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News Forum - Is Phuket the island of scams?

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Thaiger Rising Star

Thaiger

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With powdery white-sand beaches and sparkling blue ocean stretching as far as the eye can see, it’s easy to fall in love with Phuket. For many years, the island has been attracting holiday-goers seeking tropical gateways, as well as digital nomads, remote workers, and retirees looking for cost-efficient places of living.  Hundreds of thousands of foreigners have settled and made property purchases in Phuket. Many are able to live in the property, rent it out to get some passive income, or even sell it to get some sort of return on their investment. But the dream ended up as a […]

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BIGGLES Proficient

BIGGLES

Posted
Posted

Oh how I miss the time share sales guys from about 20 years ago.

Pick me up from my hotel in a nice aircon car, feed me, provide an entertaining afternoon talk on property, give me free prize ( free holiday accomodation, all I had to do was pay my own flights), and fill me with as much free booze as I could handle. All I had to provide was a credit card, at the end of the promotion. I always did, it was always a card that had expired and was well worn.

Loved those days of free food, booze and transport.

I NEVER SIGNED ANYTHING.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

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  • Haha 1
Guest1 Grand Master

Guest1

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, BIGGLES said:

Oh how I miss the time share sales guys from about 20 years ago.

Pick me up from my hotel in a nice aircon car, feed me, provide an entertaining afternoon talk on property, give me free prize ( free holiday accomodation, all I had to do was pay my own flights), and fill me with as much free booze as I could handle. All I had to provide was a credit card, at the end of the promotion. I always did, it was always a card that had expired and was well worn.

Loved those days of free food, booze and transport.

I NEVER SIGNED ANYTHING.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

And then they made it mandatory, to bring a female companion/wife!

  • Like 1
Grumpish Grand Master

Grumpish

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, BIGGLES said:

Oh how I miss the time share sales guys from about 20 years ago.

Pick me up from my hotel in a nice aircon car, feed me, provide an entertaining afternoon talk on property, give me free prize ( free holiday accomodation, all I had to do was pay my own flights), and fill me with as much free booze as I could handle. All I had to provide was a credit card, at the end of the promotion. I always did, it was always a card that had expired and was well worn.

Loved those days of free food, booze and transport.

I NEVER SIGNED ANYTHING.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

The time share guys are still around. Never bothered going to any of the presentations, but it can be entertaining winding up the touts and making them think they have a bite before letting them down.

  • Haha 1
Guest1 Grand Master

Guest1

Posted
Posted
30 minutes ago, dbrenn said:

Taxis are a rip off in Phuket but Koh Phangan comes close. Rent a motorbike there and they'll blame you for damage you didn't do when you return it.

Really? In  times of smartphones, still? Where everyone, I see renting a bike (or car) is doing a video all around it, pointing to all scratches and stuff, plus the "owner" in the video? 

Mmmh, I thought that scam is limited to "stealing" the bike, plus to pushing it to the ground, if parked somewhere, so that there are new scratches. Interesting.

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Mazz11 Rising Star

Mazz11

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, dbrenn said:

Taxis are a rip off in Phuket but Koh Phangan comes close. Rent a motorbike there and they'll blame you for damage you didn't do when you return it.

Interesting,

I'm not doubting you at all but would like to comment that I have just returned from Thailand and rented a motorbike at Hua Hin & Krabi and had no issues at all. I did have my Thai girlfriend with me so that may have discouraged any attempts to scam me.

Overall I was very happy with the service.

  • Like 2
KaptainRob Grand Master

KaptainRob

Posted
Posted

I have 2 friends on Phuket with large mb rental fleets and they never scam clients.  One in Patong and the other in Kamala - https://www.facebook.com/Bees-Bikes-106066789789506/

Both are Thai/Aussie partnerships and businesses established for over 10 years.

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BigHewer Grand Master

BigHewer

Posted
Posted
21 minutes ago, Mazz11 said:

Interesting,

I'm not doubting you at all but would like to comment that I have just returned from Thailand and rented a motorbike at Hua Hin & Krabi and had no issues at all. I did have my Thai girlfriend with me so that may have discouraged any attempts to scam me.

Overall I was very happy with the service.

Same here. I’ve rented bikes all over the country for 20 years (including Phuket) and never had an issue. For my last rental in Sating Phra, they didn’t even inspect the bike. Parked out front, returned the keys, got my deposit and off I went.

As for the taxis, the fixed pricing in Phuket is annoying, but that’s as far as it goes. For dodginess, Bangkok still reigns supreme in my experience.

  • Like 2
Henry Contributor

Henry

Posted
Posted

Thailand is no different to anywhere else in the world where tourists gather. There will always be people trying to rob or scam them. Pick any European city. The difference is in Thailand you might get ripped off for Thb 500-1,000. In London it starts at Thb 4,000 and rises rapidly from there….

I see so many people having massive arguments over amounts that would the tip on a restaurant bill back home.

