Barely five minutes after hitting the streets of Bangkok, a jolly, friendly fellow approached. Conservative and 50ish, the short man put himself head-on into our path and opened with a warm greeting and big smile.
“Hello! First time in Bangkok?”
“Hi, nope.”
“Oh, I am teacher!” The man gestured vaguely as if his school were right around the corner. “Where are you from?”
“Sweden,” Bob replied.
“Oh, guess where I go on Monday—AmsterDAM! And guess why—honeyMOON!” He put his palms together and gave a little bow.
“Congratulations!” Bob and I said.
“Where you go now?”
“MBK market.”
His face falls. “Oh, I’m sorry, it is closed today. Holiday!”
“Well, we’ll just walk around then. Goodbye!”
Short and sweet. He didn’t persist, like most of his ilk. But the man was a scammer of the gentlest kind. MBK market, a huge mall not far from our encounter, was certainly not closed, and neither was it a holiday. The man simply wanted to reroute our day. He wanted to take us to a tailor, a gem shop, or a souvenir shop he knows of (his “brother’s,” of course), where he’d collect a little commission just for bringing us.
While this is a fairly harmless scam, it can lead to serious disappointment. I heard about several visitors who were detoured from their intended destinations by their taxi drivers, thereby losing perhaps their only opportunity to visit the Grand Palace, or the floating market, or wherever they were headed.
Sound naive? To quote myself:
Cynicism is an unnatural state for a traveler who has come far to experience a new land and unfamiliar customs. We’re prepared to accept our local hosts, however alien or exotic they seem to us. After all, it’s their country. We want to like them. Yet, we don’t know how to read these foreigners, even though they may seem just like us. We can’t always interpret their body language, their facial expressions, their gestures. We’re at a distinct disadvantage as tourists and travelers, due to our nature as much as our innocence.
I’ve heard of this tout scam being reversed to the visitor’s advantage. Let a taxi or tuk-tuk driver take you to three shops and collect his commissions. In exchange, the driver should be at your service for the rest of the day.
3 Comments
To be fair, I’ve gotten “free” taxi rides to commission paying places before since I told them in Thai that I knew they would get a commission. The MBK electronics are on the top floor is unreal. They can fix any phone.
Ah yes, I remember well the taxi driver who took us to the wrong outdoor fish restaurant. We saw immediately that the fish did not feel well. By then, the driver was gone.
Next day, new driver. ” I take you better shoe store!” One year later, python pumps no longer white. Yellow.
But the stories have lasted 20 years.
Ah, yes, one of the “10 Commandments” of travel in Thailand:
“If anyone approaches you on the street (or other public place), whatever they offer, thou shalt not buy it.”
I’ve lived in Thailand over five years.
Bob’s approach is the most effective: just keep on walking.
And not to get angry or upset or hostile, because the approach person certainly has “friends” lingering nearby.
I respectfully disagree with those who claim they have “reversed” this scam, saying a taxi driver is then at their service for the rest of the day.
Better to not get entangled with those people at all; not in any way.
Just keep on walking away from them.
Peter
Thailand