10 common scams that may occur when traveling in Thailand

Thailand is known as the land of smiles. The people in this Buddhist country give people a friendly impression. However, because Thailand’s tourism industry is so developed and people from all kinds of countries are mixed together, it is inevitable that there will be some deceptions. The following is an introduction to 10 common fraud methods that may occur. If you don’t know these, you may be embarrassed when you encounter them.

1 Taxi Scam

Taxi fares in Bangkok are extremely cheap (starting at 35 baht, 2 baht for every 400 meters). In order to increase their income, most Bangkok taxi drivers naturally Think about the tourists on the streets. So this is the most common and minor form of fraud, and even strictly speaking, it may not be considered fraud. Because almost all independent tourists who come to Bangkok will encounter it. Unless you are very good at Thai, know the route well, or are very lucky, you will encounter honest taxi drivers, otherwise you will not be able to escape.

★ Fraud technique: very simple---take a long way around! You don’t know how to get closer anyway!

★Main places of occurrence: various places in Bangkok (especially the airport schedule) Areas with many taxis and tourists such as around Siam, the Erawan Shrine area, Silom Road, Khao San Road, etc.).

★ Amount of loss: ranging from dozens of baht to one or two hundred baht each time.

★ Prevention methods:

① Ask the hotel owner to help call a taxi

② Prepare Thai address and pictures

2 Tuk Tuk Scam

In the area around the Royal Palace and the Emerald Buddha Temple in Bangkok, there are often many unscrupulous taxi drivers. They will lie to you and say that today because of some reason (such as royal family members coming, or internal renovations, etc.), So the palace (or other place you happen to be going to) is closed for the day today, but he knows that there is another place nearby. There happened to be a senior monk praying for people there today, and that building is also a very famous historic site...; Or there's another great art museum nearby where you can see a lot of great historical artifacts and it can take you there... or something like that.

And he also emphasized that he only charges you 50 or 100 baht for the taxi fare, and will never charge you any other dimes. How great! So you think to yourself: Okay, since you are all here Okay, wouldn’t it be a pity to go all the way in vain!? Even if the place he is going to is not that good, it’s not bad to at least spend a small amount of money to take a ride in a car. Anyway, he is great and just wants to do more business!? So, you unknowingly got on the "thief's car"...

Next, you may be taken to the so-called eminent monk’s residence, and then after you kneel down devoutly to accept the eminent monk’s “blessing”, you find that your mobile phone and wallet are missing from your bag. Or maybe he drove him to an "art museum" (actually a gift or jewelry store selling a bunch of inferior products), and he was forced by a gangster-like clerk inside to buy a bunch of junk before he could leave.

★ Main places of occurrence: The Grand Palace, Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Wat Pho, National Museum, Siam Museum and other major places of interest or areas near museums.

It depends on the amount, so the amount may range from several thousand yuan to tens of thousands of yuan.

★ Prevention method: Ignore the Doduche driver who takes the initiative to strike up a conversation! No matter how kind they look on the outside, or even speak some Chinese, etc., ignore him, let alone get in his car!

3 Massage Scams

In busy alleys near some hotels and with a lot of tourists, managers pretending to be massage parlors often come out to promote business in person, saying that he is the person in front of them. The manager of a certain massage parlor, because there are relatively few customers today, he personally came out to promote business. I hope you can support me. And usually it costs 500 per person per hour, but today it will be 250 per person per hour... When he arrived at the door of the store, the "manager" said: 500 baht per person for two hours will be paid to him in advance, and he will have to go back to the place where he was just now to continue soliciting business.

At this time, you think to yourself: Anyway, you have to pay the same amount if you pay first, and it is already at the door of the store. The masseur inside has also seen me paying him, so there will be no problem!

But just when a group of you enjoyed a comfortable Thai massage and were about to pat your butt and leave, the "proprietress" of the store appeared and said: "500 per person per hour, please pay, thank you !”

But I already paid your manager before I came in! “Manager? Who is that? We don’t have the manager you mentioned in the store!” At this time, you pointed to the person next to you. A masseur told the proprietress: "She saw it. She saw that I paid him 2,000 yuan for the four of us!" At this time, the masseur said innocently: "I thought he was your friend or tour guide! I don't know him at all. How could I know what kind of money you gave him!?" At this point, the whole group of you finally realized: you have been fooled!

★ Main place of occurrence: In some lively alleys with many tourists along the Sukhumvit Road MRT in Bangkok.

