I think it's the first time you are travelling around. How many stupid people are travelling around!!

@Joseph, you don't have to be rude. Anothervictim is just sharing her/his story so other people dont fall for this scam.

These scams have been going on for decades now, never guy gemstones unless you can tell what they are and how much they are worth.

This is a very well and very plausable scam that has caught me out well and truly. Its a classic, you take a tuk tuk, they divert you to a few extra places at no extra charge, you meet a few "distinguished" gentleman that make you believe they are telling you a wonderful way to make money, you are then taken to the Golden Argosy Export Centre, lucky that you are as its the last day of a very special sale, and purchase your precious stone. Given the receipt and guarantee, all very believable, you trot off believing you have a money making gem in your hand. REALITY, you have been well and truly conned. We arrived home to have the necklace valued and guess what, it was only worth 1/4 of the price paid AVOID THESE PEOPLE AT ALL TIMES

These people at Golden Argosy are evil. Someday no turist will come to Bangkok.

I've seen this in many trips to bangkok, best to ignore any thai who approaches you on the street. This is not normal thai behavior so its 99.9% likely to be a scam. If you are near any know tourist sites then be especially prepared to run a gauntlet of these types.

Who wrote this? Is very poor english. Sounds like you are Thai.

If you come to Thailand but a Harry Potter invisibility cloak so no one can talk to you, only come out at night when everyone is sleeping and no one can scam you.:) Or as an alternative dont come? if you live in Thailand then if your not happy leave.

Jane,

Thanks for helping me make up my mind on where to spend my tourist dollars!!
I'll be sure and discuss with friends as well.

Does everyone fall for these scams in there home country?

I am a new victim!!!
When I try to remember what happened in the Golden Argosy, I have the feeling as if it was a dream. I am sure there was something (maybe in the room we might have inhaled) that influenced our thinking and behavior!

Same scenario happened to us. And we're veteran travellers!

Please ask Thailand Tourist Authority to stop these people damaging the good Thai reputation as a friendly and helpful nation.

we were invited to visit the lucky buddha which we did, where we met a lawyer, very well spoken and all.

He mentioned the oscar and we fell for it. Visited the jewelry store and spent about 800 euro for a bad quality ring. Next day I managed to get back my money (-15%) and got rid of the stupid ring.. This was really a very good scam as I never fall for this type of thing... just this time :)

We wre caught in the scam too..but by another jewellery store..
My hb is a veteran traveller too and yet we fell for it!!!!
Did u manage to get your $$ back? - anothervictim

I have reported to the thai embassy here and is waiting to go back thailand next month to meet the tourist police.

you can always decline the payment with the bank and the bank will take care of the shop you bought it from.. no worries . this scam has been going around for ages so be careful..

Same thing happened to my boyfriend and i, we were planning to go back to Thailand and take care of business there, but many people told me that these scam shops are backed by gangs. So we are taking an alternative way is through our credit card company and they are starting a investigation for our case now... WE will not find out till late this month... if i have any news, i will let you know

Hi, Same scam just happened to me this afternoon. I wish there is anything we can do to get the full refund back and stop them scamming tourist.

I have become one more statistic in the scam of tourists by the "Golden Argosy Factory Export." I won't repeat it all here because I find it well described on the web. Suffice it to say that I was fooled by meeting several different, seemingly independent people over several hours. Each person fell into a conversation and eventually added a small piece to the story of why the "government export exhibit" was so special. In the end this ended in tuk-tuk ride to Golden Argosy Factory Export where I bought a large sapphire ring.

I have returned home and have had the ring appraised. It is real, but I overpaid by 50% over what I paid for comparable jewelry at a very reputable shop. Reputable jewelry will appraise at at least 2X the "wholesale" price paid in Bangkok. This is the retail replacement cost.

So -- I am now trying to initiate returning the item and get my money back. I am looking for ideas and suggestions.

I am trying to call the Tourist Assistance Center; it's hard to get through and time zones need to be considered. I do not expect a lot of help here, but will press for help.

I am trying to find a business associate who is traveling to Bangkok, so that I can have the item hand carried back to the store. Is going to the store for a return safe? Will the police go along?

Is it useful to contact the American Embassy?

Will MasterCard get involved if there is known fraud? So far one person at my bank's MasterCard number has said verbally that they will not assist, since I approved the purchase at the time (my card needed call-in authorization due to a prior theft of the card number). I am putting the dispute in writing to MasterCard. This may be my most effective method. My view is that MasterCard must know that Golden Argosy Factory Export" has been heavily reported as fraudulent. I think MasterCard could have stopped the charge on that basis.

