Floating market rip off

[Suradit69]

"...he was probably gonna receive a commision..."

He was probably worried you were some sort of nutter who was "gonna" do something unpleasant.

The driver seemed like a friendly lad.

The friendly lad changed his facial expression ...

You sound like an English shirt lifter describing a disappointing night out.

[carter1882]

Dear Lukecan,

You wouldn't mind telling me what airline you plan on working for, just so I can make alternative arrangements.

Regards,

[csabo]

So to sum up the OP post; He went too a tourist trap and was treated like a tourist and was shocked and all this happened because he failed to read reviews until after he got home and instead of ranting on TripAdvisor he's ranting here to a bunch of people who don't care.

[SoiBiker]

So to sum up the OP post; He went too a tourist trap and was treated like a tourist and was shocked and all this happened because he failed to read reviews until after he got home and instead of ranting on TripAdvisor he's ranting here to a bunch of people who don't care.

For a bunch of people who don't care, they sure have a lot to say on the matter.

[neverdie]

So to sum up the OP post; He went too a tourist trap and was treated like a tourist and was shocked and all this happened because he failed to read reviews until after he got home and instead of ranting on TripAdvisor he's ranting here to a bunch of people who don't care.

For a bunch of people who don't care, they sure have a lot to say on the matter.

We are here because we care.

[duanebigsby]

I don't know where you were at the floating market but i go there at least twice a year with a group of students who conduct a survey with the tourist. There a sign and I believe a boat is 400 baht and one with a top for shade is 600 baht. Even that is high but so be it. You sure you didn't miss a O in the price.

No I didnt.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g303902-d317729-Reviews-or40-Damnoen_Saduak_Floating_Market-Damnoen_Saduak_Ratchaburi_Province.html#REVIEWS

Read the reviews here, same experiences as mine. My taxi driver took me to the stall of a private boat owner. Apparently its what taxi drivers do, they dont directlyt take you to the market, but take you to a place so you have to hire a private boat. Of course they receive their hefty commision.

Didn't you think to yourself at any point: "Maybe I shouldn't take a taxi"; or "Maybe I should tell him to go straight to the market without stopping first" When you read these reviews? simple planning takes seconds. I hope you give more attention to any pre-flight checks you may have to make in the future....

I like doing things instantly, just like how I decided to go to Bangkok from Istanbul the same day.I like making my plans last minute, and today I had no plans to go to the floating market. Before hailing the cab, I didnt even know how far and where the floating market was, so when the cab quoted 1500thb for going and coming back I was like <deleted>, but gave in after he told me it was 100km away. Common sense, why would you plan your trip to a floating market, its a <deleted> floating market I thought. And I dont mind getting ripped off actually, but there is a line between getting ripped off and getting raped, 4000thb for a boat ride is rape.

What you've just described is not called spontaneity, it's called utter stupidity.

[duanebigsby]

this guy doesnt seem to be able to adapt to a situation and think on his feet. and he figures he has what it takes to fly for a major asian airline someday?

Yes, you can just imagine it, a few warning alarms go off, he doesn't like it, so he just goes and sits in First Class and orders a meal.

its unreal. he tells us he has visited many times and wants to live here full time and insists that it isnt the women that attract him to thailand and then goes on to explain his lack of skill in dealing with getting around here is due to the fact that he spends all his time in bars and bringing home countless women he meets on-line and doesnt have to pay for! but he's sure he has what it takes to become a skilled airline pilot with enough hours to get taken on by one of the major aisian airlines and still find time to profit in stock markets!! lol

I hold no malice towards him. He's just a young man who's out experiencing the world for the first time. He might be mixing his aspirations and abilities up a bit, that's all. I hope no harm comes to him in this dangerous world and if his biggest drama is getting touch for a few thousand baht then he has done well IMO.

Fortunately for him, he's from a family who has done well for themselves and they are able to support him as he blunders his way through his early years.

Nothing else to see really.

He would be well advised to stay away from some of the islands and resort areas where the real tourist sharks operate, especially some of the, where his nievity may lead to him making front line international news.

This post, and Ayjaydee's above, sum this pompous, young, naïve person up perfectly.

