News Forum - Scams in Thailand – Common scams in Thailand to watch out for!

[Thaiger]

https://youtu.be/9tEtqhRf3N0 Scams in Thailand The most common scams in Thailand Like anywhere in the world that’s popular with tourists, there are scams in Thailand. Nobody likes being played for a fool, and being scammed leaves you bitter and, for some people, broke. Fortunately, most Thailand scams are easy to avoid and not all that common either. Here are the ones you’re most likely to run into and the best ways to avoid falling for them. Bangkok tuk-tuk scams Most drivers of Bangkok’s famous three-wheeled tuk-tuks will overcharge you and maybe take you to the restaurant, where they get a commission, […]

The story Scams in Thailand – Common scams in Thailand to watch out for! as seen on Thaiger News.

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[Shade_Wilder]

Ha!

I am waaaaaaaay too smart to be fooled by those idiotic, stupid Thai scammers.

As soon as I get the 7.9 million dollars promised to me by the illegitimate son of the late President of Nigeria, I'll teach those moronic Thai scammers a lesson or two.

[MrStretch]

It's easy to avoid tourist scams in Thailand. Don't come to Thailand. 

Visit another country. There are 7 countries that "Backpacker" list as the safest. Thailand isn't on the list. 

Go somewhere else.

[kalyan]

YES, thailand  as highlighted has scam more than this, however tourists should be aware that every country and every city in the world has a opportunistic scammers. We have to wise enough to escape and move away gently with our set goal.

[Marc26]

My 1st trip I got scammed by the tuk tuk telling me the Grand Palace was closed 

 

I quickly realized his scam after he stopped a couple places 

And I told him we agreed on, I believe 500baht to take me to a bunch of tourists spots, and if he wanted the 500 baht to stop stopping at these places I don't want to go to

 

And he did

He tried one last scam, suggesting we take a break at a park and right away someone tried to sell me gems

 

But it was easy to realize what was going on

 

But they end result was he drove me around for like 3/4 hours and I saw a bunch of places

 

He stopped at a tailor he obviously was getting a commission 

But I looked around and felt it was a good tailor and good prices so I actually bought a couple suits and shirts

 

So he definitely was scamming me but the end result worked for me

[Skip]

Scammers prey on the weak simple minded... the thieves and pickpockets in Europe prey on everyone.

[FarangandEarnest]

Don't forget the biggest scam. Dual pricing for farangs. If its forest parks or temples, fair enough, Thai's have paid already through taxes.

But avoid any private ventures, theme parks etc that think charging Farangs more is perfectly valid. Hopefully they will all lose money and close down.

Tourists have to remember, to a lot of Thais you are nothing but a wallet with legs.

[Ngngo]

Don't forget the visa scams. These are run by both Thais and Farangs who have lived in Thailand long enough to know the system well. They sell you a kind of visa that nobody can sell, arguing they have the right contacts at immigration. After your first stamp, the truth unveils and the problems start. They sold you a 1 year stamp, but all of a sudden, you find that you are required to do extensions every second month that year if you want to keep your visa (1900 each). In other cases, the number of extensions is reduced to 3 a year, but at 5000 baht each. When you complain, they threaten you with reporting for holding an irregular visa and getting deported, or directly getting reported without a warning to get the reward that immigration offers to sneaks, ending up with your bones in jail and deported, blacklisted, and banned later. Avoid visa agents, especially those who claim having big contacts with immigration or ineffable lawyers behind saying that they can do what others can't. Just contact the organization thst offers the visa you like directly, and make your deal straight with them. 

[Chaimai]

I have never met anyone who has had an issue with a visa agent.

[Thai3rdworld]

This article advice is old and standard . Why don't you remind folk to not rent a motorcycle unless have an international or Thai driving licence . Problem is rental shops will still rent to you without .then you are likely to be stopped by police being  a foreigner and fined 2000 baht.   The whole system is a scam 

Edited September 25, 2022 by Thai3rdworld

[Marc26]

40 minutes ago, Thai3rdworld said:

This article advice is old and standard . Why don't you remind folk to not rent a motorcycle unless have an international or Thai driving licence . Problem is rental shops will still rent to you without .then you are likely to be stopped by police being  a foreigner and fined 2000 baht.   The whole system is a scam 

How is that a scam?