The "agreement" the Golden Argosy had me sign says they will refund up to 80% in the first three months. It includes the statement "Conditions applicable to customers who directly contact the company only." To me this is part of the many layered scam -- they are grossly dishonest, so I expect any contact with any other authority, like MasterCard would be cited as a reason to refuse a refund. I also do not trust mailing anything to Goldern Argosy. They can not be trusted what so ever.

Other ideas? I am not the type to let such a thing go.

Like other victims, I also fell into the trap this afternoon (Mar. 16, 2008) and thought buying Gem in those scammed stores will save some lots of money. The incident is exactly same as what most of people described on your web site, involving friendly thai in front of Grand Royal Palace telling me the palace is closed, best bargain price with 40Bah with Tutu driver, and the worst foreigner claimed himself coming from Belgium. All of them claimed only one week in each year, Government offer special promotion to public and allow tourist buying Jewelry at wholesale shop with less than half price. I purchased Blue Saphire and Red Ruby bracelets with about 135,000 Bah and don't even want to imagine how much they are really worth. I bought them really for persoanlly usage, although the "Belgium" guy cliamed those jewelry can be resold with double price. With a bit of suspiction, I search for "Golden Argosy Factory Export Center" and found out about the Gem scams on your web site. I am calling credit card company and Thai tourist police but none of them seem to be interested in helping me to get my refund. I am wondering if any of you have heard any news that the refund can be made 100%. If you do, please let me know. Thank you very much for posting those scams on the web site. Without your web site, I might think I bought those jewelry at decent price. Gosh, I don't even want to admit how stupid I am to fall into this trap.

add me to the list. :(

As a seasoned traveller, I too, fell for this scam with my wife.

Bought it from a place called the Oscar. Left a sour note on what would have been a great holiday in BKK.

Please update us on your progress in getting a refund. The web explains how the scam works and so on, but I (and many others) would prefer to know the solution we can undertake instead.

I read that it is pointless to go to the TAT as they are also part of the elaborate scam. My next course of action is to call up my credit card company and hope they can do something about it (fraudilant case). Would any of you recommend we rock up to the shop and demand a refund? It is rumoured (and probably true) that they are backed by the mafia and police, so going back to them is kind of dangerous.

I guess our best bet is to let our credit card company deal with them. Will update soon.

These stories prove exactly what we suspected! My wife and I, with 2 friends, were sightseeing in Bangkok on 9 March and went through all the experiences listed here - friendly man outside Grand Palace saying it was closed for the morning - tuk-tuk ride to the Lucky Buddha - driver going to the toilet - well-spoken man sitting in next car advocating blue sapphire "tax free sale" and then next stop was the Golden Argosy. The good thing it that we had no intention of parting with large sums of money for gems we had no previous intention to buy, and we benefited from free cold water and use of their toilets!

Ok, a follow up from my experiences as promised.

We made contact with the Attorney Director from the Ministry of Internal Trade, Mr Suchat and what an incredible man he is. Everything was done at his office (about an hour away by taxi) and it's worth the trip! We didn't even have to log a report with the Tourist Police nor did we have to revisit the place where we bought the gems from.

Upon reaching there, we explained our situation and Mr Suchat got all information from us. We showed him the gems and all paperwork. He then proceeded to contact The Oscar and within 5 minutes, someone returned his call. He spoke on our behalf. He then hung up and explained that the salesperson whom we bought the gems will call the office and speak to me.

True enough, 5 minutes later, I spoke to the salesperson and demanded a refund. As usual, she denied any wrong doing and said that the gems are true and everything is done correctly. I argued and said it is a scam and the gems are not worth what she claimed to be. Upon instructions from Mr Suchat, I told her that I demand a full refund and any problems that she has to be referred to Mr Suchat, who will be negotiating on our behalf. I then hung up.

5 minutes later, the phone rang. It was the big boss of the gem scam. He negotiated in Thai and sounded aggresive towards that person. After about 10 minutes, he said everything is going to plan and he and his team will negotiate on our behalf.

He said to leave the matter to him and we lodged a report right there and then. We even left the gems with him and all paperwork (we got photocopies and stamped copies). As we had to leave for the airport and catch an afternoon flight, we departed after having spent 1 hour at his office. We believe Mr Suchat and his men will do everyhing in their power to assist us.

