Ayutthaya
The old capital, before the coaches arrive. Four temple sites, a riverside lunch, and a guide who can tell you why the Buddha head ended up in the tree.
$319per car, up to 4 guests
See the Ayutthaya day
Bangkok · private day trips
Day trips from Bangkok, without the shopping stops.
One English-speaking guide who drives you there, walks you through it and drives you home. A price that doesn't change at the ticket window. Two routes out of Bangkok, and we know both properly.
✓ Entrance fees included
✓ Hotel door pickup
✓ Free cancellation to 72h
✓ Guided by Aleck, 20+ years
What we promise
Three things we do differently, and we mean all three.
These aren't marketing lines. Each one costs us money, which is exactly why the big operators can't copy them.
No shopping stops.
Most Bangkok day tours make their real money at the gem shop, the silk factory and the "handicraft centre". That's ninety minutes of your day standing next to a salesman.
We take no commission from any shop, so we have no reason to take you to one.
No elephant riding. No tiger photos.
An elephant's spine isn't built to carry a bench and four adults, and the cubs handed to tourists are usually taken from their mothers young.
Want to see elephants? Ask us, and we'll point you somewhere nobody rides them.
The price you see is the price you pay.
Entrance fees, the car, charging, tolls, parking, water and your guide — all in the number on the tour page.
Nothing is added at the gate. Nobody hints about tips.
The tours
Two private day trips from Bangkok. We'd rather run two perfectly than forty badly.
Every operator in Bangkok lists forty tours. Nobody can be good at forty. Pick the day that suits you — and if none of them do, message us and we'll build one.
Maeklong Railway Market & Amphawa
The train that runs through the middle of a market — and the floating market Thai families actually go to. Not the one in the photos.
$329per car, up to 4 guests
See the Maeklong & Amphawa day
Prices are per car, not per person, for up to four guests. Bigger group, or a different day in mind? Message us and we'll tell you honestly what we can do.
How it works
Booked in two minutes. Confirmed by a person, not a robot.
Book online
Pick your date and pay securely by card. No account to create, no deposit games, no "request availability then wait three days".
We confirm within 12 hours
A real person messages you on WhatsApp with your guide's name, the car, and your pickup time. Ask us anything before the day — what to wear, whether the kids will cope, where to eat.
We collect you at your door
Anywhere in central Bangkok. A quiet, air-conditioned electric SUV, cold water waiting, and a guide who has done the route more times than they can count.
Private vs join-in
Why we don't run cheap group tours.
A 900-baht join-in tour is not the same product sold cheaper. It's a different product, and the difference shows up around 11am.
| Private with us | Typical join-in tour | |
|---|---|---|
| Who's in the car | Just your group | 20–40 strangers in a coach |
| Departure | Time you choose | Fixed, and you wait for latecomers |
| Pace | Yours | The slowest person's |
| Shopping stops | None, ever | One to three, 45–90 minutes each |
| Pickup | Your hotel door | A meeting point you taxi to at 6am |
| Changing plans mid-day | Just tell your guide | Not possible |
| Entrance fees | Included | Usually extra, collected in cash at the gate |
| Price | Fixed per vehicle | Low headline, extras on the day |
Who you're actually booking
Meet Aleck, your private guide with a car in Bangkok. Twenty years of doing this properly.
You are not booking a call centre that subcontracts your day to whoever answers the phone. You're booking one person, for the whole day.
Aleck
Your guide for 20+ years — and your driver
Aleck has been guiding visitors around Thailand for more than twenty years — for British tour operators, and every year for cycling groups from Switzerland, who are not people who forgive a late start or a vague answer. That's long enough to remember Amphawa before the weekend crowds found it, to know which Ayutthaya temple to reach first before the heat and the coaches arrive, and to answer every question a first-time visitor can ask with a better story than the guidebook.
Aleck also drives. So the person explaining the temple is the same person who knows where to park, which lunch place is worth the detour, and exactly when to leave to beat the Bangkok traffic home. No handover between strangers. No waiting in a car park on somebody else's schedule. Just one very experienced local, and your group, for the whole day.
Why we started this
"For four years I ran twelve apartments in Bangkok on Airbnb. Every single group of guests asked me the same three questions: where should we go for a day, how do we get there, and do you know someone we can trust. I never had a good answer to give them. So we built one."
— Aor, founder of BangkokASAP and SwissASAP
Questions people actually ask
Is the price per person or per vehicle?
Per vehicle. A private car takes up to four guests, and the price is the same whether there are two of you or four. Travelling as five or more? Message us first and we'll tell you honestly what works. Two people travelling together pay less per head than almost any join-in tour once you add the extras those tours charge at the gate.
Are entrance fees really included?
Yes. Temple and park entrance fees for everyone in your group, fuel, tolls, parking, bottled water and your guide for the whole day are all in the price on the tour page. The only thing you pay for separately is lunch, so you can choose what and where you eat instead of being sat down in front of a set menu.
Do you stop at gem shops, silk factories or handicraft centres?
Never. Those stops exist because the operator takes a commission on what you buy — it is how most cheap Bangkok tours actually make money. We don't accept commission from any shop, so we have no reason to take you to one. If you want to shop, tell your guide and they'll take you somewhere Thai people buy things.
Do you offer elephant riding or tiger photos?
No, and we won't book it for you elsewhere. An elephant's spine isn't built to carry a bench and several adults, and the cubs handed to tourists for photos are usually taken from their mothers young. If you want to see elephants, ask us and we'll point you to a sanctuary where you feed and bathe them instead — no riding, no chains, no shows.
Is this a private tour, or will we share the car with strangers?
Completely private. It's your group and your guide for the whole day. Nobody else joins, and we don't run join-in departures at all.
Where do you pick up from?
Your hotel or apartment door, anywhere in central Bangkok, at no extra charge. If you're staying further out — Bang Na, Nonthaburi, near the airports — message us first and we'll tell you honestly whether it changes the price or the timing.
What happens if it rains?
Most of these trips still work in rain, and Thai rain usually passes in an hour. If the weather would genuinely ruin the day — a flooded canal at Amphawa, for example — we'll call you the evening before and offer you a different date or a full refund. We'd rather move your trip than take your money for a bad day.
Can we change the plan during the day?
Yes. It's your car. Skip a temple, stay longer at the market, stop for coffee, go back early because the kids are melting — just tell your guide. The itineraries on this site are what we recommend, not a schedule you're locked into.
What is your cancellation policy?
Free cancellation with a full refund up to 72 hours before your pickup time. Inside 72 hours we can usually move your date rather than refund, because your guide has already turned down other work for that day.
Pick a day. We'll take care of the rest.
Book online in two minutes, or message us first if you'd rather talk it through. We answer every message ourselves.