How it works:
- Opening: cheap tickets for luxurious VIP buses are sold by tour operators along Bangkok’s Khao San Road.
- Version 1: these VIP buses turn out be cramped minivans. These buses may also conveniently break down besides a restaurant or hotel where they get a commission.
- Version 2: halfway during a trip, a fake bus attendant comes up. He will tell you that the bus is not heading to your intended bus station. You alight, and a taxi driver tells you it is too late to bring you to your intended bus station. Instead, he offers to bring you to the nearest hotel.
- Version 3: drugging and stealing from bags stored in luggage compartments.
Places to beware:
- Bangkok: Khao San Road
What to do:
- Take the government’s bus company BKS instead.