We departed on Thurs evening and on Fri, we received an email from Mr Suchat that negotiations are still underway and going very well. Hopefully, I will have more to report sometime this week as they are closed for the weekend.

Will update soon.

My wife and I also fell for this Golden Argosy scam. Signed contract with 80% re-purchase value within 3 months. Discovered it was a scam a day after purchase, but had to return home early the next day and could not do anything on the spot. Could only contact the emergency number at our embassy and received some pointers on what action we could take. These include returning to Bangkok to try and get a refund or lodge a formal complaint with the authorities, or hiring a local lawyer from here to represent us.

Now having the items valued to know where we stand and will then decide on course of action.

What I find incomprehensible is that we are not inexperienced nor normally so naive and would never have indulged in such silly behaviour in our home country.

The other thing that surprises me is that such people can operate at all in spite of abundant and repeated evidence that they are basically thieves, which puts in question the wider issue of public safety in Thailand. In any case, the experience has tarnished our holiday in Bangkok and left a rather sour taste in our mouths about that country, which is a shame.

U can add another one to the count....was scammed at the Golden Argosy as well. The suave talking old man with the pin in his lapel surely gets an Oscar. EVil Evil Evil people. Just wondering if anyone has succeeded in getting their 80% refund without any incident. Is it even safe to go back to the shop itself? Noticed lots of 'guards' hanging around their building. Tried calling the credit card company to stop payment but to no avail. Anyways, the item that I bought is real but really overpriced as it is of the lowest quality sapphire which was heat treated! I got my item appraised by a gemologist as it was my birthday present! Now I cant even bear to look at the darn ring....Bummer.

Thanks to all that post their stories here. I just returned from BKK and avoided getting scammed at all in spite of multiple attempts just as described here (unless I was scammed and didn't even know it). My best advice is that you are on vacation- relax and stop trying to make a profit! Time enough for that in the daily grind.

that exact same story happened to me , exact same guy, lawyer. i took the cheap tuk tuk and never even went into golden argosy. so funny as i knew about it and just played along. very convincing however.

Phew! Finally, my case is over. If you read my other 2 posts, I have been a victim myself.

But thanks to Mr Suchat from the Ministry of Internal Trade negotiating on my behalf (I only met Mr Suchat on the day of my departure and was never in Bangkok during this negotiation phase), I managed to get the full amount back today (after almost 1.5 weeks).

In fact, we would have gotten our refund back earlier if it wasn't for the 2 public holidays we just had - Good Friday and Easter Monday.

Anyway, I'm extremely happy for what Mr Suchat and his team did for us. We will be sending a thank you card and a gift to his team as a token of appreciation. We learnt a huge lesson on scams and to trust strangers so easily. Thankfully, we didn't have to pay a huge price for this invaluable lesson.

Great news Ben!

I've been following your experience. I think it's a good sign that Mr Suchat managed to get a favourable conclusion for you. Maybe more people should contact him with their experiences, and hopefully, help disrupt such 'businesses'.

Well played for following it through.

Thanks Owl.

I hope those who fell victim to this scam will get a favorable outcome like me, and that was my intention to post my experiences here.

Mr Suchat can be contacted on This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Good luck!

Well, this is new kind of story for me. I know I could expect someone will try do like this to me but I doubt that one could make it. I have no pink glasses about Thais. This could be any country around, too. It is not only in Thailand. It is just about HOW MUCH YOU ARE NAIVE. Our expectations, in comming to Thailand, are based on brochures, cable tv, advertizing. That is what we think in arriving. Of course, first few weeks all is wonderfull,as in a dream. Later, you have a cold brain, you are thinking more, looking all around more careful and you are able to see many things of other kind.As a background.After all,even if nothing bad happened to you,you will be abke to see it is not what you had in minds,in comming here.Thailand is wonderfull country.All you have to do is SMILE but be cautious and will be no problems.In social,daily life,as you have to live here,by choice of your own,you will need to know

Ah, the memories... Me and my girlfriend embarked on this adventure but we were on scam alert mode, having been already scammed by a no-meter/broken meter taxi. So we believed the closed temple idea and wasted a good 2 hours. Eventually we went on with the scam and visited the stores because the tuk-tuk driver was a nice guy and he acknowledged that he recieves petrol coupons in exchange for the visits. The englishman/belge was a good saleman but the whole thing sounded fishy. We didn't buy anything because we have no experience in grading gemstones and we are poor. However being on scam-alert during an entire trip is sooo exhausting. Thailand is beautiful but these are certain traps that a first time visitor must watch out for. I'm actually stopping by again next month so like Bush says; fool me once shame on me, fool me twice.... (thinking...) you aint gonna fool me twice (smirk)

I really wonder how people can still fall for this. Don't get me wrong I feel sorry for you, but if in your home country someone you meet on the street tells you he has a great business opportunity for you. Do you believe him?
Really people. Don't blame Thailand. Similar scams with real estate are all over Europe too. All you have to blame is yourself and your greed. Especially since every travel book on Thailand tells you not to buy gemstones.

