Contacting Tour Guides / Tour Operators

[rmicheald 6]

My wife would like to contact the tour operators or guides to try and persuade them to stop by her shop. Anyone know how to contact them? She knows a "kickback" is involved.

Thanks in advance.

[Bullfrog 2,224]

What sort of shop is it..?

[rmicheald 6]

What sort of shop is it..?

Gift shop in some center where supposedly tour busses stop... only know it isn't the floating market.

[Butch 3,456]

From my very limited knowledge, I think that a lot of the tour guides are Chinese / Korean and not Thai. Pattaya being what it is, I'd expect that the visits are all very much sewn up by local businessmen. For example, my friends girlfriend works in a massage area which caters for Chinese and Korean tourists. she gets a fixed price of 100 baht per 1 hr massage plus tips, works an 8 hour day and does pretty well out of it. There are 40+ girls working there, which gives a rough ratio of 1 to 1 on the tour buses.The customers, however, pay 800 baht for the hours massage to the tour operator, so that might give you some kind of idea of the percentages and kickbacks involved.

 

My only (and possibly inaccurate info - sorry but that's my caveat) is perhaps to befriend someone who has a stall within the area and ask a few questions herself, or even if you get the chance, have a chat with one of the guides yourself and ask. In my limited experience I found them very defensive and hard to talk to ( during my last trip I had a chat with a Chinese girl who was a tour guide for a party of 15 or so, she was initially pleasant but turned a bit "arsey" when I tried to chat a bit more).

[Fatboyfat 361]

I had one of these come to the bar I had aeons ago. Cheeky bar steward wanted 33% of each drink that "his" crowd bought; and suggested that I up the charge to those customers, in order to maintain profits! I suggested that he "went forth and multipled" !