Sabai Tour
Sabai Tour
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4.5
156 reviews
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18
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3
Terrible
6
Curtis Darby
Bangkok, Thailand2 contributions
Sep 2022
My girlfriend and I took a quick 3-day trip to Chiang Mai and wanted to go to Doi Suthep. We walked around the corner from our hotel and found Sabai Tour. We looked at the picture book outside and then the owner came out to greet us. She told us of a few tours to Suthep that also had had other stops to go to along with Suthep but were group tours. We were not really interested in those tours and then she told us of private tour to Doi Suthep and a place I had not heard of called Wat Palad. With this tour we had private chauffeur and could roam around at our own leisure.
The next day we were picked up by driver named Coco. She was very nice and friendly and offered various bits of information about city and places to go. So the first stop was Wat Palad. This place was beautiful! I highly recommend going to this temple if visiting Chiang Mai! Set in the forest with a nice little waterfall and lovely pathways to navigate and explore. It was quite peaceful and breath taking, and not many tourists! Next was Doi Suthep. This temple is very beautiful also, and in a beautiful location, but very many tourists! Anyway, at both stops Coco said to take our time and do not worry about hurrying!
So after exploring Suthep and doing a little shopping Coco picks us up, and here is where Coco and Sabai Tours went above and beyond what was expected. My girlfriend wanted a nice decorative paper umbrella and was talking to Coco about it. Coco drove us to an umbrella factory where they make the umbrellas so my girlfriend could get the umbrella she wanted!
I would like to once again thank Sabai Tours and Coco for a wonderful day at a very reasonable price and would highly recommend their service!
The next day we were picked up by driver named Coco. She was very nice and friendly and offered various bits of information about city and places to go. So the first stop was Wat Palad. This place was beautiful! I highly recommend going to this temple if visiting Chiang Mai! Set in the forest with a nice little waterfall and lovely pathways to navigate and explore. It was quite peaceful and breath taking, and not many tourists! Next was Doi Suthep. This temple is very beautiful also, and in a beautiful location, but very many tourists! Anyway, at both stops Coco said to take our time and do not worry about hurrying!
So after exploring Suthep and doing a little shopping Coco picks us up, and here is where Coco and Sabai Tours went above and beyond what was expected. My girlfriend wanted a nice decorative paper umbrella and was talking to Coco about it. Coco drove us to an umbrella factory where they make the umbrellas so my girlfriend could get the umbrella she wanted!
I would like to once again thank Sabai Tours and Coco for a wonderful day at a very reasonable price and would highly recommend their service!
Written September 22, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Daniel S
11 contributions
Nov 2023 • Couples
We used Sabai tours to book an elephant sanctuary tour and a temple tour. The owner got us a better deal than 2 other tour agencies we looked at, she spoke very good English and was easy to understand. She Was also the most knowledgeable. She also gave us some good advice on what to do outside of our tour bookings and made some good recommendations on what we could do locally.
Very helpful
Very helpful
Written November 25, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sarah F
3 contributions
Sep 2022
I've just come back from a day tour to Chiang Rai and Sabai Tours definitely exceeded my expectations. Everything was very well organized and there was no problem with pick up and drop off. The tour itself was fascinating and I would definitely recommend it to anyone wanting to explore outside Chiang Mai for a bit. Thank you, Coco for all your help!
Written September 22, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Yvonx M
1 contribution
Jan 2024 • Friends
Disappointed doesn't begin to describe our experience. I am an experienced traveller and have done the 'slow boat' in both directions between Thailand and Laos a total of 4 times.
This was my 5th and final journey. Never to be repeated.
Instead of a delightful narrow boat with clean wooden floors, holding around 80 to a 100 people, with only 4 seats across, several hundred of us were crowded onto a local ferry that held about 10 people across its breadth and many rows deep.
To make matters worse, we were among the last on board and so were crammed into the only remaining space in the engine room! The engine was a huge diesel monster and was hot, smelly and above all deafening. We were stuck next to the engine in 33 degree heat unable to hear each other speak.
I had a point of comparison, having done the journey previously on 4 occasions, so I knew all those on board were being totally ripped off.
On previous journeys the small numbers all got to chat in an informal relaxed way, there was plenty of leg room and the whole journey was a dreamy delight.
This time it was an endurance test.
