::Thailand Tourism News::

[thainotts]

Originally Posted by FLW

Thousands of reports on the WWW by victims of the scammers are not so pleased.

VITAL INFO FOR TRAVELERS TO THAILAND:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_gem_scam
http://www.2bangkok.com/2bangkok/Scams/Sapphire.shtml
http://www.into-asia.com/bangkok/gemscam/
http://www.geocities.com/thaigemscamgroup/

Scammers positioned all over Bangkok and I am warning the tourists.
The TAT or Tourist police won't do it.


ERAWAN SHRINE TOURIST MAFIA PHOTOS HERE:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21533131@N06/2649391204/

Let me translate for you what Napoleon has said.

Originally Posted by napoleon

ถ้าติดตามข่าว การท่องเที่ยวก็ติดแผ่นพับเตือน แจกตั้งแต่เข้ามาที่สนามบินแล้วครับ
If you follow the news, you will know that the TAT has brochures warning tourists and these are distributed in the airports.

ทำมาตั้งนาน ตามแหล่งท่องเที่ยวก็มีบอร์ดเตือน
It has been done for a while. There are warnings/signs at tourist destinations.

ถ้าเที่ยวแบบละโมบ หรือโง่ ก็สมควร
If these tourists are too naive or greedy (for too-good-to-be-true deals), it can be their own fault.

[FLW]

Originally Posted by thainotts

Let me translate for you what Napoleon has said.

Thanks.

Can you point me to the warnings on the websites:
Tourist Authority of Thailand,
Tourist Assistance Center,
Tourist Police.

I have read numerous travel reports and some say the Tourist Police are now involved with the scamming.
Bangkok's infamous gem scam has ruined the holidays of many, many visitors to Thailand and it is an important thing to be aware of beforehand if you want to avoid becoming yet another victim.

What is happening around the tourist sites in Thailand is out of the ordinary.
People working for the Tourist Mafia, scamming tourists at the entrance to the Countrys major tourism sites, in plain view of managers and security!

Scammers positioned all over Bangkok by the Tourist Mafia INTERCEPTING VISITORS..
ERAWAN SHRINE TOURIST MAFIA PHOTOS HERE:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21533131@N06/2649391204/

I sent the above photos to the TAT, TAC and Tourist Police in June 2007.
Why don't they return emails or respond?

Still today these same people congregate around the Shrine and tell lies to visitor to Thailand.
Go look and you will see them there today, scamming visitors.
Ask the Erawan Shrine Guards and Managers why these people are allowed to scam tourists all day-every day--year after year?
This same group has owned the Shrine for 20 years with Police Protection.
They also have gangs at the Airport, Grand Palace, Khao San Rd, Jim Thompson House, EVERYWHERE tourists go.
There goal is to intercept every visitor to the Land of Scams.




Widespread scams aimed at first-time tourists visiting Thailand.
VITAL INFO FOR TRAVELERS TO THAILAND:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_gem_scam
http://www.2bangkok.com/2bangkok/Scams/Sapphire.shtml
http://www.into-asia.com/bangkok/gemscam/
http://www.geocities.com/thaigemscamgroup/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21533131@N06/2649391204/

[cHemon]

no one deny that it's bad and embarassing that the authorities are so inefficient to deal with this problem

but what is the point you keep posting the same thing over and over in here??
and sometimes even put the blame on us as a whole society??
What do you expect us to do?
can we consider what you are doing spamming?

are we thai forummers tourist police officers?
are we working for those gangs?
are we working in the tourism related business?
is this the travel forum?
is this the forum tourists come to search for travel information?

if you care so much about those tourists, i'm sure you can do better things to help inform them other than just whining here

and like khun napoleon said
wherever there are ignorant tourists (not only in Thailand) who do no homework before they travel to unfamiliar countries, fail to use their common sense and believe in too-good-to-be-true deals, then there are scams

and how many of these kind of tourists care to check the websites you mentioned before they came here?? i wonder

there really are plenty of information on the internet about the gem scam in thailand. if only the tourists care to do little homework when they travel on their own.

there really are scam warning signs at some places in bangkok, atleast in front of MBK and the grand palace that i noticed them myself


credit to 2bangkok

and you said there's no scam warning on TAT website?
http://www.tourismthailand.org/faq/faq-detail-11.html

ohh....it's so detailed

Thailand has more than its fair share of scams, but most are easily avoided with a modicum of common sense .

