The_Munchmaster Posted October 19, 2008 Report Share Posted October 19, 2008 Well, it was what you were thinking. And here is more of what you are thinking "...Old Hippie is great, I love his posts and words of wisdom, I think I will send him all my money..." Amazing, how do you do it, you are absolutely spot on!!..................................apart from the bit about the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted October 19, 2008 Report Share Posted October 19, 2008 I've seen Indians working as guides at the GP. Indians? p.s. For those who don't know, a genuine tour guide licence is hard to get. One must pass a difficult written exam in English to get certified. Of course, real guides don't hang around places waiting for people to snare. They actually make fairly decent money at a full time job. I knew one a few years ago who told me her company paid her 15,000 baht a month, but she got at least that much more in tips from tourists. That's why English for Tourism is always a popular class at universities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samak Posted October 19, 2008 Report Share Posted October 19, 2008 i have been over 40 times to the Grand Palace during last 10 years and have never been approached by any of those scammers. but then i usually approach the entrance with my guests rather fast and do not stand around like other tourists do or even look for "officials" to ask questions... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamui Posted October 19, 2008 Report Share Posted October 19, 2008 i have been over 40 times to the Grand Palace during last 10 years and have never been approached by any of those scammers. but then i usually approach the entrance with my guests rather fast and do not stand around like other tourists do or even look for "officials" to ask questions... On my first visit to LOS on the second day they almost got me. With their uniforms they look very convincing and you would not expect to have the scammers near the main entrance. Luckily had the warnings in Lonely Planet in the plane... Those unsuspectiong tourists who go LOS without any information about the country (and who are maybe the first time in Asia) are very likely to fall for one of the scams at least once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted October 19, 2008 Report Share Posted October 19, 2008 There have been scammers at the GP for decades at least. I first visited the Palace in March 1973, and back then a lot of fake "Boy Scouts" were around. They would tell you they wanted to go to a Jamboree and ask you to sign their book and give them money. Even more common were the "gui' pee", usually students trying to make some pocket money by acting as your guide for a tip. At least they were fairly honest about it and actually helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clubsiam Posted October 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2008 I walked around the entire perimeter twice. I asked around 50 people, including many Tourist Police where the entrance was. One parked taxi gave me honest info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted October 19, 2008 Report Share Posted October 19, 2008 I must say, you have a very strange hobby... Cheers, SD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Munchmaster Posted October 19, 2008 Report Share Posted October 19, 2008 ....Tourist Mafia scammers were right at the front gate, blocking the way, telling everybody the Palace was closed.... So what exactly is the scam? Tourist turns up at GP and nasty scammer tells tourist that GP is closed. Then what? Tourist goes away and the scammer benefits how exactly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygye Posted October 19, 2008 Report Share Posted October 19, 2008 ....Tourist Mafia scammers were right at the front gate' date=' blocking the way, telling everybody the Palace was closed....[/quote']So what exactly is the scam? Tourist turns up at GP and nasty scammer tells tourist that GP is closed. Then what? Tourist goes away and the scammer benefits how exactly? Go over there and find out for yourself. On the second day of our stay, i.e. 14 Dec, we went to Wat Pho late morning. At around 1pm, when we wanted to go into the Grand Palace, we were stopped by a smartly-dressed man who claimed that he was a staff working there. He told us that we couldn't go in because some prayers were going on and we should come back at 3pm. In the meantime, that man suggested that he get a tuk-tuk to take us to 3 other places for sightseeing: Wat Thai, a Thai Export and Watin. He told the tuk-tuk to charge us 30 baht. At Wat Thai, we saw a couple of temples but they were not as grand as the one at Wat Pho. After a few minutes, we told the tuk-tuk driver that we were ready to move on. He told us to wait in the tuk-tuk while he goes the toilet for 10 min. When he was away, there was another Thai who was sitting behind the tuk-tuk. He started to chat with us in English. He said that he was waiting for his brother who was a monk, to finish his prayers so that he could see him. He asked us where we were going. When we told him someone recommended that we go to the Thai Export, he started telling us that we were very lucky as it was the last day the government was allowing tourists to buy sapphires and rubies that were tax free. He also said that we would be able to sell them at 130% back home. He even cited 2 reputable jewellery shops in Singapore whom he claimed to have sold jewellery to. Anyway, he sounded like he knew quite a few things about Singapore. Link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkoktraveler Posted October 19, 2008 Report Share Posted October 19, 2008 I walked around the entire perimeter twice. I asked around 50 people, including many Tourist Police where the entrance was.One parked taxi gave me honest info. I don't know what the problem is? The below sign is still there and it still says [color:red]"DO NOT TRUST WILY STRANGERS"[/color] There is only one entrance so it should not be that hard to find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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