Bangkok & Thailand Scams - Thai Gem & Tailor Scams

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Gem and Seafood Scam In One Day!

Monday, 09 June 2008

It started as a nice day and a trip to the grand Palace. After my family completed sightseeing at the grand palace we decided to walk to Wat Pho(The Reclining Buddha)..

On our way there, a tuk tuk driver attempted to stop us claiming that wat pho was closed but we ignored the driver and proceeded onwards. A few minutes later, we stumbled upon a Tourist Police. He too claimed that Wat Pho was closed for some royal ceremony.. We trusted him since he was a "police officer" even showing us his authority card!

Then, he suggested for us to go to the "Lucky Buddha Temple" and even got us a tuk tuk at a 'discounted price'. He said that the "lucky temple" was for the royal families only and we were lucky today because it was only open to the public for today..

When we arrived, we were greeted by a "surprised" "caretaker" for the temple. He claimed to be a royal architect and was in charge of the temple. He too repeated the tourist police's story and even offered a 'free guided tour' around the temple. By the way, he kept repeating that we were "very luck today"(at least 20 times =D). He also told us about the various gems decorating the buddha statues especially sapphires, rubies and diamonds claiming to: "Bring Happy, Lucky, Long life"

At the end of the tour, he asked us who recommended us to come here.. He then suggested to go to the "Royal" Lapidary Factory which is meant for royalties only but it was opened to the public today with huge discounts because it was their 30th anniversary. Then he got us a "discounted" cab ride to the lapidary.

The lapidary was truly a touristy destination with free drinks and even an orientation video. We sensed something wrong and refused to purchase anything..

Later, we took a taxi back to the pier so we could take a boat back to the city.. The driver insisted to take us for a "motor boat ride along the khlong". When we refused, he took a much longer route and dropped us at an isolated place. Luckily we managed to find our way out through the back alleys to the pier.

We took a boat and got off at pier 5 to go to Yaowarat(chinatown). After visiting chinatown, we wanted to go to Hua Lamphong to ride an MRT back to the hotel.. We met a smartly dressed man who spoke good english claiming to be the owner of a nearby shop..

He chatted with us for a few minutes before reccomending us to go for a "fresh seafood dinner" at SomboonDee Seafood Market. He called over a waiting tuk tuk to pick us and "negotiated" for a cheap fare.

The driver happily brought us to a place near a railway line. Address: Phayathai Rd, Rajthavi.. When we entered the restaurant, we were brought straight to the seafood selection without any menu and we felt pressured to select. We only picked 2 seafood items(1 fish, 4 prawns) and a vegetable dish.

The bill for 4 of us was 4200 baht! With this price, we could have gotten a live seafood feast back home!

For those going to Thailand, remember:
- Never talk to smartly dressed guys speaking good english who approach you
- Dont walk with a map in hand(we were only mobbed when we stopped to look at the map)
- Dont trust anyone who approaches. Even the tourist police
-Dont trust the tuk tuks and taxi drivers(better to pay more for the MRT or skytrain)
- The temples are never closed!

Comments (45) Add Comment

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written by Jason, Thu 03 Jul 2008 13:16:52 CDT

Don't go to Phaya Thai Seafood either .. overly priced for 3 people and only 2 platters with no alcoholic drinks it was over 6000baht ...

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written by Bangkokscams Admin, Thu 03 Jul 2008 15:16:02 CDT

Thanks for the story. Bangkokscans have forwarded the story to our connections at the Tourist Police HQ.

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written by Drew, Wed 09 Jul 2008 23:48:16 CDT

I also was scammed by someone who took me to the Somboondee restaurant, he showed me around bangkok for a bit and then took me for a meal, when it came to the bill he told me he had no money. I was stuck with a bill of 1500 bt, the manager was also trying to charge me with shrimp I did not order.
I don't know how I got scammed, I must be stupid as I knew about scams like this and I don't trust people, though thay are good at scamming in Bankok.

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written by mike, Thu 24 Jul 2008 01:30:52 CDT

100% true what is written here, don't trust anybody and don't spend money.
best you don't visit the country and spend money somewhere else.

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written by joey, Thu 24 Jul 2008 09:45:59 CDT

what Other countrys are good for similar to thailand ie beaches and shopping and great food?