More a nuisance than a danger, a common scam by touts, taxi drivers and tuk-tuk drivers in Thailand is to wait by important monuments and temples and waylay Western travelers, telling them that the site is closed for a "Buddhist holiday", "repairs" or a similar reason. The 'helpful' driver will then offer to take the traveler to another site, such as a market or store. Travelers who accept these offers will often end up at out-of-the-way markets with outrageous prices - and no way to get back to the center of town where they came from.

Always check at the front gate of the site you're visiting to make sure it's really closed.

Avoid any tuk-tuks in Bangkok. Tuk-tuk drivers might demand much higher price than agreed, or they might take you to a sex show, pretending they didn't understand the address (they get commissions from places).

For the same reason, avoid drivers who propose their services without being asked, especially near major tourist attractions.

Don't buy any sightseeing tours at the airport. If you do, they will phone several times to your hotel in order to remind you about the tour. During the tour, you will be shortly taken to a small temple, without a guide, and then one shop after another (they get commission). They might refuse to take you back home until you see all the shops. On your way back, they pressure you to buy more tours.

Easily identified with practice, it is not uncommon in tourist areas to be approached by a clean cut, well dressed man who often will be toting a cell phone.

These scammers will start up polite conversation, showing interest in the unsuspecting tourist's background, family, or itinerary. Inevitably, the conversation will drift to the meat of the scam. This may be something as innocuous as over-priced tickets to a kantok meal and show, or as serious as a gambling scam or (particularly in Bangkok) the infamous gem scam.

Once identified, the wary traveler should have no trouble picking out these scammers from a crowd. The tell-tale well pressed slacks and button down shirt, freshly cut hair of a conservative style, and late-model cell phone comprise their uniform. Milling around tourist areas without any clear purpose for doing so, the careful traveler should have no difficulty detecting and avoiding these scammers.

Many visitors will encounter young Thai ladies armed with a clipboard and a smile enquiring as to their nationality, often with an aside along the lines of "please help me to earn 30 baht".

The suggestion is that the visitor completes a tourism questionnaire (which includes supplying their hotel name and room number) with the incentive that they just might win a prize - the reality is that everyone gets a call to say that they are a "winner", however the prize can only be collected by attending an arduous time-share presentation. Note that the lady with the clipboard doesn't get her 30 baht if you don't attend the presentation; also that only English-speaking nationalities are targeted.

Another recurrent scam involves foreigners - sometimes accompanied by small children - who claim to be on the last day of their vacation in Thailand, and having just packed all their belongings into one bag in preparation for their flight home, lost everything when that bag was stolen. Now cash is urgently needed in order to get to the airport in a hurry and arrange a replacement ticket for his/her return flight in a few hours time.


Terrorism: national security is currently at the top of the agenda of countries around the world and Thailand is no exception. The insurgency in southern Thailand is limited to the country’s three southernmost provinces and has thus showed no signs of having an effect on the capital. After the recent second bombing in Bali it’s difficult to offer any guarantees and Thailand certainly is an easier place for these groups to operate.

.....
.....
.....

Scams: tuk tuk drivers, especially those who congregate in tourist areas, are notorious for offering ‘tours’, even on occasion bringing you to the famous site of your choice for free, provided you stop off at look at jewellery or a suit shop along the way. These scams are arranged with the owner of the shop and making purchases during such a trip is not a good idea as you will be paying far higher rates than you would normally and quite possibly receiving goods of dubious quality.
Also be aware of recommendations from taxi drivers when it comes to jewel shops, suits shops, bars and restaurants. Gem scams are the most prolific and every week someone lodges a complaint about losing larges sums of money buying what they thought were cheap ‘illegally smuggled’ Burmese gems, only to discover the goods are fake and the shop gone when they return. The solution to this one is simple; don’t be greedy, and imagine you are scoring a bargain illicitly.

