Scams In Thailand

Thailand is a beautiful country that has wonderful beaches, great nightlife, temples and so much more. But like any other country, they have scams that target tourists. You do need to become familiar with the common scams in Thailand that you will more than likely encounter at some stage during your visit to Thailand. What are the common scams in Thailand?

The scams in Thailand range from the tuk-tuk drivers trying to bring you to tailor shops instead of bringing you to your requested destination to the jetski beach scams. A majority of scams in Thailand do target tourists mainly in the tourist areas in Bangkok or Phuket. These scams do occur around the temples, bars, local markets, and transport.

In this post, we will go through the most common scams in Thailand to watch out for. Let’s get started!

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While Thailand is a wonderful place to visit, some scams target visitors to Thailand. These scams can happen anywhere in Thailand from temples to the local markets and transport.

What are the most common scams that usually occur in Thailand?

Tuk Tuk Scams

Let’s start with the most common scam, you will find this scam mainly in Bangkok and Phuket. This scam is the tuk-tuk scam. All tourists to Thailand want to experience a tuk-tuk ride while in Thailand.

Many visitors to Thailand find the tuk-tuk exciting, though the problem with the tuk-tuk is that the tuk-tuk drivers are scammers.

Tuk-tuk will try to take you to jewelry shops, travel agents, and so on. It is much easier for tourists to lead on a wild goose chase. If you refuse to be taken to these shops they will increase the fare considerably.

Do not hesitate to say ‘no’, as long as you know where you are going.

The Sex Shows

More or less this is more for the male tourists, particularly the solo visitors. It is much better to avoid less reputable bars that offer sex shows.

It is easy to meet a beautiful lady, who is as sweet as a kitten, though she will secretly place a high amount on your bill after you get drunk.

For your security and safety, it is much better to ask for advice from the hotel staff, about the recommended bars with a decent reputation.

Again, it is much easier to do research online, to find the best bars.

Fake Tour Agents

There are indeed mostly reputable tour agencies in Thailand but there are always a few bad apples. It is always advised to be careful with fake tour agents, particularly in places in Bangkok, such as Khao San Road.

These scam travel agents are noticeable as they insist on tourists joining their tour travel. You will also notice that the package cost is way too cheap compared to others. They will take you on a wild goose chase similar to the tuk-tuks.

You can make comparisons easily by visiting travel websites or by visiting other travel agents.

The Temple Visit

Bangkok and other cities in Thailand are always popular for their palaces and Buddhist temples. Yes, they are indeed magnificent. These wonderful landmarks are too good to miss, so you should take the chance to see them.

It is always recommended strongly to find the opening hours for the temples and palaces. Of course, the internet is always your best friend to get proper information.

There will be scammers near the palace or temple who will claim to be a ‘tour guide’, who will say that these places are closed, due to it being Buddha Day or some special ceremonies that foreigners are not allowed to enter.

Such reasons may be true for certain ceremonies but they are very rare. They won’t steal your money right away, anyway. But, they will lead you to other places where you would spend way more money than you should.

The opening hours of popular temples are always available on official websites. So, you need to be careful with these scammers.

The Jetski Scam

You can not avoid but visit the amazing beaches when you are visiting Thailand. Unfortunately, this is also the place where you will encounter scammers. Most of them know that foreign tourists love to spend money on renting a jet ski.

Where the vendor will ask for your passport as collateral. And after you have used the jetski, they will ‘accuse’ you, that you have damaged their jet ski, so they will ask you for money to repair it and it will be a crazy high repair bill.

To avoid this happening, check the overall condition before renting it and taking photos. But it is best to avoid renting a jetski completely.

USEFUL TRAVEL RESOURCES

Book Accommodation

Booking.com has a large range of properties from hotels, hostels, guesthouses, and resorts where you will find the best deals. Airbnb and Hostelworld also have a good range of places to stay at good prices.

Booking Flight

Skyscanner is a flight search comparison website that searches millions of flights all at once. Ultimately it is the best flight comparison website online at the moment.

Booking Transportation & Things To Do

Rome2rio and 12Go are useful to plan how to get anywhere by searching train, bus, car, and ferry routes. Especially useful in countries like Vietnam or Thailand. While Klook is great for exploring things to do in each place.

Travel Insurance

Travel insurance is cheap and more than likely you will never need to use it but you will have peace of mind if something does happen, you are covered in case of an emergency. World Nomads have great customer service and competitive prices.

Check out our resource page for the best companies to use when you travel.

Wrapping Up

Finally, the scams in Thailand range from the tuk-tuk drivers trying to bring you to tailor shops instead of bringing you to your requested destination to the jetski beach scams. A majority of scams in Thailand do target tourists mainly in the tourist areas in Bangkok or Phuket. These scams do occur around the temples, bars, local markets, and transport.

And that’s it for now! I’d love it if this post on scams in Thailand – what to watch out for in Thailand was helpful to you. Let me know if you have any questions and let me know if there is more to add.