Blatantly ripped off 1000 baht

[enyaw]

Well the rotten so and so, it's happened to us all. I once paid something like 7 trillion dong for a tube of toothpaste in Vietnam. Once bitten twice shy.

[jackr]

What you do is pick up your mobile and call the T police (1155), and there is absolutely no problem with raising your voice (even a lot) when a Thai person is stealing from you. Just picture the kind Buddhist lady trying it on with a local.

As mentioned, 1000s don't do markets, cheapo restaurants, scooter fuel etc. But wherever you are always say, 'neung phan baht' when handing one over.

[wayned]

I do the Wednesday walking market in our small town weekly. Occasionally I have just been to the ATM and all that I have is 1000 baht notes. When I pay a vendor that doesn't have change, the Thai "telephone system" starts, a lot of yelling back and forth and in minutes someone shows up with change for the 1000 baht note or the vendor walks off and comes back with the change. Never had a problem in over 14 years. Maybe I've just been lucky! But it's not Bangkok!

[robblok]

I do the Wednesday walking market in our small town weekly. Occasionally I have just been to the ATM and all that I have is 1000 baht notes. When I pay a vendor that doesn't have change, the Thai "telephone system" starts, a lot of yelling back and forth and in minutes someone shows up with change for the 1000 baht note or the vendor walks off and comes back with the change. Never had a problem in over 14 years. Maybe I've just been lucky! But it's not Bangkok!

Same here if you have a too big a bill they just yell and sort it out among each-other. I never had a problem but its a bit outside of BKK and I never feel I get ripped off either. I pay the same as a Thai (or so i like to believe).

I go to that market often and seem to be recognized as there are not many foreigners around and I stand out in some ways. It also helps that I speak enough Thai to get the message across.

[ABCer]

A trivial story. Things like this could (and did) happen in my own country.

A crook-woman walking the market, buying the stuff from vendors (peasants), flashing a 100 bill, never given it to the sales lady and getting 'change'.

Many of us knew her. She was sort of famous, even made into a personage of a short story by a very well known writer.

Being a tourist, not speaking language, not having friends/witnesses - an obvious target! Luckily most Thais are more or less honest at daytime. It never happened to me.

At night some of them will steal anything misplaced or not secured. But this only applies to a certain level and kind of people. Basically Thai are honest, unless you get bitten by their dog.

Once again - a very trivial story. Have a laugh, forget it and have a good day.

Edited June 18, 2013 by ABCer

[evadgib]

1) The THB 1000 could have been a THB 20.

2) ATM banknotes are often consecutively numbered. The OP still had the other 2....

Edited June 18, 2013 by evadgib

[boosta]

In fifteen years of shopping at these sorts of places many times per week I've never never had anything like this happen to me.

Maybe a handful of times got incorrect change small amounts pretty sure nearly all of them were honest mistakes.

I think it's so rare that giving advice like "have exact change" really isn't worth the trouble.

For taxis yes, in that context they often want to scam you for a little change, but a thousand out in the markets?

So rare, I'm really questioning did this even happen. . .

[chiang mai]

Next time you go to pay with a large bill, state what the bill is as you hand it over and make sure the other person understands what you've said by momentarily holding on to the bill as you hand it over and you make eye contact and get recognition of the fact.

[barrybankruad]

Next time you go to pay with a large bill, state what the bill is as you hand it over and make sure the other person understands what you've said by momentarily holding on to the bill as you hand it over and you make eye contact and get recognition of the fact.

Correct. I always also apologise for the inconvenience of presenting a large denomination, this way there should be no doubt as to the value of the note that you have handed over.

[boosta]

Yes, that's true, I do that out of habit, back home as well.

And I have to admit I've got a habit of always using my largest bills when I'm at a 7-11 or using the BTS so I've always got a pocket full of 20's and 100's.

Maybe if I weren't doing these things unconsciously I would have had problems like this I don't know.

[richard_smith237]

OP: Don't tip these stalls... You are simply buying something not receiving a service.

Negotiate fairly but firmly otherwise your kindness will simply be misinterpreted as weakness.

You are not shopping to make friends, if you feel charitable, give to a charity.

Finally if you pay with a large note, hold it up quote it's value, get the shop owner to repeat its value.... i.e. neung Paan baht chai mai Khrap / Kha... See their change before handing over the note...

[richard_smith237]

In fifteen years of shopping at these sorts of places many times per week I've never never had anything like this happen to me.

So rare, I'm really questioning did this even happen. . .

I hope you don't wait for someone to attack you (or worse) before you accept or believe that it can happen....

