hello, wantasian, my exp. from some 22 yrs:
1.the case they want/ask for more money etc after is very, very slim. In fact I have hardly ever ''made a price'' beforehand and was also hardly ever disappointed in this respect.
2.Hiring a boy in BKK to ''guide'' you is nonsense. Really, It has nothing to add to the trip-except that he can read+speak Thai (often badly/low class) and Lao=the local isan dialect. As these all are very big tourist towns-english (and often JPNese) will get you by. Most of the working boys in BKk hail from Isan and have never been to CMai-and dont know anything about it=make them of no use for guiding. Besdies-remember that old ado: you have not been to XYX if you have not tasted the boy from XYZ?
3.what mr. sloot wrote about Cmai boys is not the norm-in fact IF he is Burmese-then he is much more likely to speak passable english. Mr. sloot is more likely to refer to the ''chao doy''=hilltribe people, who seem to have taken over a lot of the trade there.
4.agree what all above wrote-treat the boys with normal courtesy and respect-and youll get heaps in return. A simple applied common sense and some experience makes weeding out the rotten apples also much more easier.
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