I have been to Thailand 3 times and I have been a victim of the Tuk-Tuk scam, the tailor scam, and now the “short changing” of the bill scam. These scams are now ubiquitous and leave such a bad taste in my mouth, unfortunately, it makes me not want to return anymore.
Fortunately, while we did fall for “the palace is closed today” story, we did not buy any “tailored clothes” from the shop we were rerouted to. Being rerouted in a tuk-tuk is a waste of precious vacation time.
We were short-changed in the hotel (IDLE RESIDENCES). We paid a 120 baht bill with a 1000 note and we were given change as if we had given a 500 note! When I turned to count, I immediately called after the room service attendant (MR. NATTHAPOL) but he was long gone.
I called the hotel front desk immediately to report it. I was first told by the front desk manager (MR. KAEWLAMOL) I would be refunded the money, but as I waited in the lobby to be paid, the manager then called to say he will not pay back the money “stolen”.
While it may seem like a small amount of money, it never feels good to be the victim of crime, even petty scams like this.
Reading this site and all of the stories made me feel a bit better, knowing these scams are occurring every day targeting tourists, but the sheer frequency of these scams makes Thailand one of my least favorite places to travel.
I let my guard don for just a moment and I fell victim. I am an experienced traveler and am kicking myself for turning to count as the door closed.