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written by tm, Fri 25 Jul 2008 03:17:22 CDT

try Malaysia

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written by mickey, Sat 26 Jul 2008 22:58:18 CDT

If someone smiles at you in Thailand , dont trust them

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written by Ben, Sun 27 Jul 2008 21:50:18 CDT

We agree - Malaysia has just about all the good points of Thailand but we came across no rip-off merchants! Sad but true, Thailand has a lot of wonderful qualities but doesn't deserve the tourism until this (and the sex trade and animal abuse) are sorted out. But we tourists are also guilty of encouraging this if we fall for scams (or overpay continually), pay for bar-girls and visit so called 'Tiger Temple' etc.

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written by Kumar, Singapore, Tue 14 Oct 2008 13:06:16 CDT

Stay away from Somboondee Seafood Market, if you can.

Three miserable prawns, some fleshless crabs, a bony fish and ordinary vegetables cost us 5,500 baht. The place is quite run down. Didn't seem popular or well patronised.

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written by Scammed again, Tue 14 Oct 2008 14:06:12 CDT

Aggressive scammers are all over the place these days.
Many of them work at the entrance to Thailand's main tourist attractions.
I went to the Grand Palace today. A well dressed scammer was lying to tourists at the gate, in front of the security guards!
The Tourist Police know this, take kickbacks and let them continue.
5 years ago, my nephews got scammed real bad. My Thai wife accompanied them to the Tourist Police.
The Tourist Police were not very helpful. In fact they said they get so many complaints "they were bored" helping the throngs of scammed tourists.

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written by tx, Fri 19 Dec 2008 15:02:41 CST

try bali :)

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written by cocker spaniel, Tue 03 Feb 2009 03:04:57 CST

#1 I suggest anyone visiting Bangkok for the first time, read this and forums like trip advisor and as much info as possible. There are some people in Thailand who are actually good. However just like anywhere else in the world there are some not so good. People around the world can scam you, it's just some are a lot more straight forward and shameless about it.

There are only a few Somboon's. About 5 or 6. Somboon has such a big name in Thailand many people try to copy them. You will know if your bill comes out to over 1000 baht for 2 people. I suggest others go to the Somboon website and find out what and where are the branch's.

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written by Look, Tue 03 Feb 2009 12:59:48 CST

Look guys , Scammer is very common, therefor plz understand this is a minority of thais.

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written by Luna Rossa, Wed 25 Mar 2009 22:51:52 CDT

Hi THEWOODY! I am wondering why u said "u sensed there is something wrong" at the Royal Lapidary. Soooooo sorry to ask dear but I was there March last year & bought a couple of gems. Both View (saleslady) & MIew (manager) were very nice to me & my husband. She even advised that if I want to purchase diamond I might as well get in Manila because diamonds in Manila & Thailand are from South Africa but price in Manila is way much cheaper than in their store. I was given a big discount & when I had the gemstones checked by a jeweler in Manila he said I got gemstones of high quality. No flaws, brilliant cut.

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written by Jean, Sat 30 May 2009 15:12:57 CDT

"- The temples are never closed!", well i think they do sometimes, like when the kings visit, etc. coz I was inside grand palace, the officer used a very loud speaker to tell everyone that temple is going to close at 12 pm, because the king will visit. I'm sure it's true, coz they're about to close the big entrance, and stop all the tourists that wanted to enter.

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written by TheWoody, Sat 30 May 2009 16:38:31 CDT

hi TheWoody, if you still read this article, is this the same guy from Lucky temple? coz he also told us the same thing about being the royal architect and suggest us to go to royal lapidary :

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/8518/royallap.jpg

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written by airin yulinda, Tue 08 Dec 2009 13:55:19 CST

i just got robbed phaya thai seafood. i ordered kailan, crab, garlic slice beef, scallop with oyster sauce and rice for 4 people. includi drinks. And the bill come to 10,000 THB or $300 USD!! I was shock! Don't go to that restaurant!

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written by Khun Issani, Wed 09 Dec 2009 10:15:14 CST

@arin, You no look price menur

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written by Dave & Roy, Thu 17 Dec 2009 04:20:00 CST

Me and my mate got scammed last October in Bangkok.We checked into Baiyoke Suite Hotel about 6.30pm and after freshening up decided to go to the Baiyoke Sky bar for a few drinks cos we didn't fancy venturing very far on our first night.After leaving about 1.30am we were reluctantly persuaded to take a tuk tuk ride to"a very nice seafood restaurant".Like a fool i chose the biggest live lobster in the tank thinking it was only 650 baht per person.Ended up costing me 11,500 baht.Just noticed from the photos that it was the SomboonDee restaurant.

