59 Thai tourists abandoned at Suvarnabhumi Airport

[rooster59]

59 Thai tourists abandoned at Suvarnabhumi Airport

By The Nation

 

 

A group of 59 Thai tourists filed complaints with police on Friday after they were abandoned at Suvarnabhumi Airport when their tour package to Hokkaido, Japan, was postponed indefinitely without explanation.

 

The group sent 20 representatives to file complaints at the Suvarnabhumi Airport police station at 11pm on Friday, saying they have lost Bt1.7 million.

 

Malee Sawaddee, 52, told police that she and friends bought the Bangkok-Hokkaido 5-day three-night package for Bt30,000 each from a tour agent in Samut Prakan.

 

But when they were came to the airport on Thursday to receive flight tickets for the trip, the tour agent did not turn up and the agent posted a message on the Line app saying that the tour would be indefinitely postponed without giving any explanation.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30356828

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-10-20

[marko kok prong]

This has happened a lot i feel very sorry for the people affected,as no doubt they were very excited about the trip,let's hope the Police catch this scumbag,make him repay them all plus compensation,and then bang him up for fraud.

[scorecard]

Yes it's happened a lot and given that most Thais never read newspapers (print or on-line) never / only very occasionally watch news services on TV (mostly preferring to watch: joker shows, talent shows and soapies), I wonder how many folks actually know about previous travel scams. 

 

And I wonder if anybody in this group bothered to find details / reports of any previous trips organized by this travel agent? 

 

Twice before outer Thai family members have been caught with scams, my Thai son asked them 'did you look for any reports / previous incidents etc., with this vendor?'

 

Answer always shock and NO. Followed by various reasoning not to check, main one:

 

'- It's not polite to do that'.

 

 

 

[bowerboy]

Fundamental problem is Thais booking stuff and buying stuff through  Line and Facebook instead of purchasing through proper channels and using payment systems like PayPal where you can’t lose your money.....Thais know best and won’t do things the correct/safe/foolproof way like the rest of the world.

 

No sympathy...they need to stop thinking they know everything and foreigners can never understand.

[Crazy world]

This wouldn't be the last ...it isn't the fisrt time 

[CGW]

8 minutes ago, bowerboy said:

No sympathy...they need to stop thinking they know everything and foreigners can never understand.

At least you are not generalising and knocking Thai's for no reason ???? 

They have my sympathy, I have gone through life trusting people, lot less stress than the alternative, it always hurts when people you have given your trust to let you down ????

[Vacuum]

1 hour ago, marko kok prong said:

This has happened a lot i feel very sorry for the people affected,as no doubt they were very excited about the trip,let's hope the Police catch this scumbag,make him repay them all plus compensation,and then bang him up for fraud.

Let's not jump to conclusions. We don't know if the tour agent was a male, could've been a female and some of them are not the best creatures.

[scorecard]

19 minutes ago, bowerboy said:

Fundamental problem is Thais booking stuff and buying stuff through  Line and Facebook instead of purchasing through proper channels and using payment systems like PayPal where you can’t lose your money.....Thais know best and won’t do things the correct/safe/foolproof way like the rest of the world.

 

No sympathy...they need to stop thinking they know everything and foreigners can never understand.

 

But mr. farang, you don't understand, everybody uses line so it must be good...

[observer90210]

With the present technological access, always book your travel requirements, yourself, online. Travel agents can be like real estate agents/developpers....a bunch of repugnant thieves,

 

Always use reputable air carriers, reputable hotel reservation websites and you'll be fine with a civilised back up and refund,  in case of any such incident.

[scorecard]

5 minutes ago, observer90210 said:

With the present technological access, always book your travel requirements, yourself, online. Travel agents can be like real estate agents/developpers....a bunch of repugnant thieves,

 

Always use reputable air carriers, reputable hotel reservation websites and you'll be fine with a civilised back up and refund,  in case of any such incident.

 

Agree, and as my Thai son tries to tell his wife's family*, if the cost is less then believable then don't believe it. 

 

*They have been caught in so many scams the list is as long as your arm, including special fluid to turn carrots into gold bars. 

 

 

[bowerboy]

24 minutes ago, CGW said:

At least you are not generalising and knocking Thai's for no reason ???? 

They have my sympathy, I have gone through life trusting people, lot less stress than the alternative, it always hurts when people you have given your trust to let you down ????

 

Really? So if there was a foolproof way to pay someone you do not know and have never met with no risk of losing your money then you would not use that in preference to transferring cash that can never be recovered??

[Misterwhisper]

And that is why a seasoned traveler does not book package holidays from tour agencies like all other lemmings but arranges flights and hotels independently.

