LOS...land of smiles, land of scams

Two farangs set out to investigate the various scams that Bangkok has on offer:

Richard's account
Steve's account

Some of the scams might have been going on for far longer than what some of those who left comments on the above blog entries think? The cat can recall scammers trying to drag its parents into 'gem factory visits by tuktuk' more than 15 years ago...not realising that the whole big fat bunch of Thais surrounding them at the Grand Palace were friends & relatives, who of course told the scammers to get lost =P

Up till now the cat still gets the odd MSN message or email from someone whining about how (s)he was 'Palace/Wat Phra Kaew/etc closed today' scammed in Bangkok. Not surprising, considering the number of Singaporeans who can be:

1. so 听话 (ting1 hua4 lit. obey instructions - 'obediently gullible')
2. attracted to the idea of making an easy & tidy profit (from gems)
3. make themselves easy to pick out as prey, flashing their cards, cameras, & other valuables & counting their cash openly like they are back in the relative safety of Singapore streets (which makes the cat cringe) & talking loudly about how much they paid for some purchase

Some have even written letters to the Straits Times Forum page - which actually published them...!

There are scams just about wherever there are tourists, & not just in Thailand (& not just in Bangkok & Phuket). Please take care & exercise common sense. When kena scammed, comprain oso no use, zai1 boh2? ;)