Hello, I'm Thai. And very sorry for the situation you encountered. I would like to know the license plate of the taxi, the boat company that cost you very expensive and so on because I will bring the information to the Department of Land Transport and the Tourism of Thailand to take the legal action.
Hi! We never got the license plate of the taxi. But we did just write a blog article on our website and included photos of the scammers. You can read it here - DeathByVlog.com
I’ve saw a video from some Thai news page, cant remember which. In that vid, there’s a guy says that some tourist police officers are also in on this scam, bribed by jewelry store for 10,000 baht per day. That’s why we can’t never get rid of them. 😔
I don't speak Spanish, but pretended that's all I spoke to the African guys outside the bars in Roppongi so they'd stop hassling me to go inside the strip clubs. All of a sudden one of the guys jumps up and gets excited and starts speaking Spanish back to me, and my ruse was up!
Before I went to Bangkok, I did some home work about what specifically I wanted to see. I had only from my arrival time, around 6am, until my departing flight about 8pm. I wanted just to see a few things I had researched. I wanted absolutely no shopping. I know it's a scam. So, my research identified a company with an office at the airport, that offered the kind of one-person guided tour I wanted. On arrival I insisted on speaking with the manager, not the salesperson at the front. I showed him my written list. He added a few suggestions that sounded interesting. I got a price, in writing and made sure there were no forgotten taxes or fees due at the end. I made sre car and driver were fully covered and included. I was introduced to the young woman who would be my guide for the day. I made three points clear to the manager. I would pay only what was there in writing. If I was satisfied, I would decide what gratuity I would give the driver and my guide and pay it personally in cash. And, I stressed that I would not waste one minute of my time in any shops or stores. I was here to see, not buy. Even before lunch, the guide tried to get me into a store . . . "owned by friend . . very good prices . . . I get you big discount." I threatened to cancel the tour. She cried. Said "boss be very upset with me if you no visit shop. Please just look and listen to price." I refused and stepped out in the street to call another taxi to go back to the airport. She relented. But she was sullen. I bought lunch. Of course the driver, as is the custom, was taken to a back room where they are given a bowl of rice while we ate off a menu. Around an hour later she again tried the shop visit. We were right at the entrance to the Grand Palace, so I walked off ignoring her attempts to get me to come back, found the wll marked ticket booth, shpowed the tickets I'd gooten that morning from the office manager and was admitted to roam as I wish. When I was finished, the guide and the car were waiting for me. I insisted the tour was over, even though we had at leat another hour and a half scheduled. After a lot of noise, followed by sullen silence, they look be back to the airport.I did not blame the girl or the driver. I gave them what I thought might be a good tip. I then went to the tour company office and berated the manager in front of his staff., for he's in charge. All the scams they tried to pull were surely with his OK. And left. Scams usually require your gullible cooperation, and your western manners.
Oh gosh, this brought back memories from 2015 when we were approached by a guy on our way to the Grand Palace. We were told the temple won't be open for a few hours due to a ceremony being held. He offered to take us to the river for a boat cruise using his tuktuk as he was on his way there anyway. Luckily for us, the night before we already did the cruise & I flatly said no & we'll be heading to the shopping district instead. Conveniently, he replied that the shops will be open at a later time, that did it for me & just told my friends to go & proceed to the Grand Palace as initially planned. After 5-10 minutes of walking, finally the Grand Palace is right in front of us, along with the signs to be wary of people telling anyone that it is closed for the day.
if you ask me it wasn't a terrible scam because you got what you paid for, well EXCEPT for the boat ride that costs more than a normal tourist rate. You got yourself a nice suit and a cheap taxi ride and a nice temple tour :D
Haha yeah it wasn’t a bad day overall! We felt a little taken advantage of and the end of the day was a little sketchy because of how angry the taxi driver got. We are happy nothing worse happened!
We had a VERY similar experience to “Chef Tony” in Chiang Mai! We were visiting a temple when we were approached by a nice Thai guy who was “on holiday.” He proceeded to make conversation with us and eventually found out my husband was in the banking industry and needed to wear suits every day. He insisted we go to the best shop in Chiang Mai for a custom suit. He recommended we go to another beautiful temple near the shop and then we could go to the shop after lunch. So we took his rec and went to the next temple which was incredible but we seemed to be tracked down by another Thai gentleman who “lived in Australia but was on holiday in Chiang Mai to buy a suit” from the SAME shop. He also showed us pics on his phone. We told the man we would check out the shop and left the temple. Right when we stepped outside my husband looked at me and said, “well that was a total set up”
We went to Bangkok about five years ago and guess what !!!!! A gentleman in a suit on the street stopped to explain where to go and see some temples as we're looking at a tourist map and so he knew a tuk-tuk driver and so we went with him. Guess what ?????? the same temple as you went to and guess what !!!!! Chef Tony approached as well. This time he was trying to get us to go the place you went to but this time it was gemstones as he showed us some samples in that same temple on the exact place on the floor. Guys he is the same person as you encountered and still doing the same scam as when we were there 5 years ago.
No Way!!! Did he introduce himself to you as Chef Tony?! We are looking back on the footage to find the temple name and license plate to report these guys. How crazy that he’s still doing this... probably more than 5 years too! 😡
We cannot remember what he introduced himself as but that is him in that footage when we were there. He was full of shit when he spoke to us so i got wind of what he was up to. We got back into the Tuk-Tuk and questioned the driver and he told us that he was in on the scam as all of the others we had encountered that day. What a small world with social media !!!! Where are you guys of to next ?? Safe travels !!
So crazy! Sad that this is a regular thing and mostly run by a mafia of sorts. Oh well, at least we all survived haha. We just left Thailand and now in Malaysia. Excited to explore here and make some more videos to share with you guys 👍🏻😊
Better: always go with a local. I was in bkk twice and it's impressive how different taxi drivers try to charge money of you when they're actually asked by a Thai person. Nobody declined a ride even though it was far away Neither did they try to make a price without using meter.
One of the best scams I saw in Thailand was when I was sitting on the beach in Phuket. A guy came out of the water fully clothed. ) I saw him enter the water about 75 yards down the beach. He sat down near me and told me he jumped off a ship that was way out there. He said he was coming from Burma and had some Pigeon Blood rubies. He showed me some red stones and said he would sell me one for very cheap. He just needed enough to get to Bangkok to sell the rest. Fake stones. I told him it was good story but I saw him enter the water. Bye!
I was @ the Grand Palace, Emerald " in BKK in Feb... Walking around the side to the front entrance - similar deal. 40's man , started telling me how it was holiday, temple was closed.. Tellls me he was an engineer & worked across street... He asked too many questions, and I kept walking... He was standing right at the corner of the temple, scammer
A lot of you commented wishing to see the scammers faces, so we uploaded their pictures and some travel tips in our latest blog article in our website. Take a look 👀 www.deathbyvlog.com
Hello, I am working at the Public Affairs Divison attached to the Tourist Police Bureau headquarters. I need your help for more information. pls contact us via 1155@touristpolice.go.th
Omg. I actually didn't even think he was in on the scam until around the boat ride time... then the whole scenario got turned upside down! It was messed up to me because he was in a temple which is a holy place. I can't believe that!
Yeah. lots of wolf in sheep's clothing. That 40 Baht taxi fare is a dead give away already. It would have made my Spidey sense tingle through the roof!! lol.
Chris Martin yes, I have been scammed and my “Chef Tony” was a Thai lawyer graduated in Cornell University but with a terrible English (worse than mine and I am Brazilian).
Hey, refugees fleeing Myanmar are abducted and raped by Thai people in the forests and jungles near Thailand/Malaysia border. Then these Thai people demand money from the victims' families.
Definitely! We just watched a scam city episode and the exact same thing happened with the thailand gem scam. Planted a guy in a temple and everything. It’s crazy!
I know when we went we we nearly scammed a couple of times. Some of the plans are very elaborate, but generally harmless. We had a guy come up to us and say he was a waiter at our hotel and how nice it was to see us again. He said there was a discount shopping centre we must visit, last few hous of their sale. We weren’t going to bother, but he kept bumping into us, asking if we had been yet, so we hopped into a tuk-tuk on his advice (overly cheap), and were taken to a shopping centre, which had nothing we wanted. We then realised that he had never known us and that the ploy was to divert as many tourists to this particular shopping centre. No harm done, but we ended up wasting a couple of hours and having to walk back as the tuk-tuk price quadrupled on the way back! We also bumped into a guy who said he worked for the police and could get us into the Royal Palace as it was shut. Of course it wasn’t shut, nonsense . We had been warned about this one so told him, we were good. He left to find his next victim. Our official Thai tour guide had said these people are getting them a bad name and that she would report the incidence to the authorities. No idea if this happened though, as it wasn’t exactly a crime as such. Just don’t change your plans for some visit/trip that sounds too good to be true.
I am in Thailand right now and two weeks ago when I still was in Bangkok I experienced the exactly same scam wow. I just stumbled across this video and it is 1:1 the situation we experienced. Also met Chef toni in the Temple woooooow
I had exactly the same scam happen to me in Bangkok. A woman accosted me at Siam station, who I thought was just being helpful. We were planning on going to Wat Arun temple and I told her this. I had already sourced out which bus we needed to catch and which pier I needed to get to, but she told me that the bus wasn't running and that the boat I wanted to catch from the pier was prone to sinking in the river. She said would arrange me transport to take me to the pier to get a boat across the river to the temple. She got me a Tuk Tuk which cost 100 Bhat for a short trip. The driver took us into the pier where a man with a calculator tried to charge me 2000 Bhat for a trip up river. I refused and walked out and got a taxi to the original pier I was planning to go to. The cost across the river was 8 Bhat, nowhere near the 2000 Bhat they tried to make me pay.
I have lived in China for three years and I have seen some scams myself. Taxi drivers are very notorious and Tuk Tuks can be sneaky, but the biggest scam I had to deal with was a bus driver. As long as you keep an eye out you are usually fine but it happens to everyone from time to time. Once my friends and I were made to get off this bus on the way to the Great Wall, the bus driver kept telling us the bus didn't go that far. (It did, we had researched it.) and the man behind us on the bus got out too. He then Offered to drive us there, since we were basically stranded we took it up but it was way too expensive for the ride. We figured we would take the bus back but this guy jumped us on our back to the parking lots. He had waited four hours to see us even though we told him not to repeatedly. He tried to over charge us for a return and we ended up bargaining him down and leaving but it was very frustrating. The bus driver was def friends with this guy and it was a major scam they pulled regularly on foreigners. So don't feel too bad, its something to laugh about later and you learn its part of being a traveler. Thanks for your advice and story, I will def be on the look out when I head that way in three weeks. Excited for Thailand!