[marko kok prong]

1 hour ago, Vacuum said:

Let's not jump to conclusions. We don't know if the tour agent was a male, could've been a female and some of them are not the best creatures.

True could well have been female,my bad.

[MaxYakov]

59 Thai tourists abandoned at Suvarnabhumi Airport bilked by bogus Hokkaido tour

[fxe1200]

Before ordering from a FB site people should verify the business address, ask for an invoice, which should show the tax ID, and then pay. Lately a FB site was offering gold necklaces, and no business address given. This was shared by my daughter. Again a had to explain the procedure mentioned above, and not to share those links.

[ReMarKable]

I have used travel agents before in the US  and they never had to greet me at the airport and give me tickets.  Always went to the travel agency to pick up; way in advance of leaving.  Odd that they would disperse tickets at the airport.  Most travelers would see this as suspicious.

[Xaos]

30 000 bargain

[TEFLKrabi]

Yet again every blaming the victims. 

[Russell17au]

10 hours ago, bowerboy said:

Fundamental problem is Thais booking stuff and buying stuff through  Line and Facebook instead of purchasing through proper channels and using payment systems like PayPal where you can’t lose your money.....Thais know best and won’t do things the correct/safe/foolproof way like the rest of the world.

 

No sympathy...they need to stop thinking they know everything and foreigners can never understand.

What, like the rest of the western people that lost millions in scams by the Nigerians, Ghanaians, Camaroonians, etc

[balo]

12 hours ago, ReMarKable said:

Odd that they would disperse tickets at the airport.  Most travelers would see this as suspicious.

Maybe their first flight out of Thailand. Inexperience and stupidity hand in hand. 

[zoza]

booked  flights over the phone with Qatar and had to change the date, i phoned the office in Bangkok, and everything went south? even though I paid using paypal (they turned into a chocolate teapot) after weeks of phoning and getting nowhere my UK bank said '' do you want to use charge back'' I had never heard of this before....money in my account within hours.

sometimes our Farang things are worth their weight in gold. 

[anon2736434]

If they really thought they could get airfare and hotel to japan for less than 1000$ well so be it.

[Lucky mike]

Too good to be true ? Well it probably is !

[lanista]

One of the first rules of law in Thailand is you NEVER give money to an 'agent'  for any business transaction being travel or property  or middleman of some kind. 

What the hell is  an agent anyway ??

If youre buying a tour then you pick up all your confirmed tickets and documents immediately- not at the airport.

Why were the Thai's milling around at the airport waiting for a  f##king  agent!!!

Asians/Chinese always seem to need someone to hold their hand when they travel.

 

The notorious -clip joint- applies to everything in LOS .

Set up a business  ie... travel agent,estate agent , 20baht loan shark or bj bar.  Keep it operating a while then start accumulating large amounts of  clients baht then suddenly disappear at 4 am  in the Isuzu pickup never to be seen again.

 

[Bangkok Barry]

21 hours ago, CGW said:

At least you are not generalising and knocking Thai's for no reason ???? 

They have my sympathy, I have gone through life trusting people, lot less stress than the alternative, it always hurts when people you have given your trust to let you down ????

 

Why would you trust a total stranger and someone you know nothing about with your money?

[marko kok prong]

11 hours ago, balo said:

Maybe their first flight out of Thailand. Inexperience and stupidity hand in hand. 

Having read through the varied posts here i kind of think you have got it best,look we all make mistake's and yeah i have trusted people and got burnt,and i guess it was when i was younger so had the two things you said,and i did not have the excuse of being badly educated. The thing i think you maybe missed is a good fraudster has to be an excellent salesperson as well,really sometimes they merge into each other add a bunch of people who are possibly not cynical {Thai people tend not to be},maybe have not had a great education,and are as another poster said constrained from asking for receipts paperwork ect due to cultural affectation's ;ie ;it's not polite,you have the perfect fodder,in fact thinking of opening my own travel agency,

 FLIGHT'S TO NO WHERE .COM.ORG.

[scorecard]

On 10/20/2018 at 4:51 PM, ReMarKable said:

I have used travel agents before in the US  and they never had to greet me at the airport and give me tickets.  Always went to the travel agency to pick up; way in advance of leaving.  Odd that they would disperse tickets at the airport.  Most travelers would see this as suspicious.

-

[zzaa09]

On 10/19/2018 at 11:08 PM, observer90210 said:

With the present technological access, always book your travel requirements, yourself, online. Travel agents can be like real estate agents/developpers....a bunch of repugnant thieves,

 

Always use reputable air carriers, reputable hotel reservation websites and you'll be fine with a civilised back up and refund,  in case of any such incident.

Associated with Thai Airways. 

 

 

Say no more.

[dpspike]

PT Barnum said it...   there's one born every minute.