Just not comparable to the real 'slow boat' experience. Instead, it was obviously a case of taking tourists for a ride! Not one with any consideration or respect however. Unfortunately, many tourists were completely ignorant of the raw deal they were getting.
A further point is that the trip we paid for promised a breakfast that never materialised and we were even done out of the sandwich (snack) stated in the itinerary. Petty skimming off of further profit.
When I wrote to Sabai Tour to complain about our appalling journey I was given pathetic excuses that perhaps there were 'too many people' for the slow boats and that's why we'd all been crammed like cattle onto a big ferry type contraption. Of course all.the glossy promotion material featured the original lovely old rosewood narrow boats, not some scruffy overcrowded ferry. Otherwise we would never have forked out for such a lousy deal.
I will never do this journey again and have taken the trouble to write this scathing review because the greed and cavalier attitude of the tour operators is both insulting and sad.
Don't take the slow boat unless you want to be ripped off and squashed with hundreds of others paying way more than you should for a crap experience.
We were all literally 'taken for a ride'
This was my 5th and final journey. Never to be repeated.
Instead of a delightful narrow boat with clean wooden floors, holding around 80 to a 100 people, with only 4 seats across, several hundred of us were crowded onto a local ferry that held about 10 people across its breadth and many rows deep.
To make matters worse, we were among the last on board and so were crammed into the only remaining space in the engine room! The engine was a huge diesel monster and was hot, smelly and above all deafening. We were stuck next to the engine in 33 degree heat unable to hear each other speak.
I had a point of comparison, having done the journey previously on 4 occasions, so I knew all those on board were being totally ripped off.
On previous journeys the small numbers all got to chat in an informal relaxed way, there was plenty of leg room and the whole journey was a dreamy delight.
This time it was an endurance test.
Just not comparable to the real 'slow boat' experience. Instead, it was obviously a case of taking tourists for a ride! Not one with any consideration or respect however. Unfortunately, many tourists were completely ignorant of the raw deal they were getting.
A further point is that the trip we paid for promised a breakfast that never materialised and we were even done out of the sandwich (snack) stated in the itinerary. Petty skimming off of further profit.
When I wrote to Sabai Tour to complain about our appalling journey I was given pathetic excuses that perhaps there were 'too many people' for the slow boats and that's why we'd all been crammed like cattle onto a big ferry type contraption. Of course all.the glossy promotion material featured the original lovely old rosewood narrow boats, not some scruffy overcrowded ferry. Otherwise we would never have forked out for such a lousy deal.
I will never do this journey again and have taken the trouble to write this scathing review because the greed and cavalier attitude of the tour operators is both insulting and sad.
Don't take the slow boat unless you want to be ripped off and squashed with hundreds of others paying way more than you should for a crap experience.
We were all literally 'taken for a ride'
Written February 8, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Cat
Yangon (Rangoon), Myanmar48 contributions
Mar 2020 • Solo
Did both the one day trek of Doi Inthanon National Park and the half day cooking class with Sabai tours.
Some great experiences - the trek tour guide was friendly and helpful, visited 2 waterfalls, pagodas, highest spot in Thailand and a coffee shop - was a lovely day out.
The cooking course was really great - had a lovely teacher and lots of fun making spring rolls, curry and soup. Paid 2000 Baht all together for both activities and would highly recommend Sabai tours to have a great day out in Chaing Mai :)
Some great experiences - the trek tour guide was friendly and helpful, visited 2 waterfalls, pagodas, highest spot in Thailand and a coffee shop - was a lovely day out.
The cooking course was really great - had a lovely teacher and lots of fun making spring rolls, curry and soup. Paid 2000 Baht all together for both activities and would highly recommend Sabai tours to have a great day out in Chaing Mai :)
Written March 14, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Loes I
20 contributions
Apr 2023 • Friends
We went to the office in Chiang Mai to book a taxi driver to take us to the sticky waterfalls. We were met with very kind and helpful staff! On the day of the trip we got the tour guide Coco who is a very sweet and kind woman! We drove to the waterfalls and during the drive she told us some stuff about Thailand and its nature. She waited for us to be done at the waterfalls and then we took a quick stop at a local market. She explained the food there and she gave us some fruit to try out. A very warm experience! We 100% recommend booking your trip with Sabai tour! Thank you Coco for the wonderful trip :)
Written April 7, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Geraldine P
6 contributions
Nov 2023 • Solo
Very helpful for booking a full day cooking lesson and an excursion (sticky waterfall, rafting and elephants). The elephant tour was surprisingly fun - they had two adorable baby elephants. I wanted to reschedule my cooking class - and Sabai was really helpful in rearranging. Also got some good discounts.