This is one of your best videos. First, I think the theme of scam is always interesting and somewhat funny. So, it engages the viewer! Second, just having you guys sit down, relax in front of the camera and just tell the story worked! Good title too. Well done! Nice video this one. One thing that I see being sucsessful with other youtubers such as MARZBAR vlogs is that they will make the same video again and again. In this case, to do a series on scams or on one thing seems to get subs!
Thanks Roy! Even though this one was much different than normal, it was fun to make and we thought sharing the story would be interesting to the audience. I guess we were right haha 😂
Me and my wife actually met that same man. Chef Tony is so in on it. Told us he was from san Francisco in the same temple. Then they tried to take us to some jewelry place. And when we said no they took us to the same ferry place. We just walked away . Amazing lol
Chef Tony is absolutely in on the scam. Unfortunately this is a very common scam where you are taken to a temple and meet a friendly Thai person seemingly unconnected with the original scammer. They always speak very good English and usually claim to have lived in Europe either to work or to study. The usual aim used to be a Gem shop but I guess that the "gem scam" has become so well known that they are adapting their scams to other destinations too.
Wow that is just wild to us! We never thought there would be someone planted in a temple. How sad that is to use religion in order to to take advantage of people. It ended up working out for us though, but I’m sure so many others were forced into buying the river boat ride and spending so much money. Thank you for the comment ❤️🙏
Hey bro hope you are well and having a great day so far. Nearly the weekend yeah. Just thought we would pop over again and take in some of your awesome videos. This is great knowledge and we are meant to be going to Thailand in November. This is crazy, well done for getting it sorted, blooming scammers. Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us really appreciate it very useful to know. Thanks again my friends, Stay safe and take care my friends catch up soon again, God bless you both. 🙏👍❤️
Your story had me laughing. I had the same thing happen to me. I met a guy at the temple. Who drew me a map of all the other temples I should go see, he flagged a Tuk Tuk down and negotiated a price which was really cheap. On the way to the temple I was told that I was lucky because today was a special promotion day at the tailor shop. I fell into the trap, and yes bought a suit. It was very nice. The day was full of scams, jewelry shop that I did not want to go to but was talked into it, then like you a restaurant that it was obvious he was getting a kick back on. All in all it was a good day, but definitely got scammed and didn’t see it until it was to late
I'm Thai and feel bad for you to hear about that. I hate all scammers and angry every time I've heard about it. I feel like they are destroying my country. I think taxi/tuk tuk drivers are the common scammers which can frequently be found in Bangkok because most of them came from poor/uneducated family. It's good that you shared this story for everyone to always remain careful. Hope the authority will take strong action against such bad behavior.
suk meenuch it was an unfortunate incident but we did learn a lot. I personally tend to trust everyone until proven otherwise, which didn’t work to our advantage here! This type of scam is no reflection on the Thai culture as a whole, but I understand why it would make you angry. There are bad crimes in America that make us feel the same way too. Everywhere there will always be bad people, but it’s the good ones like you who matter. Thank you for watching and commenting 🙏❤️
Hi Suk Meenuch! It’s very sad to see it happens daily and it’s such an elaborate scam and they continue to get away with it. We still laugh about it but still mad at the same time. Unbelievable lol
" Hope the authority will take strong action against such bad behavior. " That's not going to happen. Many years ago before i went to Thailand someone sent me a website (now defunct) named Bangkok Bob. He covered all the scams. He lived in Thailand. This was back in 2004. Some of the scams he mentioned people tried on me. Like when I was taking pictures on Sukhumvit near Nana on a Monday morning and a tuk tuk driver told me the area is closed and he can take me to Chinatown to take pictures. And don't get me started on the jet ski scam --I never rented one but the scam is legendary--also the police are involved in it and have threatened to jail people who don't pay for "damages" that was already on the jet ski that the customer is forced to pay. Even with the military in control of Thai government they could never get rid of scams.
So the IFC is it real or not ? And did they do you your suit within 4 hours ? Or you have to come back the next day ? Because I'm really interested and quite curious about that IFC place. Thanks
Me and my husband went to thailand last 2015. These thais take advantage to tourists. We planned to go there as backpackers. Tuk2s are crazy expensive. Taxi is expensive too. You have to bargain each time they give you price. They aren’t hospitable. They would let you feel welcome according to their will. They do have tie ups to each destinations. These drivers do have commissions whenever they take tourists. From airport we took a their train and get hold of a map since most of them don’t speak english. One day we took a cab to certain place where you ride a boat but we wanted the public one which you can share with any other tourist. The driver took us to a private one and charged us very high so we decided to leave. The worst thing is the taxi driver left us on the road because we didn’t took the private boat 😟 we have to walk all the way to a the public boat station so we can experience it. It was crazy but other than that we still enjoyed our stay in thailand. You should bring a map with you all the time. Or book your excursions in the hotel where you’re staying.
I think that's more business than a scam. You got a nice suit, you were safe, you were taken to food, and a cheap taxi ride. Sounds like it worked out in your favor.
@Peter Grahame You are right, in Western countries 50% of the 4000 baht goes to the government because of tax. In Thailand people get probably 90% of the 4000 baht so they can have a living which is a shame... Governments with expensive corrupt politicians and their friends in large corporations should get 50% of everything you pay right?
My girlfriend and I were caught out by the river cruise last week in Bangkok.... We got off the metro and were greeted by the friendliest tuk tuk driver who told us where we wanted to go was not accessible by car as roads were closed because of the kings visit. He suggested we went by boat. We assumed he was taking us to a boat stop to catch the next ride. Instead we arrived at a dingy restaurant by the river to an awaiting man sat at a table with calculator in hand! 4000 baht the offer of a 1.5 hour private boat cruise with a few stops on the way. Luckily it was something we wanted to do so we negotiated down to 1200 baht for the two of us. We got on our “private” boat and there was another tourist already aboard. He had paid 1600 baht for just himself for a “private” boat cruise. Half way down the river a damaged boat pulls beside ours and the two couples jump in our boat. All of us had been stung by the same scam. 1 British couple, 1 couple from Chicago, 1 Lone Ranger from Washington and a Chinese couple. NO ONE IS SAFE! 😂 BEWARE OF THE TUK TUK-BOAT SCAM FYI. Normal taxis are even cheaper than GRAB taxis. Just make sure the metre is on
Yup...That's a very common scam in Thailand...Tuk Tuk drivers and taxi drivers do it...Me and my gf got taken to this boat cruise (on a tuk tuk) because the place we wanted to go to was "closed" and there was someone waiting for us at the door and they were gonna charge us like 2,600 baht....Once we realized what was going on we just ran off 😂
Great Video, The same thing happen to me in Bangkok last year. Of course it only took one ride then I learned real quick. It came to my attention that a Taxi will take you to a place where they make custom suits before they take you to where you want to go. These Taxi's will take you to other places no matter what you say to them come to find out. It actually is hard to find a Taxi to just go where you want to go . So, you guys are right on with this scam.
I’m still astonished that your kind of internet savvy never read a travel guide prior going abroad, you should try next time, it’s full of useful informations, especially about how to dodge these kind of unpleasant scams situations and having a great trip in the land of the smiles.
I don’t think I would consider it a scam.. they are working for you. You all travel more then me but that’s common everywhere.. everyone gets kick backs for brining you to there shops. Happens everywhere..
It's ashame... I'm Thai, but grew up in the States. I do speak fluent Thai, so I usually don't get scam when I go back home. However, beecause I look more like a tourist than a typical Thai, people TRY to scam me anyway around tourist attraction spots. I've been in a similar situation you both just experienced here even when I was speaking Thai!!! ....it's because the scammer knew I was from the US and thought I didn't know any better. It makes me angry and sad to see and hear stories like this. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the rest of your time in Thailand. It's a beautiful country really, and there are good people there who are sincere and friendly. You just have to be on alert and keep a look out for those scammers sometimes....
@Shameless Facts Maybe from her parents? !! I'm Thai living in the US. My 13 year old son speaks perfect Thai because I talk to him in Thai everyday at home.
We experienced a similar situation where a nice older thai uncle stroke us a where-are-you-from and have-you-been-to conversation and offered to get a not so random tuk-tuk-driver casually parked a few meters away to give us a reasonably cheap tuk-tuk ride from the King's Palace to a mall with a few recommended "must see" places, them being a temple of the blue buddha, which was supposedly the oldest buddha statue in Bangkok (disappointingly small and for sure not the oldest) and to stop and enter the Import-Export Tux Store. Actually, it's exactly the same one you were at. I recognised it. Before arriving to the TUX store, I had asked the driver to skip it and take us directly to the mall. He then said he'll get a gas coupon if we at least go in to check out the tuxedos. That's when it hit me what situation I had gotten us into, where everyone gets a cut from farang... I searched quickly on my phone how to get out of this. I then read the situation could get heated if I decided to not buy anything. So to avoid that I just bought a tie for 200 baht and left right away. Maybe expensive, but cheaper then what ever else could happen with an angry mob of Indians persuading you angrily to purchase. I also met Chef Tony. He hasn't changed his story. He even spoke a little German too.
I first went to Thailand in 1972. I fell in love with Thailand. Have been going back to Thailand at least twice or more a year. Will be going there in November. (Came back in July.) The people there are friendly. I have NEVER BEEN SCAMMED. If you think that someone is going to scam you, just smile and pretend that you do not understand what he is talking about and walk away. If you are not careful, you can be scammed in any country. You can also be scammed in your own country. Most of my friends who go to Thailand usually have good impression of Thailand.
It was more to show how elaborate these scams are to get people to these places. Whether I was planning on going there one day or not, it’s the fact that these people search out tourists and lie to them in order to make a profit.
@@DeathByVlog fair enough! It just looked like you had an overall good experience with IFC. I am going to BKK for my first time in a few weeks, how did the suit hold up? Would you recommend others to do so? thanks!
I’m not sure how it will hold up be cause I had it shipped to my home in the USA. Didn’t have room to continue traveling with it all year. It’s great quality though and fits like a glove.
hey guys, i was in Bangkok last week , when i went to grand place, a tok tok driver told me palace was closed. but before i visited Thailand i had watched your video and knew about this.2. when i wanted to go to floating market tok tok driver told me 100 BTH.normally it should be around 300 BTH, so again since i had watched your video I knew this scame
Similar happened to me, I went to BKK for a solo backpacker.. I just walk near the Royal Palce at that time, a tuk tuk driver ask me to just pay him 10 Bath and bring me to RiverCruise, I said I don't want to but hie insisted and keep saying that the palace only for Thai people to visit.. then his friends waiting at the jetty and ask me to pay 2000 Baht for a cruise.. what can do, very disappointed.
