Hotels and guesthouses across Southeast Asia often push private drivers as the default option for getting around, partly because they take a referral commission. For the vast majority of routes, cheaper options work just as well.
Grab covers more than most travelers realize
The Grab app operates across most of Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Malaysia's major cities and towns, with fixed upfront pricing that avoids the negotiation and overcharging risk of hailing a random tuk-tuk or taxi on the street.
Local buses are underused by tourists
Public buses between cities are dramatically cheaper than a private driver for the same route — often a tenth of the cost — and while they're slower and less comfortable, for budget travelers with flexible schedules the savings are hard to argue with.
When a private driver actually makes sense
A shared driver genuinely earns its cost for remote, multi-stop day trips where public transport doesn't reach — certain rural temple routes or waterfall clusters, for example. Split the cost with 2–3 other travelers from your hostel to bring the per-person price down further.
Takeaway: Default to Grab or public buses for anything between fixed points, and reserve a private driver specifically for multi-stop rural day trips where it's genuinely the only practical option.