Written November 21, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
L M
Los Angeles, CA11 contributions
Jul 2015 • Solo
The guy at their office seemed really nice, so I felt good about the tour. Unfortunately, things went wrong from the beginning. They were supposed to pick me up between 8:00 and 8:30am, but they forgot to pick me up. My hotel had to call them, and they picked me up at 10am.
Several of the items listed in the description were totally absent from the tour. For example, the tour included bamboo rafting, but there was no bamboo rafting whatsoever. Other activities were skipped, too.
The "village" we went to was basically just a grouping of super touristy shops selling the same things. Of the activities that weren't entirely eliminated, far less time was spent on them than the description said.
All the other people on the tour paid 800 baht for the exact same tour, while Sabai Tour charged me 1200 baht and said it was an especially low price.
I got in contact with Sabai Tour after the fact to give them a chance to return the money I paid. They only offered 300 baht - which wouldn't even have covered the cost of getting that 300 baht to me at this point. Clearly, this is just yet another company that makes its money by taking advantage of tourists.
The tour wasn't great and wasn't as described. And I could've paid 1/3 less for the sub-par tour by going through anyone else. There's absolutely no reason to use this provider.
Several of the items listed in the description were totally absent from the tour. For example, the tour included bamboo rafting, but there was no bamboo rafting whatsoever. Other activities were skipped, too.
The "village" we went to was basically just a grouping of super touristy shops selling the same things. Of the activities that weren't entirely eliminated, far less time was spent on them than the description said.
All the other people on the tour paid 800 baht for the exact same tour, while Sabai Tour charged me 1200 baht and said it was an especially low price.
I got in contact with Sabai Tour after the fact to give them a chance to return the money I paid. They only offered 300 baht - which wouldn't even have covered the cost of getting that 300 baht to me at this point. Clearly, this is just yet another company that makes its money by taking advantage of tourists.
The tour wasn't great and wasn't as described. And I could've paid 1/3 less for the sub-par tour by going through anyone else. There's absolutely no reason to use this provider.
Written August 3, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I am sorry that my customer did not have a good experience on his tour. I offered a partial refund but he did not respond to my offer. Northern Thailand is heavily touristed, and tours sometimes do not fully meet customers' expectations. I make every effort to explain to my customers what they can expect from a tour, but sometimes there are misunderstandings. My apologies to this customer for his unsatisfactory experience.
Written August 5, 2015
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
goonx
5 contributions
Nov 2014
Randomly found Sasi and sabai tours while walking around CM on my 3rd day. Boy, was it great luck. sasi is a genuine agent that gives 110% effort to make your trip the best. She takes the time to explain the options to you and also offers the most competitive prices!
Thank you. Book your tours and excursions here and you will not be disappointed!
Thank you. Book your tours and excursions here and you will not be disappointed!
Written November 11, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
animesh202
Mumbai141 contributions
Aug 2014 • Couples
These people charge a bomb and then are absolutely worthless with their services. My wife and I booked a day trip from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai (White Temple, Black House, Golden Triangle & Village of Long Neck people). Instead of booking this tour, I could have driven myself and it would have been so much easier. The tour was pathetic on all counts:-
1. We were asked to be ready at 7 AM, however the tour bus/ van arrived at 8:30 and that too after I called 5 times.
2. The bus was very very cramped for a full day trip. On reaching Chian Mai, we saw that other buses were much much better and spacious.
3. We were assure that there would be an English Speaking Guide with us at all times. There was absolutely nobody other than the Driver of the bus who couldn't speak a word of English.
4. The bus driver was stopped by local police mid-way and waster atleast 30 min of our time because he didn't have proper papers.
5. On reaching Chiang Mai, I called up Sabai Tours atleast 5 times, and was assured that the English speaking guide would be arranged immediately. But Nothing happened.
6. We were assured that cost of lunch would be included in the package (come on we paid a huge amount for the tour), but all they give you is 80 Baht of Food coupon and you can just buy a juice and a bottle of water with that money.
