Most “custom Thailand tours” you’ll find online are a fixed route with your name typed at the top. This isn’t that.
A tailor-made trip means we start from a blank page and the answers to three questions: who’s travelling, what do you actually enjoy, and how much time do you have? Everything else follows from that — and the answers change the plan enormously. A honeymoon, a family of five with a nine-year-old, and three friends who want to eat their way through Isan are three completely different countries.
How the planning works
1. You tell us the shape of it. Dates, number of people and ages, roughly what you’re drawn to, and a budget range if you have one. Don’t worry about being vague — “two weeks, we like food and beaches, we hate crowds” is plenty to start.
2. We come back with a proposed route. Usually within 2–3 working days: a day-by-day outline, why each stop is there, driving times between them, and a costed breakdown. If we think your plan is too packed — and first drafts from travellers usually are — we’ll say so and show you what to cut.
3. We revise it. Most trips go through two or three rounds. This is normal and it’s the part where the itinerary actually becomes yours.
4. You approve, we book. Transport, guides, hotels, activities, internal flights, ferry timings — all coordinated so nothing depends on you making a connection you didn’t know was tight.
5. We stay on the phone. During the trip you have a local number that answers. Ferries get cancelled, weather turns, someone falls in love with Chiang Mai and wants an extra night. Having someone in-country who can rearrange the next three days in twenty minutes is most of what you’re paying for.
The planning stage is free and carries no obligation. We’d rather build ten proposals and win three than pressure anybody.
What “private” actually means here
Every element is yours alone:
- Your own vehicle and driver for the whole trip — the same person, so they learn your rhythm and your luggage stays in the van
- No fixed departure dates, no minimum group size, no coach of strangers
- You set the pace. Want to skip the afternoon temple and sit by the river instead? Just say so in the car.
- Guides only where they earn their fee. A licensed guide transforms Ayutthaya and Sukhothai. On a beach day they’re an expensive passenger. We’ll advise per stop rather than defaulting to a guide everywhere.
Trips we build most often
The classic first-timer, 10–14 days. Bangkok → Ayutthaya → Chiang Mai → south to the islands. It’s the standard route because it works. What we change is the how: private transfers instead of night buses, the good half-day in Ayutthaya rather than the rushed one, and an island choice that matches your tolerance for nightlife. See our 10-day first-timer itinerary →
Family trips, 7–12 days. Shorter drives, a pool every night, elephant sanctuaries that are genuinely ethical rather than merely marketed as such, and cooking classes — which children reliably love more than temples.
Off-the-beaten-path Thailand. For repeat visitors. Isan, Chanthaburi, Nan, Phetchabun, the Khmer temple trail at Phanom Rung. Very few foreign visitors, very good food, and a version of Thailand that looks nothing like the brochure.
Food-focused routes. Bangkok street food by neighbourhood, a market at dawn, a cooking class in Chiang Mai, southern curries in Krabi. Thailand rewards this enormously.
Multi-generational trips. Grandparents, parents, kids — different energy levels in one group. Solved with a flexible base and a driver who can run two schedules from the same hotel.
Honeymoons and anniversaries. Quieter islands, better rooms, and an itinerary with genuine gaps in it.
What it costs
The table above covers transport, planning and our time. Hotels, flights, meals and entrance fees are booked at cost with no mark-up, so you see the real price of everything.
For a fast, honest estimate before you speak to anyone, use our free Thailand trip budget calculator → — it’ll give you a total by travel style, party size and trip length in your own currency.
Where the money goes, roughly
On a typical mid-range private trip: around 30–35% transport, 35–40% accommodation, 15% food, 10–15% activities and entrance fees. Where people over-spend is usually internal flights booked late, and hotels booked in the wrong month. Where people under-spend and regret it is guides at the two or three sites where a guide genuinely matters.
Things we’ll tell you that a booking site won’t
- Three destinations in ten days, not five. Thailand’s distances are deceptive and travel days eat holidays. Almost every first draft we receive has one stop too many.
- Don’t drive Bangkok → Chiang Mai. Nine hours in a van versus a ฿1,200 flight. Fly, and use the van at both ends.
- The rainy season is not a write-off. Prices drop, crowds vanish, and the rain is often a spectacular hour in the afternoon rather than a grey week. When to visit →
- Pick islands on the right coast for your dates. The Andaman side and the Gulf side have different weather patterns, and being on the wrong one in the wrong month is a genuinely bad holiday. Island guide →
- Two nights minimum, everywhere. One-night stops are all packing and no place.
Tell us who’s coming and what you love → and we’ll send a proposed route and a costed plan within a few days. No charge, no obligation, and no follow-up pestering if it isn’t for you.