I’m sorry about the scams. We Thais are very ashamed that there’s out there scamming tourists for their hard earned money. It’s such a shame & I’m truly sorry. Thank you for visiting the country & sharing it.
Just watched the show Scam City on Netflix the Bangkok episode after watching this video a couple of days ago....the host investigates literally the same scam you two went on. The show concludes that it's ultimately the gem shops orchestrating the whole thing.
It was two visits; a measurement, a fitting, then I had it shipped to the USA so I didn’t have to bring it with me on our travels. If you are in a rush, you could get it the next day 😉
Tony is so in on this. Actually, just to be sure, I called both four seasons hotels in London and the only chef named Tony is Italian. Sooo, here you got it!
Sawatdee krap In 1999 we had the same thing with a guy that said he was a Thai police officer off duty. He told that after asking what I did, and I told him I was a fire fighter. He recommended a place for suits not to far off and wrote directions to it. I paid 86 bucks and still have the suit. not sure if he was scamming and then felt it best not to or if he was legit. Many other scam attempts over the next 5 visits. I havent been to Thailand in 15 years now, but will be back for 2 months starting in April. Wife and friends will come for 3 weeks, then Im off to train more muay thai as is my normal routine. If you guys are in Bangkok sometime in April around the 4th or 5th for the next 3 weeks let me know,. we can all meet up someplace and have dinner. My wife loves your videos.... keep up the awesome videos., love them!!! Sorta what made me pull the trigger to return after so long :D Be safe! La gon krap!
I watched a vlog once that said Thai people usually ask questions about how you're enjoying Thailand and whats your favourite part, mainly non personal questions and if anyone is asking where you're from, how long you're there for etc then they're gathering info and more likely to be scammers!
Exactly correct. If anyone does approach you in this manner, they are likely either trying to sell you something or take advantage of you. It’s sad, but it’s the truth 😕
Omg!!!! I think i meet him at the same temple!!! I was just there in june. ( 2019). Yes! He was a chef back in the US but comes to Thailand every year...?! Wired how i landed on this video and recognized the temple, person and scam.
Yep exactly the same experience... person approaching you trying to lure you in a conversation, cheap taxi/tuktuk offer (trigger) suddenly appearing from somewhere, photos or stories of their family, offer of a recommended tour for being cheap then slashing the price some more (i was offered 2000. Baht to go on a river tour with a friend) then slashed the price right away by half, they tell you there is a holiday if you have other plans, and the time constraint that there is an offer available just for the day. Had this experience near the palace (a lady walking beside me suddenly talks to me) thrn also by a crosswalk when a guy guesses that you are from a certain country, says there is a holiday but his friend can take you around to open temples.
Ryan the best scam is the one where you get totally sucked in. The photos of family, the beer, the cheap taxi ride all of this is meant to suck you in. I suggest you avoid these at all costs. Things can get really hairy and unpleasant. The taxi driver was looking forward to his cut of your exorbitant meal or suit or boat ride. Luckily you guys didn’t get roofied or sold into the slave trade 😂
Haha 😂 They aren’t going to get us! 💪🏻 I need a lot of roofies and I don’t let Stacia drink anything unless we are in a nice hotel or restaurant. They would roofie her way before me 😂
Tony the Chef is really Tony the Tiger! He tracked you all the way to Domino's I think! 😉 - That does suck. I hate that feeling. Happy you didn't get suckered into the boat trip or a meal. Love the suit though!! Looking top class man.
Hi! Chef Tony is confirmed a legit scammer. Oh how I wish to go back and confront him. We watched an episode of Scam City tonight that revealed everything about this whole elaborate scam system they have there. It’s crazy! It was EXACTLY what happened to us just a different guy. Wow!
We had the most foul taxi driver from the airport. We knew to say meter and he was adamant that we give him 400 Baht to get from the main airport to Bangkok. He dropped us outside the airport on the side of the road in the rain and took off. We managed to flag down a taxi who charged us by the meter - 180 Baht, we gave him 300 Baht and got his phone number. He was our taxi driver for the rest of our stay taking as to the river Kwai, Pattaya, and tourist spots around Bangkok.
Heading to Bangkok soon. I was in Krabi a year ago I ended up being unable to reach my bank and wasn’t able to withdraw money. I barely had any money left on hand and the driver was a super kind older Thai man and didn’t seem at all creepy or off vibe wise (he had driven me when I arrived so I was a little familiar with him). I told him my card wasn’t working and he could just drop me at the airport. He knew I wanted to see temples and a market on my last day, so he drove me around all day even though I was barely able to pay him anything. At first I was worried because it seemed so generous, but it ended up being a wonderful day where I got to meet some really kind locals and we stopped at this amazing little restaurant. From my experience Thailand has some wonderful people and I lucked out, but I certainly will have my guard up in Bangkok!
Me and my girlfriend were scam the same way as you do. It was a city tour in Bangkok and we had a nice temple tours and etc. after the end of the tour, our guide brought us to jewelry shop and when we were inside they start selling us jewelries and we refuse to buy. After that he brought us in the tourist shop and booking store where you can book flights and hotels. We didn't bother anymore to talk to the staff who's selling us tours etc. We told our guide just bring us back to our hotel and he just brought us in the tailor shop and I said we don't need to buy there and I was really angry at that time I told him him if he wil not bring us to our hotel we will call a police then he immediately brought us to our hotel. It was just crazy experience and it was our first day in Bangkok. I just found out that it's just typical scam in Bangkok and they got commission if we buy something.
Wow, sorry to hear about your story. Sounds like you had it much worse than we did. It’s a shame this stuff continues to happen. Even after the government started cracking down on it, it’s still happening all the time 🤬
Hey, refugees fleeing Myanmar are abducted and raped by Thai people in the forests and jungles near Thailand/Malaysia border. Then these Thai people demand money from the victims' families.
Haha, Chef Tony, also known as Engineer Tim from California, etc. He is well known around Bangkok and usually works with Tuk Tuk drivers and the jewelry shops. One big setup. Never, never get into a long conversation in your language with a Thai, they are part of a scam.
200 usd for a suit sounds a bit expensive for Bangkok prices. My husband flies from KL to Bangkok to get a few suits and shirts... though he always goes to the same tailor. They can also send it to the airport if he's pressed for time or send it to KL.
I was brought to a tailor shop by a taxi driver. He asked me if it was ok and that if I just looked they would give him gasoline. I shoulda said no because when I just looked and didn’t buy anything he blew up on me. It got really nerve wracking
Today the tuk tuk said he would take me to beer factory, and next thing I know I was in a Indian tailor shop. With an angry Indian. This was close to khaosan road. And the restaurants scam you to. Money talks bullshit walks.
I was with my girlfriend. We get on taxi from central. We wanted to go from Central to Soi 15. After getting in he was asking 1500 baht. I told him in Thai language to drop us off. That guy wasn't ready to drop. Then I told him 50 baht or drop us. He became crazy and was trying to settle for 1000 baht. I told him 100 baht or you have to drop us. He became so rude and turn off the air conditioning inside the taxi. Then I told him, I have to literally shout and stop him in the middle of the road. I have been to Thailand 6 times last year. And that happened with me first time. Full of scams everywhere. I experienced the same tailor scam first time when I was there in 2015. You were right... go to destination you set, don't change it listening to them.
Hi.. I too got scammed outside of the palace. Got the story that palace was closed. Was asked if I like to see the park with the seven Buddhas. Went to seven Buddhas and a guy like Chef Tony told me about a Taylor shop promotion. Went there same story as yours. Welcomed, offered a drink and got out of there with an order of a suit and a shirt. Alas the workmanship was not as good as yours, The material was. About the restaurants got scammed as well on a different day. Took a taxi to the floating market at a predetermined price and on the return was taken to a restaurant. got out of there about 3500TBH light for a simple lunch for two. Now when I visit I'm a little wiser. Be careful about the jewelry shops they recommend to you. After you select your item the salesperson says : I take it to the back and have the techs clean and package it. They go and come back after short time show you your purchase and you are on your way.. With a FAKE, they switched it. Good luck
Yeah. Chef Tony is definitely in. It started with him For all you know, he even paid for the beer too. You shouldn't have masked Chef Tony's face and show him to the whole world. Take care in your next trips. You are now a bit wiser.
Haha another vote that chef Tony is in on it 🤣 I guess I could’ve shown his face, but if he wasn’t in on it I would’ve felt bad about the lack of privacy for him
I guess if I were in your place, I would've fallen also. The telltale sign was the restaurant when the driver wants to bring you. As tourists, we shouldn't let our guards down, even for a minute as scammers are way better salesmen than the ones in IFC. I wonder how much less you would spend at IFC if you had gone there on your own (minus the beer of course). BTW, the coat looks good on you.
Honestly, all that was actually a really good price. I would’ve paid far more in the USA. Probably about $6-700. I’m happy with it. Unless it rips on me haha 😂
believe me Stacia , the monks in this temple is also scams. Every day there is bad news about the monks in the Thai newspaper. they are not the sacred as you think.
