Tuk-tuk scams in Thailand

Cheap tuk tuk to another wat and then jewellery shop

Grand palace and the Wat near it the other day, guy in grey uniform followed us through the wat, it was extremely hot so we were looking for shade. He tried the deal with cheap tuk tuk to another wat and then jewellery shop, my partner didn’t realise it was a scam so jumped in the tuk tuk I quickly googled showed him and we jumped out 100 metres up the road and told the tuk tuk driver we know it’s a scam. He took off no payment

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Buddha day public holiday, tourist information office, 2-3 Tuk tuks nearby

My lady and i encountered what we thought was a scam near Khaosan road today – we were headed to a temple for something to do when we were approached by a semi smartly dressed Thai man, with a New York navy top on (he claimed to be an engineer working nearby) on the ratchadanmnoen klang road.

He told us we could not proceed down this road as there were protests happening and it was Buddha day public holiday – he then asked us lots of questions about what we were doing in Thailand etc he then wrote a lot of tourist information on a piece of cardboard, including that we had to go to tourist information office (which he said was further down the road he told us not to go down, but we had to turn left at the roundabout as the protests were straight ahead ) for a package holiday tour with 30% discount for when we go to Phuket tomorrow (which we advised was our next destination) and he urged us to get a Tuk Tuk there (there were 2-3 Tuk tuks nearby) –

we said we would continue to walk down the street, which we did, then about 200m down the street, one of the guys (wearing a dark green top) standing near the Tuk tuks was then walking beside us trying to talk to us, saying the same things as the engineer so we then decided to stop and he kept walking – he then stopped at the top of the “tourist information” street, waited for a bit and then hopped on the back of a bike –

I then watched the bike drive back towards the same first spot, with the guy looking at us, so we decided to walk back to our hotel. The engineer guy then drove down sidewalk on a bike towards us and we said we had to go back to our hotel to deal with business – we then walked past both guys at the first spot and took a different route back to our hotel –

I just wanted to share this in case it was a known scam, as we felt we were being set up, in case anyone else is approached by these guys today. I felt the first guy, the engineer, was genuinely helpful at first and he looked fairly smart (hair styled, clean shaven, dress shoes and trousers) we thought he was on a work break but the whole experience felt like a scam.

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Asked for much more saying traffic was bad

My mother and I fell for a similar scam. We were quoted a cheap Tuk Tuk price by a Tuk Tuk driver during peak hour. As we were in a hurry, we hopped on. But in the end, the Tuk Tuk driver asked for much more than he originally quoted us, saying traffic was bad. Being in a foreign country, we did not dare to argue and my mother decided to pay him the price he asked for in the end.

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Tuk Tuk Scam in Thailand

18 June 2018 : So i was backpacking solo to Thailand for 3 days. This scam happened when i am at Phuket. It was late in the evening and I need to get to a travel agency (which i already bought my bus ticket) to hop in my bus to Krabi for my next destination. 30 minutes prior to departure, it was raining and i was trying to get a transportation to the agency. So i just saw a tuk tuk just in front my hostel and i asked him if he can send me to the location and he said yes so i just hopped on the tuk tuk.

My mistake here would be not bargaining the fare first before riding the tuk tuk because it was raining heavily at that moment. While he was driving, i opened google maps on my phone (i always do this just to make sure its the correct destination) and the driver actually took a different path which is longer than what my apps showed. The journey should only took around 6 minutes but it goes for 20 minutes and i might be late for my bus.

So i asked the driver why he drove this way which is longer and he replied that the shortest path is in bad traffic at that hour. But i know its not true because my apps can actually detect traffics. in addition, we actually went half of the road that we supposed to go in the first hand and i saw no heavy traffic as he mention. So arriving to the agency ticket, he charged me for 300baht for 20 minutes ride, which should be only 6 minutes ride with fare 100baht as the distance is not that far.

I can’t really argue because it was my mistake for not bargaining first and i’m almost late for the departure so i just let it go.

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Brought to gem scam and tailor scam

Part 1: robbed at the Cambodia-Thailand border

Part 2: The next day, we planned to tour the city. We walk through the streets,then one tuk-tuk driver approach us and offer to accompany us. He brought us to a temple. They have an accomplish at the temple promoting the products in Thailand like ruby and sapphire jewelry.

This tuk-tuk driver brought us to the jewelry store and we were greeted by friendly personnels offering drinks. We spent 260$ just for small piece of sapphire in silver ring for my wife. They also tried to force to buy one for me around 650$ but I declined.

The driver also brought us to a tailor shop and the personnels convince me to get a suite which I think very pricey. I told them, I don’t wear suits. T-shirts are enough.

The experience with the tuk-tuk diver had only sit in mind upon reading this web page that it was a scam.

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Avoid tuk tuk drivers like the plague

Avoid tuk tuk drivers like the plague. They are without doubt the most unhelpful form of transport anywhere in the world. Use one of the ride share apps available instead.

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Tuk-tuk payment lie

Hi,

Thanks for enlightening us with the world of scams happening in different parts of the globe. Quite like what I faced in Thailand, when after descending from TUkTUk, I happen to take out 500 note, and within few second, the driver asked me to pay another 450. Well,he said he only got 50 initially, so he wanted the remaining. I was so confused and tired at that time, that I believed him, but later on I realised, that I was scammed.

I have also mentioned different scams in my blog

http://socialchaal.com/2016/09/28/top-16-travel-scams-of-2016-and-how-to-avoid-them/

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