New scam at Suvarnabhumi

[sipi]

The duty free shop should have explained the rules. I tried to buy a 50baht wooden pencil at Swampy and the salesgirl told me "You cannot buy, wood not allowed in Australia".

I read something about pencils banned in Aus, what's up with that?

Not sure. Maybe they just understand that most of us don't know how to use one.

[Tigerbythetail]

That's right finding is considered stealing by locals. Not everyone has same code of ethics. People need to be warned about this trap so as to not be extorted 100,000 baht for a 500 baht cell phone. Because spooky locals think it's ok to set up unsuspecting people for stealing then steal from them in return. Extortion is also stealing but I don't think that is enforced. If extortion has been enforced I'd like to hear about that.

And if you travel to Philippines beware the Locals there planting bullets in peoples bags to extort money.

[Rumblecat]

that are no totally retarded !

Well, you hit that one out the park, didn't you..?

[Tigerbythetail]

Also don't try to sneak a dog into Australia. Ask Johnny depp who's wife is in hot water for not quarantining her pup. I'm sure she's not alone in wishing we could quarantine Australia.

[Jiggo]

Staff at "King Power" sould have told the customers when checking their boarding card (not)

[barmatt]

I'm surprised you were able to purchase the alcohol at all. From my experience at swampy I've never been allowed to purchase any alcohol to bring back to Perth. They would always ask for my boarding pass and passport and once it was clear I was returning to Australia they wouldnt sell me any liquor. I asked why and was told Austalian authorities with the co-operation of Thai customs that no alcohol is to be sold to Australians returning home.

There was no other explaination which I found confusing.

The only thing I can think of is the duty free stores at our international airports were seeing all these returning passengers with bags of alcohol pre purchased o/s and not spending at home.?? I flew Thai direct.

However I was able to bring back alcohol purchased at Changi but this was several years ago.

[Brer Fox]

Bangkok Air flies to Melbourne now ?

Open your eyes. I said Bangkok Airways.

[tomyumchai]

This happened to me when these rules were first brought in. Instead of handing over the items I had, I took them and emptied the bottles in toilet, I then took the empty bottles back to the boarding gate and gave them to the unimpressed security staff.

Why would you do something that was both wasteful and more hassle to you? Pure spite?

its called 'eyeheea somchai'. you think you got 1 over but you aint. id have necked 100ml of booze n then poured the purfume in there....and handed it over.

[Brer Fox]

Anyway all these stupid rules about liquid are made by monkeys because scanners that can detect and analyze any kind of liquid exist and are available to purchase for any officials that are no totally retarded !

The duty free shop should have explained the rules. I tried to buy a 50baht wooden pencil at Swampy and the salesgirl told me "You cannot buy, wood not allowed in Australia".

Not always Sipi. Staff work on commission so either through greed or disinterest they will sometimes sell alcohol etc.

Several times I have seen the Thai staff at the boarding gate checkpoint take the passengers back to get a refund

Yes, stupid rules made by the stupid Aussie monkeys.

And I suppose the whining Aussies will expect all 7-11s and corner shops to tell them that they also can not take it to Australia, just in case. And wooden products, food etc. Australia is so important that the PM should send every Thai vendor to pass a course in Australian nanny state laws.

No wonder Thais think farangs are stupid.

The Australian authorities have denied they have ever issued any such instructions.

[petedk]

There is a store in BKK where they only sell items confiscated from passengers at either of the airports in BKK. Mostly perfume and booze....

Are you sure about that?

I know some customs officers and they sell a lot of "confiscated goods" quite cheaply. They have often asked me if there was anything I needed.

[gemguy]

Lesson learned.

Never buy anything at a Thai airport.

I never do anyhow as the duty free prices of nearly all the products on sale at any airport are usually more expensive than regular outlets.

Cheers

[sipi]

And then there was the time my wife was looking at gold necklaces at Swampy and the salesgirl told her "Don't buy here, cheaper in town".

