While travelling in Bangkok a few weeks ago we were exposed to a few transportation scams. While most were limited to Tuk-Tuks we had a few taxis try them on us as well.

Friendly Man on the Street Giving you Advice
By far the most complex scam we saw. We were in fact briefly suckered into it. After getting off a river boat we stopped briefly to look at our map. A friendly man, who spoke very good English, came up and offered us his assistance. We initially thought he would ask for money but to our surprise he didn't and just said goodbye. The "advice" he gave us:

• It's a Buddhist holiday today and the Grand Palace, our destination, is closed.
• As it's a holiday there are a few temples that are only open during this day.
• The Thai government is sponsoring transportation during the holiday and Tuk-Tuk tours for the day to these temples are only 40 Baht (about a 1.20 dollars).

Our man offering the advice then walked away down the side walk. It seemed he was merrily going about his day and was just a nice guy.

We proceeded to some Tuk-Tuks (giant motored tricycles) that were about 50-75 feet away. The drivers jumped out, offered to take us to the "open only today" temples for 40 Baht for the day. They seemed to confirm everything the man had said.

We get in the Tuk-Tuks. After about 30 seconds in the Tuk-Tuk I get an uneasy feeling. It just didn't feel right. Everything that just happened was too smooth. I whispered to Becky that I thought something was up. The driver saw me whispering and said "Everything is OK, no problems!". That all but confirmed that all was NOT right.

As promised the Tuk-Tuk drivers (we had two tuk-tuks for 4 people) took us to a temple that was nearby. They dropped us off and said they'd be waiting for us. We took everything we had with us and entered the temple. We immediately started looking for someone who would be able to confirm that we were in fact in the midst of a scam. There were a few bus tours at the same temple. I approached one of their English speaking guides and asked if today was special holiday and if the Palace was closed. They confirmed that indeed it was not.

Two of us went back to our Tuk-Tuks, paid them 20 Baht each and told them we were no longer going to need them. They were confused and a little insulted. At least we were in the same boat. The friendly man on the street obviously was working for/with the tuk-tuk drivers at that boat stop.

See another very similar story on BangkokScams.com

Sorry the place you're going to is closed
We walked a few blocks and found another Tuk-Tuk driver and asked him to take us to the Palace. He said "It's a special holiday, it's closed." We said "Please take us there". He wouldn't. So we went on.

We were now a little suspicious that maybe the tour guide didn't know what they were talking about. So we stopped into a travel agency. They also said the Palace was closed until Tomorrow... Weird.

We'll give you a discounted rate... but we have to stop at a few places first
So we hailed a cab and headed back to our hotel. The driver let us know what is going on behind the scenes. Tuk-Tuk drivers, and Taxi drivers, will give you a "discount" rate to get somewhere. They will then take you shops that they receive commission at and pressure you to buy something.

We landed back at the hotel, confirmed the Palace is open EVERYDAY, and tried again. We were successful. We were also able ensure that we were not taken again.

If you've travelled before and all of the sudden feel like something is off then more-than-likely it is. It's better to get out as soon as you can and be wrong then try and suffer through the day, or worse, get into a bad situation.

It's important to point out that this was the first city we've been in that was like this. Everywhere else we've been there is always a negotiation on price but never deliberate misleading/scamming. Being an over suspicious traveller is worse than being taken once in a while.

For a whole list of scams in Bangkok see the great site BangkokScams.com.