Himanshu's 7 days trip to Thailand
Disclaimer: This review is solely based on our experience as a group of 8 people who travelled to Thailand (Phuket-Krabi-Bangkok) in March,2023. Nothing mentioned below is personal.
We had a pathetic experience with the travel agency – NAVIGATIO ASIA, because of the following pointers:
• The person coordinating was rude to us from the moment after we made the payment. Since we were a group of 8, in case two of us asked any questions – he became angry saying I am coordinating with multiple groups simultaneously so I am not entitled to reply to everyone. While this might seem fair, but the approach with which he dealt to our queries were quite rude – with negative connotation used almost always.
• No details of the drivers were shared to us (not even taxi number) who came for our pickup. Every time we had to follow up on where we should stand, where should we wait and it became unnecessarily chaotic. I’ll give an example – We had booked for “private cab” from Phuket to Krabi. The pickup time was 10 am. One of us came to the reception (while others were in breakfast lobby) at around 9:50 am to enquire if any cab was waiting for us. There were none. Two of us came to the lobby before 10 am and slowly all of us joined. We were standing there till 10:20 am waiting for the cab. Since the cab didn’t come, I called the agent asking if he could help us with the pickup. His immediate reaction was “Why are you informing me 20 mins later? Why couldn’t you call me at 10 am sharp?” I was shocked, because his response was anything but empathetic – he didn’t ask whether we checked with the receptionist, where were we standing, what were we wearing or anything.
After enquiring, he said that since it was a “private pickup” the cab left. Now tell me guys, how can a “private” pickup leave us and go without asking for us? How did the taxi driver enquire for us, without even asking at the reception let alone coming to the breakfast area? While we saw other cab drivers taking the pain, coming to the breakfast area with placard or shouting the name of the person asking if (s)he was present; throughout our trips we were never called by our names/nor were we greeted with any placards (except airport pickup). Coming back to the story, that day we had to wait for 10-15 more mins when finally our taxi arrived, however our travel agent behaved with us as if he’s doing a favour to us by booking another cab.
• One day in Krabi, we were supposed to go for 4 island tour. 6 out of 8 of us feel a little ill & didn’t want to exhaust themselves – while 2 of us wanted to join (since all of us had already paid for the tour). That day we were supposed to have a private pickup taxi & a private long tail boat. When I informed the agent, telling him about the issue (in all good faith, thinking he’ll help us with it) and requested the agent that 2 of us are ready to go for the tour if he could take our pickup at 9:15 am (instead of 9 am) – his first reaction was 2 of you can’t go in a private pickup so you’ll have to adjust in a shared pickup & shared boat. We didn’t say anything and accepted it. 10 minutes after he calls again, saying that all the boats have left for today & there are no available boats (complete lie, because boats leave even in afternoon, not just morning) and told that I can’t accommodate you in any long tail/speed boat. Instead, I can arrange a complimentary long tail boat for 1 of the other beaches (which is significantly cheaper than what we had booked earlier). I requested again, if we could be accommodated (remember guys, we were just 15 minutes late to our committed time) to which he didn’t agree and finally we had to compromise for only 1 beach.
• We had specifically told in our tour package that we had booked that we want to cover 2 temples – Marble Buddha & Mini Reclining. However, he removed mini reclining (of course because the ticket price was more) & included Golden Buddha instead. We didn’t argue this time, because it was our 2nd last day of tour and we were already very frustrated with our experience. Despite writing in WhatsApp message (in group) and sending reminder, he removed Mini reclining from the itinerary.
• Two of our friends stayed back in Thailand for 3-4 days more. They had extended the package (paid more premium for better hotels) through the same agency. Now, before the day they took their flight – they had requested the travel agent to send an “SUV” and not a sedan because they had too much luggage. They even reminded him on the very day. As expected, he sent a Sedan and not an SUV. After talking to him, his justification was – “An SUV costs 1000 THB more than Sedan”. Now, I’ll give you certain facts – since all of us (8 in our group) returned by different flights at different times we opted out from the “8-seater SUV” pickup service to airport. The refund amount for “8-10 seater SUV” by the same travel agent was only 700 THB (we didn’t argue). However, when 2 of us requested (by paying additional) for an SUV, he sited this point.
I write all of this, with utmost pain & frustration & have nothing against anyone in person – that’s why I haven’t mentioned the name of the person who was handling us. Please understand, that many of us go for foreign travels maybe once in few years to enjoy our vacation & book through travel agents to skip the hassle of dealing with every bookings individually. However, this experience was not at all hassle free – it seemed like a fight every single day where we had to stay alert for our pickups, even if we were in the reception, we feared that the agent might blame it on us for no show!
The drivers who came for the pickup were very kind & empathetic – much more than the travel agency. The hotels we picked (remember we selected the hotels) through our agents were good & had very nice swimming pools & facilities.
To those who book – please ask for the “National Park Fees” which is not included in your package & you are charged 300 THB/200 THB later per person. That time, you don’t have any choice but to pay it, since it’s the govt. tax you are paying – it is better if it is informed to you before you make the booking. We, as a group also found the agent should have given us small tips – like not to sit in the speedboat in the front (because if there’s high tide/waves it will break your back) which could have made the trip a little more hassle free.
Hope this helps!
Landscapes of Phi Phi Island, Tigers in Tiger Kingdom, Safari World - Bangkok.
Himanshu Sekhar Mishra Bangalore