 

It blows me away what you guys claim to be scams when it is the tourist/farang breaking the law

 

It's your responsibility to have the proper licensing......

 

You guys want no responsibility 

[Fanta]

20 minutes ago, Marc26 said:

How is that a scam?

It blows me away what you guys claim to be scams when it is the tourist/farang breaking the law

It's your responsibility to have the proper licensing......

You guys want no responsibility 

Both parties are to blame but the bike owner more than the hirer. The farang is not licensed to use the vehicle so the vehicle shouldn’t be rented. Same as you cannot buy a gun without a gun license, cannot buy alcohol unless of age with ID etc etc. “No problem” says the owner but they really mean “Not my problem”

[Manu]

5 hours ago, Skip said:

Scammers prey on the weak simple minded... the thieves and pickpockets in Europe prey on everyone.

Indeed. All these scams in that article are so obvious, especially as there are the same everywhere with some local twists: where there are tourists, there are scammers.

To me, Paris (but other parts of France too) still is in 2022 the city with the most scams against tourists. I was there in August, and again I had to intervene once as Asian tourists (the easiest target in Paris so Thai scammers have not invented anything) were about to give money to 3 Romanian teenagers posing as a charity (the oldest must have been 16 at the most, and they looked anything but genuine, still this couple failed for it). They have a piece of crap paper showing (false) names and donations, they show this to tourists asking for donations with the 10 French words they know, that's it. And this one is all over Paris, 3 years ago there were West African gangs doing that in front of Le Louvres in front of everyone. And this is only one tourist scam amongst many others in Paris (there is a special police unit only for pickpockets in Paris). The tourist scams in Thailand are peanuts.

[Manu]

Tuk-tuk scam... In BKK, Pattaya, Patong? Nope, in... Paris.

 

[TheDirtyDurian]

4 hours ago, Chaimai said:

I have never met anyone who has had an issue with a visa agent.

Back around 20 years ago or so, there were countless people giving their passports to agents to extend their visas etc, get new stamps. 

Agent waited till they had enough passports to make the trip worthwhile and then sent someone to cross the border with all the passports. 

This continued for a long time, until eventually agent decided to make their own stamp. 

Tourist has now going from having legal stamps where they didn't cross the border to having illegal stamps. 

Many people got burned through doing this as immigration were going through people's passports very carefully after it all came to light, even if a year later you're on a genuine stamp they'd still do you for the illegal stamp. 

It happened, so just because you personally don't know anyone who had a problem, doesn't mean they don't happen. 

[Janneman]

Hey I'm very good at baking cakes. But last month I switched to forex investment. Amazing! An easy 30% in 1 month! Give me all your money and it will triple within 1 year. And tell all your friends and family!

[Ngngo]

2 hours ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

Back around 20 years ago or so, there were countless people giving their passports to agents to extend their visas etc, get new stamps. 

Agent waited till they had enough passports to make the trip worthwhile and then sent someone to cross the border with all the passports. 

This continued for a long time, until eventually agent decided to make their own stamp. 

Tourist has now going from having legal stamps where they didn't cross the border to having illegal stamps. 

Many people got burned through doing this as immigration were going through people's passports very carefully after it all came to light, even if a year later you're on a genuine stamp they'd still do you for the illegal stamp. 

It happened, so just because you personally don't know anyone who had a problem, doesn't mean they don't happen. 

Most people here are just oblivious of this reality/scam. Be especially aware of farangs. They are just making their way through, but sympathize with you better because they look just like you. Be warned! This is the worse type! make leverage of their looks to build trust with you, but they are in the business just like everyone else. Again, and as a rule of thumb, flee from those selling you that "they have a big contact at immigration and know lawyers that will make everything painless and smooth". Just lies. The law applies here equally for everyone. 

[Ngngo]

1 hour ago, Janneman said:

Hey I'm very good at baking cakes. But last month I switched to forex investment. Amazing! An easy 30% in 1 month! Give me all your money and it will triple within 1 year. And tell all your friends and family!