[SoiBiker]

This happened to me when these rules were first brought in. Instead of handing over the items I had, I took them and emptied the bottles in toilet, I then took the empty bottles back to the boarding gate and gave them to the unimpressed security staff.

Why would you do something that was both wasteful and more hassle to you? Pure spite?

its called 'eyeheea somchai'. you think you got 1 over but you aint. id have necked 100ml of booze n then poured the purfume in there....and handed it over.

Seems kind of pointless.

[chickenslegs]

duty free or not has nothing to do with it.

you can't board an aircraft with liquid over the stated regulations. it does not matter if you have already been searched or not. if they are found on the plane you also forfeit.

same goes for any other prohibited items you may be carrying.

This is somewhat not correct. I have flown to Bangkok from Los Angeles numerous times over last 2 years. You cannot pass US TSA checkpoints with liquids over the allowed amounts. But food or drinks you purchase prior to boarding can be taken on the plane. Also in LAX the Chinese passengers buy a lot of expensive liquor at duty free. Prior to boarding, the sealed packages are brought to the boarding area and handed out. All this liquor in taken onto the plane.

The last time I checked, Los Angeles was not in Australia.

You had to check?

[metisdead]

Posts containing derogatory slurs toward Thais and Australians have been removed.

[PeVee1st]

It has been an Aus.Law for more than 10 years and listed on Aus.Gov.website.

Also, as stated, normally Kingpower ataff are aware of the Law & will not sell such items. You should have gone back and got a refund.

[Dumbastheycome]

It may not be a "Scam" but something is not right about this. If it is not allowed to take duty free liquids into the plane cabin, why does the duty free shop, located after baggage check in, allow such goods to be sold. When making payment the boarding card has to be shown which should surely flag a warning to the sales staff that the products being purchased would not be allowed on the flight. Maybe not a Scam but certainly unethical. OOoops! I forgot, all duty free at Swampy is controlled by King Power.

Flip that over.... King Power makes a profit in Thailand for Thailand. The Australian regulation is very obviously intended to make such duty free purchases only legitimate if made on Australian territory.....therefore at profit to Australia.

Thai authorities applying Australian regulations ostensibly in the interest of the traveller to Australia (albeit at the advantage of confiscating goods in Thailand) are rightfully helping the traveller avoid arrival issues in Australia( where if the goods are confiscated would be to the advantage of Australia).

Either way the traveller would be the loser..................

[xen]

It has also happened to me at Singapore - two bottles of Baileys for for gf confiscated going SYD -SIN_BKK. Then i found out Baileys was a similar price landside near the baggage pick-upat Swampy so why bother as long as you have baht in your wallet. On the way back i never buy duty free until i get to Oz as it is intended to give Australian Duty Free the business. Some may call that a scam - others just smart business.

[rodcourt49]

duty free or not has nothing to do with it.

you can't board an aircraft with liquid over the stated regulations. it does not matter if you have already been searched or not. if they are found on the plane you also forfeit.

same goes for any other prohibited items you may be carrying.

..difficult I know due to the tempting configuration of duty free outlets..but only way is to be in

checked luggage' which of course is about three stages prior to getting to the duty free sections and then the gates.

Only other way around this scenario, IMO, is to buy your perfume/liquor at any outlet prior and have them fill in the VAT refund documents then claim it back after you have gone through the body/carry on baggage scanners prior to boarding..at least you will get back 7% or whatever the going VAT rate is nowadays!...this will offset part of the difference in costing between retail v. duty free.

Ive seen passengers down a 1.5 litre bottle of water just because they were not allowed to carry it onto the aircraft..Ive also seen the gate security pick up armfuls of unopened bottles of water and carry it over to the nearest water sales outlet..so no doubt a little scam going on there!

I think if I went to the boarding gate and was not permitted to carry the perfume/spirits on..i would backtrack to the nearest toilet and splash it on, guzzle it down, or tip it down the drain, rather than give them the satisfaction of stealing your purchase...

