TOURIST SCAM WARNING!!"

[FLW]

Here are photos of the entrance to the Erawan Shrine, a very popular tourist spot in Bangkok.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/2153313...296908/detail/
The same thing is happening at every popular tourist attraction.

I sent these pictures to the Tourist Authority, Tourist Police & Tourist Assistance Center.... 2 YEARS ago, yet the very same scammers are still there every day, defrauding visitors.
Why are they allowed to do this?
They are scamming in plain view of the Erawan Security Guards, the Erawan Management, the TAT Info Booth, the Royal Thai Police Box, the BTS Security Guards, the Gaysorn Security Guards, The Amarin Security Guards, the Central World Security Guards.....

Why should informed tourists support this industry in Thailand?

If you want to meet scammers all day, come to Thailand.

[GoSatta]

yes we all see them everyday when we are in the city. .

but is it worse then any other mayor tourist city in the world? no!

don't get me wrong! i think the work you are doing here is good! they should be exposed. . but making people think that Bangkok is worse of then any other major tourist city is just wrong! there are idiots everywhere and they will always be used. .

and if anyone go to Thailand and think that LOS is for real . o please. . get in touch with reality!

[napoleon]

Fake Chinese monks held for swindling

Bangkokpost Published: 14/06/2009 at 12:00 AM


Ten Chinese men impersonating monks were recently arrested for swindling Thai devotees in Samphanthawong district, according to immigration police chief Chatchawan Suksomjit.

Pol Lt-Gen Chatchawan said the gang members had overstayed their tourist visas. They were caught while collecting cash donations and selling lucky charms to the faithful. The men, most of them from China's Hubei province, had collected about 800-1,000 baht in cash donations every day.

In Songkhla, five foreign women were arrested during a crackdown in Sadao district yesterday for exploiting the children of illegal immigrants.

The five were from China, Vietnam and Cambodia and apprehended along with 13 Vietnamese, nine Cambodian and two Thai children.

On Wednesday, 28 Nepalese were taken into custody in Phra Nakhon district for illegally entering the country. They had paid agents about US$3,000-$4,000 (102,000-136,000 baht) in the hope of starting a new life.

Pol Lt-Gen Chatchawan said they stopped over in Thailand for paperwork and were headed for a third country onboard cargo ships.



IMPOSTERS: The 10 fake Chinese monks arrested on Thursday in Samphanthawong district.

[napoleon]

A gang of Philippino thieves


Posted by J. P. on May 27 2009

Yesterday a friend and client of mine was mugged in broad daylight after leaving my office and to go to a lunch meeting. Two thieves grabbed him from behind and stole money and items of high value from his pockets. His friend walking ahead was at first unaware that he was being mugged. The thieves after stealing the items from his pockets passed the merchandise into the waiting hands of their gang members, who would then pass it further back to other members. They then tried to distract the victim showing their empty hands and pretending like they don’t know what’s going on.

Luckily the two owners of a Lebanese restaurant, where the victim was headed for the lunch meeting, saw the whole thing and ran after the culprits who tried to take off with the stolen items. The thieves seeing they were being chased threw the money and items onto the street. One of them got caught by the restaurant owners. In the mean time the victim managed to catch the first guy that grabbed him, before he could escape in a taxi. A friendly motorcyclist picked up the money and items thrown on the street and returned it back to the rightful owner.

After the men were captured it came to light that they were actually from the Philippines. A gang of Philippino thieves were robbing people on Silom street in Bangkok. Not to soon after two members were captured, a number of bystanders and pedestrians recognized the culprits, and said that they were also robbed by the same gang. Another victim who was robbed about a week before said that there were about 15 members in the gang. The robberies were going on since January of this year. The other victims weren’t as lucky, since some of them had items like their passport stolen.

It is disgraceful that Philippinos would come to Thailand to commit such acts of theft in Bangkok. Needless to say those two will be spending the rest of their days behind bars.

[napoleon]

Police Arrest Filipino Pickpocket Gang

Tan Network 2009-05-27


Police have arrested members of a Filipino pickpocket gang who have robbed foreigners of more than 800,000 baht.

Four Indian jewelry brokers have identified members of a Filipino pickpocket gang, including Rojer Novo and Billy Onett Nanny, who stole over 300,000 baht from them.