★ Amount of loss: 500~1,000 baht per person

★ Prevention methods:

① Choose a massage parlor that is more famous and larger.

② Never pay attention to any stranger who comes to chat with you.

③ Go to the store counter and pay.

4 Temple scams

The scammers’ tactics near the Grand Palace in Bangkok: On your way to the Grand Palace, Wat Pho and Wat Arun, you will be approached by someone asking where you are going. Then they'll tell you that there's an event there that day and they'll be closed or they'll close an hour before you talk. When you are hesitant and at a loss, they will point you to other nearby temples and kindly call a tuk-tuk for you, but in the end you find yourself being taken to a jewelry store.

When someone tells you that the destination you are going to is not open today, it is good to go and check it out in person to familiarize yourself with the route.

★ Special reminder: The opening hours of the Grand Palace are 8:30-15:30

5 pigeon scams

The vendors at the pigeon feeding place near the Grand Palace saw The Chinese stuff corn kernels and say: Give it, give it. Don't answer the call. If you do, they will ask you for money. Regardless of whether you have fed or not, the asking price is 150B. There are many Chinese people going to the Grand Palace, and there are also scammers who tell you in Chinese that the attractions are not open. Don’t believe it.

6. Stranger Money Exchange Scam

There will be many foreigners or backpackers in Thailand, and everyone is used to it. When you get help, it is a normal behavior to help others. Some people take advantage of everyone's psychology to cheat.

★ Fraud: After buying something at 7-11, a foreigner stops you (girls are more likely to encounter it) and asks, "Are you Chinese? I want to find china node can u help me?” Then out of the goodness of your heart, you’ll take him in to meet him. During this process, he will strike up a conversation with you, "Where are you from? CHINA? I"I'm dubai", claiming to be from Dubai, then open his wallet for you to see, and take a super small denomination by the way. Qian said, this is their country's money, and asked you if you have your country's money. He wants to see it. At this time, you may want to open your wallet and let him see it. Due to the language barrier, he will take it from you. He counts the money, and after counting it, he puts it back to you, and then says goodbye to you after you put the wallet away.

Of course you don’t believe that the money will change under your eyes. If it's less, by the time you look back at your wallet, you'll have lost more than half of your money, so don't take it lightly at any time, especially girls who don't talk to strangers casually at night!

★ Main location: 7-11 near the Erawan Shrine

★ Amount of loss: It depends on how much cash you have and how fast his technique is.

7 Encountering a black shop travel agency

When purchasing a one-day tour from a local travel agency in Thailand, be sure to confirm the booked itinerary again and again, otherwise the purchased travel product may not be honored.

When I went to a travel agency to ask for an explanation, I received threats. In this case, you can first call the tourism complaint hotline: 1155. If local tourism really deceives consumers, you will be severely punished. If there is no result, you can call the Chinese Embassy in Thailand

Tel: Bangkok 0066-854833327 Chiang Mai 0066-81-8823283 Songkhla 0066-81-7665560 Khon Kaen 0066-809366070

8 Water sports scams

Going to Thailand for seaside vacation and playing in the water is one of the highlights of many people’s itinerary when they come to Thailand. However, when you choose some water sports (especially jet skis), be sure to Choose the store carefully, otherwise you are very likely to be ripped off!

★ Scam techniques: You can find them everywhere on famous beaches such as Pattaya and Phuket that are full of tourists all year round. I saw businesses selling various water activities (such as jet skis, parasailing, banana boats, etc.). However, there are many unscrupulous businesses who, after you rent a jet ski, secretly send someone to follow you on another one. While you are happily riding around in the sea, the jet ski driven by this person They will pretend to accidentally bump the car you are driving, and then quickly leave as if nothing happened.

Of course, you must have thought on the spot that this was nothing, it was just a light touch, what does it matter? What’s more, the way he looked was not intentional.

So, when you happily ride the jet ski and return the car to the boatman, the fun begins...

The boatman began to carefully check the entire car body to see if there was any damage on any side. Then he suddenly pointed to the place where you were accidentally hit and said: "The paint is peeling here, and I have to pay 30,000 baht." ." You took a closer look and found that there was a scratch of about three centimeters in the place he pointed at. You couldn't see it unless you looked carefully. So you said: "Someone accidentally hit me just now, it was not me!" "Okay! Then find that person! If you find him, you don't have to pay compensation!" The boatman began to show a fierce expression. , you finally realized: "I've been cheated!" Then you asked him: "It's such a small scratch, why is it so expensive!?"

