What's the best scam you've come across in Thailand?

[KNJ]

No problem. Diamonds are intrinsically worthless anyway. They are only rocks. Nothing like precious metals that are actually of some use. Compare the resale value of diamonds with that of gold.

The best scam I have come across though is a bar fine.

Damm, shall I throw my diamond cutter away?

Throw away that industrial laser?

Junk my top end speakers?

Invent another material that absorbs heat better?

Those abrasion resistant bearings?

Other wear resistance coating you can suggest?

[Shadychris]

Scams everywhere in the world - its not just specific to Thailand.

Fair to say too that the scams in Thailand usually befall those who are thinking with their little head instead of their big one, or are just plain greedy.

People on here are often quick to have a go a Thai taxi and tuk tuk drivers, but apparently now in London there are East Europeans guys ripping off tourists with rickshaw rides at the rate of £10+ a minute!

Far more abhorrent to my mind even, are the scammers in the west who target vulnerable and very elderly people living on their own - either by tricking them into paying for unnecessary work on their property, selling them something they don't need, or in the worst cases even conning them out of their life savings.

[jobsworth]

Buying an android Chinese tablet computer marked Samsung for 2000THB from a Burma man in Panthip plaza. Pantip plaza seems to have many charming Burmese who speak perfect English. (I wonder whether they have work permits?). Some of them may be ok but my experience has only been rivaled by the Chinese in Sim Lim in Singapore. He and his girlfriend have a beautiful display on the ground floor. Never having owned a tablet I bought one and it was perfect. Then I went back to buy a second one. Would I prefer a white one? Yes. So he ran upstairs to one of his other 2 shops and came back with a white one which seemed ok but when i tried it in my hotel i could not install anything at all from wifi. So I took it back and again he ran upstairs and came back with another white one.So I took it back to my hotel and again I could not install anything.from wifi So I went back again ..

So again he ran upstairs and came back with yet another white tablet and a free keyboard. He and his girlfriend then demonstrated using one of their mobile telephones as a wifi source that you could install from wifi. So I took that one back to my hotel. It sort of worked but then i discovered that the touch screen worked only from time to time. It seems that he has a stock of faulty tablets which he tries to unload on stupid foreigners. This seemed to be as good as it would get so I stopped. I broke my golden rule when buying electronics. Always buy an unopened box and ask for an invoice. I had none of this. Don't allow anybody to open a box remove the item and put a sticker on it for warranty. It is too easy to substitute a faulty item. Warranty is hardly worth having anyway since you will not be given a new item. You get back another item which had a different fault on it and which has been repaired and may break again.

[Capt Rob]

On 2/18/2016 at 10:40 AM, csabo said:

There is a guy posting motorbikes on Kaidee.com he doesn't own. Lines up a dozen or more buyers for the same underpriced bike, gets money transferred to his account and never ships to anyone. Next day, new bike, same scam. The banks and the police could care less. Seems to me he could easily be pulling in 100000 per day but with only single victims walking into any number of police stations no one is doing the math that this guy is stealing quite a lot of money from a vast group of victims.

A British 'gent' of unknown lineage, advertises motorbikes on Baht n Sold - Good paint work, lists overhaul parts used to rebuild the bike, with a story that he is selling his collection bike is shipped at cost.

The bike I purchased was considerably older that stated and things like new carbies were described by an Irish friend as fit to grow <deleted> tatters in. Parts generally unavailable/ very expensive. Another guy who used the same carrier had the same scam worked on him. Collectively we requested baht n sold to ban his advertising which they did - you guessed it he resurfaced with another name but same modus operandi.

I and the other guy went on TV to alert the forum and copped flak for being "gullible" - true we knew that already, and weasel words from him, ( he accused us of being "newbies" as some form of defence? ) till the moderator ended it.

Apparently there are container loads of m/c's coming dissembled out of Japan - paintwork and book and bike is for sale.

Found out from TV OP that his adverts had been displayed for some considerable time - beware he is still operating as of last year

[Bangkok Barry]

Another thing that may happen, wife takes a ring to the shop to make it bigger, because she also have a huge gambling debt, she asks the shop to take off and replace some of the diamonds and refund her in cash, so she can pay off the debt.......

Happily that wasn't my scenario. She doesn't gamble.

[bazza40]

No money no honey with a twist.

If you drive from Phrae to Phayao, there are roadside stalls selling honey in recycled whisky bottles.

The stall holders will give you a taste of the honey. Wild honey, really good quality. Maybe 180 - 200 baht. You can usually bargain them down to 150 baht.