Hi guys! I am serious! Please if you see ANY action you suspect to be unlawful or fraudulent or corrupt done by government officials at the airport or the airport authority personnel, you can do this: 1. Report the incident to the Tourist Police Bureau by dialing 1155 (they have English-speaking officers on standby), you can even report a police officer committing a fraud to the Tourist Police Bureau (Tourist Police and Normal Police have different commanding officers and they work separately and independently from each other and as such will NOT be able to conspire with each other). You can identify the "Tourist Police" officers by their logo displaying "Tourist Police" on their upper arm sleeves. 2. DO NOT attempt to bribe any government official and/or police officer. If you being told to do so, just gently say that "I don't want to get into anymore trouble.", and then turn your attention to something else. However, if the person you suspect to be committing unscrupulous act happens to be the Tourist Police themselves, then you can do the following: 1. Get at least one Thai person to witness the act. (Be sure that their flights are not departing for at least two hours) 2. Film the incident as much as possible on a camera phone, but try avoiding filming directly at their faces (DO NOT be afraid if you're told not to film; you can say "I have the right to film this and I'm not filming directly at you". If you can do a live broadcast on social media, do it! 3. Demand that you want to report the incident at the Local Police Station to non-Tourist Police officers. (Normal Police and Tourist Police do jobs separately and independently from each other) 4. While you are waiting at the local police station, ask the Thai person (your witness) to call 1299, discreetly, which is the Complaint Center set up purposely for reporting unlawful acts committed by state employee or government official in Thailand, police included. 5. If 1299 number is busy or closed for the night, then get a social media coverage in Thailand by asking the Thai person (your witness) to post the details of your incident to one of the most famous, in Thailand, independent news and media's Facebook page. These are: @ejan2016, @RS. Red Skull, @ejeab, @DramaAdd, to name a few. 6. DO NOT attempt to bribe Thai police officers. While Thailand is a developing country, we do have Checks and Balances system in place. It's a matter of dialing the right numbers and going to the right people to get your voices heard when you are treated unfairly. Please know that since corruption benefits no one but the rich, whilst hindering the overall development, Thai people hate all forms of corruptions just as much as you do. Lastly, please remember that there is so much in Thailand for you to explore and experience, and that it takes more than just the local Thai people to fight the corruptions. So, let's make Thailand a better place for you and I together! Here are some emergency phone no. in Thailand to know while travelling: 191 - Thai Police (equivalent to 911 in the U.S.) 199 - Fire Department and Animal Control 1155 - Tourist Police Bureau - English-Speaking 1195 - Crime Suppression Division (Central Investigation Bureau) 1154 - Surgico-Medical Ambulance and Rescue Team 1669 - Medical Emergency Response Center (National Institute for Emergency Medicine)
Same thing happen to me... that was in KHAO SAN ROAD when there are many tuktuk offering river cruise to different destination.... the lesson I learned as a tourist you should ask first how much the cost before you deal..... Thailand is very touristic country so expect that there are many scam..... stay away from tuk tuk is better... train stay would be better
Here's some advice for everyone: When you arrive in Thailand, after customs go purchase a local sim card with data. Next, install Grab on your cell. Forget about using taxis and tuk tuks. Research online to find places to visit, then rely on Grab for your transportation needs. Keep control of your own life..
....Good thing was---you were not rubbed.....and in my opinion,over all that super affordable IFC suit was the saving grace of the day.....wow.this is a learning experience for me....be safe both you....from your Filipino friend in Chicago.
Hi Raynon! Luckily I always have my head on a swivel due to my past career. I know what to look for with body language and danger. We were safe the whole time, just out to get as much money from us as possible 😂How’s the weather in Chicago?
Wow....you're mindset for travelling is in "full battle gear"....i missed my country.... Hhmm..At 9am.....it's 72....i just came here though....working as PhysicalTherapist.....
raynon corre-estoque Chicago is one place we’ve never been, even though it was relatively close to us both growing up. Would love to visit! We’ve kinda swapped homelands for the time being it seems haha
Where are you guys from?....U.S.?....it's an irony that I'm from the Philippines and I've never been to those places in the Philippines that you guys featured....
Omg! I would hardly call your day a scam. The taxi driver took you guys to all the places you wanted and needed to go see. So, what if he cut a deal with the merchant's. You were still able to get a nice suit, see private temples and afford delicious food at a ridiculously low rate.
Hello I am new to this channel, at @13:40 when she said the store pays the driver to take you to these stores. Well that happened to me too! When my girlfriend and I arrived at BKK we were approached by this tourism group to give us discounts for the 3 temples. We did that and towards the end of the day tour they took us to a jewellery shop where I bought this beautiful sapphire ring for my girlfriend ( well worth it), then they took us to a tailor shop. The exact same in the video! It feel like most of the tour groups and people from the streets were hired by these shops to get business. It was a good marketing strategy, but it really felt weird at the same time what they were doing.
Just got back from Bangkok with my family. We got scammed too in the same temple. The version is "John Kwek" who said he was a Singaporean developer. A tuktuk brought us there and took us to same places as ur driver. This John Kwek was trying to convince us to buy orange sapphire jewelry. Too bad for them we didnt had money! 🤣🤣🤣 but boy what a waste of time!!!!!
That is crazy!! I think they need to station a public police presence at this temple. Clearly it’s a hot spot for scams. I’m sorry you had a day wasted but I’m glad you guys are okay! Curious, is it the same scammer we had? There is a full pic in our latest blog without his face blurred if you can’t tell from the video.
I'm in thialand Bangkok 12/3/18 i started my day with 4,000 baht ended with100 baht in my pocket. i got the same run around wasted my whole day. i did pruchased 3 tailord Shirts. Find out he was getting Gas Tickets for each Customer he brought to each Location.Then he wanted a tip after he dropped me faraway from my hotel where i had to take another cab. He got me good only thing good was the soapy massage house where they got me for all my Baht everyone wanted a Tip. Lesson learned just Say NO to Everyone who offers you something not on your list of things to do.
Yes...every words you say no...they will try again to explain their offer (even say :we will not cheat you.believe me please).it happen in guilin railways station exit way to taxi stand.
Me and the wife travel around south East Asian but never get scammed just because we know people who approach us and start a conversation, is starting to scam ... we love scammers because we love to scam the scammers, we would bargain down to next to nothing and then walk away... being from NYC, we seen it all, my wife is a better scammer than me, and she’s not afraid to speak up, when she feels pressures, even in Muslim countries, where they see woman as 2nd class citizens... we respect everyone’s traditions and culture and never offend the people there, because we find that 99.9% people are hard working and trustworthy, but that 1% of scammers, we love the way they keep us on our toes... good video guys
Haha! Sounds like your wife has got some gusto. That’s awesome. We are from Philly so not too far from you guys. We definitely know now that anyone who approaches is likely trying to get something out of you. Thanks for commenting! 🙏
I’m half thai and I tend to get scammed quite a lot when I was younger. But once you’ve lived here for a few years, you start to under stand how it all works and start seeing those scammers. All I’m saying is, there are a lot of nice thai folks here, but a few thai locals are little shits hungry for money.
...oh my goodness...that was a so well planned scam...git a little scared with ur story...cause i will be there in Bangkok in September...i am so glad u guys pulled urself out of that scam and so glad too that in the end...you both end up laughing about this unfortunate incident...thanks for the tips guys...i'll be careful in September...be safe...
I'm glad you watched this before you go to Bangkok. Scams happen mostly in Chinatown and by highly popular tourist areas. Download GRAB and walk straight past everyone trying to take you to "floating market" or "temples". As long as you know exactly where you want to go, you'll be fine. Good luck and enjoy yourself!! It's an amazing city.
You’re going to love it there Jonnie! It’s a great place to visit with SO much to see and do. You’ll be harassed by plenty of tuk tuk drivers and taxis throwing signs in your face asking to take you to temples and floating markets etc. just keep walking and set all that stuff up on your own and you’ll have no issues. Enjoy your trip! 😊👍🏻
...yeah...thanks for that...i'll be going with my wife may son my parents and 2 friends...there's a bunch of us...i will orient everyone before we leave for Bangkok. We'll be in Singapore then Kuala Lumpyr and Bangkok will be our last stop before heading back home to Manila, i think this like that won't happen in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur...tnx again guys...
Hi Wild Elephant! We agree and not everyone is out to get you. But there are quite a lot. We met so many nice Thai people during our stay and loved every minute. It’s just too bad this kind of thing happens often. Thanks for watching!! 😊👍🏻
Hello, I'm Thai. And very sorry for the situation you encountered. I would like to know the license plate of the taxi, the boat company that cost you very expensive and so on because I will bring the information to the Department of Land Transport and the Tourism of Thailand to take the legal action.
Hi! We never got the license plate of the taxi. But we did just write a blog article on our website and included photos of the scammers. You can read it here - DeathByVlog.com
1มข578 @8.31
I’ve saw a video from some Thai news page, cant remember which. In that vid, there’s a guy says that some tourist police officers are also in on this scam, bribed by jewelry store for 10,000 baht per day. That’s why we can’t never get rid of them. 😔
see this is the real people of thailand, they are not all scammers
Of course Thai people hate scammers as well. The only people that like scam are the people who get the money lol
The moment someone comes up to me ,I start speaking Spanish
Haha good one! 🤣
hahaha
Same
I don't speak Spanish, but pretended that's all I spoke to the African guys outside the bars in Roppongi so they'd stop hassling me to go inside the strip clubs. All of a sudden one of the guys jumps up and gets excited and starts speaking Spanish back to me, and my ruse was up!
Haha! That’s too funny 😂 caught red handed
Before I went to Bangkok, I did some home work about what specifically I wanted to see. I had only from my arrival time, around 6am, until my departing flight about 8pm. I wanted just to see a few things I had researched. I wanted absolutely no shopping. I know it's a scam.
So, my research identified a company with an office at the airport, that offered the kind of one-person guided tour I wanted. On arrival I insisted on speaking with the manager, not the salesperson at the front. I showed him my written list. He added a few suggestions that sounded interesting. I got a price, in writing and made sure there were no forgotten taxes or fees due at the end. I made sre car and driver were fully covered and included. I was introduced to the young woman who would be my guide for the day.
I made three points clear to the manager. I would pay only what was there in writing. If I was satisfied, I would decide what gratuity I would give the driver and my guide and pay it personally in cash. And, I stressed that I would not waste one minute of my time in any shops or stores. I was here to see, not buy.
Even before lunch, the guide tried to get me into a store . . . "owned by friend . . very good prices . . . I get you big discount."
I threatened to cancel the tour. She cried. Said "boss be very upset with me if you no visit shop. Please just look and listen to price."
I refused and stepped out in the street to call another taxi to go back to the airport. She relented. But she was sullen. I bought lunch. Of course the driver, as is the custom, was taken to a back room where they are given a bowl of rice while we ate off a menu.
Around an hour later she again tried the shop visit. We were right at the entrance to the Grand Palace, so I walked off ignoring her attempts to get me to come back, found the wll marked ticket booth, shpowed the tickets I'd gooten that morning from the office manager and was admitted to roam as I wish.
When I was finished, the guide and the car were waiting for me. I insisted the tour was over, even though we had at leat another hour and a half scheduled. After a lot of noise, followed by sullen silence, they look be back to the airport.I did not blame the girl or the driver. I gave them what I thought might be a good tip.
I then went to the tour company office and berated the manager in front of his staff., for he's in charge. All the scams they tried to pull were surely with his OK.
And left.
Scams usually require your gullible cooperation, and your western manners.
I bet you had a great "Holiday"
Oh gosh, this brought back memories from 2015 when we were approached by a guy on our way to the Grand Palace. We were told the temple won't be open for a few hours due to a ceremony being held. He offered to take us to the river for a boat cruise using his tuktuk as he was on his way there anyway. Luckily for us, the night before we already did the cruise & I flatly said no & we'll be heading to the shopping district instead. Conveniently, he replied that the shops will be open at a later time, that did it for me & just told my friends to go & proceed to the Grand Palace as initially planned. After 5-10 minutes of walking, finally the Grand Palace is right in front of us, along with the signs to be wary of people telling anyone that it is closed for the day.
if you ask me it wasn't a terrible scam because you got what you paid for, well EXCEPT for the boat ride that costs more than a normal tourist rate.
