How do I reserve a tour?

• Simply contact us by email and we will let you know if your desired dates are available. Please check your Spam folder if you don’t hear back from us within 24 hours.

Am I guaranteed the day I want?

• Unfortunately, no. Chin leads all tours herself, focusing mainly on private tours. If she is booked on the day you want, we’ll tell you any other options that are available.
• Solo travelers can pay the more expensive single-person rate for a private tour, or open the tour to more guests. However we can not guarantee that more guests will request the same tour on the same day.
• For the best chance of getting the day you want, please reserve as far ahead of time as possible. This is especially true for the November – March high season.

After first inquiring, how long do I have to confirm the tour before the day will be offered to other groups?

• When we reply to your initial inquiry, we’ll put a hold on the day you request if it’s available. If you don’t reply and another group then requests the same day within 1 week after we replied to your inquiry, we’ll email and give you 24 hours to decide before giving the day away.
• If you don’t reply at all after our reply to your initial contact for more than 1 week, we will remove the hold and make the day available to the next group that requests it.
• In other words, Chin offers tours on a “first come, first serve” basis, the “first come” referring to the group that’s ready to confirm.

Is the tour 100% guaranteed once the reservation is confirmed?

• Once you receive an email saying your reservation is confirmed, it’s 99.9% certain that you will end up enjoying the tour. The reason it’s not 100% is that Chin does all tours herself, and she may need to cancel in the case of a serious emergency (such as a death in the family, major injury, flood or other disaster).
• In more than five years of doing business, Chin has had to cancel two tours because she was sick in hospital.

What is your cancellation and refund policy?

• If a tour does not require a deposit in advance, should you need to cancel after 10 days before day of tour and we’re not able to replace your reservation with another booking, we will request that you pay 25% of the total price by Paypal or bank transfer. We cannot force you to pay this; we simply ask for your understanding that Chili Paste is a small business offering private tours, and cancellations close to the day of tour usually result in loss of profit. If you decline to pay the amount requested, we will most likely not accept bookings from you in future.
• If a tour does require a deposit in advance, terms for refund in case of cancellation will be included in the invoice. In most cases, you will receive a full refund minus any fees for Paypal or bank transfer if you cancel up to 10 days before day of tour. Deposits of 25% of total price are usually non-refundable after 10 days before day of tour. If you pay full price in advance, we will typically refund 75% of the total if you cancel after 10 days before day of tour.
• For multi-day tours, all of the above applies, but in addition, we may also not refund any amounts spent for flight and accommodation bookings, depending on whether or not the providers of these services offer refunds themselves.

How does your pricing system work?

• For tours in Bangkok it is a sliding price system based on number of people in the group. For tours outside Bangkok it is a fixed price per person.
• Children 12 years old and younger are charged half price. However, two children are counted as 1 person so a family of 4 with 2 kids are charged as a group of 3 — 2,200 Baht per person for the 2 adults and half of that price for the 2 kids. Chin made this change after losing money on tours with several kids.

Do you offer group tours?

• We generally offer only private tours because we think the experience will be better that way. However, for solo travelers wanting to join a group, we can try to link you with other solo travelers so that you can get the group rate.

Can solo travelers “wait and see” if more people want to join before committing to a tour?

• Not if the solo traveler wants us to hold the day for them. In other words, if a solo traveler wants to be guaranteed a tour, they must confirm a reservation on a specific date at the listed price for one person only. If other people ask to join the same tour on the same day, then the solo traveler can get the cheaper group rate. For the Old Bangkok tour it’s about a 50/50 chance that other people will ask to join on the same day, and less of a chance for other tours.
• If you’re not willing to commit to a solo tour, we can put your name and the dates you’re available on our calendar and notify you if any tours that could you join materialize.

How do I pay for a tour?

• Payment for most day tours can be made in cash on the day of tour (see terms above). We can also send a Paypal invoice if you prefer to pay by credit card.
• The Floating Market & Cooking Class, any multi-day tour, and any tour with a large group will generally require an advance deposit, payable by Paypal or bank transfer. Please contact us for specifics.

Can I get a discount?

• We feel that our programs are reasonably priced for private tours with a high level of flexibility and a lot of food samples, so we generally do not offer discounts on the normal programs.

What’s included in the tours?

• At least 15 different food samples — expect to be nice and full by the end of the day.
• Guidance from Chin, owner of Chili Paste Tour. Chin is a fully licensed English-speaking tour guide who is an expert on Thai food.
• All transportation costs throughout the day, excluding pick up at your hotel should you desire it, or forms of transportation not normally included on the tour.
• Bottled water, one coffee, and other drinks throughout the day, excluding alcohol.

What if I’m a vegetarian and/or have food allergies or special requirements?

• All tours can usually be tailored to vegetarians, vegans and those with food allergies or other dietary restrictions. However we ask that you inform us of any eating requirements in advance.

Is the street food we’ll try clean?

• Chin is very careful to only patronize shops that she knows do a good job of storing and preparing the food in a sanitary way — the vendors we choose are successful because their food is both delicious and clean. However please keep in mind that different people have different reactions to food outside of their home countries.
• Some customers like to try food from vendors that we don’t normally patronize; in this case Chin will warn you if she feels the food might not be clean (or delicious).

What is the maximum group size?

• Most of our private groups include 1 to 6 people, but we can arrange all of our tours for larger groups with some advance notice.

Can people of any age partake in the tours? What about disabilities?

• We leave final decisions up to guests, but we feel that the walking tours in Bangkok may not be suitable for infants due to the heat, crowds and traffic.
• Guests with disabilities are welcome; however please let us know beforehand so that we can prepare and adapt the tours if need be. Guests are responsible for any extra cost of a handicap-accessible vehicle, if needed.

Can I shop, take photos and follow my whims during the tour?

• As we only offer private tours, you are welcome to poke around in the shops we pass, explore at your own pace and stop as often as you like to take photos. However, Chin charges 500 baht per hour if you would like to continue her services past the usual end time of a given tour — for example if you want to add an extra place or would like help with shopping for a specific kind of product.

How do we get around and how much should we expect to walk?

• One of the nice things about private tours is that we can easily explore beyond a single neighborhood.
• In the Old Bangkok and Thonburi tours, we employ a mix of metro, river boats and tuk tuks or taxis. You’ll also cover around 1.5 kilometers on foot. It’s gradual strolling broken up by several stops, but do be aware that Bangkok gets very hot and humid.
• For tours outside of Bangkok, Chin uses her own 2012 Nissan March for groups of 1-3 people, or air-con minivan with driver for groups of 4 or more.

What to wear?

• Most of our tours make at least one stop at a temple, so we request that you wear relatively non-revealing clothes: shorts, skirts and T-shirts are fine if they cover shoulders, knees and stomach.
• We also recommend comfortable footwear and sunscreen.

Should I eat before the tour?

• A light breakfast or nothing at all before most of the tours will be best. You will typically be sampling food within 30 minutes to an hour of beginning the tour.

Does Chili Paste Tour offer custom tours?

• Chin has spent countless hours designing tours that include some of the finest food along with offbeat neighborhoods and cultural attractions. With that said, depending on how busy we are, we may be able to work with you to arrange custom tours if you have specific ideas in mind, or have time restraints.
• If we’re not able to offer what you’re looking for, we’ll try to direct you to someone who can.