One of the victims said that after he withdrew money from an ATM in the Silom district in Bangkok, the suspects pretended to drop documents on the ground. When bending down to pick up the papers, they smeared something on his ankle that caused him to fall unconscious. While he was out, they picked his pocket.

The suspects were arrested in front of the Jewery Place Center Building on Silom Road.

The police noted that the suspects usually choose foreigners who had just withdrawn money from the ATM as their victims.

A large number of foreigners have been targeted by the gang and they are believed to have stolen about 800,000 baht in cash from their victims over a period of about a year.

[napoleon]

Malaysian gang member arrested for US credit card fraud


BANGKOK, Jan 14 (TNA) - A Malaysian wanted by the United States authorities for credit card fraud was apprehended in Thailand on Wednesday, after cooperation between the US authorities and the Thai police, according to the National Police Bureau's Crime Suppression Division (CSD).

Pol. Col. Supisan Pakdeenaruanaj, CSD Deputy Commander, said 40-year old Malaysian Cooi Kok Seng, charged by US officials with skimming and stealing credit card data from cardholders, was arrested in Nonthaburi province near Bangkok.

He was allegedly a member of a credit card hacking gang in the US, a crime group with at least 10 members which has been committing credit card theft for over three years.

Col. Supisan said Cooi Kok Seng and his gang had stolen credit card information and 16-digit numbers from victims credit cards when they patronised restaurants and major department stores or retail outlets in the US such as Wal-Mart. They then sold the data to Asian gangs to make counterfeited cards which they sold to their customers.

In some cases, the Malaysian suspect himself produced the artificial cards to buy goods, he said. His crime had caused over US$150 million in damages.

However, after his apprehension, Cooi Kok Seng denied any wrongdoing.

After committing his crime in the US and American authorities issuing an arrest warrant for him, he fled to Thailand where he was living with his Thai wife in Nonthaburi.

US police agents followed his tracks to Thailand, and asked for cooperation from the Thai police to arrest him.

Under the US arrest warrant, the Malaysian was accused of conspiring with his gang to use devices to illegally skim credit card holders' information, selling such electronic devices, illegally possessing the equipment and accessing the card and personal information without permission.

The prosecutor was scheduled to file charges against him and the criminal court will rule on whether to extradite the defendant to the US at the request of the US government. (TNA)

[napoleon]

60 Cambodian beggars captured by Bangkok Police

[FLW]

Wow.

Thailand dangerous indeed!

[FLW]

Ocean World charged farangs and Thais the same price when it opened.

Last year, someone decided to overcharge foreigners.
They made new signs and price-lists.
They have the Thai prices posted in Thai script only.
What a sleazy operation....but that is just the beginning of this Thai rip off story.

I know Ocean World charges farangs 850 and Thais 450 but today, when I took 2 thai lady friends, the cashier handed me the 'special menu' and tried to charge me 1,700 baht for the 2 Thais !
I had to explain to her that she was attempting to steal 800 baht from me and I was clued up about their racist policy.
The Thais should be charged the Thai price, right?
Eventually, she backed down and charged the Thais 450 each.

I will be publicizing this as often as possible on travel websites and forums.

MORE INFO HERE: Thailand Scams reports on Ocean World.
http://www.thai-blogs.com/index.php/...-prices?blog=5

[FLW]

"Rude taxi drivers leave poor image of country.

After a 30-hour journey from New York, I arrived- at Bangkok airport at 1am with my two young children. After walking for what seemed several kilometres in subterranean gloom, I eventually exited into the main terminal building to be hailed by a chorus of hisses as illegal taxi touts tried to get my attention. Ignoring them, I left the terminal building to try to find a shuttle bus. Generally, international airports have numerous, frequent shuttles taking passengers to all relevant points. Not Bangkok. I eventually found the lone shuttle stop only for my family and I to be screamed at by a Thai woman irate because we would not use her taxi. "Go back to where you come from-foreigners not wanted here", she screamed. The security guards looked on with ridiculous grins on their faces. I tried to imagine this situation in Los Angeles, London or Tokyo but could not envisage such an outrage. Eventually a shuttle bus arrived but rather than taking us to the destination shown on the board, it dropped us at an empty, dark bus station where we had to wait for another bus. There was no English - all signs were in Thai, which made it very difficulf for us to find our connecting bus.

