ThaiHome Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 The reason people think Thailand is so full of scams is because they are coming from an environment where personal reasonability for your actions as been taken away and they are all warm and fuzzy in their little bubbles blaming others for all their problems. Some people consider this progress. I’m not so sure. The fallout from this attitude is one of the reasons things are so fucked up in the west. In Thailand, and the rest of the developing world, you are still responsible for and pay the consequences of your actions. You buy something here; you had better know what is worth or at least understand and be willing to pay (without complaining later) what is worth to you. To my knowledge, no one has ever accused the gem people of a bait and switch. There is indeed a whole group of people working towards getting you in the door and convincing you the gems are worth far more then they really are. What these people are doing is taking advantage of your upbringing that makes you think you are protected from such tactics. But it is not a con. You are getting something that has value; it is just far less then what you paid. Sure sounds to me like few people here have bought a used car before. TH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Zeppelin Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Being uninformed and then buying doesn't make it a scam, it makes the buyer stupid. A person shouldn't buy something he/she is not prepared for. I had a friend and his wife come here and visit once and they were stupid/greedy enough to fall for the gem scan. They paid £1200 for some low quality gems which turned out to be worth about £250. One of the things that swayed them into buying was being shown a certificate of quality. I see this analogy similar to buying a fake degree in Khao San Road and then using it to gain employment. Who's side would the law take on that? Yes, the employer/customer could be stupid for not checking, but the bottom line is the employee/shop is committing fraud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tartempion Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Is something a scam or not? You wait for your luggage to arrive at a Swampy luggage belt and you read the huge AOT signs to warn you for the taxi scams at the airport, but walking to an AOT desk will save you from getting scammed by paying 1200B for a glorified limo. So you end up paying 900B more than you would with a metered taxi and you are not scammed, Yeah You walk out of customs looking for an official taxi queu and you get pursued by a guy asking you "where you go, want taxi" You end up in an unlicensed uninsured car. Is that a scam? You walk out of wat Po (like I did) ask a tuk tuk driver to drive you to wat Phra Kaeow. The asshole looks up his watch and says: 5 to twelve, in a few minutes wat Phra Keaow closed. Tells you wat Saket not closed, for 30B I bring you there, but you be nice to me then we go tourist shop, you look around, I get petrol cheque, the I drive you to Wat Phra Kaeow, we all happy. I think it over and concludes "what the heck, I hate tourist shops, never buy anything there, but if this idiot gets some fuel out of it, I get to see this wat Saket anda drive to the now closed wat Phra Kaeow for 30B, waiste 15 minutes at that shop, why not? Is that a scam or not? I stand at some corner looking around, checking my Bangkok map (might be Silom or Siam, these touts will find you, to help you you know) Have this well dressed man talking nicely to me: "where you from?" "Munich" "Oh, I work there 2 years for Lufthansa" Ant the bullshit goes on until the man says something like to day special day for king, you can make good deal on stones bla bla bla, we take taxi? Is that a scam? Gf nears a bus stop, many people around, a woman looses a gold chain that drops on the pavement. Gf takes the gold chain, runs to the woman and gives chain back. "Kop kun ka mak mak" The lady had a friend, offer her to thank her by offering restaurant, they take taxi, taxi drives to isolated soi, GF gets robbed. Is that a scam? All these people should be jailed in Bangkwan or similar. Just my opinion But then some BM's think those who fall for the scams are the idiots and the scammers should be praised for their brilliant minds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkoktraveler Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Spot on! They are scams, some more of a scam then others. What makes it hard is how to discern the degree of the scam. If you go to Poipet, you know you are being scammed. But in certain parts of Bangkok, you might not know you are getting scammed because people generally don't talk about it. For example, you get a piece of cheap 'zirconian' set in a cheap shit ass setting and are told it is a diamond, but just today, you can buy it at half price. One, most consumers don't know what a shit ass setting looks like. Most consumers can't tell the difference between zirconian and a diamond. To top it off, most consumers don't know what is a good buy and what isn't. It is hard to tell what is a reputable dealer and who are the crocks. If a person gets directed to a crocked outfit, how is a person going to tell? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygye Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 LOS -> Land Of Scams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Sadly ..yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkoktraveler Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Since the recession, even more so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bust Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 The main reason people buy these gems is not because they need or want them but to make a nice profit on the resale which as we know never happens. Just simple greed in my books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Yes!!! See the other thread. Cheers, SD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Is something a scam or not? You wait for your luggage to arrive at a Swampy luggage belt and you read the huge AOT signs to warn you for the taxi scams at the airport, but walking to an AOT desk will save you from getting scammed by paying 1200B for a glorified limo. So you end up paying 900B more than you would with a metered taxi and you are not scammed, Yeah You walk out of customs looking for an official taxi queu and you get pursued by a guy asking you "where you go, want taxi" You end up in an unlicensed uninsured car. Is that a scam? You walk out of wat Po (like I did) ask a tuk tuk driver to drive you to wat Phra Kaeow. The asshole looks up his watch and says: 5 to twelve, in a few minutes wat Phra Keaow closed. Tells you wat Saket not closed, for 30B I bring you there, but you be nice to me then we go tourist shop, you look around, I get petrol cheque, the I drive you to Wat Phra Kaeow, we all happy. I think it over and concludes "what the heck, I hate tourist shops, never buy anything there, but if this idiot gets some fuel out of it, I get to see this wat Saket anda drive to the now closed wat Phra Kaeow for 30B, waiste 15 minutes at that shop, why not? Is that a scam or not? I stand at some corner looking around, checking my Bangkok map (might be Silom or Siam, these touts will find you, to help you you know) Have this well dressed man talking nicely to me: "where you from?" "Munich" "Oh, I work there 2 years for Lufthansa" Ant the bullshit goes on until the man says something like to day special day for king, you can make good deal on stones bla bla bla, we take taxi? Is that a scam? Gf nears a bus stop, many people around, a woman looses a gold chain that drops on the pavement. Gf takes the gold chain, runs to the woman and gives chain back. "Kop kun ka mak mak" The lady had a friend, offer her to thank her by offering restaurant, they take taxi, taxi drives to isolated soi, GF gets robbed. Is that a scam? All these people should be jailed in Bangkwan or similar. Just my opinion But then some BM's think those who fall for the scams are the idiots and the scammers should be praised for their brilliant minds 1) No not at all. Is the punter who avoids the official taxi que and goes up to the departures level and takes a taxi a scammer? 2) Lots of signs. Lots of books. If you are too stupid to research you destination before you get there then... 3) Slightly, I'll agree. But no one is holding a gun to your head to buy something. Once again tho'...who goes somewhere and does not research their destination? Very well documented. You can't protect people from their own stupidity. 4) No, not at all. Som nam na. You are stupid and greedy. Why would someone tell a stranger how to get a deal at his friend's shop. Makes no sense at all. 5) Sad and disturbing, but also par for the course in any big city. Always be on guard. Certainly a scam. Notice tho' that most scams require active participation of a third party. Just be smart. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK? Cheers, SD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.