.....

Originally Posted by FLW

i'll stop warning tourists when the TAT puts a warning on their site.

สุภาษิตไทยโบราณกล่าวไว้ว่า ลูกผู้ชายพูดแล้วไม่คืนคำ
แต่สงสัยเค้าคงบอกว่า มันเป็นแค่ FAQ ไม่ใช่ warning
ไม่เชื่อรอดูดิ

[Dek Thai]

The TAT should have put a scam warning on the first page not in the FAQs. The question in the FAQs doesn't lead to that "so detailed" scam warning though. Also, the TAT should have a sign like "ALERT! scam warning" on the first page so that tourists can check informations. FLW should send the link of this forum to theTAT, therefore , they would know that it's time for change.

[Zoowatch]

ผมเห็นแต่เขาพูดแต่เรื่องเดิมๆ มีอะไรใหม่ๆมานำเสนอนอกจาก 'Land of Scam' หรือเปล่า ขี้เกียจมาเถียงกับเขาในภาษาอังกฤษแล้ว ขบเขี้ยวอยู่แต่เรื่องเดิมๆ จะเหมือน spam เข้าไปทุกวัน

จะขออัพเดทสถิติหน่อยครับ

ตั่งแต่ ๒๗ เมษายน จนถึงวันนี้ คุณคนนี้เขาโพสความคิดเห็นมาแล้ว 57 ครั้ง ในจำนวนนี้มีความคิดเห็นเกี่ยวกับมาเฟียนักท่องเที่ยวที่เขาพยายามย้ำนักย้ำหนาถึง 35 ครั้ง หรือประมาณ 61.4% ของความคิดเห็นของเขาทั้งหมด หรือประมาณสองวันครั้ง ที่เขาจะเตือนความจำพวกเราว่าเมืองไทยเป็นที่ที่แย่ที่สุดและไม่เป็นมิตรกับนักท่องเที่ยวเสียเลย

[Zoowatch]

Khun FLW,

With all due respect, all of us here are just honest, hardworking ordinary Thai people who understand your concern and feel regretful to know that there has been unscrupulous Thai individuals exploiting tourists around the city.

But we strongly feel that you had been a little overzealous over this conspiracy theory of yours by repeatedly reminding us that Thailand is the "Land of Scam", a somewhat simplistic conclusion to your accusation that the local police is colluding with criminals in targeting travellers and in doing so you are consciously creating an impression that tourists are being scammed en masse. Whether that's true or false, it's really another matter, and although none of us here is directly responsible for the safety of our visitors, we do accept that frauds and scams do take place in our country, just like anywhere in this world (perhaps except for where you came from) and we all hope that there could have been something that we could do to improve the situation, but the reality is, we are quite powerless, don't we?

The frequency that you have been raising these issues in various threads is bordering spamming and let's face it, no nobody enjoys this kind of pontification or the constant acerbic rebuke of the Thai people, considering that none of us (1) is in a position that could mitigate the issue (we are not the authority, remember?) and (2) could further satisfy or be of greater help to your grievances other than to feel sorry for the scammed and anger towards the scammers.

We all understand your point and where you are coming from. But the constant reminder of your 'personal vendetta' is indeed putting many of us off, and because you have been relentlessly expressing and broadcasting such views on this forum and elsewhere without any new substances to add, we frankly find them quite unhelpful at times. The point is, you've made your point and we have all listened and initially felt thankful to you for taking so much pain in highlighting the tourist scam. But over time, you continued airing that same issue, and along the way making insensitive and disparaging remarks that blatantly tars every person in Thailand with the same brush, so much so that your 'news' is getting quite stale at this point and thinking about it, this is not really news at all (how verifiable is this?).

