Scams and Conmen, Bangkok

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We visited the much recommended MBK shopping mall where on the 4th floor are dozens of small electronic shops and stalls. We purchased a 4Gb Apple I-pod Nano for a considerable sum of Baht 2600 - it came supposedly with leads, headphone, software CD, an apple box and a guarantee plus the lady gave us a slip for the VAT refund at the airport.
When we got back home the device did not work properly and we took it into an Apple shop and were told it is a fake. It has the Apple logo on it and says I-pod. It is nothing more than a mass produced cheap MP3 player from China with very little capacity. The CD we were given does not relate to the item.
Please don't buy any "branded" items from these outlets as they are likely to be fakes. Rather go to an authorised dealer and be familiar with all the details of the item you are after. We have no comeback on this at all. Every single outlet there selling these Ipod Nano's are selling fakes - they were all the same as we looked around at the time and went from shop to shop.
By the way, a true Apple Ipod nano has a serial number, a special Apple connecting slot rather than a firewire slot, it has Apple software and the control (shuttle) can be worked by sliding your finger over it as it is touch sensitive. These cannot. Also the Apple screen is smaller and the Nano does not have video.

Unique Suggestions: Please don't buy any "branded" items from these outlets as they are likely to be fakes.

Fun Alternatives: Go to an authorised dealer and be familiar with all the details of the item you are after. Get a proper international guarantee, test the item before you leave the shop and before you leave Thailand. For VAT returns the airport needs a special yellow form otherwise you will not get a return if you only have a standard shop invoice.

If you get your cell phone unlocked at MBK, beware, the stand directly in front of the escalator on the 4th floor are scammers. They stole my memory card when I had them unlock my phone. I didnt noticed it until the next day, when I came back to confront them about it, they suddenly didn't speak english. These people are low lifes. If you now witchcraft or voodoo magic, please put a curse on these people as they deserve every single bit of it!

Unique Suggestions: Put a voodoo curse on these jerks!

Fun Alternatives: Put a voodoo curse on these jerks!

It's really a nice place to walk around Sanam Luang Park. But please beware when you're approaching the pigeons teritory. It's not the pigeon you need to be avoid, but the group who sell the seed corn. Don't close to them or else they will force you to buy the seed to feed the pigeons. Again, it's not wrong to feed the pigeons, but the prices just too high for 3 small packets seed corn. Even when you said no to them, they will still pour the seed on your hand and ask you to feed the pigeons.

This incident happen when I was walking from Khao San Road heading to Wat Pho with my friend, therefore will pass by Sanam Luang Park. Enjoying the scenery, all of sudden, one women came to my friend and gave her 3 packets seed corn. Since she spoke in Thai, we couldn't understand at all what she meant. She's then, pointed to the pigeons, keep repeating "Good Luck. Good Luck" and even demonstrated to us by pouring the seed on the ground. I understand they're after our money. We rejected them but before we could go away, they opened the packets & pour onto our hands. I had it thought, it's doesn't matter if 40 bath for the 3 packets (we didn't ask the price yet). So, I pour the 3 packets seed to pigeons. When I were about to pay the seed, at the beginning they wanted 50 bath. I took out my wallet, and after they saw my 100 bath note, they're demanding more - 150 bath in the end. So, please ignore them & better avoid the pigeons.

we were around the World Trade Center shooting photos of the statue when a guy approached me and explained to me about the sacred statue. He told us we were very lucky to visit Bangkok that particular day coz it was the Buddha Days. Then he said they were having some kind of ceremony at a temple/wat called Lucky Buddha not far from the place we were. He mentioned there will be a lot of people visiting the temple and will be closed before 5pm.
I started to believe coz we knew that day was really a Buddha Day in Thailand. So i asked him to show the location of the temple on the Bangkok map that i were having. He pointed to somewhere to the north of the city and i noticed there were no sign of any temple/wat there. If the place really famous it should be in the map!! More suspicious things were that he kept asking us to go straight away before they close at 5pm and to take the tuk-tuk for only THB10. I read about the tuk-tuk scam and i started to know what was actually happening. I told the guy i need to meet my friends first and we managed to walk away.

Althought i have no prove that the lucky buddha doen't exist, but the way he persuaded us was really suspicious, making i'm damn sure it was one of the jewelry scam in Bangkok. So everyone of you there, make sure you were not falling into this trap!

Unique Suggestions: just walk away if you think the person is suspicious. Get more information from other people.

My family and I were stopped by what we thought were policemen . They told us we had just dropped a cigerette end onto the street and we would be fined 5000bht . I explained that we did not smoke so it couldn't be us , the policeman (?) said then we would have to pay 1000bht . Calmly I once again stated we didn't smoke , so he then blamed our 8 year old son and said we would have to accompany he to the police station .
I said first we would return to our hotel and they could follow , there we would contact our embassy . He said this was not possible , but I stuck to my guns very politely and said we would go nowhere until we had contacted our embassy . Finally he said if we paid him 500bht we could leave , when I refused he just ' leave and don't do it again ' .
I can honestly say we were terrified and even 4 years later the thought of it still scares me .

Unique Suggestions: If this does happen to you , then remember to stay very calm and don't raise you voice . Make it quite clear that you will first contact your embassy to speak to someone in charge who can help . Don't go with them though...I think that would have been a big mistake for us .

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.

Please DO NOT give money to the people walking elephants in the streets. These elephants are being mistreated by being forced to walk the streets in Bangkok. Some Mother elephants are even killed because they do not want to part with their babies when the trainers want to take the babies on the streets.

Giving money to these guys only encourages them to continue this.

Unique Suggestions: Please don't.

Fun Alternatives: If you want to see elephants, go to a reputable elephant park. The nearest place is an hour out of Bangkok, in Nakorn Pratorn-- The Rose Garden. Surin, Chang Mai and Lampang also have nice elephant parks.

you will be stopped anywhere in Bangkok by people who claim they work with the Tourist Board or they are a police officer, it is a lie they will help you by taking you to shops that rips you off or send you to massage palors or on boat rides that will cost you more in the end.

Unique Suggestions: negotiate the price they will most likely back down but the jewelry shops will normally not offer you a discount they claim the prices are set by the government.