Thailand is a beautiful country with some of the best beaches in the world attracting about 37 million tourists a year Thailand is known as the Land of Smiles but for many unsuspecting tourists it's also known as the land of scams in this post we're going to take a closer look at the top 10 tourist scams in Thailand and how to avoid them .
Number One
Overnight bus and train theft now this is unfortunately one of the most popular scams which happens on a bus or train enroute.There's usually a bus and then you go to sleep on the bus and you wake up in the morning to find that your bags being moved and you check inside and either your cash or valuables or both are missing now the best way to try and protect yourself against this theft is to first of all book a ticket with a reputable bus company and then once you're on the bus store all your valuables and cash inside a hidden jacket pocket and then wear this jacket whilst you sleep if you're in a group of maybe two or three have one person stay awake for a few hours and take it in terms so that one person can be the overall looker or maybe if you're by yourself then you can put your valuables in your whole luggage and this will be stored on the underneath of the bus so no one on the inside can reach it now these methods are 100% but it's certainly better than doing nothing at all .
Number Two
The closed temple power scam very official-looking person will approach you close for the entrance of the temple that you wish to visit or you took the driver may tell you does the exact thing for you wish you wish to visit today is closed for a religious ceremony then they will recommend you another temple which they could drive it to this is open today and is it is only open once a year and so it happens that that day is this day but the chances are they're probably just trying to get more money out of you by driving you to a far-off temple the witch will charge you a huge entrance fee so to try and avoid the scam check online find official websites and also if it turns out that temple is really closed today then go back tomorrow and do not get in a tuk-tuk .
Number Three
Now if you are not adamantly clear on exactly where you want to go then some tuk-tuk drivers will decide to recommend places very far away they may take you to some stores where they might accidentally lock you inside or use forceful sales technique to make you buy something more even there afar take you to a fake tour agency the Tourism Authority in Thailand is quite a popular one where you can book an entire amazing trip complete with fake and useless tickets ,to prevent this from happening what you can do is write down your itinerary exactly where you want to go and show this to the driver before you even start discussing pricing and make sure they know where all these places are and then as you're touring along if you don't want to go to the places they're recommending and all you have to do is say no thank you I don't want to no thanks or no you can. Also use a Facebook group where you can ask other travelers which took trip drivers they use and where they went most of these drivers now have a business card or whats app number where you can contact them and this is usually the best way to find out what other travelers has and what kind of experience they have as well .
Number Four
damaged motorcycles or jet ski if you hire a motorbike or anything and you return it with damages whether you call them or they were there beforehand the owner about like ninety nine percent of time ask you to pay for its repair .if you do decide to hire anything then any damages that you see on it write them down before you take it away ask the owner to check it and sign it to confirm the damages were there before you to get out and never never ever give your Passports as collateral .
Number Five
First of all time share schemes are basically some form of investment or you buy stocks into some sort of building or company or something or other way you can get money back in the long run so how these schemes will play out is you'll be approached by someone who's doing some sort of questionnaire or marketing research you simply do their little thing and they'll claim that you're a lucky winner who's won an amazing prize all you have to do is follow them to some sort of building where there'll be other tourists and travelers there it will all look very official there'll be a big presentation on the screen and now be presenting some sort of timeshare scheme which will be an amazing investment and you'll get an amazing discount if you sign up right now the chances are this timeshare scheme probably even won't exist and you'll probably be asked to pay even if you just want to leave they probably won't let you leave until you paid at least some form of payment into this timeshare scheme the simplest and easiest way obviously to avoid these is to refuse their kind offer to lead you up to the building or just don't complete the questionnaire or market research in the first place .
Number Six
Whether it be jewelry or rare silks if the price is too good to be true for what the seller is telling you like the item is then it probably is a cheap fake this sometimes catches some people out as Thailand is known to be a cheap country however if you don't care about how real or fake something is then go ahead and buy them .
Number Seven
Thailand is also quite well known for its red line ping pong shows and who knows what else happens in some of those bars but you can quickly lose your morals and cash and a free entry will probably entice you into a particular type of bar and then you may be led to a very dark room with bright and strong lights with lots of basically naked women and probably some lady boys too if you're lucky you'll be asked to buy a round of drinks for these people and then after a simple sexual trick you'll be asked to give a very generous tip now if you at this point think that something's a bit up and you decide to leave then good luck getting past some of the bouncers at the door without paying a bribe of thousands of Baht or getting roughed up in the process now if you really still want to go and do it and to avoid it all you need to do is make sure you do your research into the good bars asking other travelers and you should be okay .
Number eight
From the airport you should only use the official taxis that are found in the official taxi parking while you're trying to break through and also make sure you know exactly where you're going because even if there are legitimate you don't want the meter running while they're trying to find.
Number Nine
Change or fake notes: now this isn't too common again but how it plays out is basically they give you incorrect change or what they'll do is claim that you have the fake note and they'll take it out the back to check it at which point they really will swap it for a fake note come back and say unfortunately this is a fake you're going to have to pay to avoid these problems basically try and Keep exact change as possible and if someone does claim you have a fake note do not let them take that note out of your sight if you really are worried about having a fake note then just take it to a bank and they will confirm it or deny it for you .
Number Ten
The bird distraction, so it may seem that a bird has just crapped in you but in actual fact someone has just thrown some white liquid or filters or something at you so whilst you're flustered it, kind of local will come up and try and help you clean up but in actual fact they're just trying to pickpocket you so just be wary make sure all your valuables are stashed away and hard-to-reach. the type people are usually not that confident and straightforward kind approaching tourists and they are actually quite shy so if a very well-spoken comfortable person approaches you and said something quite ridiculous and honesty then it's probably a trick .
So if you know any other scams or you're worried about any scams that i haven't mentioned and you wish to ask more information then leave a comment down below in the comment section.
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