But the internet is going to eat him up if he continues to be so arrogant and conceited, and he'll continue to be ripped off in Thailand.

[1BADDAT]

Haha the usual guys bragging about int he other thread of being set to retire are trying to derail this thread. By the way I dont give market advise, people who usually are on the winning side dont have to

Warren Buffett gives out financial advice quite often. Maybe you are more winning than him?

[kurtramsbottom]

What's a "Tinderella"?

[duanebigsby]

Why do you csuckers love to jump on people when they have bad experiences? Just because you know these ripoffs exist doesnt make you superior and give you the right to make fun of peoples bad luck and experiences. Grow up you old bastards!

Because he outright says his decisions are spur of the moment and he couldn't be bothered to google anything.

That's stupidity, not naivety.

[SoiBiker]

I think the last time some of these guys did anything spontaneous was when they decided to buy Chang instead of Leo for a change.

[AYJAYDEE]

I think the last time some of these guys did anything spontaneous was when they decided to buy Chang instead of Leo for a change.

actually my last time was when I stole an umbrella some loon had left hanging on the back of a chair in some food court.

[ThePlant]

I think the last time some of these guys did anything spontaneous was when they decided to buy Chang instead of Leo for a change.

Of course not. We're all old aged wage slaves with no idea of freedom....

Oh to be able to drop everything, slap on the cheap, foetid, reeking lycra and pedal around in the sois around our grindhouses in Soi Ladyboy Spunk in total freedom as we wonder where the next 50B is coming from....

[taabot]

Kamikaze pilot.

[neverdie]

I think the last time some of these guys did anything spontaneous was when they decided to buy Chang instead of Leo for a change.

How did you know?

[Loptr]

....and you want to be an airline pilot.....Saints preserve us.....

I dont want to be one, I will be one.

Congrats on your confidence...

Being a professional pilot was my second career as it was something I had always wanted to do as a kid... I paid for all my ratings myself, struggled to get enough PIC hours to get hired by a major as a FO and finally realized my dream... That is until I realized that I was nothing more than an educated bus driver... Coupled with the fact that you are rarely home, personal relationships suffer and drug abuse was rampant at that time... Today, an airline pilot does nothing more than monitor aircraft systems to assure that everything is operating correctly... Yeah, you hand fly the aircraft on take-offs and sometimes landings, but that's about it... When Ronnie Rayguns de-regulated the airline industry in the US in the 1980's, the handwriting was on the wall and I bailed for career number 3...

There is a joke about the future of airline crews, which will be made up of a pilot and a dog... The pilot is there to monitor systems and the dog is there to bite the pilot if he touches anything...

Not trying to dissuade you, just interjecting some reality from someone that has been there, done that...

Good luck with your career choice...

[ChiangraiTony]

Quote the last sentence from the OP:

(Anyone wanting to go to the floating market, don't)

It not always about the price but the experience. Some people are willing to pay and don't really care so much that the price maybe be higher than what they expect. Apparently, the OP didn't really care if he missed out on the boat experience. One time I took a small narrow boat from the BKK floating market. The boat operator took me into a very small off-shoot of the main Canal area. As the boat traveled into this secluded small canal it was surrounded by shaded palm trees. We were able to travel down this canal path and then we exited the boat and there was an older woman sitting there on the ground under a bamboo roof and she was there cooking with very large size Chinese style Woks. She was extracting Coconut juice and heating it. We got to watch her and sample her product. Behind he were thousands of used Coconut shells that she apparently was working for a long time. The place was surrounded by Coconut Palm trees. This place where they took me was just a narrow canal. It was so narrow that the only way to get back was to find another off-shoot to that narrow section and turn into and back out of in older to turn the boat around. Difficult for me to really explain how it was and how really beautiful the entire experience was for me. It was so different that I never forgot the pleasant experience. When I have this type experience then the cost becomes secondary. I'm glad I took the boat trip whatever it cost. It was not about the money but more about the jungle ride type experience.

[taabot]

The cheapest solution; let your self float to the market.

[wabothai]

When you want to visit known touristplaces you will be ripped off. One should know that. Everywhere in the world the same.

