Well this is an award that you definitely do not want if 20% of your GDP depends on tourism, which is the case in Thailand.
After years of living here I have learned how to avoid scams but it really is remarkable how many of them there are around every corner in places like Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya, and even my home city of Chiang Mai.
Things get worse for travelers if they are coming here during peak season, which takes place from mid-December to mid-February.
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The most common scam in Thailand involves transport and nowhere is this more true than in tuk-tuks. Everyone wants to have a go at riding in this iconic vehicle, and I will admit when i was new here, so did I. There is no reason to feel bad about this. However, you will notice that anyone that has been here for any period of time NEVER takes this transportation and there is a reason for this. Most of the time, there is some sort of shady scam going on. I never seek out this sort of transport but when a friend was visiting they wanted to do it. I can speak Thai reasonably well and unlike a lot of tourists, I attempted to negotiate a price before we got in. The driver seemed annoyed that I was speaking Thai and I can only assume that this is because he now knows that there is less chance of pulling off a scam. He still conned us a little bit though because even though where we were going was just a few km's away, he was steadfast in his 100 Baht price for the journey. To put this in perspective this journey, in an air conditioned car acquired from Grab (same this as Uber) this journey would be less than half that much.
According to Mastercard, nearly 50% of all fraud in Bangkok comes from issues with taxis or transport of some sort and this really turns people off and puts them in a bad mood when they realize they have been "taken for a ride" by the driver. I know plenty of people that were offered very low priced transportation that suddenly found themselves being harassed into going into a tailor or gem store, which are themselves also a scam.
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now that I have lived here for a while I always chuckle a little bit when I am in a taxi and we go by a custom suit shop and there is a tuk tuk or "meter taxi" parked out front. I know immediately that there are some tourist in there that are completely confused and probably upset about what is going.
There are a ton of scams in Thailand and i would highly advise that anyone that is visiting here read a list of the common one before coming to Thailand. This blog does a pretty good job of identifying most of them and I have been subjected to almost all of these at one point or another.
This designation by Mastercard is a very bad thing for Thailand tourism because as I have noticed with my own eyes both in person and what I read online, Thailand is starting to see some backlash from the overall tourism industry as many people are now opting to go to Malaysia, Vietnam, and even Cambodia instead of coming here. I'm not saying there are no scams in those places as well because there probably is, but at the moment Thailand is becoming quite renowned for it.
Mastercard designated these places as the places with the highest levels of reported scams of any tourist destination in the world..
- Cancun, Mexico (understandable)
- Hanoi, Vietnam
- Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Jakarta, Indonesia
For me, I tend to be on my guard when I travel and get at least some level of information about the area before I arrive. When I see people getting scammed over here in Thailand often I will shake my head in disbelief because it seems so obvious to me. But then again I try to remember how it was when I arrived here for the very first time and I too was "ripe for the picking" as far as scams were concerned.
Will Thailand see any noticeable drop in tourism? Well, I think they already are to be honest as many of the tourism places here in Chiang Mai seem rather deserted compared to years past. As the saying goes, you reap what you sow, and while I feel bad for the legitimate workers out there, this is a problem that can only be fixed by the people that work in it. If they keep going for a quick buck with scams, the internet world is going to expose them and people are going to choose to go elsewhere. I fear that Thailand will only do something to remedy this once it is too late for those actions to have any real impact.
If you have a bad experience the chances are you will never return and piss off enough people and you will suffer the consequences. Last week I was given a counterfeit note in my shopping change and instead of cursing I made sure I offloaded it straight back at the shop that gave it to me. An easy fix, but not if you are travelling and unaware of scams until after the event.
While I have only fallen victim to a few minor scams in my time over here in Thailand I have become very aware of their existence and it is just saddening to me that they exist in such great numbers. The worst part if the authorities are very aware that they exist but do nothing to stop them until it makes international news. Then, they will do some sort of fake program to make it appear as though they are doing something then completely walk away from it as soon as the news hits in reverse. A good version of this is the jetski scam when some British soldiers documented it very thoroughly and it went viral. The government stepped in, made a big deal about how much they care about the visitors, for about 3 months... The jetski scam is now back in full force and I for one am just stunned at how many visitors get taken by this. It's extremely well known but a lot of people still fall for it. It's kind of like the "National palace is closed today" scam that is pulled in the park that is within sight of the national palace. How is that still going on?
Thanks for sharing such an eye-opening perspective. It's really frustrating to hear about widespread scams, especially knowing how much Thailand relies on tourism. It's a shame that a few bad apples can sour the experience for so many. Hopefully, the industry takes notice before it's too late.
You're correct, scams mostly happen in public transport especially if you're a foreigner. They would really take advantage of you being new in the place and still getting used to places. That's why it's best to haggle sometimes. I mean you have a lot to gain than lose in haggling. Good thing you speak their language. That's a big advantage. :)
I don't think haggling with a taxi driver that is intending to not take you where you asked to go is going to help very much. There are stories of people just being abandoned by their taxi driver once they are at the gem shop or tailor and they harass the heck out of them until they agree to buy something. Some of these situations become violent.
This article is helpful for travelers who want to visit these places. Awareness is the key.
I feel bad that bad experience. It's good to be scammed as it makes us feel dumb in some ways ..I hope they take action for that happening there before it's too late ..
Sadly, they wont take action in any way that is meant to actually solve anything. They will pretend to for a few months and then go back to business as usual.
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