You got yourself a nice suit and a cheap taxi ride and a nice temple tour :D
Haha yeah it wasn’t a bad day overall! We felt a little taken advantage of and the end of the day was a little sketchy because of how angry the taxi driver got. We are happy nothing worse happened!
Well that suit does not worth 2 hundred dollar, and I am from England
I'm Thai. I just watched this video and I feel so sorry for people like this. They make us very shy and so shame.
thanx
i visit THAI and i really likesd the people there
Don’t worry. Bankok is not what Thai are ;-)
But be couscous about taxi drivers
Don't feel sorry for them, call them what they are. Thieves.
Everyone knows THAI people are beautiful people, only people who deserve it get scammed...
its not the Thai people that is the problem here . its the 2 recording are the scammers.
We had a VERY similar experience to “Chef Tony” in Chiang Mai! We were visiting a temple when we were approached by a nice Thai guy who was “on holiday.” He proceeded to make conversation with us and eventually found out my husband was in the banking industry and needed to wear suits every day. He insisted we go to the best shop in Chiang Mai for a custom suit. He recommended we go to another beautiful temple near the shop and then we could go to the shop after lunch. So we took his rec and went to the next temple which was incredible but we seemed to be tracked down by another Thai gentleman who “lived in Australia but was on holiday in Chiang Mai to buy a suit” from the SAME shop. He also showed us pics on his phone. We told the man we would check out the shop and left the temple. Right when we stepped outside my husband looked at me and said, “well that was a total set up”
It took you a whole day to figure this out? 🤣 Have you travelled before? I mean, this is the oldest scam in the world.
...the word Snowflake comes to mind
Right?!!!! They do this in so many countries to tourists.
We went to Bangkok about five years ago and guess what !!!!! A gentleman in a suit on the street stopped to explain where to go and see some temples as we're looking at a tourist map and so he knew a tuk-tuk driver and so we went with him. Guess what ?????? the same temple as you went to and guess what !!!!! Chef Tony approached as well. This time he was trying to get us to go the place you went to but this time it was gemstones as he showed us some samples in that same temple on the exact place on the floor. Guys he is the same person as you encountered and still doing the same scam as when we were there 5 years ago.
No Way!!! Did he introduce himself to you as Chef Tony?! We are looking back on the footage to find the temple name and license plate to report these guys. How crazy that he’s still doing this... probably more than 5 years too! 😡
We cannot remember what he introduced himself as but that is him in that footage when we were there. He was full of shit when he spoke to us so i got wind of what he was up to. We got back into the Tuk-Tuk and questioned the driver and he told us that he was in on the scam as all of the others we had encountered that day. What a small world with social media !!!! Where are you guys of to next ?? Safe travels !!
Looked up our photos, we were there in October 2012 !!!!
So crazy! Sad that this is a regular thing and mostly run by a mafia of sorts. Oh well, at least we all survived haha. We just left Thailand and now in Malaysia. Excited to explore here and make some more videos to share with you guys 👍🏻😊
Met this Chef 4 years ago too and he tried the gem scam 😁😁😁😁
Better: always go with a local. I was in bkk twice and it's impressive how different taxi drivers try to charge money of you when they're actually asked by a Thai person. Nobody declined a ride even though it was far away Neither did they try to make a price without using meter.
One of the best scams I saw in Thailand was when I was sitting on the beach in Phuket. A guy came out of the water fully clothed. ) I saw him enter the water about 75 yards down the beach. He sat down near me and told me he jumped off a ship that was way out there. He said he was coming from Burma and had some Pigeon Blood rubies. He showed me some red stones and said he would sell me one for very cheap. He just needed enough to get to Bangkok to sell the rest. Fake stones. I told him it was good story but I saw him enter the water. Bye!
The look on his face would've been priceless
I was @ the Grand Palace, Emerald " in BKK in Feb... Walking around the side to the front entrance - similar deal. 40's man , started telling me how it was holiday, temple was closed..
Tellls me he was an engineer & worked across street... He asked too many questions, and I kept walking... He was standing right at the corner of the temple, scammer
A lot of you commented wishing to see the scammers faces, so we uploaded their pictures and some travel tips in our latest blog article in our website. Take a look 👀
www.deathbyvlog.com
Hello,
I am working at the Public Affairs Divison attached to the Tourist Police Bureau headquarters. I need your help for more information. pls contact us via 1155@touristpolice.go.th
louder music pls i dont need my ears anymore anyway
And yes, Chef Tony is in the scam as well. That's crystal clear. lol.
Haha! Another vote is in 👍🏻😂
Omg. I actually didn't even think he was in on the scam until around the boat ride time... then the whole scenario got turned upside down! It was messed up to me because he was in a temple which is a holy place. I can't believe that!
Yeah. lots of wolf in sheep's clothing. That 40 Baht taxi fare is a dead give away already. It would have made my Spidey sense tingle through the roof!! lol.
Chris Martin yes, I have been scammed and my “Chef Tony” was a Thai lawyer graduated in Cornell University but with a terrible English (worse than mine and I am Brazilian).
Hey, refugees fleeing Myanmar are abducted and raped by Thai people in the forests and jungles near Thailand/Malaysia border. Then these Thai people demand money from the victims' families.
There is alot of this all over Thailand - the way to avoid this is, "if it sound too good and too cheap" in the beginning, its a scam without doubt.
Definitely! We just watched a scam city episode and the exact same thing happened with the thailand gem scam. Planted a guy in a temple and everything. It’s crazy!
I know when we went we we nearly scammed a couple of times. Some of the plans are very elaborate, but generally harmless. We had a guy come up to us and say he was a waiter at our hotel and how nice it was to see us again. He said there was a discount shopping centre we must visit, last few hous of their sale. We weren’t going to bother, but he kept bumping into us, asking if we had been yet, so we hopped into a tuk-tuk on his advice (overly cheap), and were taken to a shopping centre, which had nothing we wanted. We then realised that he had never known us and that the ploy was to divert as many tourists to this particular shopping centre. No harm done, but we ended up wasting a couple of hours and having to walk back as the tuk-tuk price quadrupled on the way back!
We also bumped into a guy who said he worked for the police and could get us into the Royal Palace as it was shut. Of course it wasn’t shut, nonsense . We had been warned about this one so told him, we were good. He left to find his next victim. Our official Thai tour guide had said these people are getting them a bad name and that she would report the incidence to the authorities. No idea if this happened though, as it wasn’t exactly a crime as such. Just don’t change your plans for some visit/trip that sounds too good to be true.
I am in Thailand right now and two weeks ago when I still was in Bangkok I experienced the exactly same scam wow. I just stumbled across this video and it is 1:1 the situation we experienced. Also met Chef toni in the Temple woooooow
I had exactly the same scam happen to me in Bangkok. A woman accosted me at Siam station, who I thought was just being helpful. We were planning on going to Wat Arun temple and I told her this. I had already sourced out which bus we needed to catch and which pier I needed to get to, but she told me that the bus wasn't running and that the boat I wanted to catch from the pier was prone to sinking in the river. She said would arrange me transport to take me to the pier to get a boat across the river to the temple. She got me a Tuk Tuk which cost 100 Bhat for a short trip. The driver took us into the pier where a man with a calculator tried to charge me 2000 Bhat for a trip up river. I refused and walked out and got a taxi to the original pier I was planning to go to. The cost across the river was 8 Bhat, nowhere near the 2000 Bhat they tried to make me pay.
When a Thai person shows you his/her teeth. Don't assume they are smiling.
I have lived in China for three years and I have seen some scams myself. Taxi drivers are very notorious and Tuk Tuks can be sneaky, but the biggest scam I had to deal with was a bus driver. As long as you keep an eye out you are usually fine but it happens to everyone from time to time. Once my friends and I were made to get off this bus on the way to the Great Wall, the bus driver kept telling us the bus didn't go that far. (It did, we had researched it.) and the man behind us on the bus got out too. He then Offered to drive us there, since we were basically stranded we took it up but it was way too expensive for the ride. We figured we would take the bus back but this guy jumped us on our back to the parking lots. He had waited four hours to see us even though we told him not to repeatedly. He tried to over charge us for a return and we ended up bargaining him down and leaving but it was very frustrating. The bus driver was def friends with this guy and it was a major scam they pulled regularly on foreigners. So don't feel too bad, its something to laugh about later and you learn its part of being a traveler. Thanks for your advice and story, I will def be on the look out when I head that way in three weeks. Excited for Thailand!
This is one of your best videos. First, I think the theme of scam is always interesting and somewhat funny. So, it engages the viewer! Second, just having you guys sit down, relax in front of the camera and just tell the story worked! Good title too. Well done! Nice video this one. One thing that I see being sucsessful with other youtubers such as MARZBAR vlogs is that they will make the same video again and again. In this case, to do a series on scams or on one thing seems to get subs!
Thanks Roy! Even though this one was much different than normal, it was fun to make and we thought sharing the story would be interesting to the audience. I guess we were right haha 😂
Me and my wife actually met that same man. Chef Tony is so in on it. Told us he was from san Francisco in the same temple. Then they tried to take us to some jewelry place. And when we said no they took us to the same ferry place. We just walked away . Amazing lol
Chef Tony is absolutely in on the scam. Unfortunately this is a very common scam where you are taken to a temple and meet a friendly Thai person seemingly unconnected with the original scammer. They always speak very good English and usually claim to have lived in Europe either to work or to study. The usual aim used to be a Gem shop but I guess that the "gem scam" has become so well known that they are adapting their scams to other destinations too.
Wow that is just wild to us! We never thought there would be someone planted in a temple. How sad that is to use religion in order to to take advantage of people. It ended up working out for us though, but I’m sure so many others were forced into buying the river boat ride and spending so much money. Thank you for the comment ❤️🙏
You guys have a great spirit!! Enjoyed your video!
Thank you! Welcome to the DBV Fam 😊❤️
Great Info. I am traveling to Thailand in July 2019 so this is very informative. Thx
You will have a blast!! Enjoy yourself and keep an eye out for scams 😊❤️
Just use mrt and bts. It will take you to every part of city and if it doesn't you can always use grab and not sure whether Uber is still there.
