The oft-discussed topic of scam artists in Bangkok is a touchy subject. Convincing unsuspecting foreigners that their chosen temple/museum/attraction is closed and shoehorning them into a finely-tuned scam that’s designed to part them from their money is big business. Despite promises of crackdowns, the scams still exist in large numbers, and it never ceases to amaze me just how many foreigners fall for them. I guess a large part of it is that you’re in a strange city, disoriented, maybe a bit lost, hungry, thirsty, whatever, and a friendly voice is always a good thing, right? Still, I often wonder what would happen without the smiling face, so just for fun I made a little phone text experiment here that mimics how a typical scam plays out and the answers that one should give.
I should mention that on a recent bike ride I rode past the Grand Palace, which is where most of these scams are centered, and noticed one good thing – loudspeakers were blaring a constant stream of instructions and warnings to tourists in multiple languages, so at least that’s something. Still – how often do you stop and say “Shhh…there’s instructions to be heard…”
So, this is my idea of how a conversation with a scammer should go:
Of course, many victims fall into the trap, and you’ll find yourself at a gem shop or tailor or fortune teller or shoe maker or some such thing. Once inside the staff will be extra friendly to you, but as soon as they realize you’re not interested in buying their crap, they suddenly turn very cold for some reason.
One of my friends once fell for both of the scams listed above – got in a tuk-tuk which was driven by the ‘uncle’ of a friendly girl he met, got ushered to a gem store, bought $1,000 worth of ‘gems’ and walked out with about $50 worth of very nice glass. Maybe if the pretty girl wasn’t there, he wouldn’t have been so gullible. Maybe everyone should just converse via text?
hahaha, true…..However, I feel no one can scam a honest man, I think people fall for freebies and get greedy on the sale of gems back home..All scams are confidence tricks..The trap is usually free ride or 10 THB ride…I wouldn't want a free ride from a poor tuk tuk driver nor i would want a 10 THB ride or I would think of selling something at a higher price than what i brought…just to make few more bucks at home..
The golden rule for me is…If you are dishonest yourself…you will be scammed..If you are a honest guy…No place on earth can scam you…
Nice post GTD – Your texting blog might just unlock a few young tourist's minds. Jack – good point about most scam victims being a victim of their own greed.
Hehehe, memory lane. I fell for that on my honeymoon trip to BKK in 1994 (stopover for Vietnam). But we were so broke – it was actually the return trip – that we couldn't even have afforded the real value. It was a hot day and we left after drinking a few free Cokes. I think we actually came out in the plus everything considered.
A few years later we explained all of the above to visiting friends who were all "Ya Ya yada yada mmkay" when we warned them and quite red faced when they came back. No money lost but they missed their last chance to see the GP 😛 Som nam na!