This lady was ripped off, why even doubt her story?

[AnotherOneAmerican]

Easy way to get around these things. Before paying, ask 'do you have change for 1000 baht?' Hold it up for all to see. For many small store owners, this is a courtesy. For the small proportion of scammers, it stops them from doing the 'you only gave me 100 trick'.

Very few mistakes are made after that.

OP speaks no Thai, vendor speaks no English.

How would she ask?

Don't use 1000bht notes for small purchases, other than 7/11.

Edited June 18, 2013 by AnotherOneAmerican

[boosta]

OP speaks no Thai, vendor speaks no English.

How would she ask?

-

Hold up the bill with a questioning look on your face and wait for an answer to your obvious but non-verbal question.

[rene123]

Easy way to get around these things. Before paying, ask 'do you have change for 1000 baht?' Hold it up for all to see. For many small store owners, this is a courtesy. For the small proportion of scammers, it stops them from doing the 'you only gave me 100 trick'.

Very few mistakes are made after that.

Take it as a cheap lesson learned... ONCE

Samran gave the best reply. Make sure the person taking your money understands you both know how much you are giving them.

I was ripped off by 100 baht when I gave a gas station attendant a 1000 baht note. Apparently that is very common at gas stations. I've never had a problem at 7-11 or Tesco. I can easily add up large sums in my head. I've had fruit market vendors try to over charge me, but I just say no thanks and go elsewhere. I know ahead of time about how much I should pay.

[trainman34014]

Sadly they will try it on their own kind too when 1,000 notes are used, and even when they are challenged they try to say it was 100 not 1,000. Only happened to my Thai wife once but she blamed herself for not splitting the note before she went in the market. As for me; only got scammed for 40 Baht once by a market stall but since then i always shop all around them but never with them, making sure they know i'm around spending money with the other honest ones but never with them. If they 'don't get it', then they are thicker than i thought they were !

[watcharacters]

Why complain at all ? You got what you got what you deserve, tipping in a market.. walking around with 1000 baht notes

.

Nice going Yoslim! The lady went shopping and a vendor was possibly dishonest. Good to see how you manage to change things around and find blame on the part of the OP.

Should the OP be drawn and quartered as well for carrying around ฿1000. notes which you possibly don't have available to you? Maybe you would benefit from a good sleep and or rest?

[kikoman]

The switched bills was a tactic used by many barmaids in the states, they would swear you gave them a smaller bill to pay for your purchase, I would always tear off a small corner of the bill, so as to prove that it matched the bill in the cash register. I do not do that here as I heard it was an offense to deface a Thai bill.

I always take small change with me where ever I go, as many stall owners will not give up their small change that they need in running their business.

In 12 years I have been here I have never had that problem, as I use the same defense tactics when dealing with the scrams in Arizona.

Cheers:

[stoneyboy]

Learn the language,one should always know numbers in a foreign country for instances such ad this,once people hear you speaking a little Thai the rip offs tend to stop as you are not an easy target.

[HoudiniXLogic]

Happened to me in the early days of the BTS stations. I was like what, 12 or 13 back then and good thing with my mom (who is Thai). My mom gave me a 500 bill to exchange into 80 baht, with 420 baht to be expected in change. She tried giving me back 20 telling me I only gave her 100 baht. I told her politely that I gave her 500 and that she must be mistaken, then she called me a kid and dumb and that I didnt know the difference between a 500 and a 100 note because "mun gor doo meun gun" (they look pretty similar). I lost it, I remember flipping out (I'm a luk kreung, fluent Thai with the hotheadedness of a caucasian) so I just started a tirade of "ai hea, ai sud, meung ja kamoy ngern gu tummai wa? gu hai meung 500 baht! AOW NGERN GU KEUN MAA!!!" them my mom comes, I tell her the situation and the lady tries to convince my mom that I gave her a 100 note. A security guard comes and my mom tells the security guard to get the manager and the manager comes. My mom reads the lady's name tag and starts refering to that lady by name to the manager. It ended up with the manager threatening to check the security footage and the lady hands me the 500 baht from her pocket. I remember my mom chastising the lady in front of a ton of other patrons and pointing to her face saying "Khon nee ja khamoy ngern khong khun. Lawang wai dee dee." It was awesome seeing a Thai person lose face and couldnt retaliate whatsoever.

But yeah, ripoffs happen all the time.

[David48]

.

To the OP invogue ... assuming you're a Lady, you have probably just come here to vent and discuss what you feel was an injustice ... to talk about it.

