Comments on: Taken for a Ride – A Thailand Scam Story

By: Greg

Greg — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 03:02:17 +0000

In reply to Mo. Oh man, that guy must have felt so sheepishly dumb. But thousands of people still get taken in every year, so they must be doing something right.

By: Mo

Mo — Sun, 26 Nov 2017 18:40:12 +0000

In reply to Val Tristant.

Yes, on my first trip in 1991 we got the same scam and, thankfully, realised what was happening and just kept saying “no thank you” as they offered us free beer in a jewelry store somewhere on Rama IX.

A few days later we met a poor Australian guy on the boat out to Samui, raving about the great deal he got on gems and how he was going to make a fortune selling them back home. Didn’t have the heart to tell him he had been conned. We met him again a week later and he was heading back to Bangkok to try to get a refund…

By: Greg

Greg — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 14:25:59 +0000

In reply to Mats.

Thanks Mats, could have been a lot worse – at least you kept your smile! 🙂

By: Mats

Mats — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 13:18:43 +0000

We got the same treatment from our booked tour to the Palace and Wat Po. The palace went fine and after that instaed of pointing us to Wat Po to walk around the bloxk they took us for a ride to a gem shop. It wasnt that great and after the look and some water, we left our bottles in our ride and that one was lost … they took us back to, yeah, MBK 🙂
After some polite arguing we told the driver that we had paid for Wat Po and we really, REALLY, wanted to be driven there, now!
After returning to our hotel we went over to the agent and asked for a refund as the package we paid for were extended to a full day, and therefor reduced the rest of our planned day. You could see the loss of face clearly. We also asked the hotel why they had pointed us in that direction as they clearly didnt care for us, their customers … and then we laughed and told them that we had fun anyway, but thet we thought it wasnt very polite he he he 🙂
No stones, and yes, taken for a ride!

By: Greg

Greg — Sun, 28 May 2017 04:32:06 +0000

In reply to Val Tristant. I wonder when it started? Maybe the guy who invented it franchised it out and he's retired now lol. I guess if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

By: Val Tristant

Val Tristant — Sat, 27 May 2017 19:58:37 +0000

My first trip to Bangkok was in 1994, and the same scam was already being run! 😀

By: Greg

Greg — Thu, 11 May 2017 07:06:54 +0000

In reply to Big C. Why bother? Politeness is only a tool used to grease the wheels. If the wheels don't produce money, why waste time and effort greasing them? So to speak. :)

By: Big C

Big C — Sun, 07 May 2017 23:31:13 +0000

I was in Chinatown (BKK) about 3 months ago, I was approached by a very polite Thai Tuk Tuk driver, with good English with the same introduction, as soon as I replied politely Thai he rudely turned his back and refused to acknowledge my existance any further.

They should learn to extend their manners outside of the ‘steal your money’ scenario.

By: UT

UT — Mon, 01 May 2017 15:45:02 +0000

Great story Greg. Good to get the warning out to those who trust too much.

By: Jack Miller

Jack Miller — Mon, 01 May 2017 09:34:37 +0000

Great article and heads up…its always nice to look for these things in advance!