| Scams and Conmen tips and photos posted by real travelers and Bangkok locals. • 14 Photos
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There are plenty of people offering you to take you around at a cheap price, or to practice their English etc - do not fall into such scams as they would ultimate corner you to a spot and you would be coughing up lots of money for their services.
Anywhere in Asia - be it Bangkok or even in my country home, Kuala Lumpur, avoid at all time to take taxis which are pulled over at the side roads and with the drivers standing outside their vehicle. They usually never run the meter, and would be calling their prices - at least 2 -3 times if not more higher than metered prices.
This happened to us once too often. As we walk from Saladaeng skytrain towards the Jim Thompson shop (which has been there since I was a kid!!! but now a larger boutique), there would be ladies or sometimes men asking where are you off to. And they would chit chat with you and tell you that you are being ripped off to buy Jim Thompson stuff, and you should shop at the shops at the next block up from the JT shop. These people actually operate in a small booth at the corner street of JT shop, and if you do not take heed of their advise and come out of JT shops with bags of goodies, they may even snare at you. It is just their way of luring you to their shops to earn them a commission. Leave a Comment
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Too clever to be touted? Ha!
Highly educated, pre-warned family at checkout of major dept store - in queue (apparently) with well dressed affluent lady shopper - 'Hi etc...where you from ... here for long...you really must see Government trade centre ..very special and only for a few days' then says goodbye and leaves.
Over an hour later, passing entrance to hotel, well dressed man says 'Hi - saw you in hotel waiting this morning - did you get your room - I work there etc. Same deal - different spin - 'tired of shopping? I saw on television the Government Trade Centre is having a sale - not sure where it is - ask a Tuk Tuk - blah blah' then leaves.
Now we have two unrelated, friendly people suggesting we go to a 'Government' trade centre - not being dragged there - so we think maybe we will give it a shot - being government and on tele and all.
Grabbed a Tuk Tuk - who was hanging around nearby (a coincidence, you say...) and off we went.
Got there to be met by guard wearing military gear out front, lots of government certificates on the walls etc. Only after they brought out the cokes for the kids did I think for just a moment that no government store on earth ever did this. So an hour later after much hard selling we realised that we had been suckered.
Still, after we bargained really hard, and got up to leave, we got a ruby and diamond pendant for about 55% of the starting price (very special 30% off, another 10% for foreigners, another 5% for VISA blah blah blah). The people were almost shedding tears when we left, assuring us that their kids would starve etc. Ultimately we had the pendant valued in Australia at 40% more than we paid, so if we had paid the asking price we would have been evens. As it was, despite being suckered by the best touting team I have ever seen (3 people working together!) we came out of it OK. Unless of course the Australian valuer is in on the act??? Leave a Comment
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Dont believe in illegal guilde or someone immedieatly to be your friend as now aday Bangkok is change and as same as problem with the big city or tourist spot in the world. Sometime TukTuk will take you to Jewely shop or some place like that so be careful ! Leave a Comment
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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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Taxi touts and disreputable reps. As soon as you leave your hotel, you'll probably have to run the gauntlet of touts trying to get you in their cabs with the promise of cheap fares. Beware since these guys have no intention of taking where you want to go! They'll try and take you to a seedy tailor or gemshop for which they get a commission. If you want to really go somewhere, flag a 'taxi meter' cab down since they're the real McCoy. Stay away from tuktuk taxis too since they are deathtraps!
Tour reps are no better. My girlfriend and I booked a tour to see the royal palace and on the way back, we were driven to an 'official' looking gem factory and store. I doubt it was official in the slightest. We weren't asked whether we wanted to go, we were just taken along with the 10 or so others on the bus. If this happens to you, have the last laugh and walk out without buying anything!