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written by Michele, Thu 17 Dec 2009 10:11:27 CST

Dave and Roy, sorry to hear about the rip off, how much did the lobster actually cost?

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written by Dave & Roy, Thu 17 Dec 2009 15:37:52 CST

Well it said 650 baht above the tank but i didn't see the small print which was per 100 grammes.

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written by Michele, Thu 17 Dec 2009 17:08:14 CST

Thanks Dave & Roy, the reason I asked was, half a kilo of cooked lobster should cost between 1,500/2,000bt? So it sounds to me like they really done you over unless you ordered champagne as well?

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written by Traveller, Thu 17 Dec 2009 21:28:27 CST

Never ever eat in a Thai restaurant where the menus dont have prices, if the menu does not have menus ask the waiter for the price or leave. If a nice speaking Thai talks to you and reccomends somewhere to go.
just say no thanks and walk away.

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written by Dave & Roy, Thu 17 Dec 2009 23:57:31 CST

No champagne just a few beers but thanks for your advice. Gonna stick to the street food next time which was delicious and inexpensive.

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written by jacob, Fri 18 Dec 2009 06:15:50 CST

geeezus 11500 FOR DINNER INSANCE.

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written by Michele, Fri 18 Dec 2009 09:10:05 CST

Dave & Roy, be careful of the street food, especially seafood, hygiene is not a priority for street stalls!
May I recommend some eating establishments in Bangkok:MK (Everywhere), Greyhound (Emporium), S&P, (Everywhere), Fuji (Everywhere).

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written by TheWoody(OP), Tue 12 Jan 2010 20:08:04 CST

Quote:
""hi TheWoody, if you still read this article, is this the same guy from Lucky temple? coz he also told us the same thing about being the royal architect and suggest us to go to royal lapidary :

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/8518/royallap.jpg ""

This is the Exact Same Guy people! Cant believe he's still there scamming. We should post this pic up somewhere.

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written by pj_in_bangkok, Sun 17 Jan 2010 21:37:46 CST

We went to roya temple after police man told us to go there, then royal factory. Told us Golden Buddha was closed at 3:30. Met that same man there, who now claimed he was waiting for his wife and son who were meditating. Said he was a heart doctor. He told the tuk tuk driver to take us to Royal Lapidary. We looked around and realized it wasn't above board. "Only day it's open to public" changed from once this year to once in 33 years. Yet they were set up with intro. movie? Sales lady WAY to pushy. Claimed they were closing when she realized we weren't going to buy anything. It was an adventure, at least!

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written by thai-speaking foreigner, Wed 03 Feb 2010 00:57:46 CST

luckily i speak thai very well (with a more proper accent than most normal thai workers) - i lived here till i was 15 and kept up with the language. now 27 and having spent the last 12 abroad, i recently moved back a month ago.
I met two italian ex-colleagues of mine from times in Amsterdam - their first night in bkk. i presume we went to SOMBOONDEE - SEAFOOD RESTAURANT IN PHAYATHAI. persuaded by a crooked taxi driver. Like dave & roy we took lobster - my guard was dropped and the management ushered us quickly to pick out some live crustacean.
2 lobster, 6 tiger prawn, tom yum, rice, 6 beers & a simple vegetable dish - the bill was bt19,185.

I knew we were being scammed, and my italian friends know the price of seafood in a certain bay queen elizabeth orders her lobster from in Sardinia. We kicked up a big fuss. I even weighed out a litre of water on the scales to show there was a 100g discrepancy with each weighing. After many threats from both sides, we managed to drop them down to 8,000baht - which I still view as a rip off. Part of me wishes we got the police involved, but relieved it didn't come to that.

if you realise you're being scammed - give them some of their own back. threaten to get the police and tourist police involved. We were lucky i speak thai - and i was lucky i had friends with knowledge of market value. tenacity works, and don't be ashamed to cause a scene. the foreigners laughing at us at the other table when we refused to pay right away weren't laughing when they walked past us on the way out.

In their bill, they put down 60baht for towels and rinsing water!

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written by Scorpian, Wed 03 Feb 2010 04:17:56 CST

Call the Police? Now that IS funny.
Thai Police run these places.

