Top 10 scams in Thailand

By Tim Newton

 

PHOTO: Thai Travel News

 

By Tim Newton, a seven-year expat and victim of many of these scams…

 

Firstly, I should say that just about any hot tourist spot around the world is going to attract people, sometimes greedy locals, who will be specialists at extracting dollars from your pockets. In Thailand the main difference is that they will usually do it with a smile. There are scams awaiting tourists who come to Phuket and you are best served by spending a few minutes reading articles like this and saving yourself a lot of financial pain, inconvenience or even a trip to hospital. Or jail.

 

This is by no means a definitive list but these are, at least, a list of ten popular scams that you will have to negotiate if you move about the island. They’re real, they happen every day and you’ll have a much better time during your trip if you know about them first.

 

In all cases, a bit of homework beforehand will save you being tricked during your holiday. Here are our Top 10 Sams in Thailand.

 

1. The jewellery scam

If you want to buy jewellery or luxury goods in Thailand, don’t ask you taxi or tuk tuk driver or take advice from the nice man who offered to take you a store who stopped you in the street. Jewellery stores in Phuket seem to exist for one purpose… taking money from tourists as part of one of the oldest scams in the Land of Smiles.

 

Full story: https://thethaiger.com/thai-life/top-10-scams-phuket-thailand

 

-- © Copyright The Thaiger 2018-10-15

Ha! I am not worried about scams as I am way too smart for them.

 

As soon as my cash from helping that Nigerian General arrives, I'll teach those scammers a thing or two...

 

 

 

 

"Taxis from the airport are really expensive when compared to taxi prices almost anywhere in the world This doesn’t apply to Bangkok, just to Phuket."

 

Maybe the writer should check his "facts" before he writes.

 

https://www.priceoftravel.com/555/world-taxi-prices-what-a-3-kilometer-ride-costs-in-72-big-cities/

 

"If there are no tourist police around demand that you are able to contact your local consulate." - Why? Consular and Embassy staff are not there to help sort out matters like this, their advice would be to go to the police. Painfully bad advice the writer is giving.

 

"(remember Thailand is the third most dangerous place in the world for driving on the roads)" - Actually it has the highest rate of fatalities per 100k people per year. (More poor research on the writer's part).

 

"Do you have an international drivers license covering the riding of motorbikes" - There is no such thing, there is an international driving permit that must be linked to a valid licence.

 

"Does you insurance cover an accident on a motorbike in Thailand? Motorbikes do happen, sadly quite frequently," - I think the writer meant, Does your insurance cover an accident on a motorbike in Thailand? Motorbike accidents do happen. Just a simple case of poor writing and even worse proofreading.

 

I stopped reading the article at this point, poor advice, incorrect information and badly written,

11. Lending money to other farangs, despite knowing them for quite a while.

    Some of them have no morals at all, and are prepared to throw away what friendship existed, for the sake of a rather minimal sum of money in real terms. 

Edited October 14, 20187 yr by Thaiwrath

Is this list any different to the ones published in the past?

 

Or has a new and innovative scam bubbled to the surface.

14 minutes ago, Chang_paarp said:

Is this list any different to the ones published in the past?

 

Or has a new and innovative scam bubbled to the surface.

Be careful of criticizing ...

51 minutes ago, certacito said:

"Taxis from the airport are really expensive when compared to taxi prices almost anywhere in the world This doesn’t apply to Bangkok, just to Phuket."

 

Maybe the writer should check his "facts" before he writes.

 

https://www.priceoftravel.com/555/world-taxi-prices-what-a-3-kilometer-ride-costs-in-72-big-cities/

 

"If there are no tourist police around demand that you are able to contact your local consulate." - Why? Consular and Embassy staff are not there to help sort out matters like this, their advice would be to go to the police. Painfully bad advice the writer is giving.

 

"(remember Thailand is the third most dangerous place in the world for driving on the roads)" - Actually it has the highest rate of fatalities per 100k people per year. (More poor research on the writer's part).

 

"Do you have an international drivers license covering the riding of motorbikes" - There is no such thing, there is an international driving permit that must be linked to a valid licence.

 

"Does you insurance cover an accident on a motorbike in Thailand? Motorbikes do happen, sadly quite frequently," - I think the writer meant, Does your insurance cover an accident on a motorbike in Thailand? Motorbike accidents do happen. Just a simple case of poor writing and even worse proofreading.