Quite rightly, we all have been desensitised by the constant overexposure thanks to you. Moreover, some of us are even wondering if you are a part of another bigger scam whose ulterior motive is to benefit from the negative impact on the Thai tourism industry. We are hoping not, but that's exactly what you are inadvertently leading us to believe. We all heard and experienced horror stories of whiny Farangs at thaivisa.com before, perhaps you could prove us wrong to be something else for it may be too easy for us to dismiss and ignore your views completely after a period of constant bombardment of yet another "Thai gem scam". What a close resemblance to a WWII propaganda!

I am sure that my opinion would in some ways affect the cordial atmosphere of this is forum, but I feel that the time is ripe to raise my points, without the usual insinuation, as these are also something which many of my fellow Thai forumers would readily agree with. There are so many other stuffs to enjoy around the forum, so go ahead and explore those other threads that may interest you, fascinate you, or even educate you more about Thailand and the Thai people.

Most of us here were born and bred in Thailand, and we are still learning, albeit subconsciously, about our own country every single day through online forums such as this. So you see, there is a lot more to Thailand than tourist scams, Segways and a half-completed condominium project in the heart of Sukhumvit, because there's lot more to this country than a suspicious scam man loitering around the Erawan Shrine. I am not saying that crime as such isn't important, but there are more than 64 million of us in this little kingdom, so there should be a lot more stories to report than all these, right?

Thailand is already having a lot of other problems right now, and she needs to have her priorities right. Comparing to Thai gem scams, think about the ongoing political crisis and the resulting chasm within the Thai society, how about the fuel crisis and how Thailand can remain competitive with the rise of China, India and Vietnam which are fast gaining competitive advantage in the manufacturing industry, and have you considered the possibility of having more mass transit routes in Bangkok and how we could ever come up with enough state funding given the rising construction costs? There are so many things to read, to contemplate, to debate and enquire right here in this forum, and yet you choose to dwell on this particular issue. Since April 27th, you have posted a total of 57 comments, 35 of which have got to do with "Thai gem scam". That's 61.4% or about 1 "Thai gem scam" comment every 2 days, and it is not as if you regularly post numerous comments each day.

Take my advice: it's time to move on before it affects your mental well-being!

And in the case you aren't too interested in other bread-and-butter issues that have been the concerns of the locals, maybe it's time you should consider a relocation of your residence and investments (if any) to a scam free Shangri-La. Sunny Malaysia is now considering new applicants under the MMM2H scheme (Make Malaysia My 2nd Home), meanwhile, the uber-efficient, ultra-modern Singapore is also welcoming highly qualified professionals or entrepreneurs with deep pockets, but then, I'm sure that soon enough there'd be as many things for you to complain about just as right here in the LoS.

Regards,

Zoowatch

[FLW]

Let me be clear. I am from a famous tourist town.
This kind of crap doesn't happen.
If I saw visitors being scammed, I would speak up.

I have been involved with the tourism industry in Thailand. Meeting thousands of tourists, I see what is going on these days.
Local Thais haver NO IDEA what is happening to tourism.
I care. I have many Thai friends, some in the tourist industry. All of them have been complaining about how slow business has been. Thousands of visitors getting scammed every week cannot be good. ..and I am doing somthing about it.

Over the years I have come to believe that there is no real rule of law here. No protection other than money and connections.
As foreigners, we have even less protection than the Thais who enjoy slightly less than no protection.



Dozens of scammers working over tourists at Thailand most famous sites has been going on too long.
These scammers have morphed into a powerful tourist mafia that is untouchable, supported by the Police.
Here is my evidence.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21533131@N06/2607510258/

If you visit the Grand Palace, it is very likely, that near the entrance you will be approached by someone wearing a uniform and looking very official who will tell you that The Palace is closed for a couple of hours except to local people. He will then offer to arrange a tuc-tuc to take you to some other places of interest in the area,whilst you wait for the palace to re-open.!