7. Golden Triangle is just a rubbish spot. Very crowded even in lean season with a muddy river and absolutely nothing to see.
8. The Village of Long Neck people is just a sham. I read about it on the web only later and if I had known what a sham it was, I would have totally avoided it.
9. Thanks to the late start, we came back to our hotel at 9:30 PM only instead of 7:30.
I suggest that you go on your own or hop into a bus if planning a Chian Rai tour.
1. We were asked to be ready at 7 AM, however the tour bus/ van arrived at 8:30 and that too after I called 5 times.
2. The bus was very very cramped for a full day trip. On reaching Chian Mai, we saw that other buses were much much better and spacious.
3. We were assure that there would be an English Speaking Guide with us at all times. There was absolutely nobody other than the Driver of the bus who couldn't speak a word of English.
4. The bus driver was stopped by local police mid-way and waster atleast 30 min of our time because he didn't have proper papers.
5. On reaching Chiang Mai, I called up Sabai Tours atleast 5 times, and was assured that the English speaking guide would be arranged immediately. But Nothing happened.
6. We were assured that cost of lunch would be included in the package (come on we paid a huge amount for the tour), but all they give you is 80 Baht of Food coupon and you can just buy a juice and a bottle of water with that money.
7. Golden Triangle is just a rubbish spot. Very crowded even in lean season with a muddy river and absolutely nothing to see.
8. The Village of Long Neck people is just a sham. I read about it on the web only later and if I had known what a sham it was, I would have totally avoided it.
9. Thanks to the late start, we came back to our hotel at 9:30 PM only instead of 7:30.
I suggest that you go on your own or hop into a bus if planning a Chian Rai tour.
Written September 3, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I am very sorry that my customer had a bad experience with this tour. Normally, customers on the Chiang Rai tour do not experience these kinds of difficulties, but on this occasion I used a different tour operator that I had not used before, and it turned out to be disappointing. I accept responsibility as the booking agent, but will not use this tour operator in the future, and will stick with operators whom I know well and trust. And, again, my apologies to my customer for his bad experience. Sasi.
Written September 5, 2014
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Salve, per andare al doi suthep temple è necessario fare trekking o si va trasportati?
Written July 2, 2018
Hi There
I am looking for a Tour Organizer for my trip to Chiang Mai.
I will be arriving at my hotel on the 1st of May.
I would like to book a a couple of tours as I am only in Chiang Mai for 2 days,
How would I be able to arrange to meet you at my hotel to discuss the tours I would like to do. :)
Written January 6, 2016
Mi piacerebbe sapere il programma dettagliato di questa escursione di un giorno a Chiang Mai a 1200 Bt e se è possibile prenotarla dall'Italia!!
Written October 14, 2015
L'escursione di un giorno fatta ad agosto comprendeva una prima tappa ad una farm dove vengono allevate farfalle e coltivate orchidee. La seconda tappa era ad un villaggio dove sono presenti rappresentanti delle varie tribù thai, tra cui le famose long nek. In alternativa si può visitare un centro di produzione della carta. Successivamente siamo andati ad un campo di addestramento elefanti. Qui si può dare da mangiare agli elefanti e fare un giro sul loro dorso. Dopo aver pranzato siamo partiti per un'oretta di trekking nella foresta con arrivo ad una cascata dove siamo rimasti una ventina di minuti a fare il bagno. Tornei indietro, e quindi dopo aver camminato ancora per un'ora, abbiamo fatto rafting su un fiume per una mezz'ora. Teoricamente doveva esserci anche il rafting su zattere di bambù ma le condizioni del fiume non lo hanno permesso.
Il tour è organizzato bene. Vengono a prenderti direttamente alla guest house verso le 8.30 e si torna verso le 18.00. Il pranzo e il trasporto sono inclusi nel prezzo. Il nostro gruppo era di 8 persone di varie nazionalità.
Per i vestiti non è servito nulla di tecnico. Per le scarpe vanno benissimo quelle da tennis tanto il percorsopercorso nella foresta non è difficile.
Per la prenotazione noi abbiamo fatto direttamente lì il giorno prima.
Written October 15, 2015
Qualcuno ha fatto qualche trekking con loro con bambini?
Written February 22, 2015
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