This document will present my experiences on the observation tours with Hotelbeds Co., Ltd while I was working as the trainee.

1. A Report on Observation Tour of Temple & Grand Palace Tour,
Khong Tour, Temples in Bangkok Tour and
Damnoen Saduak Floating Market Tour (Aug 16th - 25th , 2012 )
Introduction
An Operations Department is one of the most important parts of every tour company
which operates a tour for clients from different regions worldwide. Without the operations
department a tour company cannot even run the company because there will be no
department to create the tours for clients. Moreover, the tour companies that don’t operate the
tours by themselves are just called the travel agents not a tour company at all. Therefore, the
Operations Department is just like the heart of the Tour Company or Tour Operator
Company.
Regarding my internship with Pacific World (Thailand) Ltd. as a trainee student of the
Operations Department for 3 months, I can say exactly that I extremely learned a lot of things
that I didn’t think I could experience them from my classes or even from anywhere else
because the department is separated into many branches for instance, transfer, fleet, vehicle
assignment, excursion, roundtrip and document branches. So, I had a nice chance to
experience many interesting and different tasks every day of my working hours. As my
statement above about the important of the Operations Department which meant that I have
worked with the core part of the Pacific World (Thailand) Ltd and I got to know the working
procedures of the department and how the department launched its tasks successfully.
Amazingly, at the end of my internship period I could have a wonderful opportunity
to experience and observe tours of the company which were half-day and full-day tours in
Bangkok and Damnoen Saduak floating market and others. Furthermore, my internship has
not been very successful, fruitful and effective like this without the kindly opportunity
offered by the Operations supervisor and staffs. I would not have a chance to experience how
the real tourist guides from different languages ran and took responsibilities on their works
without the department supports. Finally I didn’t know how I can explain my appreciations
and gratefulness on every support that the department nicely gave me; however, I would
abide by the rules and policies of the company as well as try to do my best on every job that I
was assigned to boost the department’s and the company’s works in return.
B. A. (Tourism Industry) International College, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University
Tel: + 66 (0) 2 1601200 Fax: +66 (0) 2 1601199
www.ssruic.com 1

2. Objectives of the Observation Tour
i) To observe and experience the working characteristics, techniques and styles of each
tourist guide.
ii) To learn about the working procedures and processes of a tourist guides from different
languages.
iii) To get to know about the routings and the tourist attractions of each tour program.
iv) To have an opportunity to experience new working environments, meet new interesting
people from tourist attraction sites and build a good relationship with the local suppliers.
v) To have a chance to confront the problems and to get to know how to solve each
different problem.
vi) To share the working experiences with tourist guides as I am a tourism student who is
looking forward to being a tourist guide in the near future.
Observation Tour
No. Date Guide / Sites Time Program
1 Aug15 , 2012 G.Somphop/ the 08.00hrs. At Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel
temple of the 08.10hrs Depart for the temple of the Emerald
Emerald Buddha Buddha or and Grand Palace
,Grand Palace & 08.30hrs. Arrive at the Emerald Buddha temple
Chaophaya River 09.30hrs. Visit the Grand Palace
10.30hrs. Depart for the Reclining Buddha temple
10.40hrs. Arrive at the Reclining Buddha temple
11.30hrs. Depart for Tha Tien Pier to take Khong
Tour
12.45hrs. Arrive at Chatrium Hotel
12.50hrs. Depart for River City Pier
13.10hrs. Arrive at the pier and go back to the
office
14.30hrs. Arrive at the office with safety
2 Aug17 , 2012 G.Somphop/ Local 06.50hrs. At Aloft Hotel, Sukhumvit soi 11
Market (Talad 07.00hrs. Depart for local market in Samut Sakhon
Romhoop) , Orchid 08.30hrs. Arrive at the local market
Farm, Damnoen 09.00hrs. Depart for Orchid Farm
Saduak floating 09.20hrs. Arrive at the Orchid Farm
B. A. (Tourism Industry) International College, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University
Tel: + 66 (0) 2 1601200 Fax: +66 (0) 2 1601199
www.ssruic.com 2

3. market, Rose 09.45hrs. Depart for Damnoen Saduak Floating
Garden and Market
Suvarnabhumi 10.00hrs. Arrive at the Floating Market
Airport 11.30hrs. Depart for Rose Garden to have lunch
12.45hrs. Arrive at the Rose Garden
14.15hrs. Depart for Suvarnabhumi Airport
15.50hrs. Arrive at the Airport
16.00hrs. G. take care of guest to depart for Phuket
16.05hrs. At the first floor, gate 4 with airport
representatives
18.30hrs. Welcome guests of flight no.TG288 and
take guests to the van by my own self
18.50hrs. Wait for the VIP guests of flight 3K515
that would land at 18.10 hrs. but the flight
delayed then I needed to wait the guests
21.45hrs. The guests from flight 3K515 already
took van
22.00hrs. Get back to my home
3 Aug19 , 2012 G.IM/ the Orchid 06.00hrs. At Baiyok Sky Hotel
Farm and Damnoen 06.30hrs. Depart for the Century Park Hotel
Saduak floating 06.40hrs. Arrive at the Century Park Hotel
market Floating 06.50hrs. Depart for Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel
Market 07.10hrs. Arrive at Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel
07.30hrs. Depart for Orchid Farm
08.15hrs. Arrive at the Orchid Farm
08.45hrs. Depart for Damnoen Saduak Floating
Market
09.00hrs. Arrive at the Floating Market
11.05hrs. Depart for RTC, Carving Wood Shop
11.15hrs. Arrive at the RTC shop
11.45hrs. Depart for Bangkok
12.50hrs. Arrive in Bangkok
B. A. (Tourism Industry) International College, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University
Tel: + 66 (0) 2 1601200 Fax: +66 (0) 2 1601199
www.ssruic.com 3

