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 | Bangkok Scams and Conmen Reviews | Tips 1 - 10 of 38 |  |
 | |  |  | Scams and Conmen: Samboondee Seafood is NOT Somboon Seafood! | Tip Rating:  |  |  | |  |
Bangkok's infamous Somboon Seafood actually place a warning on their webpage that "there have been groups of people who have used names similar to Somboon Seafood as a scam to confuse and mislead both Thai and foreign customers into eating at their restaurants". Sadly, I only learnt about this upon my return to Singapore and naively trusted my taxi driver to bring me to the correct place. He brought us to Somboondee Seafood, which was located in a very off-city location, and told us that this was one of the branches of Somboon Seafood. He explained that he brought us here because the one in the city is always very crowded. For various reasons, my brain and that of my compansion's, was half-functioning that day and both of us actually believed him. My friend and I did suspect that something was wrong when we found the restaurant being totally deserted and the menu prices seemingly very high by Bangkok's standard. Most of the dishes starts from 600 baht which are like up to 10 times the prices of the same stuff in the city. As it was our last evening in Bangkok before our return to Singapore, and it was already rather late at 9.30pm, we decided to give it a try anyway (told you my brain was not functioning properly) and ended up ordering a Pad Thai, Curry Crab and a Vegetable dish that landed us a bill of over 2,300 baht for just 2 person! Alas, it was definitely not a lucky day for me as I ran into another scam after leaving the restaurant, this time involving a local policeman.
The food at Samboodee Seafood was ridiculously overpriced, even by Singapore's standards, considering the rotten location, very dated decor, and bad ambience. At that price, I could practically have a grand feast consisting of at least 5 different dishes that include crabs, prawns and venison at Singapore's own Jumbo Seafood, which serves far superior fare than the mediocre fare at Samboondee Seafood. The real Somboon Seafood outlets are located in busy locations and are always perennially packed with people. Somboon Seafood serves far better fare at prices that are actually less than a quarter that of Somboondie Seafood. So, if you landed yourself in a restaurant that is not spelt exactly like "Somboon" and is deserted, please cut your losses by alighting from the cab and take another cab Just get out from the cab and take another cab to the real Somboon Seafood Restaurant. I hope my stupid mistake can serve as a good warning to other travellers.
Again, just get out from the cab and take another cab to the real Somboon Seafood Restaurant. No point making the crooks' day and encouraging them to con other people by letting them earn your money. Too bad, the taxis in Bangkok are not that well regulated or you should note the errant taxi driver's license plate and file a complaint or something. Leave a Comment
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| | | | Scams and Conmen: Fake gems | Tip Rating:   | | | | |
We went to the palace as one man stopped us. He said it was absolutely prohibited to go inside at that time, it was only for thai people/ religious people. We could come back at three o'clock. He showed us on the map some nice things we could visit in the meantime. He also mentioned 'Thai export'; a place that is normally closed but now was open. There you can buy al kinds of stones with a lot of discount. He stopped a tuc tuc driver and he brougt us to all nice places for only 30 bhat! We also went to a temple and there was this young guy of our age. We sat down and talked with him. He askes us which places we were going to visit. Because the other guy had written all the things in our map, this guy knew exactly what was meant by all the circles. So he also notices 'Thai Export' and was very enthusiastic about that. He asked us if we had heard anything about it in the news. Only 7 days per year, the government opens this shop for tourists, while normally is impossible for normal people to visit over there. So we were lucky. There were tourists from all over the world coming especially for these 7 days!! I was very excited as we left the temple, but my boyfriend saw the scam. He explained to me that the first man, the tuc tuc driver and this guy were all in it together. But it was briliantly put together!! It is very convincing, but good we figured it out, we were still on time to go to the palace, as ofcourse it was not closed at all! (we just came to the wroing entrance)
We came out of it better. We saw a lot of things for only 30 bhat. Something we could not have managed ourselves. But we still had to go to the shop. So I pretended to be sick. When I came in, the first thing I asked, was the toilet. After that they immediately let us leave. When they know that you know, they're not going to waste any more time on you. So play dumb during the whole tour, and when you get to the shop let them show a little bit that you know. Leave a Comment
