NHPT

On our first trip to Bangkok, my wife and I were on our way to the Royal Palace when a very friendly fellow start a conversation with us. Asked where we were going. Then told us the palace was closed for a special occasion. We had of course read about this scam and played along. A Tuk tuk appeared out of nowhere and offered us a reasonable price for a little tour. We stopped at a few interesting places and finally met a “random stranger” who told us about this great jewelry store having a sale 😀. We agreed to be whisked off there by the same driver. After a tour of the jewelry factory we were led to the showroom. My wife found a beautiful blue sapphire ring. We knew we were being scammed, we thought we were probably paying too much, but still reasonable price. After the sale was complete, the store arranged for a car and driver to pick us up at our hotel the next day to take us to the palace for free. When we got home we had the ring appraised, it was genuine and valued at considerably more than we paid. This has always been one of our favorite adventures in Thailand. No one is forcing you to be scammed. Do your research. Embrace it or walk away. It’s always about the journey.

The world is infested with TikTokers....

l have had my car and motorcycle license in my country since I was 16 and I was a professional driver for 30 years. Have driven in more than a dozen countries. The first time I got my Thai license, all I had to do was show my home license and my International Drivers Permit and have necessary paperwork. I got 2 year car and motorcycle licenses in about a half hour, no tests at all. After 2 years renewed my temporary 2 year licenses for permanent 5 year licenses. No written or road test then either. My permanent Thai licenses expired when I was away during COVID. To my surprise (and to the surprise of the agent helping me) they required me to do a written exam for each license. Passed the motorcycle (48) test and failed the car test (43). Since the motorcycle one was the only one I really needed, I took a few months before I wrote the car test again. I got a link from the agent. https://thaidriveexam.com/ I must have done the test 50 times with about a 45% success rate. I finally took the test a few weeks before leaving Thailand and passed, they gave me another 2 year temporary license. The English translation of these tests are really bad in my opinion. The questions are barely understandable, poorly worded, a lot of double negatives. I suspect it is a machine translation from Thai that doesn't handle Thai grammar well. I have come across a few questions that have an absolutely wrong answer. Study the questions and answers. Learn the answers they are looking for, not necessarily the "correct" answer. This site does show you what you got wrong. I would be surprised if any foreigner was able to pass both test on the first try

I would add that has to be original, not photocopy and has embassy/consulate stamp.

Seems a small price to pay to resolve the problem

Damage to Thailands "image" is done. Its in the foreign press now and there is no damage control that can fix that. Can't fix stupid.

You just can't fix stupid... I am returning to Thailand in November for 2 or more months...maybe. My flights with Cathay allow unlimited changes in dates or destination. Anywhere else in SE Asia is still a possibility. If Thailand wants Duel Pricing on everything, I can change destination. No Problem, I don't need Thailand

I spend 3 or 4 months a year in Chiang Mai. I used to go to Phuket a few times each year. Then they removed the vendors and loungers and umbrellas from the beach. Looks pretty but no one there. Now when Im in Chiang Mai, I go to Vietnam for a few weeks on beach. There they have loungers, umbrellas, tables, food service and wifi and vendors. Im never going back to Phuket or Pataya