Hey bro hope you are well and having a great day so far. Nearly the weekend yeah. Just thought we would pop over again and take in some of your awesome videos. This is great knowledge and we are meant to be going to Thailand in November. This is crazy, well done for getting it sorted, blooming scammers. Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us really appreciate it very useful to know. Thanks again my friends, Stay safe and take care my friends catch up soon again, God bless you both. 🙏👍❤️
Wow, what an adventure. Thanks for the warnings.
Your story had me laughing. I had the same thing happen to me. I met a guy at the temple. Who drew me a map of all the other temples I should go see, he flagged a Tuk Tuk down and negotiated a price which was really cheap. On the way to the temple I was told that I was lucky because today was a special promotion day at the tailor shop. I fell into the trap, and yes bought a suit. It was very nice. The day was full of scams, jewelry shop that I did not want to go to but was talked into it, then like you a restaurant that it was obvious he was getting a kick back on. All in all it was a good day, but definitely got scammed and didn’t see it until it was to late
I'm Thai and feel bad for you to hear about that. I hate all scammers and angry every time I've heard about it. I feel like they are destroying my country. I think taxi/tuk tuk drivers are the common scammers which can frequently be found in Bangkok because most of them came from poor/uneducated family. It's good that you shared this story for everyone to always remain careful. Hope the authority will take strong action against such bad behavior.
suk meenuch it was an unfortunate incident but we did learn a lot. I personally tend to trust everyone until proven otherwise, which didn’t work to our advantage here! This type of scam is no reflection on the Thai culture as a whole, but I understand why it would make you angry. There are bad crimes in America that make us feel the same way too. Everywhere there will always be bad people, but it’s the good ones like you who matter. Thank you for watching and commenting 🙏❤️
Hi Suk Meenuch! It’s very sad to see it happens daily and it’s such an elaborate scam and they continue to get away with it. We still laugh about it but still mad at the same time. Unbelievable lol
" Hope the authority will take strong action against such bad behavior.
"
That's not going to happen. Many years ago before i went to Thailand someone sent me a website (now defunct) named Bangkok Bob. He covered all the scams. He lived in Thailand. This was back in 2004. Some of the scams he mentioned people tried on me. Like when I was taking pictures on Sukhumvit near Nana on a Monday morning and a tuk tuk driver told me the area is closed and he can take me to Chinatown to take pictures. And don't get me started on the jet ski scam --I never rented one but the scam is legendary--also the police are involved in it and have threatened to jail people who don't pay for "damages" that was already on the jet ski that the customer is forced to pay. Even with the military in control of Thai government they could never get rid of scams.
Scams are everywhere
Any time a stranger is overly-friendly I'm immediately suspicious.
200USD for a suit is too expensive.
So the IFC is it real or not ? And did they do you your suit within 4 hours ? Or you have to come back the next day ? Because I'm really interested and quite curious about that IFC place. Thanks
I live in London and the chef, doesn't work or live in London and no one is heard of him. My advice is....If you see a good deal to true then its
Me and my husband went to thailand last 2015. These thais take advantage to tourists. We planned to go there as backpackers. Tuk2s are crazy expensive. Taxi is expensive too. You have to bargain each time they give you price. They aren’t hospitable. They would let you feel welcome according to their will. They do have tie ups to each destinations. These drivers do have commissions whenever they take tourists. From airport we took a their train and get hold of a map since most of them don’t speak english. One day we took a cab to certain place where you ride a boat but we wanted the public one which you can share with any other tourist. The driver took us to a private one and charged us very high so we decided to leave. The worst thing is the taxi driver left us on the road because we didn’t took the private boat 😟 we have to walk all the way to a the public boat station so we can experience it. It was crazy but other than that we still enjoyed our stay in thailand. You should bring a map with you all the time. Or book your excursions in the hotel where you’re staying.
I think that's more business than a scam. You got a nice suit, you were safe, you were taken to food, and a cheap taxi ride. Sounds like it worked out in your favor.
I just said the exact same thing in my own comment lol
4000 baht for a boat ride is a business??? Hahahaha kopprunnkappppp
They didn't take the boat ride. They did ok out of it.
@Peter Grahame
The funny thing is in America or Europe and also Japan 4000 baht equivalent for a boatride is a normal price.
@Peter Grahame
You are right, in Western countries 50% of the 4000 baht goes to the government because of tax.
In Thailand people get probably 90% of the 4000 baht so they can have a living which is a shame...
Governments with expensive corrupt politicians and their friends in large corporations should get 50% of everything you pay right?
My girlfriend and I were caught out by the river cruise last week in Bangkok....
We got off the metro and were greeted by the friendliest tuk tuk driver who told us where we wanted to go was not accessible by car as roads were closed because of the kings visit. He suggested we went by boat. We assumed he was taking us to a boat stop to catch the next ride. Instead we arrived at a dingy restaurant by the river to an awaiting man sat at a table with calculator in hand! 4000 baht the offer of a 1.5 hour private boat cruise with a few stops on the way. Luckily it was something we wanted to do so we negotiated down to 1200 baht for the two of us.
We got on our “private” boat and there was another tourist already aboard. He had paid 1600 baht for just himself for a “private” boat cruise.
Half way down the river a damaged boat pulls beside ours and the two couples jump in our boat. All of us had been stung by the same scam.
1 British couple, 1 couple from Chicago, 1 Lone Ranger from Washington and a Chinese couple.
NO ONE IS SAFE! 😂 BEWARE OF THE TUK TUK-BOAT SCAM
FYI. Normal taxis are even cheaper than GRAB taxis. Just make sure the metre is on
Yup...That's a very common scam in Thailand...Tuk Tuk drivers and taxi drivers do it...Me and my gf got taken to this boat cruise (on a tuk tuk) because the place we wanted to go to was "closed" and there was someone waiting for us at the door and they were gonna charge us like 2,600 baht....Once we realized what was going on we just ran off 😂
Great Video,
The same thing happen to me in Bangkok last year. Of course it only took one ride then I learned real quick. It came to my attention that a Taxi will take you to a place where they make custom suits before they take you to where you want to go. These Taxi's will take you to other places no matter what you say to them come to find out. It actually is hard to find a Taxi to just go where you want to go . So, you guys are right on with this scam.
I’m still astonished that your kind of internet savvy never read a travel guide prior going abroad, you should try next time, it’s full of useful informations, especially about how to dodge these kind of unpleasant scams situations and having a great trip in the land of the smiles.
I don’t think I would consider it a scam.. they are working for you. You all travel more then me but that’s common everywhere.. everyone gets kick backs for brining you to there shops. Happens everywhere..
It's ashame... I'm Thai, but grew up in the States. I do speak fluent Thai, so I usually don't get scam when I go back home. However, beecause I look more like a tourist than a typical Thai, people TRY to scam me anyway around tourist attraction spots. I've been in a similar situation you both just experienced here even when I was speaking Thai!!! ....it's because the scammer knew I was from the US and thought I didn't know any better. It makes me angry and sad to see and hear stories like this. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the rest of your time in Thailand. It's a beautiful country really, and there are good people there who are sincere and friendly. You just have to be on alert and keep a look out for those scammers sometimes....
@Shameless Facts Maybe from her parents? !! I'm Thai living in the US. My 13 year old son speaks perfect Thai because I talk to him in Thai everyday at home.
We experienced a similar situation where a nice older thai uncle stroke us a where-are-you-from and have-you-been-to conversation and offered to get a not so random tuk-tuk-driver casually parked a few meters away to give us a reasonably cheap tuk-tuk ride from the King's Palace to a mall with a few recommended
"must see" places, them being a temple of the blue buddha, which was supposedly the oldest buddha statue in Bangkok (disappointingly small and for sure not the oldest) and to stop and enter the Import-Export Tux Store. Actually, it's exactly the same one you were at. I recognised it.
Before arriving to the TUX store, I had asked the driver to skip it and take us directly to the mall. He then said he'll get a gas coupon if we at least go in to check out the tuxedos. That's when it hit me what situation I had gotten us into, where everyone gets a cut from farang... I searched quickly on my phone how to get out of this. I then read the situation could get heated if I decided to not buy anything. So to avoid that I just bought a tie for 200 baht and left right away. Maybe expensive, but cheaper then what ever else could happen with an angry mob of Indians persuading you angrily to purchase.
I also met Chef Tony. He hasn't changed his story. He even spoke a little German too.
I first went to Thailand in 1972. I fell in love with Thailand. Have been going back to Thailand at least twice or more a year. Will be going there in November. (Came back in July.) The people there are friendly. I have NEVER BEEN SCAMMED. If you think that someone is going to scam you, just smile and pretend that you do not understand what he is talking about and walk away. If you are not careful, you can be scammed in any country. You can also be scammed in your own country. Most of my friends who go to Thailand usually have good impression of Thailand.
just to clarify, im not understanding how you were scammed by IFC. You were intending to go there were you not?
It was more to show how elaborate these scams are to get people to these places. Whether I was planning on going there one day or not, it’s the fact that these people search out tourists and lie to them in order to make a profit.
@@DeathByVlog fair enough! It just looked like you had an overall good experience with IFC. I am going to BKK for my first time in a few weeks, how did the suit hold up? Would you recommend others to do so? thanks!
I’m not sure how it will hold up be cause I had it shipped to my home in the USA. Didn’t have room to continue traveling with it all year. It’s great quality though and fits like a glove.
hey guys, i was in Bangkok last week , when i went to grand place, a tok tok driver told me palace was closed. but before i visited Thailand i had watched your video and knew about this.2. when i wanted to go to floating market tok tok driver told me 100 BTH.normally it should be around 300 BTH, so again since i had watched your video I knew this scame
Similar happened to me, I went to BKK for a solo backpacker.. I just walk near the Royal Palce at that time, a tuk tuk driver ask me to just pay him 10 Bath and bring me to RiverCruise, I said I don't want to but hie insisted and keep saying that the palace only for Thai people to visit.. then his friends waiting at the jetty and ask me to pay 2000 Baht for a cruise.. what can do, very disappointed.
Chef Tony was definitely in on it, no question and the taxi driver knew where he would be
I’m sorry about the scams. We Thais are very ashamed that there’s out there scamming tourists for their hard earned money. It’s such a shame & I’m truly sorry. Thank you for visiting the country & sharing it.
Just watched the show Scam City on Netflix the Bangkok episode after watching this video a couple of days ago....the host investigates literally the same scam you two went on. The show concludes that it's ultimately the gem shops orchestrating the whole thing.
Yes!!!! We watched it too after this happened. Eye opening to see inside the scam...
How long did it take you to get your suit? Also where is it at I would like to go to the same place. I heard you say CSI?