[SoiBiker]

I find it weird that anyone would object to these products being 'recycled' back into the retail outlets. Would you prefer that perfectly good products go to waste just to satisfy some misguided sense of 'fair play'?

[fey]

It may not be a "Scam" but something is not right about this. If it is not allowed to take duty free liquids into the plane cabin, why does the duty free shop, located after baggage check in, allow such goods to be sold. When making payment the boarding card has to be shown which should surely flag a warning to the sales staff that the products being purchased would not be allowed on the flight. Maybe not a Scam but certainly unethical. OOoops! I forgot, all duty free at Swampy is controlled by King Power.

could be the same reason they grab people who wander off the walkway boundry for shoplifting, then police ask for a bribe for the infraction.

[Brer Fox]

duty free or not has nothing to do with it.

you can't board an aircraft with liquid over the stated regulations. it does not matter if you have already been searched or not. if they are found on the plane you also forfeit.

same goes for any other prohibited items you may be carrying.

You don't seem to understand. it is not illegal to carry on bag sealed grog purchased in the duty free area at Suvanabhumi. That is why they sell the stuff it in duty free! What you say is certainly correct that why they scan everyone at the security check point before going on through to immigration. After immigration one is then in transit and can purchase whatever they sell in the DF stores. Can anyone believe for one minute Chinese don't take back duty free grog on their flights.

I make some clarifications for the benefit of the doubters.

1. I am not talking about bags checks at the normal security entries where they certainly do check for and confiscate liquids greater than 100ml.

2. I am talking about secondary "bag checks" at the boarding gate.

3. The documents shown to me as supposed evidence of an Australian regulation were on plain A4 paper in cheap plastic folders and made to look official and they were badly presented and without and any formal Australian logo or official department letterhead. The lay-out of the wording was amateurish and

the English grammar very poor. They appeared to be done on a home computer, certainly not by any Australian authority.

4. I have checked with the Australian authorities and they have denied issuing these instructions for bag checks at the boarding gates for

Australian departures.

5.These bag checks at the boarding gates and confiscations at Savanabhumi only seem to apply to flights to Australia.

6. Australia has no rights to issued security instructions to a foreign country without formal agreement. It is a breach of diplomacy. How can there be any

formal agreement if the Australian authorities know nothing about it.

7. Australia has no rights to issue security conditions to a foreign airline.

8. On my return flight to Hanoi I flew Vietnam Airlines and the plane was chockers with Vietnamese going home to families for Tet. I couldn't believe

the quantities of duty free grog they carried on board to take back to their relatives for Tet. So it is OK for Australian authorities to allow grog on board

when departing Australia but not when departing other ports for Australia. I don't think so.

9. Like most of you I have lived in Asia for many tears, mostly in Thailand and Vietnam and can smell a scam a mile away. This had all the hallmarks of a

scam given the smirking and officious demeanor of the young security staff.

I hope that clears up some unanswered questions.

.

[arunsakda]

You were not scammed and seem to be wound up about a case where security agents are actually properly doing their jobs. The rest of your post contains so much rubbish especially point 7.) I would not know where to begin. I'm sorry you simply do not know what you are talking about. Anyone who is interested can search the link below from the Sydney Airport authority and please note the point regarding Alcohol I have taken the liberty to highlight in bold.

http://www.sydneyairport.com.au/shop/heinemann-tax-and-duty-free/duty-free-allowances.aspx

Alcohol:

Up to 2.25 litres of alcoholic beverages (liquor, wine and champagne) per adult (passenger must be 18 years or over) can be brought into Australia duty-free. All alcohol in accompanied baggage is included in this category.

Remember: Alcohol is subject to liquids, aerosols and gels (LAGs) restrictions. You cannot board your flight with a bottle or container of alcohol exceeding 100ml in your carry-on luggage. Alcohol that exceeds this amount may not be allowed on board as a carry-on depending on where you are flying in from, and if you purchased the item in your last port of call before Australia or if you are transiting in between before the final leg to Australia. Please check with the customs service of each destination for more information to avoid confiscation before reaching Australia.