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| | | | Scams and Conmen: Watch out for scams... | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Thailand is well known for its scams (especially Bangkok), so there's a fairly long list of warnings, but if you have your wits about you, you will be fine. Some things you should be aware of - If you take a taxi in Bangkok, make sure the meter is on! If the taxi driver refuses to put it on, get another taxi. Elsewhere (where metered taxis may not be available), agree a fare before setting off. At the bus stations and airport, make sure you take an official taxi and don't go with a tout, they may rip you off. Don't believe tuk-tuk drivers when they tell you an attraction is closed, they are probably going to try to take you to a shop (from which they collect a commission). This is especially true if they only ask for a cheap fare. If your guidebook tells you an attraction is open and someone tells you it's closed, go check for yourself - the guidebook is probably right! Sometimes drivers will also tell you a guest house is closed or 'dirty', if a different place will pay them commission - if it's somewhere you want to go to, again, it's worth seeing for yourself. There are lots of fakes about - fake labels, fake fabrics (especially silk) and fake gems. Almost everything cheap is a fake or unbranded, but not everything expensive is real, unless you are in a 'reputable' shop (eg the Nike shop in Siam Square is definitely for real!). Take care when buying; one thing to bear in mind is that refunds are *very* hard to get. Also, be especially cautious of anyone who approaches you in the street; chances are that they will be a tout or a con-man; get even more suspicious if they want you to go somewhere with them - if you want to chat, suggest going to somewhere public like a cafe or coffee shop. Gem scams in particular start like this (or with a tuk-tuk ride); you can read all about these at this excellent page at 2bangkok.com. Leave a Comment
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| | | | Scams and Conmen: 'Tourist Guides' | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Beware of people along temples and other tourist areas offering their unsolicited help and advice. Though they may give legitimate locations and places, these people actually want to lead you to a jewelry shop or any other shops for you to buy stuffs, which in turn give them commissions from those shops. To start a conversation, they usually ask questions like from what country you come from or where you are going then telling you that such temple/palace is still closed for some reasons 'til certain time and then tell you to go some other 'tourist' place first. Then they ask you for your map (aggresively, when you are unwilling) and start marking the location and the name of the place on it. They may even call a ride for you (tuktuk) and arrange for a 'fair' fare with the driver. Bottom line, while they may not be dangerous (and convincingly, look kind and helpful enough), they are untrustworthy people hoping to get advantage of you! Several of them are prying for their next victim around Grand Palace and Wat Po with their readily available ballpens and cellphones - maybe to contact the shops that their vicitim is coming. (Lucky me, i insisted on checking for myself whether the Grand Palace and Wat Po are indeed closed, which turned out to be the opposite, before falling to their trap). Leave a Comment
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| | | | Scams and Conmen: ABOUT JEWELRY SCAMS | Tip Rating: | | | | |
ABOUT AVOIDING JEWELRY SCAMS This is the exact reproduction of the original text handed over foreigners when they visit the Bangkok Tourist Bureau located at 17/1 Phra Arthit Road in Bangkok. I am sure it is worth reading it ! "At various tourist spots, particularly monasteries (wat), a number of visitors have been accosted by strangers who persuaded them to shop for gems and jewelry, and thus fell victim to fraudulent business practice. These "strangers" prey on the ignorance and sometimes greed of the innocent tourists. If you should encounter any of the following ploys, it is more than likely a scam is being perpetrated : 1. The intended victim is told that the item he buys can be resold at a large profit because (a) the jewelry item's cost will rise, (b) it is being discounted, or (c) it is a wise investment 2. The victim is taken to a jewelry shop specializing in gemstones. 3. The shop has no credit card machines of its own but has to use the facilities of other shops. 4. The sales pitch is made in a monastery, on the street or by Tuk-Tuk drivers. If you are not truly knowledgeable about gems and jewelry, to obtain them for the purposes of investments, speculation or reselling would be a sure way to losing your money. So, when in doubt about buying jewelry, please obtain further information from Tourism Authority of Thailand or the Tourist Police. Tel. 1155/694 14 60/678 68 00-9" Leave a Comment
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