It was two visits; a measurement, a fitting, then I had it shipped to the USA so I didn’t have to bring it with me on our travels. If you are in a rush, you could get it the next day 😉
Tony is so in on this. Actually, just to be sure, I called both four seasons hotels in London and the only chef named Tony is Italian. Sooo, here you got it!
Omg! This is AMAZING!!! 🤘🏻💪🏻👍🏻🙏🏻❤️😂
wait wait wait.... you are DBV Fam OF THE YEAR!!!
Stacia Sleight Wuhuu! That was definitely worth the bill for calling international! xD
You rock! I’m still laughing over here 😂
techtraveltrout.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/bangkok-how-i-almost-fell-for-an-incredibly-complex-rare-gem-scam/
Sawatdee krap
In 1999 we had the same thing with a guy that said he was a Thai police officer off duty. He told that after asking what I did, and I told him I was a fire fighter. He recommended a place for suits not to far off and wrote directions to it. I paid 86 bucks and still have the suit. not sure if he was scamming and then felt it best not to or if he was legit. Many other scam attempts over the next 5 visits. I havent been to Thailand in 15 years now, but will be back for 2 months starting in April. Wife and friends will come for 3 weeks, then Im off to train more muay thai as is my normal routine. If you guys are in Bangkok sometime in April around the 4th or 5th for the next 3 weeks let me know,. we can all meet up someplace and have dinner. My wife loves your videos.... keep up the awesome videos., love them!!! Sorta what made me pull the trigger to return after so long :D Be safe! La gon krap!
I watched a vlog once that said Thai people usually ask questions about how you're enjoying Thailand and whats your favourite part, mainly non personal questions and if anyone is asking where you're from, how long you're there for etc then they're gathering info and more likely to be scammers!
Exactly correct. If anyone does approach you in this manner, they are likely either trying to sell you something or take advantage of you. It’s sad, but it’s the truth 😕
I am enjoying and learning so much from your vlog. We're heading to Thailand and Malaysia and taking notes! Thanks for the headsup!
Omg!!!! I think i meet him at the same temple!!! I was just there in june. ( 2019). Yes! He was a chef back in the US but comes to Thailand every year...?! Wired how i landed on this video and recognized the temple, person and scam.
had your guards up and jumped in a taxi for 40 baht - you two are the perfect match - for intelligence
Yes. That's Thailand. Taxi driver get a cut. Each stop.
Yep exactly the same experience... person approaching you trying to lure you in a conversation, cheap taxi/tuktuk offer (trigger) suddenly appearing from somewhere, photos or stories of their family, offer of a recommended tour for being cheap then slashing the price some more (i was offered 2000. Baht to go on a river tour with a friend) then slashed the price right away by half, they tell you there is a holiday if you have other plans, and the time constraint that there is an offer available just for the day. Had this experience near the palace (a lady walking beside me suddenly talks to me) thrn also by a crosswalk when a guy guesses that you are from a certain country, says there is a holiday but his friend can take you around to open temples.
Ryan the best scam is the one where you get totally sucked in. The photos of family, the beer, the cheap taxi ride all of this is meant to suck you in. I suggest you avoid these at all costs. Things can get really hairy and unpleasant.
The taxi driver was looking forward to his cut of your exorbitant meal or suit or boat ride.
Luckily you guys didn’t get roofied or sold into the slave trade 😂
Haha 😂 They aren’t going to get us! 💪🏻 I need a lot of roofies and I don’t let Stacia drink anything unless we are in a nice hotel or restaurant. They would roofie her way before me 😂
Thank god we avoided the slave trade!!!
lol @ slave trade. :D
How much did the taxi end up costing you? Did he try and charge you more since you didn't bit on the tour or restaurant?
Tony the Chef is really Tony the Tiger! He tracked you all the way to Domino's I think! 😉 - That does suck. I hate that feeling. Happy you didn't get suckered into the boat trip or a meal. Love the suit though!! Looking top class man.
Hi! Chef Tony is confirmed a legit scammer. Oh how I wish to go back and confront him. We watched an episode of Scam City tonight that revealed everything about this whole elaborate scam system they have there. It’s crazy! It was EXACTLY what happened to us just a different guy. Wow!
DeathByVlog it is so crazy!!
We had the most foul taxi driver from the airport. We knew to say meter and he was adamant that we give him 400 Baht to get from the main airport to Bangkok. He dropped us outside the airport on the side of the road in the rain and took off. We managed to flag down a taxi who charged us by the meter - 180 Baht, we gave him 300 Baht and got his phone number. He was our taxi driver for the rest of our stay taking as to the river Kwai, Pattaya, and tourist spots around Bangkok.
That's why I never go with TukTuk.Taxi have also many scammers,now I go with UBER.Train,boat,bus is very funny to,or walk.
Heading to Bangkok soon. I was in Krabi a year ago I ended up being unable to reach my bank and wasn’t able to withdraw money. I barely had any money left on hand and the driver was a super kind older Thai man and didn’t seem at all creepy or off vibe wise (he had driven me when I arrived so I was a little familiar with him). I told him my card wasn’t working and he could just drop me at the airport. He knew I wanted to see temples and a market on my last day, so he drove me around all day even though I was barely able to pay him anything. At first I was worried because it seemed so generous, but it ended up being a wonderful day where I got to meet some really kind locals and we stopped at this amazing little restaurant. From my experience Thailand has some wonderful people and I lucked out, but I certainly will have my guard up in Bangkok!
I have been to Thailand and scams were tried but I really had no time for them so I got away
Me and my girlfriend were scam the same way as you do. It was a city tour in Bangkok and we had a nice temple tours and etc. after the end of the tour, our guide brought us to jewelry shop and when we were inside they start selling us jewelries and we refuse to buy. After that he brought us in the tourist shop and booking store where you can book flights and hotels. We didn't bother anymore to talk to the staff who's selling us tours etc. We told our guide just bring us back to our hotel and he just brought us in the tailor shop and I said we don't need to buy there and I was really angry at that time I told him him if he wil not bring us to our hotel we will call a police then he immediately brought us to our hotel. It was just crazy experience and it was our first day in Bangkok. I just found out that it's just typical scam in Bangkok and they got commission if we buy something.
Wow, sorry to hear about your story. Sounds like you had it much worse than we did. It’s a shame this stuff continues to happen. Even after the government started cracking down on it, it’s still happening all the time 🤬
@@DeathByVlog Yes sure this type of scam is still around in Bangkok 'till this days. That's sad. This was happen to me 2 years ago.
twice i watch your video ..
i beginning to think you liked to be a victim of something
Hey, refugees fleeing Myanmar are abducted and raped by Thai people in the forests and jungles near Thailand/Malaysia border. Then these Thai people demand money from the victims' families.
What was the suite like after dry cleaning? Mine was ruined after 1 wash,it looked the part but was made of low quality materials
I’m not sure. I had it shipped back to the USA. I’ll know when I get home and check on it 😊 Hopefully it isn’t as bad as you claim 🤞🏻
Haha, Chef Tony, also known as Engineer Tim from California, etc. He is well known around Bangkok and usually works with Tuk Tuk drivers and the jewelry shops. One big setup. Never, never get into a long conversation in your language with a Thai, they are part of a scam.
200 usd for a suit sounds a bit expensive for Bangkok prices. My husband flies from KL to Bangkok to get a few suits and shirts... though he always goes to the same tailor. They can also send it to the airport if he's pressed for time or send it to KL.
Who's your tailor if dont mind asking, and the price tag on average? Thanks in advance....
I was brought to a tailor shop by a taxi driver. He asked me if it was ok and that if I just looked they would give him gasoline. I shoulda said no because when I just looked and didn’t buy anything he blew up on me. It got really nerve wracking
Today the tuk tuk said he would take me to beer factory, and next thing I know I was in a Indian tailor shop. With an angry Indian. This was close to khaosan road. And the restaurants scam you to. Money talks bullshit walks.
I was with my girlfriend. We get on taxi from central. We wanted to go from Central to Soi 15. After getting in he was asking 1500 baht. I told him in Thai language to drop us off. That guy wasn't ready to drop. Then I told him 50 baht or drop us. He became crazy and was trying to settle for 1000 baht. I told him 100 baht or you have to drop us. He became so rude and turn off the air conditioning inside the taxi. Then I told him, I have to literally shout and stop him in the middle of the road. I have been to Thailand 6 times last year. And that happened with me first time. Full of scams everywhere. I experienced the same tailor scam first time when I was there in 2015. You were right... go to destination you set, don't change it listening to them.
Chef tony was definitely in on it lol. This exact same thing happened to me haha. And when I didn’t buy the suit... oh was he pissed haha.
Hi.. I too got scammed outside of the palace. Got the story that palace was closed. Was asked if I like to see the park with the seven Buddhas. Went to seven Buddhas and a guy like Chef Tony told me about a Taylor shop promotion. Went there same story as yours. Welcomed, offered a drink and got out of there with an order of a suit and a shirt. Alas the workmanship was not as good as yours, The material was.
About the restaurants got scammed as well on a different day. Took a taxi to the floating market at a predetermined price and on the return was taken to a restaurant. got out of there about 3500TBH light for a simple lunch for two.
Now when I visit I'm a little wiser.
Be careful about the jewelry shops they recommend to you. After you select your item the salesperson says : I take it to the back and have the techs clean and package it. They go and come back after short time show you your purchase and you are on your way.. With a FAKE, they switched it.
Good luck
Yeah. Chef Tony is definitely in. It started with him For all you know, he even paid for the beer too. You shouldn't have masked Chef Tony's face and show him to the whole world. Take care in your next trips. You are now a bit wiser.
Haha another vote that chef Tony is in on it 🤣 I guess I could’ve shown his face, but if he wasn’t in on it I would’ve felt bad about the lack of privacy for him
I just can't believe they planted him in a temple... there were monks there and everything. A holy place scamming people that is just messed up.
I guess if I were in your place, I would've fallen also. The telltale sign was the restaurant when the driver wants to bring you. As tourists, we shouldn't let our guards down, even for a minute as scammers are way better salesmen than the ones in IFC. I wonder how much less you would spend at IFC if you had gone there on your own (minus the beer of course). BTW, the coat looks good on you.
Honestly, all that was actually a really good price. I would’ve paid far more in the USA. Probably about $6-700. I’m happy with it. Unless it rips on me haha 😂
believe me Stacia , the monks in this temple is also scams. Every day there is bad news about the monks in the Thai newspaper. they are not the sacred as you think.