There is a vast conspiracy to defraud every tourist that enters the Country.
It starts at the Airport at the baggage pickup. (AOT LIMO SCAM).
Hundreds of Tourist Mafia Touts have free reign in the arrival hall. Thing is about touts at the new airport, most unsuspecting tourists wouldn’t even think they were touts as they operate in such a position that they seem official - right outside arrivals, in uniforms!. Fake ID tags
Fake Customs officers, transport officials (in uniform) scamming travelers as the exit.

Did you know that the taxies 'parked' by the hotels are almost all scammers?
Yes. Honest drivers are not allowed to park adjacent to the hotels.
Every expat knows this but I'm sure the locals Thais don't realize this.
What about the Tuk Tuiks on my Soi?
All they do is lie to tourists. Do you actually think they are there to give tourists rides to the Temples etc?
Every one of them in the Tourist Zone is a scammer these days.

How about the Fake Students and their Fake Survey. They even have the nerve to wear the AMAZING THAILAND logo! How many tourists do they harass every day?

Let's discuss the FAKE MONKS working over tourists all over town. How can they be tolerated?

I won't mention the FAKE BEGGAR team diverting all the donations to the poor.
The Sukhumvit/Silom Museum of Horrors; The beggers are working for a street gang, diverting donation for the poor into the pockets of street mafia.
The proceeds go to the punks that own the sidewalks.(Police)

How about the recent escalation of the LITTERING POLICE harassing tourists all day long. That is a huge problem, I'm sure the Thais are not aware of this. Representatives from Embassies have been asking for this to stop.

Did you know the Thong Lor Police have been doing random searches of foreigners?
Yes, they are pulling them out of taxies and searching/intimidating them.Especially near Soi22.

What happens when a tourist walks into Hualumphong Station looking to buy a ticket? Scammers approaching every tourist that enter the Station, displaying what is a bogus ID card saying they are with the TAT. YES, inside the Station, in front of security/management.

Look at the Sala Daeng MRT/BTS area. The Tourist Mafia has representatives there too, all day, every day.

Look at the BTS platform/Skywalk near MBK..Yes they are there too and the BTS guards allow it.

The Tourist Mafia has agents at the intersection of Sukhumvit Soi 18 & 20 trolling for tourists that stay at the hotels there.

Walk down Silom and you will meet the Tourist Mafia at all the major intersections and near the hotels. They usually are very well dressed and have some scamming Tuk Tuk driver close by to take you to the next stage of the con game.

Should I get into the Baht Bus Scams on the Islands?

What about double pricing? Even at places like Ocean World where they sneakily put the local price in Thai Script! I'm guessing the reason they put the Thai price in Thai scipt is so that no tourists would ever spot the different price.

To be continued...

[thainotts]

Originally Posted by FLW

To be continued...

Please don't continue, otherwise your word will be as valuable as a scammers' words seeing as the TAT has a warning.

Originally Posted by FLW

i'll stop warning tourists when the TAT puts a warning on their site.

Oh, and congratulations on discovering that rule of law is non-existent in Thailand.

[chrislarsson]

Originally Posted by FLW

Let me be clear. I am from a famous tourist town.
This kind of crap doesn't happen.
If I saw visitors being scammed, I would speak up.

I have been involved with the tourism industry in Thailand. Meeting thousands of tourists, I see what is going on these days.
Local Thais haver NO IDEA what is happening to tourism.
I care. I have many Thai friends, some in the tourist industry. All of them have been complaining about how slow business has been. Thousands of visitors getting scammed every week cannot be good. ..and I am doing somthing about it.

Over the years I have come to believe that there is no real rule of law here. No protection other than money and connections.
As foreigners, we have even less protection than the Thais who enjoy slightly less than no protection.