To avoid any problems, you can pre order your duty free alcohol online before your trip and collect it when you arrive at Sydney Airport.

[Don Mega]

Yep I flew to Sydney 3 years ago. Wanted to buy some booze at Swampy to take with. When I got to the purchasing counter I was asked for my boarding pass where the nice lady politely told me that as my destination was Sydney she was not allowed to sell it to me.

[Linesy]

I find it weird that anyone would object to these products being 'recycled' back into the retail outlets. Would you prefer that perfectly good products go to waste just to satisfy some misguided sense of 'fair play'?

Most people will be (I will use the word unhappy but stronger applies) and would probably feel a little satisfaction even though short lived, after all they paid for it and they own it. Also prevents someone else making a gain out of passenger's misfortune on a regular basis - this doesn't only happen once.

I should add that if I was in that situation and had to walk to the toilets to dispose of it that I would probably keep walking to the duty free shop to try and get my money back if time permitted.

[SoiBiker]

Maybe it's just me but I don't see what satisfaction there is to be gained from wasting a perfectly good bottle of whiskey. If I can't have it, someone else might as well benefit from it.

[brewsterbudgen]

It may not be a "Scam" but something is not right about this. If it is not allowed to take duty free liquids into the plane cabin, why does the duty free shop, located after baggage check in, allow such goods to be sold. When making payment the boarding card has to be shown which should surely flag a warning to the sales staff that the products being purchased would not be allowed on the flight. Maybe not a Scam but certainly unethical. OOoops! I forgot, all duty free at Swampy is controlled by King Power.

could be the same reason they grab people who wander off the walkway boundry for shoplifting, then police ask for a bribe for the infraction.

Except "they" don't do that. Another urban myth!

[Roomuck]

You were not scammed and seem to be wound up about a case where security agents are actually properly doing their jobs. The rest of your post contains so much rubbish especially point 7.) I would not know where to begin. I'm sorry you simply do not know what you are talking about. Anyone who is interested can search the link below from the Sydney Airport authority and please note the point regarding Alcohol I have taken the liberty to highlight in bold.

http://www.sydneyairport.com.au/shop/heinemann-tax-and-duty-free/duty-free-allowances.aspx

Alcohol:

Up to 2.25 litres of alcoholic beverages (liquor, wine and champagne) per adult (passenger must be 18 years or over) can be brought into Australia duty-free. All alcohol in accompanied baggage is included in this category.

Remember: Alcohol is subject to liquids, aerosols and gels (LAGs) restrictions. You cannot board your flight with a bottle or container of alcohol exceeding 100ml in your carry-on luggage. Alcohol that exceeds this amount may not be allowed on board as a carry-on depending on where you are flying in from, and if you purchased the item in your last port of call before Australia or if you are transiting in between before the final leg to Australia. Please check with the customs service of each destination for more information to avoid confiscation before reaching Australia.

To avoid any problems, you can pre order your duty free alcohol online before your trip and collect it when you arrive at Sydney Airport.

The OP is a dope, they told him at the airport, everyone else tells him here that he is wrong, we have shown the AUSTRALIAN regulations and he still wants to argue and harp on about the smirking scheming scamming Thais. Because he saw people taking grog out of australia and he can't comprehend that the Australian rules don't apply when entering Vietnam .

He wants to believe he has been scammed and wants to tell others. I feel sorry for him if he has a foreign wife or girlfriend, he probably accuses her of scamming him also.

Despite all the facts he "knows a scam when he sees one"

Let's just let him believe he was scammed, that is what he wants. We haven't provided the answer he was looking for here. He won't except the reality of the situation that has been the same for years.

[bigt3116]

There is a store in BKK where they only sell items confiscated from passengers at either of the airports in BKK. Mostly perfume and booze....

OK, can you tell us where this store is ?

[NotWhatItWasnt]

Thanks for sharing this