Please report all your scams while on holiday in Thailand. We will either send our undercover team to investigate or report directly to our contact in the Tourist Police if we think that there is already enough evidence to prosecute. With your help, we can make a difference.
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Written by recycling
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Friday, 25 August 2006 |
Just came back couple days ago from Bangkok. on e 2nd last day of my
trip 22 Aug 06, me & my gf met this dark Thai guy (Thai No. 1)
outside Isetan, world trade centre, at e 2 shrines. His opening line
was talking about how to pray to e elephant god but his accent was
quite thick so we din really catch what he was saying.
After that, he asked us where we were going (Pratunam market),he
recommended us to go to pray to "Lucky Buddha" before going there.
"Lucky Buddha" is opened only once a month to the public, so we thought
we were really lucky & he went on to ask what we were working as
& he said he been to S'pore a few x & he'll be going there nxt
chinese new year as he has lawyer friends there, he's been to lucky
plaza, sim lim etc. He even showed us his Thai ID. Thai No. 1 is short,
fat, dark & in his 50s, speaks English with a thick accent like has
phlegm in his throat.
Then he told us about this jewellery shop also only open once a month
to tourists but they only limited to buying one set at discounted
price, cause the shop is a wholesaler to big jewellery shops in s'pore
like ang chang, poh heng etc & it charges 100% export tax to them.
Once again, we thought we were lucky.
He then called for a tuk tuk (told us to hire tuk tuk with only blue
uniforms & yellow tags cause they're regulated... can anyone verfiy
if it's true?) to take us to "Lucky Buddha" temple ie. Wat
Disallongsaram (near Bangkok Palace Hotel), followed by the jewellery
shop & finally our destination (Pratunam).
Upon reaching the temple which was like located inside a small road,
the tuk tuk driver waited for us while we went in. It was a rather
small temple with many stray dogs running around (minimum 30). We
couldn’t really locate e door as we saw 2 wooden doors but they were
closed. As we went round the corner, a Thai man appeared out of nowhere
& we asked him where the entrance was. He said “oh u’re not thais?”
& brought us in. My gf had noticed later on he was wearing socks
with sandals despite his long sleeved shirt & pants attire.
After praying to the “Lucky Buddha” (come to think of it now, there was
only this huge Buddha which looked kinda cramp inside accompanied by a
few other statues, it seemed really run down compared to other
temples), he told us it was 100 yrs old & only opened once a month
to public cause other days of the month are for the monks to pray for
the thai people.
Then he asked us how we got to know of this temple & of course we
told him about thai man no. 1 (cause not many ppl will know about this
place….. yeah right), & where we were going next. He then told us
about the same story about how e jewellery shop was giving discounts
& only for tourist open once a month etc etc, in between asking us
what jobs we held. (seems like checking out if u’re rich enough to buy
jewellery)
He then pulled out a receipt from his pouch for a set of sapphire
jewellery (like for ear rings, bracelet the lot) which was priced at
$96,200 Baht or about US$2,600.00 (which was stated there, probably for
potential prey to have an easier convsersion). Told us he was a silk
businessman flying to London morrow where he’ll sell it off at Harrods
for twice e price or US$5,000. He actually had a loophole at one point
but we din realize that time, ie. He mentioned only tourists could buy
1 set at discounted rates so how could he an authentic thai buy it at a
discount. Thai No. 2 is slim & in his late 40s, he has got big bug
eyes & as he talks u’ll see his eyes open quite big.
After we left the temple, the tuk tuk brought us to the jewellery shop
“Yindee Lapidary Co Ltd”. The staff welcomed us warmly & spoke not
bad English. The shop was empty except for a Caucasian family who were
selecting gems. The boss, a thai Chinese in his 50s (with a big nose
& long ears) would welcome us warmly & offered us drinks
(saying even if you don’t buy, it’s ok as they’re registered with
S’pore-Thai chamber of commerce, he’ll show you the book even). They’ll
then proceed to educate you on how to select gems & how to tell a
real one from a fake one, using a diamond tester (to convince you that
your purchase is real).
At this junction, another guy (turned out to be a Singaporean !!!)
who’ll come over & show his receipt to the boss (there’s other
staff around but why only to the boss?) & they seemed to know each
other well, like hi how are you etc? He’s in his 50s, slim, has gold
bracelet & rings encrusted with diamonds on his hands, probably to
impress you that he made $ through this method, when he talks he looks
toothless but has teeth in the upper row.
He then chit chatted with us like asking us where we were from &
say oh he’s from there too, later on breaking into our dialects to
strengthen the “bond” with you. He’ll tell us the same thing bout him
coming here to buy only 1 set with cert & all & selling it back
to local gold shops for a profit, been here 3 x but his wife never saw
it. He told us to tell the shop that we are buying it for personal use
but after that we sell it off later. As he left he din seem to collect
anything from the counter.
The staff would proceed to show us all the expensive sets of jewellery
& when my gf enquired on individual pieces then did they show us
separate pieces. We went down to view the cheaper pieces (so called
cheapest sapphire ring was at S$580), but we did not have any intention
on buying, so we left the place with just their namecard which they
welcomed us back again (my a**).
We were very lucky in that we didn’t purchase any gems or forced to
cause the gems you buy are not fake, they’ve certificates to prove
& diamond testers but just that the prices have been marked up
& are not as good quality as you think they are. We were even
considering buying some for investment the next time round till my very
good friend told me it was a scam & I looked it up.
The Thai government is fully aware of this problem but there’s nothing
they can do & credit card companies will not be at your side
either, so be warned !
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Tourists should be aware that Gemstones and Jewellery CAN NOT be sold at profit in their home countries. Regular suppliers who can sell far cheaper than you and money laundering regulations make this is impossible.
“Yindee Lapidary Co Ltd”. is well known in Gem scam circles.
http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bangkok/Scams/Sapphire.shtml