I'm sure you are not looking for answers ... but this is what you'll get when you ask a group of men.

We will try and solve a problem when often a Lady just wishes to discuss it.

I hope that you have got the general message though that ...

1. Not a good idea to tip in that situation, service industry yes, product purchase no.
2. Carry smaller notes and the issue won't be an issue.

Good Luck

David48

.

[i claudius]

I have only ever been scammed once here ,that was when we first arrived ,now around Pattaya its like the locals know that you live here ,so no scams ,no one asks if we want a boat ride or a shirt or a suit , even the hookers dont try to stop me (and i am a really hansom man)

[yoslim]

Why complain at all ? You got what you got what you deserve, tipping in a market.. walking around with 1000 baht notes

.

Nice going Yoslim! The lady went shopping and a vendor was possibly dishonest. Good to see how you manage to change things around and find blame on the part of the OP.

Should the OP be drawn and quartered as well for carrying around ฿1000. notes which you possibly don't have available to you? Maybe you would benefit from a good sleep and or rest?

Well OP has plenty of money avalaible as he can overpay for his purchases, tipping for a purchase is absolutely foolish and same goes for flashing around 1000 notes

FYI ATMs in LOS allow withdrawal of100 baht bills, my tip of the day don't be a lazy bum and withdraw 900 baht instead of 1,000 so you get a 500 and 4x100 notes and also take your change back instead of tipping so you might actually have some change for small purchases

What happened is only karma

[kotsak]

Happened to me in the early days of the BTS stations. I was like what, 12 or 13 back then and good thing with my mom (who is Thai). My mom gave me a 500 bill to exchange into 80 baht, with 420 baht to be expected in change. She tried giving me back 20 telling me I only gave her 100 baht. I told her politely that I gave her 500 and that she must be mistaken, then she called me a kid and dumb and that I didnt know the difference between a 500 and a 100 note because "mun gor doo meun gun" (they look pretty similar). I lost it, I remember flipping out (I'm a luk kreung, fluent Thai with the hotheadedness of a caucasian) so I just started a tirade of "ai hea, ai sud, meung ja kamoy ngern gu tummai wa? gu hai meung 500 baht! AOW NGERN GU KEUN MAA!!!" them my mom comes, I tell her the situation and the lady tries to convince my mom that I gave her a 100 note. A security guard comes and my mom tells the security guard to get the manager and the manager comes. My mom reads the lady's name tag and starts refering to that lady by name to the manager. It ended up with the manager threatening to check the security footage and the lady hands me the 500 baht from her pocket. I remember my mom chastising the lady in front of a ton of other patrons and pointing to her face saying "Khon nee ja khamoy ngern khong khun. Lawang wai dee dee." It was awesome seeing a Thai person lose face and couldnt retaliate whatsoever.

But yeah, ripoffs happen all the time.

I would pay just to see this live..

[joeaverage]

Of course there is no need to give exact change. Just I guess in some rare cases a 1000 baht note is just too tempting for some when they think/know they can get away with it.

My main issue with such markets is subtle f-rang related overcharging. You have to shop alot to know when it is happening and then with market fluctuations it isn't always clear. Sometimes I feel the prices at such markets aren't much different than in cleaner grocery stores, but it depends on the specific items.

I'm sorry for this lady,but to be honest she needs to toughen up a bit.Nobody tips a market trader. She is giving out the wrong vibes,and set her self up for the inevitable rip off. which has now happened! never part with a 1000 baht bill,this is big money to some traders,had she been in Thailand a little longer,she will see the efforts most honest businesses go to,and try to change it for you,and give you the correct change!

Just as a footnote: newcomers need to know the value of money in Thailand,1000 baht,or 3 days wages,x that by 3 days wages in our own Countries,and then the real value emerges.

it is not three days wages, it is MINIMUM wage x 3

[simple1]

Well the rotten so and so, it's happened to us all. I once paid something like 7 trillion dong for a tube of toothpaste in Vietnam. Once bitten twice shy.

No you didn't.

[Eesat]

"Has anything like this ever happened to anyone else and can anyone tell me how I could have handled this situation better?"

Never try to buy anything from a market stall without something resembling the correct change,go to 7/11 and buy a can of Coke or bottle of water or something if you don't have it.Although Thais are generally reasonably honest about this,I'm sorry but you must look like an easy target!

Same with taxis as I had it the other day,my Aussie mate tried to pay a 200 baht fare with 500 baht and the scumbag taxi driver claimed he had no change!Luckily I had some so I scrunched it up and threw it at him,he went off cursing but who cares,dickheads like that make it worse for everyone and give all Thais a bad name!