Dozens of scammers working over tourists at Thailand most famous sites has been going on too long.
These scammers have morphed into a powerful tourist mafia that is untouchable, supported by the Police.
Here is my evidence.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21533131@N06/2607510258/

If you visit the Grand Palace, it is very likely, that near the entrance you will be approached by someone wearing a uniform and looking very official who will tell you that The Palace is closed for a couple of hours except to local people. He will then offer to arrange a tuc-tuc to take you to some other places of interest in the area,whilst you wait for the palace to re-open.!


There is a vast conspiracy to defraud every tourist that enters the Country.
It starts at the Airport at the baggage pickup. (AOT LIMO SCAM).
Hundreds of Tourist Mafia Touts have free reign in the arrival hall. Thing is about touts at the new airport, most unsuspecting tourists wouldn’t even think they were touts as they operate in such a position that they seem official - right outside arrivals, in uniforms!. Fake ID tags
Fake Customs officers, transport officials (in uniform) scamming travelers as the exit.

Did you know that the taxies 'parked' by the hotels are almost all scammers?
Yes. Honest drivers are not allowed to park adjacent to the hotels.
Every expat knows this but I'm sure the locals Thais don't realize this.
What about the Tuk Tuiks on my Soi?
All they do is lie to tourists. Do you actually think they are there to give tourists rides to the Temples etc?
Every one of them in the Tourist Zone is a scammer these days.

How about the Fake Students and their Fake Survey. They even have the nerve to wear the AMAZING THAILAND logo! How many tourists do they harass every day?

Let's discuss the FAKE MONKS working over tourists all over town. How can they be tolerated?

I won't mention the FAKE BEGGAR team diverting all the donations to the poor.
The Sukhumvit/Silom Museum of Horrors; The beggers are working for a street gang, diverting donation for the poor into the pockets of street mafia.
The proceeds go to the punks that own the sidewalks.(Police)

How about the recent escalation of the LITTERING POLICE harassing tourists all day long. That is a huge problem, I'm sure the Thais are not aware of this. Representatives from Embassies have been asking for this to stop.

Did you know the Thong Lor Police have been doing random searches of foreigners?
Yes, they are pulling them out of taxies and searching/intimidating them.Especially near Soi22.

What happens when a tourist walks into Hualumphong Station looking to buy a ticket? Scammers approaching every tourist that enter the Station, displaying what is a bogus ID card saying they are with the TAT. YES, inside the Station, in front of security/management.

Look at the Sala Daeng MRT/BTS area. The Tourist Mafia has representatives there too, all day, every day.

Look at the BTS platform/Skywalk near MBK..Yes they are there too and the BTS guards allow it.

The Tourist Mafia has agents at the intersection of Sukhumvit Soi 18 & 20 trolling for tourists that stay at the hotels there.

Walk down Silom and you will meet the Tourist Mafia at all the major intersections and near the hotels. They usually are very well dressed and have some scamming Tuk Tuk driver close by to take you to the next stage of the con game.

Should I get into the Baht Bus Scams on the Islands?

What about double pricing? Even at places like Ocean World where they sneakily put the local price in Thai Script! I'm guessing the reason they put the Thai price in Thai scipt is so that no tourists would ever spot the different price.

To be continued...

If you are really concerned about helping Thailand, I think the minimum you can do is to pack your bag and go somewhere else.

Why did you leave that wonderful famous tourist town you come from? Did anyone force you to move to Thailand?

Your posts are very offensive, if not outright racist. But most of all they are stupid. Please stop them!

[FLW]

What is offensive? The organized scamming of visitors or my reporting of it.

[cHemon]

for me, it's your old posts in the regent thread

[Zoowatch]

Khun FLW,

It seems that you are simply elaborating on your scam stories, making them sound more ridiculous than ever even if they were true. Rather than answering some of the points raised in my previous reply, you are trying to stretch the definition of scam to the limit.