"Because the jet ski only needs to be dropped once The whole thing needs to be repainted, otherwise just one patch will look ugly, and customers won’t want to rent this one, and then I won’t be able to do business. Moreover, a jet ski is not like an ordinary motorcycle, so one is better. Hundreds of thousands, and the price of repainting is naturally several times more expensive." As he spoke, he took out the contract you just signed and said, "Look, it is clearly written in black and white. If there is any damage, it must be repaired. Compensate according to the price!" (Basically, all water sports boat operators will ask you to sign a simple contract when you rent a jet ski, just like you usually rent a car."

Next, you You must beg hard, and the other party may pretend to be kind and give you 51,000 yuan. As for how much you have to spend to eliminate the disaster? It depends on your luck and the degree of "kindness" of the other party.

★Main places of occurrence: Pattaya, the seaside of Phuket Island

★Amount of loss: Usually around 10,000 to 20,000 yuan, it depends on whether you are a wealthy person in the eyes of these boatmen. Money, easy to bully

★ Prevention methods:

① If you have a tour guide, ask your tour guide to help you find a trustworthy boat operator, and let the tour guide help you and the boat operator. If the boat operator negotiates and pays, there will be no problem.

② If you don’t have a tour guide and your jet ski driving skills are not very good, it is recommended that you ask the boat operator to send a beach boy to sit in the back seat. Take you on the ride (usually the boat operator will definitely agree), so even if something happens, it won’t be your problem.

9 Adult show scams

This type of fraud has been around for a long time in Thailand. It has already appeared. For more than ten years, this kind of deception not only still exists, but it is still tried and tested. From time to time, I still hear that friends or tourists are deceived because of it. Sigh... I can only say that the appeal of "adult shows" is really real. Too big!

★Main location: near Patpong Night Market.

★ Amount of loss: several thousand yuan to around 10,000 yuan

★ Prevention methods:

① Never go to stores above the second floor --- As long as there are shops on the first floor of Patpong Night Market, whether they are A Go Go Bar, ladyboy bar, or gay bar, they are basically run decently, and the door is right on the road, so people come and go, and they don’t dare to mess around.

② If possible, try not to watch adult shows in Bangkok --- Frankly speaking, adult shows in Bangkok are really not very good to watch, and sometimes they can even make people feel sick. I suggest you go to Pattaya. Pattaya has several well-known and upright adult shows (such as Big Eye). From the venue, content design, to the quality of the performers, the standards are much higher than those in Bangkok. Definitely. It’s worth opening your eyes!

10 bar girls and street girl scams

It is an indisputable fact that Thailand’s sex industry is developed. Whenever the lights come on, many famous red light districts and bar streets On the street, bar girls, street blockers, tourists, and sex-seekers are all interspersed, making it very lively. Of course, most of the girls in the special industry are just trying to make a living, but there are still a few who want to "get more!"

These street-blocking girls with evil intentions will talk to customers. After returning to the hotel at a good price, he secretly drugged your drink, then when you were unconscious, he plundered all your belongings and walked away. When you wake up, you find that the building has been empty, and that both people and money have been lost! (Maybe you passed out before you even lost the person). Therefore, this is the worst and most dangerous of all scams!

★Main locations:

① Bangkok: Patpong Night Market, NANA Red Light District, soi Cowboy Red Light District, Sukhumvit Road Some roadside bars in busy alleys.

② Pattaya: Beach Street, Walking Street red light district.

③ Phuket: Patong Beach Street bar gathering area, etc.

★ Amount of loss: It depends on the total amount of all the belongings you had on you that day. Basically, they won't let go of cash, credit cards, jewelry, watches, mobile phones, etc., and they won't keep any of them. It's good if they can leave you a set of clothes so that you don't leave naked.

★ Prevention method: Don’t bring back to your room casual girls from roadside bars or those who take the initiative to strike up a conversation. If you really want to have fun, I suggest you take a Thai bath, which is reasonably priced and safe. If you really want to take a girl back to a hotel for a night out, I suggest you go to one of the larger A Go Go Bars, because they are employees of the store, and you have to pay the entrance fee to the store. , safety is more guaranteed.

If the hotel room has a safe, you can store valuables, documents, and excess cash in the safe.

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