[Jungle Jim]

My hunch is when you offered to pay 1200 baht for the fare he knew he had a typical foreign SUCKER ! The reason foreigners get ripped off most of the time is their own damn fault. Foreigners love over paying for everything. Bar girls, food, hotel rooms, taxis you name it. Ever wonder why prices just keep going up ? Stupid foreigners.

[balo]

So the driver ripped you off not the floating market. You stopped prior to the market you should have went down the road to the entrance of the market. Don't blame the market , blame yourself.

Yeah you are right, I'm one of the people to be blamed here. But nearly everyone who stops a cab and says take me to the floating market gets the same treatment. I should of prepared before the trip, but I decided to go there while I was walking down the road lol, decided I had nothing better to do and just hailed a cab and said take me to the floating market.

you're just stupid, you could take the local bus to the market , it costs 10 baht , and then pay the normal entrance fee as anyone else.

Stupid tourist in Bangkok , thats what you are. And don't blame the Thais , its a part of their culture to rip off tourists.

Edited January 20, 2015 by balo

[Jungle Jim]

it is part of any culture to rip off stupid tourists. Watched two bimbo women in Hua Hin pay 200 baht to travel two blocks. As long as dumb foreigners continue to throw money around prices will only keep going upwards. One of the numerous reasons i avoid the tourist towns, bars, hotels, restaurants, taxis etc, etc. Dumb tourists. Ever wonder why bar girls prices continue to go skyward ? Dumb, dumber and dumbest .

So the driver ripped you off not the floating market. You stopped prior to the market you should have went down the road to the entrance of the market. Don't blame the market , blame yourself.

Yeah you are right, I'm one of the people to be blamed here. But nearly everyone who stops a cab and says take me to the floating market gets the same treatment. I should of prepared before the trip, but I decided to go there while I was walking down the road lol, decided I had nothing better to do and just hailed a cab and said take me to the floating market.

you're just stupid, you could take the local bus to the market , it costs 10 baht , and then pay the normal entrance fee as anyone else.

Stupid tourist in Bangkok , thats what you are. And don't blame the Thais , its a part of their culture to rip off tourists.

[Mudcrab]

If you make a big mistake with anaesthetic you only kill one person

If you make a big mistake as a commercial passenger aircraft pilot..........................................well at least you'll be famous.

[kurtramsbottom]

I love splashing my cash at the Thais ,paying way over the odds & tipping silly money makes me feel good.

What's even better is knowing it pisses off so many of you miserable expats .

[metisdead]

Inflammatory posts and inflammatory replies have been removed.

[ResandePohm]

If it was Amphawa the prices have gone up a tad. Not so long ago a 2 hour boat trip with stop offs at 5 temples was 50 Baht per person.

No mate it wasnt that one, forget 50, if they asked 300-400 baht I'd give it, but 4000 thats insane.

It was damnean saduak floating market.

You obviously dont know how to haggle. I have been to the floating market about 5 times now. First time i took a boat cost 150 baht per person after negotiation. Seeing the market by boat is worth doing once for the tourist experience. Problem with the boats is that you do not really get a good chance to see the items on sale close up. Also when you return they will try to "rip you off" again by selling a plate and a picture of yourself and your company for 150 baht each. The boat ride itself is interesting as you can see the monitor lizards swimming (look a bit like crocs) and the large fish which you can literally catch with you hand if your quick enough. As I said once is enough for the tourist thing.

Better is to take a taxi direct to the market. Much cheaper and will allow you to spend as much time as you want to look around and even take a meal. Again you need to haggle. If you do then you will get very reasonable prices. Only dum tourists pay the asking price. I remember buying a hat there for 150 baht then watching some American tourists pay 450 baht each for the same hat because they were afraid to or didnt know how to haggle.

That being said as a tourist you must expect to pay tourist prices whatever country you are in, even in the UK.

[ThePlant]

I love splashing my cash at the Thais ,paying way over the odds & tipping silly money makes me feel good.

What's even better is knowing it pisses off so many of you miserable expats .

LOL, you need to have the cash to splash in the first place Kurt and we're not talking about leaving the old dear at the corner shop the 3B change from buying your weekly Mama Noodles and nightly urine-warm can of Leo.

[metisdead]

Another topic closed due to excessive flames and insults.