I hate double pricing, but I am aware of the justification for this. For your information, Siam Ocean World is owned by an Australian company. And what if they begin charging everyone equally? How many Thais would be able to afford the standard admission price? When I started work in Britain, I paid like 10 times the fees for a visa to the Home Office as compared to another person from the Commonwealth. This is also double pricing, and surely it is discriminating. But it is after all, within the rule of law -- they fix the ridiculously high price but I agreed to pay the price, and if I am not happy to pay so much, I leave Britain for another country and the Home Office wouldn't force me to apply for the visa. It's quite the same here, tourists agree with the price and they aren't force to pay if they find the admission fees a rip-off. Everything is still within the law here.

I really have nothing more to say but to let you unveil the second part of your grand reply, which will no doubt be another crusade of yours to "expose more scams in Thailand" **yawn**. And it seemed that my logic cannot persuade you in any way, so I wish you all the best and hoping that you could be at peace while living in Thailand. Remember, before making more claims and wild accusations, ask yourself, "Is it verifiable?", and if it could NOT be proven true, or if it is entirely somebody else's responsibility to take action against the criminals, maybe it's time to put matters to rest. But I'm sure you won't, anyway.

Amid all these, are you missing the bigger picture or something more beautiful in your life during your stay in this country? You could become so suspicious, so muddled with distrust towards the locals that you may not realise that in this chaotic city, you have actually been offered genuine friendship, and small gestures of random kindness without you really appreciating it or even realising it. Have you been biting on to something and missing a whole host of other more worthy things? Isn't it time for some self-reflection, to ponder upon the reason as to why you are here in Thailand, or in this forum in the first place?

Based on my past experience, your action is having very little or no lasting impact on the 'scams' that have been taking place. Aren't you wasting your breathe all these while?

[FLW]

I have no problem with higher prices for tourists at venues supported by Thai tax payers.
Thais could get in free to their parks, museums...that would be OK with me.


Ocean World ?

I'll stick to my claim it is a tourist scam since the Thai price has recently been displayed in Thai Script only.

[cHemon]

anything new to be discussed?
i'm bored.

[Zoowatch]

And is it really our fault that no one other than the Thais could understand Thai script?

And when there are signs in both English and Thai, is it our fault if a Chinese couldn't understand either of it?

[FLW]

Get you when you are coming and ...going.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1026/...726e6fe1_o.jpg

[fridaynightlights]

Oh well... It's pretty much the same as I am an international student in Melbourne and the tram ticket costs me $3.5 while for "eligible students" they charge $1.8.

[thainotts]

Originally Posted by fridaynightlights

Oh well... It's pretty much the same as I am an international student in Melbourne and the tram ticket costs me $3.5 while for "eligible students" they charge $1.8.

Yea, I get "scammed" in the region of £10,000 while those pesky Home Students are only charged anything in the region of a few thousand for the exact same, if not worse, service.

Fortunately I am supposed to be able to read English, so they can't fool me about how much they charge those Home Students, regardless of whether they actually pay tax or not...

But back to Thai tourism...

[FLW]

First hand account by tourists. This occured in 2002 and is still happening today.
http://www.thailandqa.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9000
Why are people in uniform allowed to scam visitors at the entrance to the Grand Palace?

[chrislarsson]

Let's face it, there are price discrimination in all countries. Singling out Thailand is not fair.

We do not live in a fair world and in general it is heavily tilted in advantage of the West. European and American subsidies in agriculture cost the Thai economy more than any money they can gain from dual pricing against foreigners.

In any case, nobody is forced to come to Thailand. If tourists coming here feel like they have been cheated when leaving, they will not come back, and tourist arrivals will be going down. So if Mr. FLW was right, numbers would already be going down long time ago. But he is not. He is just another whiner in Bangkok's growing expat community of white trash.

From my experience, in the category of cheap countries, Thailand is the most hassle free country by far. If anyone disagree with this, I would like to know which ones. Malaysia could be a candidate, but not sure how cheap it is there anymore. Brazil (and some other South American countries) could be other candidates. But terrible crime rates and poor English-skills are keeping tourists away from there.