However I do find it unfortunate that now there is a promotion for certain jewelry stores on the TAT website. TAT used to have a warning on their site that there are no TAT authorized gem stores. Now that there are it is going to be even easier for the scam artists.

The Scam
One of the most pervasive scams in Thailand is the Thai gem scam. Typically, a tourist meets a friendly Thai at a tourist attraction who eventually offers to take them to a "government" gem stone shop where the tourist is told about how they can sell Thai "blue sapphires" or other gems back home and make a 100% profit. It is all lies, of course, and the tourist ends up with a pocket full of overpriced gems. Like Thais themselves, the scam is low-key and the touts are friendly rather than pushy. A rule of thumb for Thais is that "real" Thais do not just walk up to strangers and strike up a friendly conversation. Thais typically "speak when spoken to." If you are approached at a tourist attraction by a friendly fellow who just walks up and starts speaking to you, watch out!

Too many otherwise wonderful vacations have been ruined by this scam, so watch out. 2B has followed this scam online for nearly 5 five years and make no mistake--the authorities have done little to stop it. No official ever dares mention the "protected" gold shops that actually run the scams (UPDATE: Gold stores were finally mentioned in a Tourist Police brochure circa January, 2004). One of the tuk tuk drivers who takes victims to be scammed operates in front of the Tourist Information Centre and the local Police Station on Khao Sarn Road.

The funny thing is that over the years the reports are from the same locations--only the names of the stores change. Officials claim that just changing the name of the shop prevents them from doing anything to stop the scam. See our Family Tree of Corrupt Shops. As one shop owner bragged to some cheated tourists: "I'll reopen again, just like I have for 20 years!"

How it is done

This is a by-the-numbers scam. Most people have the exact same experience. It usually goes something like this:
1. You are riding in a tuk-tuk
2. The driver tells you that wherever you are going is closed for some reason.
3. The driver tells you he is specially trained to be helpful to tourists.
4. You are told the government has launched a promotion to sell gems to tourists.
5. In the course of riding around with the "friendly" tuk-tuk driver, you "accidentally" meet a well-dressed young man or an older, distinguished man.
6. The younger man claims he is a student. The older will claim he works for the government and shows you his government ID. (Thai IDs mean nothing. They are readily available for a small fee to anyone.)
7. The person you meet independently confirms the story the tuk-tuk driver told. (This is a nice touch.)
8. Eventually you ask to be taken to the "government" jewelry house and are told that you can make 100-150% profit by reselling the gems back home. It seems okay since the seller writes something like "if everything is not ok we will offer a full refund" and puts an official looking stamp on it.
9. You've now been cheated by one of the oldest and most openly practiced scams in Thailand.

We are the new victim, above story is our experience at Thailand on 7 april 2008. The person we meet was a west europeen young man. He looks like a traveler. And told us beter go to Golden Argosy.

see more victim story at: http://2bangkok.com/2bangkok/Scams/Sapphire.shtml

I experienced the same scam in BKK exactly as detailed in the many accounts, however I have a keen sixth sense and smelled a rat. On arrival at the gem center ( with a group of friends) myself and a friend sloped off and only returned after 40 minutes to find the other friends 'scammed' and unfortunately two had succumbed to the 'hard sell' I pride myself on a wise decision, or maybe I am just LUCKY !!

Ben, please tell me you're not a part of this scam! I fell victim myself on my last day in Bangkok. I don't know why, I was really cautious throughout my travels. For some reason my guard was down and I got scammed. Dammit I'm so pissed off at myself. I want to contact Mr. Suchet, but I don't know who to trust anymore! Anybody else have any luck with getting their money back? Please post if you do. Ben I hope you're not a part of this scam. Sorry, but like I said, I don't know who to trust anymore. It's been a real expensive lesson in life.