As a frequent flier, I have never come across such a poorly run airport. The situation my family faced was very threatening and so I will ensure that neither I, nor my family, will ever transit through this nightmare city again."

[chrislarsson]

Originally Posted by FLW

Ocean World charged farangs and Thais the same price when it opened.

Last year, someone decided to overcharge foreigners.
They made new signs and price-lists.
They have the Thai prices posted in Thai script only.
What a sleazy operation....but that is just the beginning of this Thai rip off story.

I know Ocean World charges farangs 850 and Thais 450 but today, when I took 2 thai lady friends, the cashier handed me the 'special menu' and tried to charge me 1,700 baht for the 2 Thais !
I had to explain to her that she was attempting to steal 800 baht from me and I was clued up about their racist policy.
The Thais should be charged the Thai price, right?
Eventually, she backed down and charged the Thais 450 each.

I will be publicizing this as often as possible on travel websites and forums.

MORE INFO HERE: Thailand Scams reports on Ocean World.
http://www.thai-blogs.com/index.php/...-prices?blog=5

Firstly, isn't Ocean World operated by an Australian company?

Secondly, do you know that Thais studying overseas in countries, such as the US, UK, and Australia, are being charged higher tuition fees than local students?

[FLW]

image hosted on flickr


Why does Ocean World hide the THAI PRICE in THAI SCRIPT?
Why did they charge me 850 for the Thais?

It's a sleazy way to treat customers, that's why they try to hide it.
A scam on tourists is what they are doing.
Check out this link to see what tourists are saying about this place:
http://www.google.com/search?client=...UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Just so you know Chris, it WAS under Australian Management... but a Thai took over the management of Ocean World last year......and decided it was time to scam tourists.


Thai tourism is doomed if this continues.
Thousands of tourists are going back home every week and what are they telling their friends?
Land of Scams

Too bad.




.

[Khem]

Originally Posted by napoleon

Police Arrest Filipino Pickpocket Gang

Tan Network 2009-05-27


Police have arrested members of a Filipino pickpocket gang who have robbed foreigners of more than 800,000 baht.

Four Indian jewelry brokers have identified members of a Filipino pickpocket gang, including Rojer Novo and Billy Onett Nanny, who stole over 300,000 baht from them.

One of the victims said that after he withdrew money from an ATM in the Silom district in Bangkok, the suspects pretended to drop documents on the ground. When bending down to pick up the papers, they smeared something on his ankle that caused him to fall unconscious. While he was out, they picked his pocket.

The suspects were arrested in front of the Jewery Place Center Building on Silom Road.

The police noted that the suspects usually choose foreigners who had just withdrawn money from the ATM as their victims.

A large number of foreigners have been targeted by the gang and they are believed to have stolen about 800,000 baht in cash from their victims over a period of about a year.

I am a Filipino..and I do not tolerate that kind of stuff...I just came from my trip in thailand (june 1-7) and I found Bangkok nice because of its wide roads...what made me post this here is due to my firsthand experience with tuktuk drivers...OMG...most of them are scams...they will make a deal of 50 baht/hour for my city tour...and the driver took me to places such as textile export thing and jewelry export thing...and I've been telling the driver that I want to go to wat phra keaow...a real headache and most of them cannot understand even the simplest english word..."I don't like you to bring me here!"...so what I did is to catch a taxi...and again...the driver is trying to fix the fare amount and doesn't want to turn on the meter...heaven sake!
What made my day really great was my trip to Chiang Mai to visit my thai friend...she toured me around the city...and it was an amazing experience...

[FLW]

More bad publicity for Thai Tourism.
Letter to the Editor, Bangkok Post. June 18.





Unfair pricing policy

A few years ago I had visited the Siam Paragon Ocean World and enjoyed the display. The price was 450 baht.

Yesterday I wanted to treat two Thai friends and noticed the 450-baht price was now written in Thai script only. Very sneaky.

I approached the cashier and she handed me the ''Special Farang Price List'' - adult farang: 850 baht.

This upset me a bit but I bit my tongue and was ready to pay the 400-baht farang surcharge, as I went to pay for myself and my two Thai friends.

The cashier charged me 2,550 baht!

Yes! She charged me the farang price for the two Thais! This was very embarrassing for me and my Thai guests, to say the least.

