Bangkok Tuk Tuk Night Tour Review and Tips for Avoiding Scams

Tuk tuks are one of the most iconic ways to get around Bangkok, but these days they’re just as famous for scams and ripoffs. So, when I found a top rated tuk tuk tour, I had one question. Is this just another overpriced tourist trap?

To find out, I booked a private ride on Bangkok’s highest rated tuk tuk tour. And what I discovered actually surprised me. In this video, I’ll show you exactly what we saw during our 4 hour night tour, including the secret temples most tourists never visit, local night markets where we were the only foreigners there, and Bangkok’s most iconic sites all lit up at night.

But most importantly, I’ll answer the one question that matters. Is it actually worth the money? And should you do this Bangkok tuk tuk tour on your trip to Bangkok?

Booking a Bangkok Tuk Tuk Night Tour

But first, we will head across the river to meet our guide. The tour kicks off in Bangkok’s historic quarter over in the Thonburi area. Now, most visitors don’t actually stay over here, so chances are that you’ll need to make your way across town to get to the meeting point.

Make sure to take the metro because Bangkok traffic can be horrendous at this time, and you don’t want to miss the start of your trip. It was here we met our guide Noon and our driver Mr. Noi.

My name is Noon. I work as a tour guide and I also work for Xeek since 2018. And I really enjoyed doing this, the best tour at night.

And what are we going to be seeing today?

So today we’re going to test and see a lot of lane for the night light at the night time and a lot of the landmark obt.

A Local Bangkok Night Market

We then hit the road to our first stop, whizzing through Bangkok traffic.

So, uh, this is our first stop and it’s going to be a very, very local market here. I’ll take you here because we also want to support the local. Yeah.

This was an interesting start to the tour. This market is by no means a famous night market and had a much smaller local Thai feel to it, which really felt off the beaten path. In fact, I think we were the only tourists visiting this night market this night.

I’ve lived in Thailand for over 6 years at this point, so I’ve eaten most Thai snacks before, but I learned a lot about some of the dishes that I tried before. But if this was your first trip to Thailand and you did this right at the start, I think it would do wonders to ease any worries you might have about eating Thai street food.

Instead of wondering what’s safe, you’d be encouraged to dive in and try new things. And even if you’re already adventurous with food, it’s really useful to have someone guide you towards the hidden gems that you’ve probably never heard of before. Here we ate things like fried chicken, grilled meats, dumplings, and some coconut desserts, as well as a few other things.

The market itself is called Its Sarap Night Market, and it only has 10 Google reviews. So, yeah, it’s definitely not on the typical tourist trail.

A Hidden Bangkok Temple and Turtle Garden

After about 30 minutes, we headed to our next stop, which was another hidden gem. This time, one of the city’s hidden temples.

When I think of Bangkok temples, sites like Wat Arun, the reclining Buddha, and the Grand Palace come to mind. But this temple is a far less explored hidden gem. Its most important feature is its white chedi that sits in the middle of the temple. And the best part is we actually got to explore inside the tower.

One of the best parts of this tour is that you have a guide who is an expert in the local culture and is able to explain things in an easy to follow way. For example, when I’ve been in Buddhist temples before, I’ve always seen people sticking gold flakes on images of the Buddha. And I’ve always wondered what that’s about.

Our guide Noon was able to explain this as a way of making merit and showing devotion, with the gold symbolizing purity and respect. I think if you’re only visiting Thailand for a short time, doing a guided tour like this would be like a crash course on Thai and Buddhist culture that would give you a much deeper understanding than if you just walked around on your own.

And then right next to the temple was something I definitely wasn’t expecting: a garden filled with over 100 turtles. At night, they were just roaming around the temple grounds and we even got to feed a few of them. Honestly, I think every temple should come with a turtle garden like this.

So, we’re here now at Wat Prayoon and this is actually a temple that I’ve never been to before. So, one of the cool things about this tour so far is it’s taken me places that I’ve never been, even though I’ve lived here for many years.

Bangkok Landmarks After Dark

But this tour doesn’t just take you to the hidden gems. The next few stops are to some of the most iconic spots at night. The next stop was at the Giant Swing and the nearby Wat Suthat.

Since I live in Bangkok, this is the landmark that I’d seen many times before, but I’d never really stopped to question what it is. But our guide explained that it really did used to be used as a giant swing during important festivals, but it had to be stopped because it was far too dangerous. I mean, I certainly wouldn’t want to fall off this thing.

After that, we made a stop at a local Thai restaurant. And before you think I’m spoiling the whole trip by showing you every single stop, don’t worry. Our guide explained that the route changes from tour to tour. So, it’s unlikely you’ll get the exact same experience we did. And in fact, they usually go to a well-known Pad Thai spot instead of this place.

This place was good, though, and it was nice to stop to grab a beer and spend 30 minutes in the air conditioning after being outside in the Bangkok heat. But the next stop is to one of the most famous in the city and it’ll give you one of the coolest photos from your entire Thailand trip.

So the next stop is to the Grand Palace. And even though this is one of the most famous sites in the city, it’s a completely different feel to it coming at night. You can see that it’s lit up. It’s not full of tourists, so it kind of gives you a completely different perspective even if you’ve been here during the day already.

One of the highlights of the night was when we pulled up right in front of the Grand Palace to get that classic tuk tuk shot. Now this wasn’t just a quick photo stop. Noon and our driver Mr. Noi clearly had this down to an art. They pulled out portable lighting gear, positioned the tuk tuk perfectly, and made sure we walked away with photos that actually look professional.

