temples; BK8 combines Khlong Lat Mayom, Chatuchak and Or Tor Kor, from 9850 THB for 1 person.
• Market tour and local sightseeing (BK9), an afternoon and evening route from a 13.30 pick-up through Wang Lang, Talad Noi, the monk-bowl makers of Ban Baht, the Giant Swing and the JODD Fair night market, returning at 20.30, from 7,000THB for 1 person.

What a tour includes on the day

The minivan tours include a licensed, English-speaking guide, the private vehicle with a professional driver, fuel, tolls and parking, all entry tickets and fees for the listed sights including the longtail boat and ferries, and cold water and towels on board. Lunch, snacks, drinks and tips are excluded. Time beyond the scheduled length costs 550 THB per hour per group on most tours, and the BK4, food and BK9 tours list 300THB. Children under 120 cm travel free on most of the minivan tours, while the public-transport tours, the food tour and BK8 charge 200 THB per child.

The Grand Palace has a strict dress code, which the page spells out: long pants for men, long pants or a skirt covering the knees for women, shoulders covered for both, with shorts, torn jeans, leggings and see-through clothes refused. Pants and sarongs can be rented at the entrance for THB30. The tour pages ask guests to mention dietary requirements, and the Thailand tips page offers a written translation card in Thai for travelers with severe food allergies. For airport transfers or fast-track service, the same page says the team will say exactly where a representative meets arriving guests.

The guides

The team page introduces the guides Nikki works with, most with links to their Tripadvisor reviews. Yui, a licensed English-speaking guide born and raised in Bangkok, has worked in and around the city for 6 years and writes, "I particularly enjoy touring with families". Hem's profile reads "an outgoing, active and friendly person with a strong service mind". Zonya is described as fully licensed and also offers car rental, transfers and ticket booking. Sunday names past work with Trip Guru and Wonder Siam and adds photography. TeTe, the page says, works full time for two major companies as well as privately, and Palm has lived and worked in Bangkok for 10 years, the profile says. Pookie and Toon, who has guided for 2 years, complete the list. So the guide on the day may be Nikki or a team member, some of whom also guide independently.

Booking and deposit

Booking starts with a message. The homepage calls the planning "non committal until you're are totally satisfied and ready to book", after which Nikki requires "a small deposit in order to lock in the date and reserve any tickets or activities". The remarks on the tours page put that deposit at 2500THB per group and state that it is non-refundable. The same remarks say the standard charge covers the 8-hour itinerary even if the tour runs short or skips a listed place. Nikki is on tour most days, the homepage says, answers email in the evening or early morning and will "reply within 24 hours"; an assistant, Keith, handles routine calls. The about page recommends making contact days or a few weeks ahead.

What the site leaves open, and who it suits

Beyond the non-refundable deposit, the site does not set out how the balance is paid, when it is due or what happens if a traveler cancels later. The Ayutthaya, Kanchanaburi, floating market and Pattaya tours appear as menu entries, but only the Bangkok tours page sets out itineraries and price tables, so details for those regions need to be asked for. The guides are described as English-speaking, and the site does not mention tours in other languages.

Nikki Tour Guide suits travelers who want a private day in Bangkok with a local guide, a clear price for their group size before they book, and room to change the plan during a relaxed back-and-forth. Families get free places for small children on most minivan tours, and the public-transport versions offer a cheaper option for groups of up to 5.