Roavi · Bangkok
Become a Local Friend in Bangkok
Go out, explore your city and meet travellers from everywhere. Your days, your rate.
Go out
A sunset, music, a rooftop
Explore
Your city, the way only you know it
Meet people
A coffee with someone from abroad
Your terms
Your days, your rate
In public places · Respectful · Platonic only · Earnings vary by city and demand
How it works
Get started in
3 simple steps
- 1
Create your free profile
Tell travellers about yourself, your interests and your city. Stop and come back any time; your words are saved.
- 2
Show what makes you special
Your favourite places, three real photos, and how you'd like to spend time. A person on our team reads every profile.
- 3
Connect with travellers
When you're ready, reply to travellers and agree on a plan that works for you: the day, the hours, your rate.
Example profileMarta$22/hr
Lisbon, Portugal
Usually replies within 1 hour
I'm great for
Speaks
Portuguese · English · Spanish
Send a messageExample profile · this is how yours will look
Real people. Real places.
See what Local Friends share
From hidden beaches to local food spots, Local Friends show travellers the side of their city that isn't in the guidebooks.
Explore more profilesWhat someone who lives in Bangkok can save a visitor
Bangkok is a city where almost everything a visitor is offered on the street has a second, lower price they will never be quoted. The tuk-tuk with the suspiciously good deal, the closed-today temple that isn't closed, the boat ticket at four times the fare on the pier board. Meanwhile the food that makes people love this city is at a stall with no English sign, and the river and canal network that beats the traffic is unreadable from outside.
What you can show
- 1
The real fare, the real price, the real answer. The tuk-tuk that offers a whole afternoon for almost nothing is going to a gem shop, and no guidebook says it as plainly as you can.
- 2
The stall your family actually eats at. Not the one on the list — the one on your soi, at the hour it's good.
- 3
How the city actually connects: BTS, MRT, the Chao Phraya express boats, the khlong boat, and when a motorbike taxi beats all of them. Getting this right is the difference between four sights and one.
- 4
Wat Pho or the Grand Palace at eight in the morning instead of noon, dressed correctly so nobody is turned away at the gate, and which of the night markets is still for locals.
This page is written for people who live in Bangkok and are Thai nationals. Tour guiding in Thailand is a licensed profession under the Tourism Business and Guide Act, and it is one of the occupations reserved for Thai nationals — and any foreigner earning income in Thailand needs a work permit tied to their employer. Roavi is not licensed guiding, but if you are not Thai, get proper advice about your own work-permit position before you take paid work of any kind here.
Travelers are looking for locals in Bangkok
Be one of the first Local Friends they meet. Build your profile today and get discovered by travelers heading to Bangkok.
See the Bangkok pageWorth reading first
Questions?
Everything you need to know
The questions people ask before they join, answered plainly.
Ask Roa or the teamRoavi is not licensed tour guiding: you are not selling a tour product with a fixed itinerary, you are being paid for your time as someone who lives here and accompanies a visitor. Licensed guiding — leading paying groups as a professional guide — is regulated under the Tourism Business and Guide Act and does require a licence. If what you want to do is that, get the licence; if you want to show someone your city, this is a different thing.
Yes. You decide who you reply to and when you're free. Many people do weekends or a few evenings. Bangkok gets a lot of short stays and a lot of stopovers, so there is usually a window that suits both sides — and a visitor on a one-day layover with a flight out that evening is a very common message.
Yes. Creating and publishing your Local Friend profile is completely free — there’s no cost to appear in the directory or receive messages.
No — and that is the point. A Local Friend is not a tour guide: you spend time with someone as yourself, you do not run a tour. Professional guiding is a licensed profession in a number of countries; spending an afternoon with someone is not. And if you do hold a guiding licence, put it on your profile — travellers look for it.
Yes. You set your own hourly rate, and you can change it anytime from your profile.
Yes. You choose your days and times on your profile, reply only when it suits you, and can pause your profile whenever you like.
No. You need to be 18 or over, live in the city, and add three real photos of yourself. If you know where you’d take a friend, you have what it takes.
No. Roavi doesn’t process payments or take a commission on what you arrange with a traveler.
No. You decide who you respond to, and you can say no to anyone, for any reason.
No. Verification is optional. It’s completed through Stripe Identity and adds a verified status to your profile, but your profile, visibility, and messaging stay free either way.
Travelers message you directly through Roavi once they find your profile in the directory. You choose whether and how to reply.
Yes. You can pause your visibility or delete your profile at any time from your account settings.
Ready to share your world?
Become a Local Friend today
It's free. It could be the start of something amazing.
18+ · Every profile is read by a person before it goes live