Thanks for sharing your experience here in Thailand! Sounds like you've avoided most (except the boat trip) of the traps lol. And thanks so much for the tip!
Just hold out your hand palm down and wave it back and forth gently as you keep walking. This means "no" here.
I'm certainly going to be using this tomorrow. I'm sure I'll need it more than once! :)
lol - glad to help.
btw, I got into a taxi yesterday on the way to extend my Thai Visa. The driver had the meter on but started telling me he needed more money for tolls and a fee for paying them. "Only 200 baht!" There was no reason to even go on the highway from where I was. I got out at the next light and think my 60 baht payment was a steal.