I have 3 million bath to spare. Tell me where and how I can send them to you

Edited September 25, 2022 by Ngngo

[Cabra]

The scams you need to watch out for are those perpetrated by the RTP looking to get paid. 

[TheDirtyDurian]

1 hour ago, Cabra said:

The scams you need to watch out for are those perpetrated by the RTP looking to get paid. 

Successfully bribed my way out of two drink driving offences on the spot, it works both ways!!

[Eucalypt]

Avoid public taxis at Suvarnabhumi

Offence date: Sat 24 Sep 2022

I picked up a taxi from the official public taxi rank at Suvarnabhumi airport (after getting an automatic ticket from one of the machines) and was taken for a horrible ride, not knowing if I was going to be mugged (the road was dark and quiet) and/or ripped off. I had asked the driver in Thai to take me to my apartment just south of the Nonthaburi area and he then proceeded to head south at speed in the opposite direction along the road adjacent to the airport (heading towards the coast).  After complaining many times in Thai he eventually did a U-Turn and I told him to take me back immediately to Suvarnabhumi. After reporting him to the police, I then took the airport skytrain to a BTS closer to where I live, and another taxi from there. It was my first time back in Thailand after 2 years and the first time to experience such appalling behaviour from a taxi driver. I've lived in Thailand for 14 years, and will never ever take a public taxi from Suvarnabhumi again. Turning off the meter is one thing (unfortunately this now seems to be the norm at the airport), but being trapped in a car going at speed down a dark road in the wrong direction! 

[Marc26]

11 hours ago, Fanta said:

Both parties are to blame but the bike owner more than the hirer. The farang is not licensed to use the vehicle so the vehicle shouldn’t be rented. Same as you cannot buy a gun without a gun license, cannot buy alcohol unless of age with ID etc etc. “No problem” says the owner but they really mean “Not my problem”

It is absolutely not more fault than the farang

 

They either are knowingly or ignorantly breaking the law

 

You break the law, that is on you

 

I think they probably should make the rental places check for proper licensing, just as they do when they rent a car

 

But ultimately it's if you choose to rent a bike, you have to follow the law....plain and simple 

[Marc26]

10 hours ago, Manu said:

Indeed. All these scams in that article are so obvious, especially as there are the same everywhere with some local twists: where there are tourists, there are scammers.

To me, Paris (but other parts of France too) still is in 2022 the city with the most scams against tourists. I was there in August, and again I had to intervene once as Asian tourists (the easiest target in Paris so Thai scammers have not invented anything) were about to give money to 3 Romanian teenagers posing as a charity (the oldest must have been 16 at the most, and they looked anything but genuine, still this couple failed for it). They have a piece of crap paper showing (false) names and donations, they show this to tourists asking for donations with the 10 French words they know, that's it. And this one is all over Paris, 3 years ago there were West African gangs doing that in front of Le Louvres in front of everyone. And this is only one tourist scam amongst many others in Paris (there is a special police unit only for pickpockets in Paris). The tourist scams in Thailand are peanuts.

We have those skum all over Vancouver 

 

Sometimes I have 3 or 4 different groups ask me on a 10min walk

I stare right through them

 

I've complained to the city but they do nothing about it

 

I hate them with a passion

[Grumpish]

9 hours ago, Janneman said:

Hey I'm very good at baking cakes. But last month I switched to forex investment. Amazing! An easy 30% in 1 month! Give me all your money and it will triple within 1 year. And tell all your friends and family!

As soon as that Nigerian prince transfers the ten million dollars to my bank account.

[Manu]

12 hours ago, Marc26 said:

We have those skum all over Vancouver 

Sometimes I have 3 or 4 different groups ask me on a 10min walk

I stare right through them

I've complained to the city but they do nothing about it

I hate them with a passion

Yeah, it is pretty low, that's the least to say. The worst with those Romanian kids doing this in Paris (and other cities in France) is that they are sent by their own parents in the streets all day long, to do this but also begging, pickpocketing, etc... I certainly despise those parents with a passion.