Wat Arun and the Flower Market

It’s little touches like this that made the experience feel a step above just hiring a random tuk tuk driver. By the way, the company running this tour is called Xeek. They’re known for having the best tuk tuk tours in Bangkok. And this one in particular is their Bangkok by Night Tour, which is a top rated and award winning Bangkok tour.

I even asked Noon directly, why should someone choose this tour over just exploring Bangkok on their own?

This tuk tuk tour is uh very suitable for people who come to Thailand or back for the first time as well. But for people who come here so many time, it’s also a very fun tour and also you learn a lot about our culture, how we eat, how we mingle with people and also you see the beautiful landmark at night time, which is very important because it’s not as hot as during the day.

Riding around this area at night is really cool because you get to see some of the busiest tourist attractions in Thailand in a much more peaceful setting without the crowds. And it was just a short ride away to our next stop, the Chao Phraya River, where we got to see an epic view of the riverside temple, Wat Arun. Personally, I think this temple is even more beautiful at night than it is during the day.

Even though in this case, our view of the temple was obstructed by a river cruise that had pulled up in front so their guests could get photos with the temple, too. But Bangkok is home to some truly unique marketplaces. And the next stop is to one of the coolest.

Pak Khlong Talat is a night market with a twist. Whereas most night markets are focused on cheap food, beers, and souvenirs, this is Bangkok’s 24 hour flower market. So why would you need a 24 hour flower market? Well, because flowers are such an essential part of Thai daily life, and they’re used constantly for temple offerings, spirit houses, weddings, funerals, and hotel or restaurant decorations. So demand never really stops. Although you can visit during the day, the flower market really comes alive at night because the flowers are harvested during the day and arrive at the market at night when they’re at their freshest. Apparently, the busiest time of this market is between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. when wholesalers and monks are queuing up to get the flowers ready for the next day.

Yaowarat Road at Night

The flower market is one of those places that most people don’t have on the Bangkok bucket list, but is a fascinating place to visit. From here though, the vibe changes completely because our next stop is one of the most iconic and most hectic streets in all of Bangkok.

We’ve now made it to one of the final stops on the trip and this is one of the most famous streets in the whole of Bangkok. It’s Yaowarat Road, also known as the main street in Chinatown. This is hands down one of the best streets in Bangkok to explore at night.

Yaowarat Road, the heart of Chinatown, completely transforms into darkness with glowing neon lights and non stop energy. The main draw here is the street food. There are multiple Michelin Guide recommended street food stands, and each one is delicious.

Here you can expect to find traditional Thai snacks along with some more creative delicacies that you can’t find anywhere else in the country. It’s also pretty crazy to see signs for things like bird’s nest soup and shark fin soup, which are Thai Chinese delicacies.

We stopped at a roadside spot for a famous Thai dessert, mango sticky rice, and it was absolutely delicious. Chinatown was also the perfect place to grab some iconic night shots. The glowing signs and neon chaos make for a backdrop that looks straight out of Blade Runner.

From here, we walked to the end of Yaowarat Road and that’s where our tour wrapped up before being dropped off back at our place for the night.

Is the Bangkok Tuk Tuk Tour Worth It

All right, so should you actually take this tour? Well, if you’ve ever wanted to ride a tuk tuk in Bangkok without getting ripped off or taking on some shady detour, this is the way to do it.

Normally, I don’t take tuk tuks in Bangkok, and for good reason. It’s usually overpriced, and you end up going just a short distance anyway. But by taking this tour, everything was prepaid and pre arranged, so there’s zero need to haggle, stress, or worry about scams. And we were riding for nearly 4 hours, zipping through different parts of the city, so you definitely get your money’s worth.

But there were some other advantages that I wasn’t expecting. First off, this tour covered a lot of ground. We visited more places in one night than most tourists cover in three days. We covered some of the best spots in Thonburi, Riverside, and Chinatown, so you really get a feel of what different parts of the city are like.

And even though some of the spots like the Grand Palace and Chinatown are popular places to visit, visiting at night gives you a completely different feel for them. The Grand Palace, for example, is much more peaceful without tourists and when it is lit up at night. By being a nighttime tour, this also means that you avoid the heavy traffic that the city is known for. And the heat is that little bit more manageable, too.

But probably the coolest aspect was that it took you to some spots that are off the beaten path that most tourists never see. I mean, there were places that we visited that I had never even heard of, even after 6 years of living in the city. Wat Prayoon was stunning, and I had never even heard of the turtle garden before this tour.

Our guide was awesome and was able to explain a lot of the historical and cultural aspects that we were seeing. If you want a crash course on temples and Buddhist culture and Thai history at the start of your Thailand trip, this is a great way to do it. And let’s not forget about the food. Starting the evening at a local night market was a great intro to Thailand food. And if you’re nervous about eating Thai street food, having a local guide point out what’s safe and what’s tasty can make all the difference for the rest of your trip.

What Could Be Improved

But what could be improved? If there’s one thing that could be improved here, it’s that the pacing seemed a little bit off. We did spend perhaps a little too long in some spots earlier in the trip, which left less time to explore Yaowarat Road.

This is one of the busiest and most interesting streets in the whole country, so more time here would have been well spent. If you do this tour, I would consider hanging around afterwards in the Chinatown area and continuing to explore the area.

And obviously, the focus here is more on food and food culture in Thailand. So, I think you need to decide in advance what you’re most interested in learning about. Is it history and culture or is it about food? And if you’re leaning more into culture, I think this is the best one you can do. And if you’re leaning more into food, perhaps there are other options you can take.

That being said, the same company, Xeek, runs a tuk tuk food tour, so it is actually possible to get the best of both worlds here.