  • Like 1
dbrenn Proficient

dbrenn

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Mazz11 said:

Interesting,

I'm not doubting you at all but would like to comment that I have just returned from Thailand and rented a motorbike at Hua Hin & Krabi and had no issues at all. I did have my Thai girlfriend with me so that may have discouraged any attempts to scam me.

Overall I was very happy with the service.

Agreed, they're not all bad. I've rented biked in various places and only had a problem once in Phangan, which I read at the time had a bad reputation. I should have taken a video with my phone as the other poster suggested. 

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Mazz11 Rising Star

Mazz11

Posted
Posted
19 hours ago, BigHewer said:

Same here. I’ve rented bikes all over the country for 20 years (including Phuket) and never had an issue. For my last rental in Sating Phra, they didn’t even inspect the bike. Parked out front, returned the keys, got my deposit and off I went.

As for the taxis, the fixed pricing in Phuket is annoying, but that’s as far as it goes. For dodginess, Bangkok still reigns supreme in my experience.

The only thing that annoyed me in Bangkok apart from the traffic 😬 was when taxi's refused to take us.

My girlfriend said it was because they wanted falung passengers so they could rip them off and as she is Thai they wouldn't get away with it if they took our fare.

I have also experienced this in Melbourne trying to get to St Kilda when all the taxi's wanted to go to the airport so they were guaranteed a return fare. After about five refusals we went back into the hotel and asked them to call the taxi company and let them know that their drivers were refusing fares and the next taxi was no problem. 

  • Like 3
Soidog Grand Master

Soidog

Posted
Posted
23 minutes ago, Mazz11 said:

The only thing that annoyed me in Bangkok apart from the traffic 😬 was when taxi's refused to take us.

My girlfriend said it was because they wanted falung passengers so they could rip them off and as she is Thai they wouldn't get away with it if they took our fare.

I have also experienced this in Melbourne trying to get to St Kilda when all the taxi's wanted to go to the airport so they were guaranteed a return fare. After about five refusals we went back into the hotel and asked them to call the taxi company and let them know that their drivers were refusing fares and the next taxi was no problem. 

Taxis refusing to take you is fairly common in Bangkok. It’s partly understandable given the traffic congestion and the concerns over a return fare. That said, it’s their job and they should be made to take passengers and not just cherry picking. 
 

The other issue is taxis refusing to put the meter on. Again, to be fair (no pun intended), I sort of can’t blame them when the rates are so low. Where I get pissed off is when they are prepared to put the meter on for a local Thai, but assume it’s ok to try it on with foreigners. When it happens to me I politely decline and try another. Occasionally the rate they quote off meter is so close to what I’d pay including a tip, I just accept it and drop the tip 

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Grumpish Grand Master

Grumpish

Posted
Posted
23 hours ago, dbrenn said:

Taxis are a rip off in Phuket but Koh Phangan comes close. Rent a motorbike there and they'll blame you for damage you didn't do when you return it.

Got caught like that the first time, after that I went round the bike taking pictures of anything that looked remotely like any kind of damage before I took the bike out of the shop. 

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Grumpish Grand Master

Grumpish

Posted
Posted
51 minutes ago, Soidog said:

Taxis refusing to take you is fairly common in Bangkok. It’s partly understandable given the traffic congestion and the concerns over a return fare. That said, it’s their job and they should be made to take passengers and not just cherry picking. 
 

The other issue is taxis refusing to put the meter on. Again, to be fair (no pun intended), I sort of can’t blame them when the rates are so low. Where I get pissed off is when they are prepared to put the meter on for a local Thai, but assume it’s ok to try it on with foreigners. When it happens to me I politely decline and try another. Occasionally the rate they quote off meter is so close to what I’d pay including a tip, I just accept it and drop the tip 

Kind of spoilt in the UK, where refusing a fare without a very good reason or refusing to use the meter could lead to their licence getting pulled (and London cabbies still have to do "the knowledge", which is a serious investment in time and and effort). Taxi drivers trying it on with foreigners is not really a uniquely Thai problem, it happens pretty much anywhere that there is no real enforcement. Having a Thai with you and letting them sort out the fare before appearing out of the shadows works out well in most cases.

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  • 1 year later...
Marc26 Grand Master

Marc26

Posted
Posted

In December we took a taxi to Krabi airport 

 

We got out and the driver drove away and my son's GF realized I left paintings I bought(10k I paid)

 

We ran after the taxi but he didn't see us

 

Anonymous taxi noticed the scene, drove up and said he knew the driver

 

He contacted him but he was on the way back to Ao Nang to pick up another customer 

 

The original driver chatted with my son and said he'd try to get back to airport before our flight took off 

 

But if not, he'd go to the Thai post and send it to our house in Nonthaburi 

 

 

Sure I've had a few minor attempted scams(which I sussed out right away)

 

But I've had way more acts of kindness in Thailand, Phuket included 

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