I wonder have you ever been subjected to a scam on your travels or even at home? Well whatever your answer there is a fair chance that if you are a first time visitor to Thailand(or living here and just naive) then you will be subjected to at least one such act.
Scams come in many different forms in Thailand, there is for example what you might call the official scam. Say you want to visit a national park, a theme park, museum or even something as simple as a public toilet, particularly in a tourist area. Well chances are you will pay a different price to a Thai national. Now I don’t really mind this, even though I live here, but what I do object to is the sneaky way the price is often advertised. You see what you don’t realise unless you read Thai script is that 9 times out of 10 the price for foreigners will be in Arabic numerals and the price for Thais will be written in Thai script and probably be half or even less than the foreigner price.
While my so called “official scams” are really just examples of the dual pricing that exists in Thailand there are unfortunately other scams which are a lot more criminal. Top of my personal list is what I will call The Thailand Railways scam, since I was subjected to it at Hualamphong Station in Bangkok back in 2005, having just arrived on the overnight sleeper from Malaysia.
Arriving at the station I was approached by a guy in a smart uniform with an official looking badge that said something like “travel assistant-Thai Railways” on it. To cut a long story short he was a con artist who arranged a taxi for me which cost me a whopping 800 Baht to travel about 2miles through BKK traffic to my hotel. The actual fare would probably be around 50 Baht! Well it was my first time on my own in Bangkok and I fell hook line and sinker for the scam, not realising the true value of the Baht(70 to GBP then). Incidentally if I travel to Bangkok now I take the Bangkok MRT from the station to my hotel for around 20 Baht.
Other than that scam I have never knowingly been scammed here apart from the official scams I mentioned above.
Unfortunately other travellers have not been so lucky and there are several scams that start as soon as you set foot in Thailand particularly for those arriving by air. The taxi mafia that operate at BKK International are probably the worst, charging ridiculous fares into the city. Sadly even if you have had a scam free holiday don’t let your guard down until you are safety on board your flight home since several people have reported an alleged scam operating in the duty free section of departures, with arrests and subsequent bribes being the order of the day, before people were allowed to leave Thailand.
Other top scams in Thailand include the Thai gem stone scam and a scam involving alleged damage to jet ski’s.
In the first case you are likely to be approached by a friendly Thai who engages you in conversation and ends up steering you into a gemstone shop, this method is also used to get you to visit tailors too. Taxi and tuk-tuk drivers get commissions from the businesses that run the scams, so don’t be surprised if your friendly driver informs you a temple or palace is closed(they never are) because his alternative attractions will certainly include a visit to one or two commission spots.
Jet ski scams are common in some resorts like Phuket where operators will charge high fees for damage they say you have caused to their jet-ski when you return it to them.
Finally a word about long distance train and bus travel in Thailand. You can purchase tickets for public transport from the relevant departure point and some travel agents. Just be wary if the travel agent that you use says that the transport is fully booked, it is possible with the train and bus at holiday times, but most unlikely otherwise. Suspect a scam if special “tourist transport” is offered.
So is Thailand any worse for scams than other regions of the world? Have you ever been scammed? What advice would you offer to help avoid being subject of a scam in Thailand?
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