 

I stopped reading the article at this point, poor advice, incorrect information and badly written,

You're the really best newbee we have ever heard.

2 minutes ago, Borzandy said:

You're the really best newbee we have ever heard.

 

Meaning ?

 

(I have lived here longer than the author of that terrible article)

Edited October 15, 20187 yr by certacito

2 minutes ago, Borzandy said:

You're the really best newbee we have ever heard.

Taxis from the airport are really expensive when compared to taxi prices almost anywhere in the world This doesn’t apply to Bangkok, just to Phuket."

 

Not expensive in Bkk, another error.

LOS = LAND OF SCAMS

2 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

Ha! I am not worried about scams as I am way too smart for them.

 

As soon as my cash from helping that Nigerian General arrives, I'll teach those scammers a thing or two...

 

 

 

 

cash is not coming 

 

1 hour ago, certacito said:

 

"Do you have an international drivers license covering the riding of motorbikes" - There is no such thing, there is an international driving permit that must be linked to a valid licence.

 

It's a good thing you saved the people who would have sought an international driver's licence rather than a international driver's permit. Imagine the trouble they would be in asking for a licence rather than a permit. 

Edited October 15, 20187 yr by harrycallahan

Allow me to add TRUE Vision and their theft of costumers deposit when you try to cancel their lousy subscription

Surely this is a re-hash of the same story published earlier this year?  Or I've got a bad case of deja-vu?

The top 10 scams type post have been done to death long before this one.  Not any new or refreshing insights.

 

Seems like #8 and 10 is trying to impose his puritanical views about sex rather than warn people of pitfalls.  

 

 

23 minutes ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

7 years?

 

Such expat.

 

Much experience.

The old silly statement about longevity trumping knowledge.

 

Some of the dumbest people I have met in my 8+ years here are 30+ year veterans in country. Many seem to have been stuck in a time warp and much of the planet's progress in recent times has flown over their heads.

I'm not particularly a fan of the OP, I also think there are concerns about accuracy in some articles, but to use the old "hasn't been around as long as I" argument to make a point is disingenuous. 

I've encountered a variation of the taxi meter scam. The legit meter was hidden under a box on the dash. The apparent meter was in the usual place and turbo-charged. Guy tried to charge me 200 baht for Makkasan to Wireless Road. When we got to the hotel and I saw the meter I lifted the box to expose the other meter. Quickly took a photo that managed to get both meters and the driver in it. And another photo of the taxi number. Had the hotel staff explain to him if I paid 200 baht he would be reported together with the photos. The alternate was to drive away with no payment. He took the second option.

Number 11.....never make a loan to a Thai.....it will end up being a gift.....lol...????????????

2 hours ago, certacito said:

Motorbikes do happen, sadly quite frequently,"

They do happen, even frequently. But do you count them if they have an accident? 

5 minutes ago, chicowoodduck said:

Number 11.....never make a loan to a Thai.....it will end up being a gift.....lol...????????????

Especially the wife's family.

Using other peoples pictures without permission or credit is wrong too. 

They forgot the biggest scam... The "Thai woman that really love you and not your money" scam.

 

they missed the "dating website" girl scams about borrowing money

Seems to be 99% about Phuket and very out of date.

Over $300 to take a taxi from Narita airport to downtown Tokyo. This "expat" needs to get out a bit more.

I am all for supporting our fellow Farang writers, but whoever they are, they should consider putting in more effort to their writing to get facts correct, to make it interesting and to write well. 

 

The amateurish nature of the writing is a massive turnoff. 

The biggest scam is the Farang on Farang scam, especially for newbies; most of us are not stupid and most scams are pretty obvious, but when your "supposéd" best mate f#@ks you up; yeah, that's a lesson. Particularly dangerous for pensioners coming here with huge final payout sums who have lived a pretty sheltered life. 

Edited October 15, 20187 yr by nausea

4 hours ago, webfact said:

By Tim Newton, a seven-year expat and victim of many of these scams…

I wonder why...

By klauskunkel, a twelve-year expat and not a victim

4 hours ago, webfact said:

By Tim Newton, a seven-year expat and victim of many of these scams…

Not sure I'd want to brag about this.

1 hour ago, Henricus said:

cash is not coming 

 

My wife kept on about it being a scam, so I didn't answer the emails. You just cannot trust anyone these days????