You can book a trip with us via email, via the website contact options or over the phone.
After making a reservation with Thailand Treks, the traveller must pay a deposit of 30% within 2 weeks. The remaining amount must be credited to our bank account no later than 48 hours before departure of your tour. Sometimes accommodations or airline tickets have to be paid earlier. In this case, the down payment will be higher and / or the remaining amount must be paid earlier.
When you make a booking with us you will receive payment details via the confirmation email. Payment options are bank transfers, Paypal or Transferwise.
Yes, we do accept credit card payments, you can use them through our Paypal gateway. Instead of logging into Paypal choose “Pay with debit or credit card”.
Yes, if you cancel more than 14 days before your departure date your deposit will be refunded after deduction of possible payment fees. If you cancel within 2 week of your booking date the deposit will not be refunded.
Yes, it is possible to combine packages or add a package or a trek to a tour. Check out our website for our current offer of tours and packages. Should you want something that is not listed, we are happy to help you arrange this. Because we are present in Thailand ourselves, (almost) everything is possible.
Yes, that is possible. Pass on these wishes to us so that we can arrange your perfect trip. Keep in mind that the 3rd person almost always gets a “rollaway bed”.
Yes, we do our utmost to find suitable accommodation for everyone. So you can always contact us and indicate what the wishes are, please keep in mind that changes in the hotel can impact the price indicated on the website.
If you go on holiday, then travel insurance is always handy. This insurance ensures that you can go on holiday with confidence. We advise you to take out good travel insurance. Check if your travel insurance has global coverage and ask your insurer what is and what is not covered.
That is certainly possible! That is the advantage of booking with Thailand Treks. Our trips are customizable. So it is entirely up to you, where and how long you stay somewhere.
The guide will show you around on the “excursion days”, so the days that you start an activity. The transfer days, so the days that you travel from one place to another, you are sometimes alone with the driver. In some cases, the guide is the driver. Our guides speak the local language and English. But if you can’t figure it out, feel free to call the office
Yes, in principle. Some activities are less suitable for small children. We indicate in the tour information a minimum age if this is the case. We also have specific family trips. These trips have adapted distances, hotels and activities.
You travel shorter distances by car or minibus with driver with air conditioning. Other parts can be covered by train or plane. If you want to go to one of the islands, you most likely have to take a boat trip. This can be a large car ferry, but also a small longtail boat. It depends on the destination. Transport for trekking and on some of the islands is often with an open (non-air conditioning) pick-up truck.
That depends on which country you originate from. A lot of countries have visa-free entry for a maximum of 30 days. Please check with the Thai Embassy in your country. The visa rules change regularly, so it is good to always check.
No, it is better not to drink tap water at our destinations. Water in bottles available everywhere and cheap.
Temples and royal palaces are shrines. To cover your shoulders and wear long pants or a skirt is much appreciated and in some places mandatory. It is not appreciated to wear translucent clothing, sleeveless shirts/undershirts, sportswear, leggings, shorts & miniskirts or beachwear. Shoes must be taken off when entering a temple. When visiting other shrines, sandals and slippers are not appropriate. Even when you want to visit a sky bar, you often have to meet some clothing requirements. Such as no flip flops or shorts. Always check the website of the relevant bar so that you are sure you can enter.
It is possible, but we do not recommend this, Thailand is accident prone and driving yourself is a risk. Should you still want to rent a scooter or car, you do indeed need an international driver’s license. Also please keep in mind that in Thailand a scooter is 110 cc and up. For renting a Thai scooter you require a license that allows you to ride a bike/scooter of this size or kind (most likely a motorbike license). If you do not have the proper license your (travel) insurance will not cover any damage, accident or medical costs.
We also advise against renting a jet ski. Tourists are often scammed when renting these. The jetskis have existing damage and the customers are required to pay for this.