Another related tip. Remember if you do go to a gemshop or a tailor, that these guys will say anything to get you to hand over the money. There are plenty of other stores to go to so don't stand for any of it. If you feel you are being pressured to buy something you don't want then put your foot down and leave! Most of the tailors I had the misfortune to encounter were bare face liars, saying one thing on the window sign, e.g. '$99 for 2 suits, 3 shirts, 6 ties', and once your were in the prices were double or three times as much. If you do buy, make sure you agree the price up front and be sure to have the chance to try on the finished article before paying.
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Beware friendly strangers who accost you outside hotels or stations and try and engage you in conversation. It is very likely they're trying to get you to go to some gem shop, tailor, 'tour' or worse. Never accept any such offers and never volunteer information such as your hotel, room number, itinerary or name as they've been known to use it to con people.
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AVOID THAI TRADE CENTRE Many occasion, we had encountered tempting and make-believe advice from the friendly English-speaking Thai, I call them 'FEST'. Refer to travelogue for details.
Friendl English Speaking Thai. Leave a Comment
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*** first of all *** Thanks to all who have posted warnings on Tuk-tuks and conmen - They are all true and thank God I was able to read them before travel.
Mine occurred outside the Holiday Inn – Silom area. We exchanged money at the tourist info kiosk just outside the Holiday Inn and about half a block away as we started walking were sweetly greeted by a supposedly Holiday Inn employee who had just got off the night shift and heading home.
Had it not been for the warnings of this site – we would have fallen for this one.
He had the usual offering of – don’t talk to any of the agents who will sell u canal rides, etc. – I live and work here and can direct you to the best and honest boat operator, etc. and of course my buddy here won’t charge you 10B to take you there on his Tuk-tuk….
The river ferry is like a metro and has specfied stops and schedule - If ypu plan on riding it mre than once in a day buy the 100B odd day pass.
We bought one at the 1st or 2nd stop in the Silom area and explored all the sights including the temples and markets all day hopping on and off the ferry. Leave a Comment
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Currently in Bangkok typing this. Only been here a couple of days and its an interesting city and so far have come across many people-often just wanting small business. However two days ago we were hounded outside our hotel (Royal Hotel), near ko shan road, by a (seemingly) friendly local who spoke very good English. He told us about the famous gem scams and gave us advice about places to see and lots of other information. He then got us in a tuk tuk and told us to go the prestigious Bangkok fashion centre, where we ended up, felt very embarrased, didn't buy any suits and soon departed. Clearly he would have received some sort of commission.Then yesterday we got into a tuk tuk and he told us the whole day would only cost us 10 baht and he would take us to many temples and buddhas, we obliged (perhaps foolishly), although these people are very cunning and seem to have groups along the street-teams working together, ie one says something, and then amazingly the bloke in the tuk tuk that drives down (seemingly mutually exclusive) then tells you the same thing, so you are led to believe its true-ie that the golden temple is closed until 2, but we will the see other sights first for a very small cost (rest is subsidised by the king on this particular day...yeah right). So we made our way to one temple, where a man told us about booking the rest of our holiday around the southern islands for cheap prices, and very good accomodation etc. The Tuk tuk driver then told us and we turned up at a place we thought was run by the thai tourist board, and were given a very professional service. The price we paid was 375 GBP and to be honest this seemed a fair price for 3 weeks including full accomodation, flights and boats. we will see, in the next few weeks whether it really was. In truth though this was a scam we could have done without. Be careful. These teams operate all over and speak very good english. They appear helpful and informative. Just be warned and do continue to take tuk tuks. just be on your guard.
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I need to book a van to accomodate 5pax. If not, we would have to separate into 2 taxis instead. As I was walking towards the exit to the public taxi stand, I was approached by a guy agent (who speaks fluent cantonese) who offered us 1000baht (orginal was 1400baht). As I was pondering, he gave a final price of 900baht (including tolls) which I accept immediately. What a great offer!
However, as we were on our way to hotel, I noticed tat the driver did not use the expressway & was driving the congested road instead. The worst is, the driver lost his way to the hotel. As a result, our journey was around 1hr 45mins compared to the expected 45mins. Leave a Comment
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