When you do, they switch the good stuff for honey which has been diluted with a mixture of ordinary sugar and water. The viscosity is different. Not easy to detect, because all the bottles are unlabelled.

Perhaps not the best scam, but one does have to admire the ingenuity of supposedly ignorant villagers.

[georgemandm]

The grand daddy of them all is this beauty......bargirl has husband, a kind man but much older....she takes him to her home town and says darling I want buy land here build house....and being a nice man he agrees...and builds a 4 million baht mansion...he buys the land off who would you believe , but the bar girls family....brillaint...he buys something they already own...everyone's a winner...

But the plot thickens...he dies of cancer.....sad so sad....she gets a new boyfriend....2 months later....takes new boyfriend to the town and says to new boyfriend....darling I want to buy this big mansion....he forks out 4 million baht and buys the mansion...

Brillaint...she already owned it......you have to give them credit.....just brilliant

Is it a true story or Bulls??t hahaha if true you made my day and I had great laugh

Better than the usual ones....!!!! so good.!!! Who said bar girls are stupid ?

Most are very stupid sorry all are stupid

But if you let them get away with it then the man is stupid not the bar girl being smart .

[louse1953]

Coming through swampy airport and customs stopping me outside, taking me back in the customs hall searching my bags....finding nothing but damaging my suitcase in his eagerness to search it.

Then suggesting he should be given a gift for helping me repack

The answer could not be translated into thai so i politely but firmly told him he was lucky i did not make a claim for him causing damage to my suitcase, answer- Sawadee Krap and left

Pretty unlucky,i haven't seen any customs lads for years.

[KC 71]

The GF at the time said 'i have one room- but many hearts' !

[smotherb]

My first wife pulled a great scam when we were preparing to get married.

We were talking about the marriage and she said she doesnot want much she is a good woman. I thought great. so I ask what do you want? She replied 20 baht. I thought she was joking about money to give for sin sot. So I joked back oh too much I only give you 10 baht. She said ok. Then she said how much money you give me. I said 10 baht like we agreed thinking we still joking, She then told me she was talking about bahts of gold at first and she was happy to get 10 baht of gold but wants cash too. I didnot know what to say because all of a sudden she seemed very serious. So she tricked me into paying 10 baht gold.( She also got a house)the house was already settled before the 10 baht fiasco.

Let's see. You did not know that in Thailand gold and cash were a common part of sin sot or that gold is measured in baht; so somehow your wife scammed you. Did she scam you out of the house too?

[smotherb]

The grand daddy of them all is this beauty......bargirl has husband, a kind man but much older....she takes him to her home town and says darling I want buy land here build house....and being a nice man he agrees...and builds a 4 million baht mansion...he buys the land off who would you believe , but the bar girls family....brillaint...he buys something they already own...everyone's a winner...

But the plot thickens...he dies of cancer.....sad so sad....she gets a new boyfriend....2 months later....takes new boyfriend to the town and says to new boyfriend....darling I want to buy this big mansion....he forks out 4 million baht and buys the mansion...

Brillaint...she already owned it......you have to give them credit.....just brilliant

Is it a true story or Bulls??t hahaha if true you made my day and I had great laugh

Of course it's a true story. Ladies of negotiable virtue have always sold something they own over and over again. I knew a girl who sold her virginity at least four times--she looked young and she waited until that time of month to give up her "virginity."

[Ghostmanthai]

Other than bad taxi drivers taking the piss when choosing the route they like for a trip into town it seems I have been lucky. But there is one question I have, has anyone ever bothered to listen to the entire lucky man scam that used to be run by the Indian fellows in lower Suk? I have not seen them in a long while but I can count the times I have went to lower Suk on one hard in the last year. But has anyone ever bothered to listen to it?

[eldragon]

But how do you know they were replaced and not originally sold that way? Or had you seen it before and after in the same light? I would suspect more likely was sold that way as replacing small diamonds probably would not be worth the effort involved.

could also have been swapped by the place that checked it

most people can't determine authenticity by eyeballing

1 - because we had seen the ring in UV lighting before. 2 - the ring was checked in front of us after we noticed the abnormality.

Are you absolutely certain wifey didnt have em swapped out to pay her "brothers" debts off?

[eldragon]

OP, what about the police? A brown envelope?

Never mind the envelope, what about the uniform?

[eldragon]

Never been scammed beyond the occasional extended taxi ride or some variety of "Hes my brother." I dont think anyone in Thailand with bad intent is clever enough to pull off a scam of any consequence without giving themselves away to a semi-trained eye. Thais are pretty obvious when theyre lying or trying to trick you. I usually walk away from any of the other regional slicksters who start by calling me their friend. Id say fellow foreigners are probably the biggest thing to watch out for in the LOS.