4. 13.15hrs. At Royal Orchid Sheraton, the first drop
off for guests
13.45hrs. At Baiyok Sky Hotel
13.50hrs. Get back to my home
4 Aug25 , 2012 G.Buncha/ the 07.30hrs At Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel
Golden Buddha, the 08.15hrs. Depart for Grand China Princess Hotel
reclining Buddha, 08.20hrs. Arrive at Grand China Princess Hotel
Marble temples and 08.25hrs. Depart for the Golden Buddha Temple
Gems Gallery 08.30hrs. Arrive at the Golden Buddha Temple
09.00hrs. Depart for the Reclining Buddha Temple
09.30hrs. At the Reclining Buddha Temple
10.05hrs. Depart for the Marble Temple
10.30hrs. At the Marble Temple
10.45hrs. Depart for Gems Gallery
11.00hrs. Arrive at Gems Gallery
12.05hrs. Escort the guest to Royal Orchid Sheraton
Hotel by my own self
13.30hrs. Arrive at the Hotel
14.00hrs. Get back to my home
Problems and Solutions
As far as I am concerned, I have experienced the problems every day of my
observation as the following statements. For the first day, I had the difficulty about the
language when I observed the Emerald Buddha temple and Grand palace and Khong tours
that led by a German tourist guide. I have not experience the German before therefore, I was
really confused about the guide’s interpretation and explanation. However, I tried to solve the
problem by paying my attention of the guide’s body languages and tried to guess about what
the guide saying were. Surprisingly my language problem gave me an idea that Thai, English
and Basic Japanese were not enough for me to work in the tourism field at all. I still really
need to learn more languages. Therefore, when I have time I will not hesitate to get to know
new languages. Additionally the last problem for the first day was about the guide took the
wrong boat to run Khong Tour therefore, all tourists had to get off the first boat that they took
then waited for the right boat to pick them up. Fortunately it took only 10 minutes to wait for
B. A. (Tourism Industry) International College, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University
Tel: + 66 (0) 2 1601200 Fax: +66 (0) 2 1601199
www.ssruic.com 4

5. the right boat. For the solution of this problem, I personally thought that first of all the guide
needs to make sure that he takes the tourists to the right boat before letting the tourists get in
the boat by asking about the name of the boat, service of the boat, and the destination of the
boat or maybe the guide can try to contact the Operations office to be sure about the boat
supplier because sometimes the tourists might be upset with the guide’s errors.
Concerning to second day, there was a few problems which were the vomit of tourist
that I could experience on the way back to Bangkok therefore, the tourist guide could solve
this problem very well by providing that tourist some liquid medicine, Thai herb as well as
cold tower in order to relieve the vomit. Secondly I experienced the delayed flight so, I really
needed to take more time to wait for the VIP guests that I was assigned to accommodate
them. Actually the flight would arrive at 18.10 hrs but unfortunately, it delayed. Therefore,
the exact arrival time was approximately 21.20 hrs. For the solution of the second problem, I
solved it by waiting until the flight arrived then I could get back home because I really
needed to make sure that the guests that I was assigned to take responsibility on them could
get the van comfortably, smoothly and safely. In addition, I have experienced one more
problem that I had to welcome and lead the guests to the van by my own self because there
were only 2 airport representatives at that time and they both had to take care of other flights
therefore, I was willing to assist the airport representatives by taking care of the guests from
the domestic flight. As for the solution, I could solve this problem successfully and
effectively because I could get the guests and lead them to the van with safety and I always
tried to make them get comfortable with my first time of working instead of airport
representative. I ran my working procedures from asking about the guests’ safety and comfort
with the flight, their original country, their previous trip, their interests to travel in Bangkok
as well as I had to inform the guests about their departure service such as service date, pick
up time, pick up point. Moreover, I seriously had to inform my guests that if they needed
some help or had any emergent requirements then just called directly to the Operations Office
in Bangkok.
For the third day, surprisingly I could experience only one problem which was about
the late woke up of some tourists according to the pickup time was too early for the tourist.
The reason for early pick up was that a tourist guide had to pick the tourists up from many
hotels to visit the Damnoen Saduak floating market Floating Market; therefore, those tourists
who came late had to take taxi to get in the coach at the last pick up point in order to be with
the group. Regarding the solution of the above problem, the tourists who came late had to
spend some money on taxi fare because it was their fault to wakes up so late. However, being
a tourist guide totally had to understand about the tourists’ behaviors and characteristics so
that he / she could run their tours smoothly without any complaints.
Undoubtedly, I finally experienced the problem that I could not even imagine that this
problem totally led me such a great chance to work as a tourist guide for a short period of
time. According to the tourist guide had another duty to take tourists to visit the Grand Palace
B. A. (Tourism Industry) International College, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University
Tel: + 66 (0) 2 1601200 Fax: +66 (0) 2 1601199
www.ssruic.com 5

