D
Dave The Dude
Guest
Criminal law in Thailand Part 40: Beware of scams III - tourists in
paradise
While we're on the subject of scams, here are a couple for
the tourist in all of us, and those visiting Thailand. Let's say you've always
wanted to visit a Bangkok landmark, such as Wat Arun, but have never found the
time.
ILLUSTRATION: NATTAYA SRISAWANG
You are walking with your family towards the ferry that will take you across
the river when a well-dressed young man stops you and identifies himself in
perfect English as a medical doctor, a professor of engineering at a local
university or maybe a former exchange student in your country who has just
recently returned to Thailand. He asks where you're going, and you tell him.
''Oh,'' he says, ''what a pity. The temple is closed because tomorrow is a
national holiday. I have an idea, though, since your country has been so kind to
me. My cousin runs a jewellery shop, a special one, where all the prices are
wholesale and there's no bargaining. Since you have obviously been
inconvenienced, I'll call him and see if he will accept a below-wholesale
discount for you.''
He asks your name, calls someone, a taxi shows up, and you're driven to a
jewellery shop.
Don't buy at this shop. The goods may be genuine, but they'll be grossly
overpriced.
By the way, national landmarks seldom close on holidays. For example, Wat
Arun, Wat Phra Kaeo and Wat Pho are all open on national holidays.
Here's another tourist scam. Let's say you're wandering around Bangkok with a
few hours to spare. You're accosted by a tuk-tuk driver or a taxi driver who
asks you if you want to go shopping. If you do, he says, he needs the business
and will drive you around for 10 baht an hour.
Wait a minute. Ten baht an hour? For a taxi? Why so cheap?
Because this driver survives on kickbacks from local merchants who sell at
inflated prices only to tourists. You're better off going to normal shops and
dealing with merchants who sell to the general public.
Here's a variation on that theme. Every man who's ever walked around central
Bangkok after dark has probably been accosted by tuk-tuk drivers. More often
than not they'll hand you a folded brochure containing four-colour group photos
of beautiful women, scantily clad, around a hot tub. If you're looking for a
little fun, why not jump in?
First, those aren't the women you'll find at the places where you'll be
taken. Trust us.
Again, these tuk-tuk drivers live on kickbacks from the brothels, so it ends
up being unnecessarily expensive. Also, there are lots of other scams that come
out of a trip to one of these places. For example, many a tourist has had
valuables stolen at a place like this _ and then is too embarrassed to go to the
police.
We will, over the next few weeks, cover sex crimes. As we will discuss in
much greater depth then, private paid-for sex in your hotel room is not a crime
in Thailand, as long as the prostitute is neither underage nor there as a result
of kidnapping, deception, force or misuse of authority.
As we will explain at length later, however, it is a crime for you to be in a
place of prostitution for the purposes of prostitution, ie sex. This will
subject you to up to a month in jail. Where tuk-tuk drivers often take the
passengers they solicit is an example of such a place of prostitution.
Here's another scam. If you're with people you don't know, such as in a
brothel, or even just travelling on a bus and make friends, don't accept
anything to eat or drink from anybody. Police records are full of cases in which
tourists are drugged by new acquaintances and have their money and valuables
stolen. The drugging is often done by giving the victim food or drink laced with
a drug that will cause them to lose consciousness.
If you've been the victim, or near victim, of a scam and you want to make
sure others don't fall for it in the future, let us know what it is. We plan to
run further columns on scams in the near future.
paradise
- Published: 27/03/2011
at 12:00 AM - Newspaper section: Spectrum
While we're on the subject of scams, here are a couple for
the tourist in all of us, and those visiting Thailand. Let's say you've always
wanted to visit a Bangkok landmark, such as Wat Arun, but have never found the
time.
ILLUSTRATION: NATTAYA SRISAWANG
You are walking with your family towards the ferry that will take you across
the river when a well-dressed young man stops you and identifies himself in
perfect English as a medical doctor, a professor of engineering at a local
university or maybe a former exchange student in your country who has just
recently returned to Thailand. He asks where you're going, and you tell him.
''Oh,'' he says, ''what a pity. The temple is closed because tomorrow is a
national holiday. I have an idea, though, since your country has been so kind to
me. My cousin runs a jewellery shop, a special one, where all the prices are
wholesale and there's no bargaining. Since you have obviously been
inconvenienced, I'll call him and see if he will accept a below-wholesale
discount for you.''
He asks your name, calls someone, a taxi shows up, and you're driven to a
jewellery shop.
Don't buy at this shop. The goods may be genuine, but they'll be grossly
overpriced.
By the way, national landmarks seldom close on holidays. For example, Wat
Arun, Wat Phra Kaeo and Wat Pho are all open on national holidays.
Here's another tourist scam. Let's say you're wandering around Bangkok with a
few hours to spare. You're accosted by a tuk-tuk driver or a taxi driver who
asks you if you want to go shopping. If you do, he says, he needs the business
and will drive you around for 10 baht an hour.
Wait a minute. Ten baht an hour? For a taxi? Why so cheap?
Because this driver survives on kickbacks from local merchants who sell at
inflated prices only to tourists. You're better off going to normal shops and
dealing with merchants who sell to the general public.
Here's a variation on that theme. Every man who's ever walked around central
Bangkok after dark has probably been accosted by tuk-tuk drivers. More often
than not they'll hand you a folded brochure containing four-colour group photos
of beautiful women, scantily clad, around a hot tub. If you're looking for a
little fun, why not jump in?
First, those aren't the women you'll find at the places where you'll be
taken. Trust us.
Again, these tuk-tuk drivers live on kickbacks from the brothels, so it ends
up being unnecessarily expensive. Also, there are lots of other scams that come
out of a trip to one of these places. For example, many a tourist has had
valuables stolen at a place like this _ and then is too embarrassed to go to the
police.
We will, over the next few weeks, cover sex crimes. As we will discuss in
much greater depth then, private paid-for sex in your hotel room is not a crime
in Thailand, as long as the prostitute is neither underage nor there as a result
of kidnapping, deception, force or misuse of authority.
As we will explain at length later, however, it is a crime for you to be in a
place of prostitution for the purposes of prostitution, ie sex. This will
subject you to up to a month in jail. Where tuk-tuk drivers often take the
passengers they solicit is an example of such a place of prostitution.
Here's another scam. If you're with people you don't know, such as in a
brothel, or even just travelling on a bus and make friends, don't accept
anything to eat or drink from anybody. Police records are full of cases in which
tourists are drugged by new acquaintances and have their money and valuables
stolen. The drugging is often done by giving the victim food or drink laced with
a drug that will cause them to lose consciousness.
If you've been the victim, or near victim, of a scam and you want to make
sure others don't fall for it in the future, let us know what it is. We plan to
run further columns on scams in the near future.