[Fookhaht]

First trip by bus to Udon Thani from Khon Kaen. Bought 300B bus ticket from a guy in some sort of uniform, holding a handful of tickets.

Got on the bus, driver says "That's not a ticket," seller no where to be found.

Bought real ticket: 120B

[bazza40]

When I was renting a scooter, I'd take it in once a fortnight for a mechanical check. So one day, took the bike in with a full tank and it was returned nearly empty. Spoke to the manager and she got the two mechanics to come to the office. The body language of one of them was so obvious he might as well have been wearing a neon sign. She chewed him out, then told them to take the scooter away and refill it.

What baffled me was his thinking - I wouldn't notice a full tank disappeared? Dumb.

[mikiea]

OP, what about the police? A brown envelope?

D .M. airport immigration officers ,I had a woman officer grab my passport and started loudly saying overstay , overstay , pay fine now , 3500 baht , pay now or I keep passport . I sat there in the return visa office and waited until she came back waving my passport in front of me and saying again pay money now . I reached for my wallet and held out my other hand and she handed me my pp back , I put it in my pocket and walked out of the room and went straight to immigration offices . the officer woman scammer disappeared . did not pay anything , learned a lesson , never give up passport to anyone if not sure you can get it back . she was so hungry for money she did not see my dates , did not look , have over 2 months left . oh and never reported her . no point in that anyway

Edited February 19, 2016 by mikiea

[NoshowJones]

OP, what about the police? A brown envelope?

D .M. airport immigration officers ,I had a woman officer grab my passport and started loudly saying overstay , overstay , pay fine now , 3500 baht , pay now or I keep passport . I sat there in the return visa office and waited until she came back waving my passport in front of me and saying again pay money now . I reached for my wallet and held out my other hand and she handed me my pp back , I put it in my pocket and walked out of the room and went straight to immigration offices . the officer woman scammer disappeared . did not pay anything , learned a lesson , never give up passport to anyone if not sure you can get it back . she was so hungry for money she did not see my dates , did not look , have over 2 months left . oh and never reported her . no point in that anyway

I think if that happened to me I would be very nice and pleasant , at the same time I would have asked to see the senior officer or whatever he is called.

[Bangkok Barry]

Are you absolutely certain wifey didnt have em swapped out to pay her "brothers" debts off?

What gives you the right to make such an insulting remark, knowing no-one involved? The situation was as told. Wife of 25 years (no 'brother' in sight), and none of her family, need to scam to make money. Jeez, there are some really unpleasant people on TV, but then everyone knows that.

[impulse]

When I was renting a scooter, I'd take it in once a fortnight for a mechanical check. So one day, took the bike in with a full tank and it was returned nearly empty. Spoke to the manager and she got the two mechanics to come to the office. The body language of one of them was so obvious he might as well have been wearing a neon sign. She chewed him out, then told them to take the scooter away and refill it.

What baffled me was his thinking - I wouldn't notice a full tank disappeared? Dumb.

What was dumb about it?

He tried. It didn't work this one time. Yet he suffered no consequence other than a chewing. He replaced the fuel he stole, so he was out nothing.

And there's no way to know from your story whether the manager's in on it. They may have a well rehearsed schtick worked out where she pretends to chew him out so she's off the hook.

Imagine all the time it does work on liquored up, timid or senile customers.

[bazza40]

When I was renting a scooter, I'd take it in once a fortnight for a mechanical check. So one day, took the bike in with a full tank and it was returned nearly empty. Spoke to the manager and she got the two mechanics to come to the office. The body language of one of them was so obvious he might as well have been wearing a neon sign. She chewed him out, then told them to take the scooter away and refill it.

What baffled me was his thinking - I wouldn't notice a full tank disappeared? Dumb.

What was dumb about it?

He tried. It didn't work this one time. Yet he suffered no consequence other than a chewing. He replaced the fuel he stole, so he was out nothing.

And there's no way to know from your story whether the manager's in on it. They may have a well rehearsed schtick worked out where she pretends to chew him out so she's off the hook.

Imagine all the time it does work on liquored up, timid or senile customers.

You may be right. However, as my Thai is quite reasonable. I believe the chewing out was not faked. And if the schtick was well rehearsed, I would have thought he would have done better with the body language.

Be that as it may, dumb to take the full tank. If he took a quarter of a tank from each bike he serviced, would probably get away with it.

Agree it might work on a timid customer. Liquored up or senile? They wouldn't last very long on a scooter anyway.