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written by Khun Zhang, Wed 03 Feb 2010 09:45:00 CST

Really sad to read the posts above, but even sadder when I know that all the restauarnts involved are CHINESE Thai owned, as a Huan decendant I am so ashamed of this practice. I have lived in the USA for over 23 yrs (emigrated @ 4 yrs old) and visit Thailand once a year to visit relatives. Chinese Thais really know how to shoot theselves in the foot!

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written by pinkcarol, Fri 05 Mar 2010 14:20:58 CST

I am just back from a 3 week holiday in Thailand and Malaysia and cannot agree with the comment about going to Malaysia instead. The country is dirty, and the drains VERY smelly, even in a holiday island like Langkawi, and the capital KL. We did not find the people friendly. And they are also keen to take too much money from you, for anything. The government is trying to tighten up on unauthorised taxi drivers, which is a help, I suppose.

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written by rafaela, Wed 17 Mar 2010 21:18:55 CDT

the same same thing happened to us now (march 2010), tourist police then the royal temple (only opened for that day) and we believed every word they say.
my husband almost bought me some rubies in the way to the "loyal factoly", once there we found out it was the tramp we've taken 2 years ago!
everyone take you to that place. why is that??????????????????

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written by Luigi Visconti, Thu 18 Mar 2010 11:16:41 CDT

" why is that?????????????????? "

@ rafaela, don't understand, please expain?

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written by kl, Thu 18 Mar 2010 19:12:48 CDT

i just got con 120kbath buying a set...

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written by na, Sat 03 Apr 2010 15:05:08 CDT

Hi…I had a terrible experience too. We have to do something with this SCAM SomboonDee restaurant. Please send your experience to

Office of the Consumer Protection Board of Thailand:

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

http://www.ocpb.go.th/main_contact.asp

Please spread the news to your friends as many as possible.

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written by RO, Sat 01 May 2010 12:05:19 CDT

I got a full refund from Royal Lapidary Co. Ltd. I got a credit card refund receipt before I left Bangkok and the money hit my account about 20 days later. Call Mr. Seahta Pattanakaew at 66-02-243-0047 for help. He is the manager of Royal Lap. They do reward the tuk-tuks for bringing you but I'm not sure their products are bogus. Maybe just overpriced for tourists.

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written by Danny Nind, Mon 19 Jul 2010 13:02:33 CDT

I hate that Somboondee restuarant with a passion! I cant believe they're getting away with this every day.

Ill explain for the benifit of anyone who reads this (prepare yourself) how we ended up spending 3500 between 2 of us, for some very simple food - 2 king prawns, 1 red snapper, some rice, some veg, and 2 beers. The red snapper tasted like mud aswell, had to pile all the sauce on it to make it edible.
An old thai man tried to stop us in the street just before Khaosan Road, just talking general stuff, tried to ignore him but he came back with some very polite touristy type questions so we answered and then found ourselves in a conversation. He wrapped it up by telling us he had to go to the hospital as his wife was having his baby! Congratulations I said. But now i know he was probably lying. The bastard. Then he said where you go to now? We told him we were going to get some food from a reastuarant around Khao san, and he started laughing in that 'oh you silly tourists!' kind of way. He explained that the department of health had investigated a load of restuarants around that area and found them to be very dirty and unsafe to eat at. This we 100% didnt believe as they are obviously way cleaner than the street food places. He explained he often eats at this seafood market with his family, he was there just last week infact, delicious seafood and VERY cheap and authentic, no tourists. At this point we thought hes really trying to sell us something but despite trolling through forums about scams before I came to Thailand, Id never heard of any restuarant scam. Just thought he was trying to score some local thais, perhaps his mate, some business. So we decided to spend our money locally. Jumped in a tuk tuk that he said was only 20baht (alarm bells were sounding a little here). Got there, no menu, just pick your seafood from a giant ice chest full of fish on display. Picked the food, then he said and some rice and veg yes? We said yes, sat down and ordered two beers. I didnt think it was going to be cheap as he said, I expected it to be around 1000, was shocked when it was 3400. Although it could have been worse, as Ive read above, I think people need to be more aware of this scam as its not very well documented. Ill certainly be warning others. This happened 2 nights ago and the top post on this page is from 2008, so they must have made a mint doing this.

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written by omic, Sun 03 Oct 2010 21:57:13 CDT

yes, happened to me 10 years ago, first time ever in thailand. friendly tuk-tuk driver suggested the place after he realised i had just arrived in thailand for the first time. same story, no menu, mediocre food, about 2k baht for one person...