Hi guys! I am serious! Please if you see ANY action you suspect to be unlawful or fraudulent or corrupt done by government officials at the airport or the airport authority personnel, you can do this:
1. Report the incident to the Tourist Police Bureau by dialing 1155 (they have English-speaking officers on standby), you can even report a police officer committing a fraud to the Tourist Police Bureau (Tourist Police and Normal Police have different commanding officers and they work separately and independently from each other and as such will NOT be able to conspire with each other). You can identify the "Tourist Police" officers by their logo displaying "Tourist Police" on their upper arm sleeves.
2. DO NOT attempt to bribe any government official and/or police officer. If you being told to do so, just gently say that "I don't want to get into anymore trouble.", and then turn your attention to something else.
However, if the person you suspect to be committing unscrupulous act happens to be the Tourist Police themselves, then you can do the following:
1. Get at least one Thai person to witness the act. (Be sure that their flights are not departing for at least two hours)
2. Film the incident as much as possible on a camera phone, but try avoiding filming directly at their faces (DO NOT be afraid if you're told not to film; you can say "I have the right to film this and I'm not filming directly at you". If you can do a live broadcast on social media, do it!
3. Demand that you want to report the incident at the Local Police Station to non-Tourist Police officers. (Normal Police and Tourist Police do jobs separately and independently from each other)
4. While you are waiting at the local police station, ask the Thai person (your witness) to call 1299, discreetly, which is the Complaint Center set up purposely for reporting unlawful acts committed by state employee or government official in Thailand, police included.
5. If 1299 number is busy or closed for the night, then get a social media coverage in Thailand by asking the Thai person (your witness) to post the details of your incident to one of the most famous, in Thailand, independent news and media's Facebook page. These are: @ejan2016, @RS. Red Skull, @ejeab, @DramaAdd, to name a few.
6. DO NOT attempt to bribe Thai police officers.
While Thailand is a developing country, we do have Checks and Balances system in place. It's a matter of dialing the right numbers and going to the right people to get your voices heard when you are treated unfairly. Please know that since corruption benefits no one but the rich, whilst hindering the overall development, Thai people hate all forms of corruptions just as much as you do. Lastly, please remember that there is so much in Thailand for you to explore and experience, and that it takes more than just the local Thai people to fight the corruptions. So, let's make Thailand a better place for you and I together!
Here are some emergency phone no. in Thailand to know while travelling:
191 - Thai Police (equivalent to 911 in the U.S.)
199 - Fire Department and Animal Control
1155 - Tourist Police Bureau - English-Speaking
1195 - Crime Suppression Division (Central Investigation Bureau)
1154 - Surgico-Medical Ambulance and Rescue Team
1669 - Medical Emergency Response Center (National Institute for Emergency Medicine)
Same thing happen to me... that was in KHAO SAN ROAD when there are many tuktuk offering river cruise to different destination.... the lesson I learned as a tourist you should ask first how much the cost before you deal..... Thailand is very touristic country so expect that there are many scam..... stay away from tuk tuk is better... train stay would be better
Very true Erik. Such an elaborate scam through and through. Unbelievable! 😮😡
Thanks for all information.
That suit looks great on you.
Thank you Nantina! ❤️😊
Stranger pretty girl (Nan) approaches you with a compliment.... Scam!
Never let your guard down dude.
Hey guys great video, its really an eye opener, really learnt alot , cheers 🥂
Why blur his face if you say you were scammed?...
We chose to blur his face just for the RARE chance that he actually was who he said he was, a chef. Looks like that’s definitely not the case though!!
Here's some advice for everyone: When you arrive in Thailand, after customs go purchase a local sim card with data. Next, install Grab on your cell. Forget about using taxis and tuk tuks. Research online to find places to visit, then rely on Grab for your transportation needs.
Keep control of your own life..
WE GOT SCAMMED! "The temple was beautiful, we got lucky to see it." lol
great video,good job.thx!
....Good thing was---you were not rubbed.....and in my opinion,over all that super affordable IFC suit was the saving grace of the day.....wow.this is a learning experience for me....be safe both you....from your Filipino friend in Chicago.
Hi Raynon! Luckily I always have my head on a swivel due to my past career. I know what to look for with body language and danger. We were safe the whole time, just out to get as much money from us as possible 😂How’s the weather in Chicago?
Wow....you're mindset for travelling is in "full battle gear"....i missed my country....
Hhmm..At 9am.....it's 72....i just came here though....working as PhysicalTherapist.....
raynon corre-estoque Chicago is one place we’ve never been, even though it was relatively close to us both growing up. Would love to visit! We’ve kinda swapped homelands for the time being it seems haha
Where are you guys from?....U.S.?....it's an irony that I'm from the Philippines and I've never been to those places in the Philippines that you guys featured....
I will definitely remember this! Thank you so much guys!
👍🏻
Omg! I would hardly call your day a scam. The taxi driver took you guys to all the places you wanted and needed to go see. So, what if he cut a deal with the merchant's. You were still able to get a nice suit, see private temples and afford delicious food at a ridiculously low rate.
Hello I am new to this channel, at @13:40 when she said the store pays the driver to take you to these stores. Well that happened to me too! When my girlfriend and I arrived at BKK we were approached by this tourism group to give us discounts for the 3 temples. We did that and towards the end of the day tour they took us to a jewellery shop where I bought this beautiful sapphire ring for my girlfriend ( well worth it), then they took us to a tailor shop. The exact same in the video! It feel like most of the tour groups and people from the streets were hired by these shops to get business. It was a good marketing strategy, but it really felt weird at the same time what they were doing.
Just got back from Bangkok with my family. We got scammed too in the same temple. The version is "John Kwek" who said he was a Singaporean developer. A tuktuk brought us there and took us to same places as ur driver. This John Kwek was trying to convince us to buy orange sapphire jewelry. Too bad for them we didnt had money! 🤣🤣🤣 but boy what a waste of time!!!!!
That is crazy!! I think they need to station a public police presence at this temple. Clearly it’s a hot spot for scams. I’m sorry you had a day wasted but I’m glad you guys are okay! Curious, is it the same scammer we had? There is a full pic in our latest blog without his face blurred if you can’t tell from the video.
I'm in thialand Bangkok 12/3/18 i started my day with 4,000 baht ended with100 baht in my pocket. i got the same run around wasted my whole day. i did pruchased 3 tailord Shirts. Find out he was getting Gas Tickets for each Customer he brought to each Location.Then he wanted a tip after he dropped me faraway from my hotel where i had to take another cab. He got me good only thing good was the soapy massage house where they got me for all my Baht everyone wanted a Tip.
Lesson learned just Say NO to Everyone who offers you something not on your list of things to do.
At least you got a nice massage out of the deal 🤣😉
Yes...every words you say no...they will try again to explain their offer (even say :we will not cheat you.believe me please).it happen in guilin railways station exit way to taxi stand.
Me and the wife travel around south East Asian but never get scammed just because we know people who approach us and start a conversation, is starting to scam ... we love scammers because we love to scam the scammers, we would bargain down to next to nothing and then walk away... being from NYC, we seen it all, my wife is a better scammer than me, and she’s not afraid to speak up, when she feels pressures, even in Muslim countries, where they see woman as 2nd class citizens... we respect everyone’s traditions and culture and never offend the people there, because we find that 99.9% people are hard working and trustworthy, but that 1% of scammers, we love the way they keep us on our toes... good video guys
Haha! Sounds like your wife has got some gusto. That’s awesome. We are from Philly so not too far from you guys. We definitely know now that anyone who approaches is likely trying to get something out of you. Thanks for commenting! 🙏
I’m half thai and I tend to get scammed quite a lot when I was younger. But once you’ve lived here for a few years, you start to under stand how it all works and start seeing those scammers. All I’m saying is, there are a lot of nice thai folks here, but a few thai locals are little shits hungry for money.
Thai Tourist Police Call Center 1155(24 Hours) can help you.
Thanks bro that good to know for the future 😊
Wow I didn't know that!! I'll make sure to pass this info along to anyone traveling to Bangkok as well. Thank you so much
I'm planning to go soon. What was that place for your tailored suit and how has it held up?
Please find time to call Thai Tourist Police to report the scam. Tel. 1155 (free from anywhere in Thailand ). You could help stop the scam.
Wow, happy your guys where safe and was smart to tell us these things 🥰👍💯
...oh my goodness...that was a so well planned scam...git a little scared with ur story...cause i will be there in Bangkok in September...i am so glad u guys pulled urself out of that scam and so glad too that in the end...you both end up laughing about this unfortunate incident...thanks for the tips guys...i'll be careful in September...be safe...
I'm glad you watched this before you go to Bangkok. Scams happen mostly in Chinatown and by highly popular tourist areas. Download GRAB and walk straight past everyone trying to take you to "floating market" or "temples". As long as you know exactly where you want to go, you'll be fine. Good luck and enjoy yourself!! It's an amazing city.
You’re going to love it there Jonnie! It’s a great place to visit with SO much to see and do. You’ll be harassed by plenty of tuk tuk drivers and taxis throwing signs in your face asking to take you to temples and floating markets etc. just keep walking and set all that stuff up on your own and you’ll have no issues. Enjoy your trip! 😊👍🏻
...yeah...thanks for that...i'll be going with my wife may son my parents and 2 friends...there's a bunch of us...i will orient everyone before we leave for Bangkok. We'll be in Singapore then Kuala Lumpyr and Bangkok will be our last stop before heading back home to Manila, i think this like that won't happen in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur...tnx again guys...
...yeah i've done my research on places to go there and how to...tnx to both of you...stay safe...
We just arrived in Kuala Lumpur this week. It’s so nice here and everyone is very kind. Everything is super inexpensive too 👍🏻
I came back from Sweden and ... surprise, another movie from you. Good job! This is a very important topic for all travelers. Take care!!!!!!!
Thank you!! We thought everyone needed to know what was going on.. these scams are sooo elaborate. How was Switzerland?!
In Sweden... :) was good: lot`s alcohol, joint`s and girls. But Swedisch girls are not perfect like Your Stacia. :):):):)
I’m Thai many scams in Bangkok not just from Thai people also from Southeast Asian people that came to Bangkok too.Stay safe and be careful
Hi Wild Elephant! We agree and not everyone is out to get you. But there are quite a lot. We met so many nice Thai people during our stay and loved every minute. It’s just too bad this kind of thing happens often. Thanks for watching!! 😊👍🏻
Definitely. I think every country in the world has people who are looking to take advantage of tourism. It's unfortunate!
Stacia Sleight Thanks🙏 I Know but I don’t like to see the tourists got scam in my country so often it make me so angry.
Wild Elephant z
Yeah, and too many arrogant Thai people.