[FidelityCheckOnline]

I heard of one scam by motor bike rental businesses who rent out motor bikes mainly to tourists. The customer (tourist) rents the bike and signs the insurance documents thinking they are fully covered. While talking to the customer the hire company sales person finds out the name of the customers hotel and when they are planning to fly home. The night before either the bike is due to be returned or the customer is due to fly home, using a second set of keys, the hire company takes (steals) the motorbike from outside the hotel and hides it. The next morning the customer discovers the bike stolen and visits the hire company to inform them of the bad news (still thinking they are safely insured). On hearing what has happened the hire company act outraged and point out the insurance only covered the customer for accidents and not theft.They call a friendly policeman and say they want compensation for the loss of their motorbike. The policeman says compensation needs to be paid to the hire company for the loss of the motorbike the customer will have to go to the police station to sort the matter out. The customer, not wanting to be arrested pays up as much compensation as they can afford to avoid trouble and so they can fly home.

The policeman gets his cut, the scammed customer flies out of the country and a couple of hours later the motorbike is back on the forecourt ready for hire again.

Scam complete

[lovelomsak]

My first wife pulled a great scam when we were preparing to get married.

We were talking about the marriage and she said she doesnot want much she is a good woman. I thought great. so I ask what do you want? She replied 20 baht. I thought she was joking about money to give for sin sot. So I joked back oh too much I only give you 10 baht. She said ok. Then she said how much money you give me. I said 10 baht like we agreed thinking we still joking, She then told me she was talking about bahts of gold at first and she was happy to get 10 baht of gold but wants cash too. I didnot know what to say because all of a sudden she seemed very serious. So she tricked me into paying 10 baht gold.( She also got a house)the house was already settled before the 10 baht fiasco.

Let's see. You did not know that in Thailand gold and cash were a common part of sin sot or that gold is measured in baht; so somehow your wife scammed you. Did she scam you out of the house too?

I knew gold and cash are part of sinsot but the way the conversation was going it was joking and she twisted it. at first joking like she only wanted a little money 20 baht it was not till after i said 10 baht she got serious and said she was talking gold. this wasnot a formal setting of negotiations but casual talk and joking talk twisted. So comes out scam ok.She was so bad marriage lasted 4 months.Thois was the tip of the iceberg.I gave her the house to get her out of my life.

Edited February 20, 2016 by lovelomsak

[arunsakda]

The Gem scam must be a good one, for it's longevity at least. I read about it in guidebooks at least 20 years prior to my first visit.

Finally once outside Hua Lamthong station I was approached by an elderly Thai gentleman in a threadbare suit, speaking perfect English. Exactly as the guidebooks said.

I could not get rid of him and finally he asked WHY I did not want to buy gems to resell in San Francisco for a huge profit? I told him I hated money.

He hissed "You are Stupid!" as he walked away in frustration. Yeah, I'm stupid. So stupid I know I can't tell an emerald from a broken piece of a Heineken bottle.

Over the years I wonder how many tourists that old tricker duped?

Edited February 21, 2016 by arunsakda

[Colabamumbai]

Thailand is all about scams. Sakhon Nakon Immigration taking 1,900 Baht for an extension and 3,800 for a multiple re-entry permit, not stamping either in the passport and not giving a receipt. Always check your passport before leaving an immigration office. "Oh sorry", was their reply.

Good scam if they get away with it, you have no proof you paid for anything.

Edited March 28, 2016 by Colabamumbai

[colinneil]

Best scam i encountered was from my ex-wife.

I was in the UK. phone rings wifes crying, darling i have big problem.

What i ask. I driving my friend to airport, pickup have fire.

You ok i ask yes but pickup have problem. man from garage say he can fix but cost 36.000 baht.

Were are you now Rangsit, no money for anything.

So stupid me goes and sens 40.000 baht via western union.

Six weeks later i arrive in Thailand.

First thing i did in the morning was check the pickup, no sign of fire nothing.

So i ask what the <deleted> is going on. She says i wanted more money, so i tell you about pickup have fire.

I know you will send money to help me.

Yes this farang got caught a good one.

[eldragon]

"I'm good girl."

Seriously though, the one I'll never understand is hookers that go to hooker bars and act like they're not hookers, but eventually ask for money anyway. Not sure if that qualifies as a scam or if it's just Thai inability to be straightforward. Probably some pride issue involved too.

[SoiBiker]

"I'm good girl."

Seriously though, the one I'll never understand is hookers that go to hooker bars and act like they're not hookers, but eventually ask for money anyway. Not sure if that qualifies as a scam or if it's just Thai inability to be straightforward. Probably some pride issue involved too.

I think they're just catering to the clients who prefer to pretend they're not using hookers.

[arunsakda]

"I miss u too mutt"