The following we think applies for any country you visit: act as a guest. The pace in Asia, and therefore also in Thailand, is often slow and sometimes things don’t go as efficiently as people are used to. On top of that, not everyone in Thailand speaks fluent English, which can complicate communication. Getting angry and raising your voice has not the effect you expect. They are, in Thai culture, forms of rudeness. Remain friendly and take your time. Smiling works, this is a much-practised form of Thai politeness, and not meant to contact you.
For the Thai, the head is the most sacred part of the body and the feet the least. So try not to point at anything with your foot, do not put your feet on a table and avoid pointing your feet in the direction of someone. In the same line, avoid touching the head or any part of their body for that matter, of a Thai person (even the children). Touching can be perceived as offensive, and this applies in particular to the head, in which – according to culture – the mind resides.
Wearing neat but especially clean clothing is greatly appreciated by the Thai. Although tourists are usually dressed differently, such as shorts or short skirts, you will rarely see a Thai person dressed like that. On the beach, you see Thai women go fully dressed into the sea, while (only) in tourist places topless sunbathing is sometimes possible for foreigners. However, walking around on the street without a shirt or with a bikini top is not appreciated.
We have a 1-day trek that gives a good impression of the life of the hill tribes. You do not have to walk a lot. For the longer treks, you need to be reasonably fit, however, a lot depends on your own flexibility. Your sleep will be less than usual because sleeping conditions and village sounds will be different from what you are used to.
While in the jungle there are hardly flat parts. All the paths are made and used by the local mountain people. If the path is overgrown the guide has to use his machete to make it walkable. The trek leads through dense jungle, open areas, plantations owned by the hill tribes and sometimes along or through rivers. It is possible to hire a porter to carry your luggage if you prefer.
In the multi-day trek you arrive in the hill tribe village at the end of the afternoon. We advise making your sleeping space before it gets dark as many villages do not have electricity. Also, take your time to walk through the village and attempt to communicate with the locals. The guide will prepare dinner for you. Don’t be surprised about the tasteful meals to be had in these primitive surroundings. After dinner, the host family will sit and share stories, and we will join in, mainly by using hands and feet to communicate. If the weather allows we can make a campfire and there could be someone around with a guitar. Usually, everybody sleeps quite early, the villagers normally get up at sunrise.
Hard to say, during the Thai winter, from November to February (the high season), the weather is best for trekking, not to warm in the daytime, usually no rain and cool to cold in the nighttime. During the summer (March to May) it is very hot in the daytime but on the other hand, there are few tourists. During the rainy season (July to September) nature is at its most beautiful with green forests and beautiful waterfalls however, walking can be hard sometimes during or after a tropical shower.
A sleeping bag (in winter) or sheet bag (in summer), a mosquito net ( for 4 days trek only, for 2 and 3 day treks provided), a small backpack with clothes (T-shirts, long sleeve shirt, shorts, long pants, socks, swimsuit), a towel or sarong, slippers, shoes, toiletries, mosquito spray, sun cream, a flashlight, 2 liter drinking water for the first day (buy at day 1 first stop), hat or cap, First Aid kit, toilet roll. Additional in Rainy Season (June-October) = raincoat and hiking boots.
Additional in Cold Season (November-February) = jacket and warm pants.
In the mountains, it is a few degrees cooler than in Chiang Mai. During winter it can even be cold, a few degrees Celsius above Zero. Please remember this when you do a trek during this time.
Your remaining luggage you can leave in the storeroom at your hotel. Passport, ticket and traveler’s cheques best put in the hotel safe. Proper hiking boots are essential in the rainy season but also very handy in the other months. You can buy water in the villages.
Make sure that your photo or film camera is waterproof (packed), the jungle is unpredictable.
Candies for the children are nice but they usually can not go to the dentist easily. A donation for the village or village school is a better idea.
Banknotes in big denominations will be a problem changing in the villages, bringing smaller ones is a good idea.
Passport, flight ticket, and traveller’s cheques. Whenever you lose your passport you have to go to Bangkok to get a new one. Also, a tropical shower can reduce your precious papers to something else. In the hotel safe your belongings will be safe!