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written by SIFU, Wed 24 Nov 2010 15:11:00 CST

I just came back from Bangkok 3 days ago. Other than the flight delayed, I was scam to visit the Lampidary Jewelry Shop without force. My wife and me were surprise that 2 people stopped us and commented how lucky we were today to be in Bangkok. It all started when we step out from the Royal Temple a nice guy in tie approach us as we open up our map to find our directions. The same thing happen like those above... "YOU ARE SO LUCKY TODAY.... IT IS A SPECIAL DAY.... YOU MUST GO TO WAT SUTRAT .. THE TEMPLE IS ONLY OPEN FOR TOURIST TODAY ONLY... FOR SPECIAL OCCASION.... MUST GO .. OPEN ONCE A YEAR......" continue.... YOU ARE SO LUCKY AGAIN... ROYAL LAMPIDARY GIVING SPECIAL DISCOUNT FOR TODAY BECAUSE 30th ANNIVASARY.... 30% WILL BE GIVEN...... MUST GO... THE KING AND QUEEN GET THEIR JEWELRY FROM THERE... THEY ARE GIVING SPECIAL RATE TO TOURIST TODAY ...AND ONLY TODAY.... So the passer by got us a Tut Tut and bargain for us. We were directed to Wat Sutrat first... when reaching there, I kept on wondering if we were scam... but all our belongings are still attached and no cash was lost. Once reached the temple, we quickly rush into the temple affraid that the temple is going to close because it was reaching late evening.. There we met the second guy, dress fully atire with tie and look professional...introducing.. himself...he is a MANAGER from MITSUBISHI MOTORS THAILAND.. on leave today to conduct some prayers with the family at the same temple... The same story..."YOU ARE VERY LUCKY....... TODAY... THE TEMPLE IS OPEN TODAY FOR TOURIST ONLY...... The temple looked deserted... and calm but it is really magnificent...inside. We prayed and made our way back to the tut tut.... We kept trying to think positive not to be scamed by these people but at the end of the day we still end up at Lampidary.

The sales people were very experience. They ask where we are from? Both of you are loving couple.. and etc.........anyway we have planned to get some jewels once in Thailand but we make sure it is from a reputable shop.

We got the jewelries and left the store happily. In the other hand we were happy, when they voluntered to chauffer us back to the hotel in their limo. "What great service" I said to my wife.

Everything went well for the whole day, and we prayed that we weren't being scam. For those first time travelling in BKK... just stay away from smart dress people and their sweet talk.

Happy Travelling.. Amazing Thailand... anything can happen....

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written by art bell, Tue 01 Feb 2011 21:27:20 CST

Shame on Royal Lapidary!! Trying to see the Grand Palace, a nicely dressed man (said he was a history professor) engaged us in conversation and gave us the "line" about the palace only being open from 3 to 6 (it was about noon when we met him). He suggested we go to the Royal Lapidary shop, and what do you know, a tuk-tuk pulled up just then. We stopped first at the Lucky Buddha where another nicely dressed man (near the turtle pond) urged us to get to the Royal Lapidary as quickly as possible, since this was one of the only days it was open to tourists. We were taken through the "shop" but mysteriously all the workmen were out to lunch (right). AVOID THE ROYAL LAPIDARY SHOP--it is hand-in-glove with a network of scam artists.

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written by piumino49, Sat 04 Jun 2011 18:10:11 CDT

well, Somboonde is a mess. it´s not just overpriced, they are crooks. 3 tiger prawns at a wight and on a price of half a kilo each, never go there! we feel always very happy in Thailand but this was the worst experience we ever had around the world.
And the end of the story: They charge service twice, in the bill at additional costs and cash on top of what you have to pay anyway.
We will make a TV-report about Somboonde next timne when we are in Bangkok.

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written by superman, Fri 20 Jan 2012 14:20:22 CST

Was in BKK 2 years ago and was also a victim of the somboonde market seafood. Anyway just to clear things up, we did find the REAL place which instead is called "somboon seafood" resturant with the instructions from the hotel. From their name card, there are 5 outlets, Bantadthong, Surawong, Ratchada,Udomsuk and SamYan. Somboon seafood served good seafood there with reasonable prices unike the cut throat prices you get at somboonde market seafood, but place go early as the place is often packed.

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