It's very possible he didn't have change, you're lucky you didn't get beaten up for such an act.

Firstly,what's a taxi driver doing not having change for 500 baht?Secondly my mate's a Thai boxer anyway,so there was only ever one person who was going to get beaten up,he was lucky!

Again,he was a complete scumbag trying to scam us,maybe you're a perennial victim,we're not!

[kevvy]

when i go into 7/11 and hand over 1000baht note i show everyone around me so they all know i gave a 1000 note . it always works for me

[watcharacters]

Why complain at all ? You got what you got what you deserve, tipping in a market.. walking around with 1000 baht notes

.

Nice going Yoslim! The lady went shopping and a vendor was possibly dishonest. Good to see how you manage to change things around and find blame on the part of the OP.

Should the OP be drawn and quartered as well for carrying around ฿1000. notes which you possibly don't have available to you? Maybe you would benefit from a good sleep and or rest?

Well OP has plenty of money avalaible as he can overpay for his purchases, tipping for a purchase is absolutely foolish and same goes for flashing around 1000 notes

FYI ATMs in LOS allow withdrawal of100 baht bills, my tip of the day don't be a lazy bum and withdraw 900 baht instead of 1,000 so you get a 500 and 4x100 notes and also take your change back instead of tipping so you might actually have some change for small purchases

What happened is only karma

.

Impressive on your part.

First the OP is a female and not a "he".

The OP has stated she is not opposed to tipping which in my book does not make her a fool first and foremost and for sure not a cheap Charlie.

What leads you to accuse her of "flashing" around ฿1,000 notes? She said she paid with a ฿1,000 note and you expand that to say she is flashing the said currency? Brilliant again on your part.

I don't agree with her practice of tipping a vendor but since it's her money I'd also would refrain from posting she "got what she deserved". I certainly don't judge all vendors in LOS by this event but I definitely wish the OP could have settled fairly with the vendor as in getting back the correct change.

Thank you for the information but I'm fully aware of how the ATM's in thailand disperse cash. I don't seek out the lower denominations and I've thankfully not had in LOS the same event as the OP. I did have it in my home country and I only had with me the denominations from an ATM. I had to suck it up but I didn't like it.

I always manage to forget but it's never a bad idea to callout the amount of the bill given to a vendor or sales clerk or waitress. As some have mentioned this may prevent a problem.

You're probably an OK guy Yoslim but I see no reason to jump on a person who has had an unpleasant experience and go on to say it is her fault due to Karma.

If I were the OP I'd think twice about posting again on this forum. NO reason to abuse a thread starter who relays an experience.

[cpofc]

From the famous movie, 'The Magnificent Seven' - 'if they were not meant to be shorn, god would not have made them sheep'. Or, as was made famous by W. C. Fields, 'Never give a sucker an even break'. Sociopaths exist in all races and societies and will continue to do so. If the facts are to be known, this particular women who ripped you is probably hated by most of her Thai peers and so called friends. She is nothing but a bully and a thief. Thai or not Thai.

Sadly you have encountered a 'bastard'.

I can't believe someone would say you 'deserved it'. What an ass. No one deserves to be stolen from, bullied and humiliated. Full stop.

The problem is that some people mistake a generous, good nature as a weakness, something to be exploited. I, for instance, am the most amiable of characters. Just don't rip me off or do the dirty on me. Otherwise you may just get to see my other side.

As for advice. Learn some Thai. You do not need to become fluent in the language, just learn enough to be able stand your ground in matters like this. Had you done so the outcome would have most likely been different. If you can speak Thai assertively, without being too aggressive you will have a head start. Better than that they won't try it on in the first place. Act confidently and self assured without being cocky or arrogant. If they get a hint that you are an 'old hand' in the Kingdom they will drop off quickly. These people pick their marks, but bullies, when confronted will often back down.

If I find myself in the situation of having only 500 or 1000 baht notes when I get in a cab, from the start, I hold up the note straight away and ask him if he has change. If not I ask him to stop at 7/11, family mart, on the way. It aint rocket science.

it is always handy to carry small money though.

If it is any consolation. I spent 20 years married to a Thai in Australia. (going back 30 years when the Asian population, where I was, was few). The amount of times my wife was short changed at shops and checkouts went way beyond coincidence or plain bad luck. And it was always another female.

Don't let it put you off. I understand it is difficult. But don't see this as purely a racist act. The woman, as I said, is just a low, contemptible bully and a thief.