6. in the afternoon that he had to pick the tourists up at hotel in Sukhumvit area; therefore, when
he just asked me to escort the tourists from Gems gallery to the Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel.
At the time that I had to take care of my tourist was one of the most exciting moments for me
because I didn’t even know that I would have to accommodate the tourists; however, I just
tried to do my best by being confident to speak out as well as try to make my tourists felt
comfortable with their trip.
Experiences and Benefits
As far as I am concerned, I personally actually think that the more I can experience
the problems, the more I can improve myself and I can totally learn how to deal with each
different problem. Therefore, working with the problem is always the best way to learn and
also learning from the mistake is the best teacher that I can even think about. According to
my opportunity to observe the company’s tours, I could encounter many experiences and
benefits that I could not even think that I could get them in classes or in the office as the
following lists;
i) I could experience about the tourists’ behaviors and characteristics because after
providing the services in order to impress the tourists, so the service provider is supposed to
get to know his/her clients or guests first. Besides, what clients like or don’t like is one of the
most important thing a good tourist guide supposes to know in order to satisfy the clients.
Therefore, working as a tourist guide is not that hard but the tourist guide is supposed to be a
service-minded person who is willing to take good care of the clients, to comfort them as well
as to maintain the safety of the trip.
ii) I could experience about working procedures of a tourist guides from different languages
and the characteristics of each tourist guide is as important as the characteristic of clients
because people always have their own styles to provide a service as long as they can keep the
happiness and enjoyment of clients.
iii) It was really beneficial for me to get to know the routings of each tour as well as some
new popular tourist attractions of the company then I can take all the knowledge and
experiences that I got for the observation to enhance my future career more or less.
iv) I completely could experience new atmosphere, meet new interesting people from each
different sites as well as to create the relationship with local suppliers to benefit my future
career. Moreover, working out of the office could support my interests as I wanted to work as
a tourist guide or operations officer.
v) I got to know how to solve some problems that I have experienced while I was working
out of the office so that when I will have to experience the same problem in the future then I
will absolutely know how to deal with each problem.
vi) I got to know more about the truths of being tourist guide because they shared some ideas
and experience with me. Additionally some tourist guides were so opened to me therefore, I
totally had the ideas forward my future career as a tourist guide.
B. A. (Tourism Industry) International College, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University
Tel: + 66 (0) 2 1601200 Fax: +66 (0) 2 1601199
www.ssruic.com 6

7. Summary
To summarize, I can say exactly that the observation tour gave me a lot of things and
the tour made me look forward about the reality of being a tourist guide because sometimes
working as a tourist guide isn’t beautiful as I thought or even isn’t tough that I have imagined
about. Every experience and benefit totally exceeded my expectations. Moreover, every
working hour with the real tourist guides totally excited me and gave me more confident to
work in this field because all the things that I have obtained just emphasized me to be so sure
that tourism industry is a kind of challenging industry that I really wanted to work for.
B. A. (Tourism Industry) International College, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University
Tel: + 66 (0) 2 1601200 Fax: +66 (0) 2 1601199
www.ssruic.com 7

8. Appendices
B. A. (Tourism Industry) International College, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University
Tel: + 66 (0) 2 1601200 Fax: +66 (0) 2 1601199
www.ssruic.com 8

9. Photos of the first day
At the Emerald Buddha Temple & Khong Tour
B. A. (Tourism Industry) International College, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University
Tel: + 66 (0) 2 1601200 Fax: +66 (0) 2 1601199
www.ssruic.com 9

10. Photos of the second day
At Rom Hoop Market & Damnoen Saduak Floating Market
B. A. (Tourism Industry) International College, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University
Tel: + 66 (0) 2 1601200 Fax: +66 (0) 2 1601199
www.ssruic.com 10

11. Photos of the third day
At the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market (English guide)
B. A. (Tourism Industry) International College, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University
Tel: + 66 (0) 2 1601200 Fax: +66 (0) 2 1601199
www.ssruic.com 11

12. Photos of the fourth day
At the Golden Buddha, Reclining Buddha & Marble temples
B. A. (Tourism Industry) International College, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University
Tel: + 66 (0) 2 1601200 Fax: +66 (0) 2 1601199
www.ssruic.com 12