If you are planning to visit Thailand and enjoy the exotic islands beautiful shores
the white sands the blue waters, or the hustling city with its big shopping malls the street
vendors and the spicy food, or may be the booming night life and the walking streets,
then you have to be aware of some major scams and avoid them, so that your trip in to the
land of smiles stays pleasant and not turned in to some regrettable moments.
So let’s jump in to this vlog and check those scams and see how can we avoid them.
1-Taxi Meter Scam in Thailand Once you have landed in to the land of smiles
the 1st scam you may face is the “Taxi Scam “.
Since transportation will be your 1st concern Taxi drivers will take that in to advantage
and charge you high prices for your requested transportation destinations.
And you will be paying 3 to 4 times higher prices than it should be.
Our advice to you, in the airport you can take a metered public taxi from -1 floor or
use the airport link train and head to your hotel which is the cheapest and fastest way
of transportation in to downtown Bangkok.
While transporting in Bangkok city, always ask for metered taxi and avoid being ripped
by fixed taxi fares, and if it’s possible for you to use the sky train or the metro
is much better since is so much cheaper and faster.
In the islands also try to take metered taxi but since in some touristic location they
refuse try to negotiate the price before taking the taxi.
Use always GPS maps to show the driver the requested destination to avoid the scams of
overdriving by using longer & false routes.
2- TUK TUK Scams Riding a TUK TUK in Thailand is a fun way
to explore the city & immerge you in the local life, but beware of TUK TUKs scams, since
they approach to you with very low prices friendly suggestions and once you ride they
will charge you very much high prices, which if you not pay, it will cause you lots of
troubles.
Our advice to you enjoy once in a while a TUK TUK ride have the fun for a short trip,
but never assume that TUK TUKs are cheaper than taxis but the contrary most of the times
metered taxis are much cheaper and of course much safer way to transport in the city.
In Phuket island TUK TUK rides can cost you a lot, the shortest distance will be charged
200 Thai baht which is around 6 to 7 dollars, so try to avoid them since they are totally
scams.
3- Temples or shops are closed today … This is one of the famous scams in Thailand,
you will ask a taxi or a tuk tuk driver to take you in to specific place or destination
and the answer will be that place or shop is closed and they can take you to a better
place.
For example, you want to visit the Grand palace and the taxi driver will tell you that the
palace is closed and they can take you in to another place instead that’s a big scam
avoid it.
Our advice to you is always insist to take you to your desired destination and never
accept their suggestions to avoid them to mislead you.
4- Food & drink Prices Local food and Thai dishes are cheap in Thailand
and that will make you enjoy the finest delicious dishes with prices you can’t even imagine
in your country but this could be another story if you don’t ask or check the prices
before you order.
Since sometimes you can sit in to a cheap restaurant order some local dishes and you
will get surprised with high bills.
Our advice to you as a tourist wherever you want to eat ask the local menu check the prices
and order what you like so that you will enjoy your meal and the bill.
5- Hotels, Advertised sites pictures and their reality
well of course before you come in to the land of smiles you had to book your hotel online,
and once you make the search on the internet you will see amazing hotels and wonderful
accommodations with so affordable prices and book one of them and dream about it all the
way to Thailand.
But beware of a misleading and false pictures on the internet even with some 4 to 5 star
hotels when all you can see on their site beautiful new rooms and once you get there
you will be disappointed with the reality.
Those pictures on the internet could be from the 1st day they build the hotel, so our advice
to you read the comments and the reviews and take them seriously because customers experience
is what matters and not the beautiful pictures on the site.
6- Street vendors in touristic areas Shopping is one of the major attractions in
Thailand and the affordable prices will make you shop till you drop, but not in touristic
areas like Phuket things can get different where the street vendors will take the advantage
of the location and sell their items with high prices , for example you will buy a t-shirt
for 8 to 12 dollar where the same t-shirt in Bangkok is only 3 usd dollars.
Our advice to you is to make your major shopping’s in Bangkok from local markets, while if you
are only visiting the islands than try to buy things from major complex malls like Juncylone
where most of the times, the items are more cheap than the outside street vendors prices.
7- Booking tours Thailand is famous with many tours that fills
your day with activities and exciting sites to see specially Phuket island tours like
phi phi island James bond island safari and much more, but beware of the scams you can
face after booking your tour.
For example, you can book from krabi a phi phi island tour and the second day you will
be taken by a speed boat or a long tail boat to visit the island and once you reach its
famous locations like maya bay they will ask you pay extra money to enter the island and
that’s totally scam.
Another one the safari tour once you arrive the tiger land they will ask you to pay extra
to see the tigers that’s another scam.
Our advice to you when you are booking the tour ask for the details and take all the
notes so that you will exactly know what you are paying for.
8- Night life scams and unexpected extra charged bills
Thailand is known for its vibrant and booming nightlife from its walking streets to its
vibrant nightclubs and its unique extreme adult nightlife, you can visit them and make
memorable moments or you can get scammed and spoil your time.
One of the scams is the hidden fees and high prices of drinks that you will billed once
you check out.
For example, free ping pong show will turn in to 50$ bill or a simple beer will cost
10 to 15$.
Our advice to you always ask for the price list, don’t follow bar guides which will
lead you to clubs and bars where you can get scammed or watch a ping pong show which will
cost you a fortune
9- Massage scams Visiting Thailand and not having a massage
is totally insane, you are in the land of smiles so you have to pamper yourself, but
in return you can get scammed by paying high prices and getting nothing in return.
Many massage shops are scams rather than regular massage services.
Our advice to you choose always well know local massage shops where you can see clearly
the price listed on the entrance and can get a proper massage with very high satisfaction
10- pick pocket scams Thailand can get very crowded specially in
Bangkok while you are shopping in famous local districts like pratunam or chatuchak weekend
market your shopping day can be spoiled by pick pocket scams and your shopping experience
can turn into a nightmare.
I myself as vlogger lost my action cams in such places twice so imagine losing all your
memories you have captured by a stupid Thief.
Our advice to you always be ware of your personal belongings in crowded places to avoid unpleasant
moments.
Well of course even all those scams Thailand stays among the most beautiful destinations
to visit in this world and with little caution you can avoid all these and make your stay
a memorable journey in the land of thousand smiles.
I hope this vlog was helpful for you and will make you plan a better stay in Thailand.
Thank you for watching subscribe for more from Live Love Thailand.