Have these business people no shame? I will never go in there again, and it left me with a bad feeling. This kind of ripoff is happening all over Thailand.

My message? ''You can make a profit without being evil!''

TOURIST IN BANGKOK

Editor's note: According to Siam Paragon Ocean World, the price for Thai nationals is 350 baht per person.

[FLW]

I have contacted several concierges from Bangkok Hotels regarding the Siam Paragon Ocean World scam.
They will no longer recommend this place to it's guests.
Good.

[FLW]

"I remember one time my wife and I were going to Koh Samet.
After taking the ferry over to the beach we had to take a ride to get to the area where we were staying. Eventually we came to a gate and I began to see Thai people paying a fee to a man that came up to the truck. Because we already paid a decent fee already for the ferry I figured it couldn't be that much.
All of a sudden the man tells me to pay 500 baht to get through.
I couldn't believe it when the Thais that were with me only paid about 50 baht."

This kind of stuff happens to the Farang visitor all day long. After a couple days the tourists can't wait to leave.... and make reports on the internet.

The TAT needs to respond to these type situations.
Punish violaters and give visitors a fair warning.

My message to the TAT? You can't cover this up any longer.
Travelers research their trips on the internet.

[Little City]

Originally Posted by FLW

Wow.

Thailand dangerous indeed!

มันมาจากประเทศไหนว่ะ ประเทศมันไม่มีของพวกนี้เลยหรอ

Where are you from?

Your country no have any tourist scam?

[FLW]

I'm sure there are scams in many different countries but this is the Thailand Tourist Scam Discussion.

I am from a tourist town. A very popular place and this does not happen.
If I saw someone defrauding a guest, I would be all over it, guaranteed.
It's stupid and short sighted to steal from your best customers, no?

Why I started this discussion?
I was involved in the tourist business in bangkok. Every day I met dozens of tourists and had an opportunity to talk with them for hours.
To be honest, I was shocked to hear their stories of how they were mistreated by various scammers all over town.
Just read back in this thread to view their testimonials. I'm just posting what people are saying on the internet and it is not good.

I hope somebody that cares might do something about it.
As it is, tourists are totally neglected and are actually being scammed by the people that should be looking out for them.
This is bad news.
Don't get mad at the messenger.
If this discussion upsets you, do something positive for the tourist industry and help get the word out to tourists.
An informed tourist will have a better experience and won't be making these dismal reports about Thailand on the internet.

[FLW]

Click hear to read what visitors are saying about the scams at Siam Paragon Ocean World.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/o...ubsidy/page-2/



"At Ocean World it's not just about pricing.

The management needs to urgently instruct the cashier staff, and some other staff to be polite.

I have Permanent Resident status in Thailand and I therefore carry a PR book.

Three months back I went to this venue with my Thai family.

The cashier barked "You live in Thailand?". I produced my PR book and got an instant barked reply "what's this, where's your drivers licence?".

I tried to quickly explain, in Thai and in English that it was proof of being a permanent resident. No attempt to listen by the cashier, just more barking of 'drivers licence'.

My adult son said "never mind" and we all left, total of 5 adults and 2 children.

On a previous visit we were waiting for some other familt members to join our group and standing in the open area outside of the cashier entry channels. Suddenly one of the staff appears with a megaphone and tells us abruptly to move out of the way. Fairly quickly there was a group of school children lining up with their teacher. Suddenly the Ocean World lady tells the teacher, in Thai language obviously' "I told you to stand here" which was about 1 metre away from where the teacher had started the line of children.

On another visit there was again rudness and appruptness at the cashier desk, and suddenly my adult son said loudly, in Thai, "Don't be rude to my father" (meaning me), he had picked up a comment from the cashier to another staff member about 'farang stingy'.

On yet another visit, a group of western tourists, about 6 or 7 people If I remember correctly, were told the total price. The lady who was about to pay was having some difficulty to find her credit card. Suddenly the cashier barked "hurry up". There was a quick discussion across the tourist group, then they all walked away.

I've written two letters to Ocean World, never had a reply."

[FLW]

People come to Thailand for a reasonably priced holiday but are being scammed and overcharged everywhere they go.


http://www.thai-blogs.com/index.php/...harging?blog=8


Stay away from Siam Ocean World, Thai Boxing etc.
Don't reward these racists by paying the special farang price.