I was also a victim of this scam, I experienced the same steps during my visit to Bangkok. But when I came back to Hotel I could smell a rat and went back to the shop next day to return the goods. Surprisingly no questions asked, they sign one more agreement saying you are returning this voluntarily and then they issue you a manual credit voucher for 80% of the good value. They promised that money would be credited back to my account in 15 working days.

I got back the credit in 10 days, they still made 20% for nothing.

Thanks to all the contributors in this blog, which alerted me and could atleast get back 80%

You can add me to the list, like the rest of the seasoned travllers I have fallen victim. After reading all your postings that I can't believe I was duped by the friendliness of the thai's and I too thought I was lucky.
I doubt I will ever get my money back but if Ben's suggestion on contacting Mr Suchat on This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it works please let me know as I am back in Australia and doubt that I will travel to Bangkok to recover my money. I was hoodwinked at the SNP Jewlry store. I have a photo of the tuk tuk driver, I wonder if that would help my cause for justice.

John, I'm curious as to why you accused me of being part of this scam? Would scammers spend time on forums and explain how to get your money back? Would they give a detailed report on their progress each day? In fact, I wouldn't be here as I'll be too busy out there scamming others!!

If you don't trust me or believe what I have written, I think it is pointless for me to even reply any further.

Having said that, good luck in getting your money back.

Adrian,

I am an Australian too and got 100% of my money back (despite I have left the country). Mr Suchat did all the negotiations for me and he's a champ.

I'd recommend that you send an email to Mr Suchat and tell him your problem. He might be able to help you. Tell him you know of my experiences and how he has helped me in the past before. My name is Bernard Ng and he should remember me.

Good luck.

Here's the full account of my story that I wrote on another reputable website.

http://2bangkok.com/2bangkok/Scams/sapp56.shtml

John dont worry mate just send me your credit card details and I will get your refund plus 200% profit. If your interested let me know! You are all so sad as to buy something you dont want, only because you saw a profit!!!! why the f--k do you expect everyone to help you out when you were only after profit ? tough shit if you dont like it then get scammed in your own country and save us the burden of reading your pathetic sob stories. you bunch of losers. If you had doubled your money you would be telling people how clever you were - - - guess what ----you aint!!!!!

These people are everywhere around Bangkok. They pretent to be friednly, but stab you from the back. There are so many other beautiful places around the world, why should I come back to Thailand? I had misereble vacation there; people tried to trick us everywhere we went.

Advice, to you all... Do NOT go to Thailand (especially Bangkok); it will ruin your vacation. Plus, the place is dirty; the air and water are polutted. It's not safe for foreigners...

I am totally agree with Danny...
Bangkok is a criminal heaven... it will ruined your life!

Hi Ben,

Im a Malaysian and I was 1 of the victim too.. :"(
just back from Bangkok 1day ago, I have bring this matter to police but seems they couldnt help much..

Could you please give me Mr Suchat's contact number/email do that I can ask for his help?
I cant sleep this few days because of this case... I was really sad because of fall into the trap.
Now I lost all my money and owe bank's for a huge of amount..

Please help me, and Im always here to look forwad your reply soon, thanks alot..

To Rachel (Malaysia)

Im a victim too ....im malaysia
i saw this website, i have send a email to Mr Suchat this afternoon as suggested by Mr Ben
Rachel....do u mind give me a contact number? send this contact number to my email address: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
i hope we can solve this matter together
hope can hear u soon

Hi bee kuen,
i hv added u into my ym, pls contact me asap. thx

Im Malaysian and just back from Bangkok Last night. I also one of the victim of Golden Argosy! Ben, I tried to write an e-mail to Mr. Suchat but it can't send through.
Is it possible to contact via phone?

Hope to get your reply soon. Thanks

Hi Tan,
r u manage to contact Mr Suchat?
Hope to get ur reply asap, tq

Hello there,
I just got back in Kuala Lumpur, from bangkok only to find out that i had been the victim of Yindee Lapidary & Co Jewlry Shop scam. I wish Mr Tan, Rachel and Cat to come together and solve this matter. I spent 11,400 Bath for two rings and one bracelet. i can be contacted thru email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
thanks

I have found Thailand to be a wonderfull place and the vast majority of Thai people to be more than ready to help tourists ( falang) despite the ignorant way we so often behave. remember the first rule of the scammer, you CAN'T scam an honest person. but the greedy ones are easy! kho hi chok di

Seams to be high season for gem scams - I was cheated on last Friday June 6. Even though I was aware about cheated tourists, I never heard before from the infamous gem scam. So at the end, they sold me for some 150000 baht 2 blue stones, heavily overpriced. When checking the internet, I found out that this is going on for years now, and police and the authority is basically doing nothing. Tells a lot about the country... Anyway, the 2 guys at the temple who lured me into 'The Oscar', did a marvellous acting job, my congratulations.

