| Scams and Conmen tips and photos posted by real travelers and Bangkok locals. • 14 Photos
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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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I know this is classic but I'm always surprised to see how many people still don't know about this trick. If the tuk tuk driver tell you that "Today is a special promotion from government" and he would take you around for very 'cheap price' It's all lie. Government never had such special promotions organized with Tuk Tuk drivers at all. (What they're tried was to ask them favor to be honest and not cheating tourists which apparently didn't really work that well)
They might tell you that a place you want to go (temples, palaces, etc) is close for 'repair' today. Just don't trust a driver. Even it might really close some days (which didn't happen so often) A good driver would never try to bring you to other places instead but just telling you that "sorry it is close today" and leaves (which,how can he know?? Even I live not far from Grand Palace I never know if today it's close or open)
And don't buy anything in Jewelry shops they bring you in there. Usually jewelry are fake or bad quality but sold overpriced. No matter how they tell you about how much you will earn from selling this in your country. This is always a scam.
Best way is to ask before you jump in taxi or tuk tuk. But if you're already in. And if he's stil taking you somewhere you don't want to. Tell him that you'll report this to police. Or just find the police kiosk around. They'll help you. But this is only for REAL bad cases.
Usualy if you keep say NO. Eventually they'll stop bother you.
That's it. They can't force you to buy things anyway if you're not convinced.
1.Take a bus. It could be fun : )
2. Use meter-taxi only.
or find some local friends to hang out with. Leave a Comment
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Never go to the road outside Grand Palace. There are Thai lady tricksters out there forcing you to feed the pigeons and try to seek money from your pockets. Gem scams seem to have disappeared into the air but there are direct mobile vendors trying to sell Thai hats to you at an exorbitant price.
At least walk quickly to the nearby bus stop and catch a bus to areas near Khao San Road.
Roam at Suan Lum Night Bazaar, which I find it very safe because of the presence of the tourist police. Leave a Comment
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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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A middle-age man, dark tall dress smart with necktie will claimed he is a doctor who works across the road and every morning he comes to pray and he will show us where to go the very cheap Thai local products that are made for export markets (30% discount) This place is hugh and all other department stores only open at 1pm and you can’t do any shopping now. He will show you to a TukTuk (its all a setup) and claimed that he can even bargain and you only pay the TukTuk 40baht. From the Erawan Shrine (that is where I met this) to a place near the National Stadium. The TukTuk will bring you to a building where the signboard says "Thai Local Products" with a banner 30% off. We did not go in. What do you think you get from this place? Lowest quality merchandises, fake gemstones and silk etc etc. I supposed…So...Beware of this con. We realised too late. We was lucky, We only lost 40baht for the transport. We really get mad, I sent my family to MBK, my son and I went back to that place, I wanted to give him a piece of my mind. We were lucky, he was there now with his other con friend (smartly dress too). I shouted at him and I said "Come in here and Swear that you are a doctor””Swear to me that all other Shopping malls opened at 1 pm. I told my son, “get me my camera”. Now he got really really nervous. His friend quickly called him. They jump into a taxi.
NB. Thinking back, I can be stubborn sometime. Never go back to confront these people. You do not know who they are. After all its a learning process we are all going through. Learn from your mistake. Leave a Comment
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PLEASE REMEMBER THIS: YELLOW LICENSE ARE TUKTUK TAXIS AND WHITE LICENSES ARE PRIVATELY-OWNED TUKTUKS. Yellow license tuktuks are regular taxis (there is a TAXI sign on top of their roof), you bargain the fare before you ride them. White license tuktuks are privately-owned, therefore are used mostly by scamers, you also bargain the fare before you ride but they are usually cheaper than regular taxi tuktuks. If you want to check what I'm saying, observe the following when you get to Bangkok: (1) the car-taxi's license color; (2) what color of tuktuk's license the locals ride. I recommend you approach the tuktuk drivers yourself, instead of being talked into using their service by their front-agents. White-licensed tuktuks agents or driver will asked you if you have a map if not they will use their own map. On the map they'll point out tourist attractions and gem/tailor/souvenir shops along the way to the attractions. At this point, the driver will set the fare; you will bargain the fare if you choose to use their service. My experience with the white-licensed tuktuk was some what producted, except for the restaurant. My driver told me first hand that the shops will give him gas coupons, it doesn't matter if I buy or not. With the set fare, your driver will take you to the attractions and wait for you until you are done. If you are hungry, ask your driver to take you to a cheap restaurant or else he will take to an expensive one (expensive is expensive on a Thai's budget, but not on westener's budget, around 10 -15 dollars per dish), also the driver will get some kind of kick-back from the restaurant. Don't be discourage riding tuktuks, they are great to ride and one of the best way to explore Bangkok.
If you realized that you got scamed while riding the tuktuk, pretend you need to stop at a nearby 7-11 store to buy water. When you get off, pay your driver and terminate his service.
Regular taxis. Ask the driver to use the meter.
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Do not--do not--speak with Thais that come up to you in Bangkok that speak perfect English. No matter how friendly they seem, they are usually part of a tuk-tuk scam designed to take you around to useless 'attractions' and ultimately jewelry shops. Do not take a tuk-tuk, they will take you to random locations as part of a commission-scam.
And do not--do not--ever listen when a 'helpful' passerby tells you that the Grand Palace is closed and that you should go view a special temple. It's a bull. And you will just get scammed on the tuk-tuk.
Last but not least, don't ever-ever--get in a tuk-tuk on Bangkok. You don't know where--or with who--you'll end up.
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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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This is a fairly common scam which is active in many parts of South East Asia, you will be approached by someone in the street who may even be posing as a tourist. They, in a friendly manor will ask you some question about where you are from, what your job is and then they will tell you that their daughter or sister is going to study at a university or is moving to your city to work and knows nothing about the place. They will socialise some more to gain your friendship and confidence and then ask you if you could meet their daughter/sister to tell them about your country. Do not agree to meet the girl, I did and they took me out to the suburbs of Bangkok to a persons place and strangely the girl was off shopping, if there really ever was a girl. They cooked me up a lovely lunch and tried all too hard to make me feel like a close friend. One by one they all used lame excuses to leave the table until there was only me and one other man at the table, who started to tell me that he was going to retire within the next five years and that he was short of cash and needed someone to help in a gambling scam on the cruise ship where he worked. I promptly declined and shortly after they put me back in a taxi to where I came from. I never found out exactly how the scam worked but I am very suspicious that I would have been the victim , not the cruise ship and not other players. Just be wary of anyone who appears to be trying too hard to help you or to divert you off your plan of activities, that should eliminate 90% of con mens attempts to take advantage of you. Leave a Comment
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Please do not believe anyone who approach you and tell you where to buy goods, they will disguise as policeman or palace worker. Usually, the Thai people will not approach you because they are quite shy people. The only person you can trust for information is the Information booth staff and uniform policeman. Those conman are really good at acting and really good at words, so please be careful and do not believe a word they said. Usually these conman work in a group, so if you are happens to be at Grand Palace area, don't even try to get information from the drink vendor whether the palace is open. They will tell you the palace is close as today is Buddha's Day. Just ignore them and walk away.
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