Sorry for the late reply. I've been busy and have been away for work purposes.

Your best bet is to send Mr Suchat an email. He gets a lot of emails and it is best that you are there to talk to him. He also requires evidence, receipts and a formal report from you in order to take action against the scammers.

I will try to locate his phone number. As I hardly have time to check up on this website, email me on bernng at hotmail.com

I will try to assist you as much as I can.

Hi Ben,

Is it possible if I send those things to Mr Suchat by EMS? As Im not planning to go to Bangkok in the future... Since the case was happened...
Any idea with that? How did you get your refund? By cash? Or reverse the transaction through the credit card?

And after the negotiation, how would the shop going to make a deal with you? Were they sending you any agreement for that?

Do you know is there any case which is failed during the negotiation so far? :"(
I was so worry and scared, even cant have a good sleep since it happened..
What an unpleasant trip...

Looking forward your reply soon, thank you...

Hi,

the same story happened to me today but luckily i realised something was up in the store. Very close call though. I was outside a large shopping centre looking at this statue when a well-dressed woman started talking to me and told me about this "Lucky Buddha". She pointed out this tut-tut driver who she said would take me there for little money. I showed the driver the note she had written me but he said he did not understand "Lucky Buddha". Then this very well dressed older Thai guy came up and explained where to the driver who then offered to take me there for only 20b.
In hindsight, i can see that both the well-dressed woman and older man were in on the scam, quite compelling stuff though.
At the small temple, this Thai guy was inside praying, well dressed with good English. He told me all about his life and said he was working with the Thai finance ministry as an accountant. He told me about the "export sale" and the last day bargains.
After exiting the temple, i told the tut-tut driver to return me back to the shopping centre area, he said ok. He then drove to this export gem store next to a TAT office and asked me to go inside so he could get petrol. Inside, i was given a very hard-sell by this older Thai lady, well-dressed and spoken. What definitely gave the game away though was when i saw this other European looking couple buying jewels in the store. The guy was watching me out of the corner of his eye, if he was spending thousands of $$$ he would be paying more attention to the products!
I made my excuses and left.

We just recently got scammed at the end of May 2008. We are very upset and trying to contact our credit card company to see to report a fraud. Any suggestions of how to get a cash refund would be appreciated. Amazing that the government doesn't do anything about this.

i just recently got scammed early june at the Golden Argosy. Anyone who brought the gem there and able to get refund through Mr Suchat? really need your help and guide. Email me by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Bottom Line, enjoy your vacation instead of trying to pay for it with a too good to be true 150% profit gem deal. Greed on both ends of the deal , no one was pointing a gun to your head when you people swipped your Credit Cards. Chalk it up to a good old fashion life lesson. I give the thai people props for schooling all the brilliant Foreigners.

I have seen Ben's email about Mr Suchat.

Has anyone had any joy with their credit/debit card company. Abbey National told me if i had the goods and had my card there was no fraud.

Any more ideas for getting money back?

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

29/5/08 Siam Station,man speaking good english,tuk-tuk,Lucky Budda,feed fish, toilet, man in 4wd, Golden Argosy. All the stories as above and very good at it. Even provided car for free to take us to floating markets, Bridge over River Kwai, etc to keep us out of town for day before we left-free car to airport in early morning- wasn't looking for any jewellery but decided just to have a look for wife who was with me-never been conned o/s before. Very worried when saw this website, phoned mastercard, advised to send jewellery back and make claim because goods not what claimed to be-got rubies valued by qualified valuer, amazed, valued at more than twice what we paid for them-absolute miracle-good luck to everyone else- they are absolutely convincing and must be everywhere

To Rachel and KB, read my above post.

Rachel - Unfortunately, you have to return to BKK if you want your refund.
KB - Your Credit Card company is right. There was no fraud because you authorised the transaction. A fraud is only recognised by banks only when a transaction is made without your authorisation or knowing.

To Will Never Return To Thailand - The Govt won't do anything because several top policemen and govt officials are part of this scam. It is controlled and protected by some big syndicate/authorities. Sad, but true.

Having said that, the majority of the Thai people are friendly. It's these group of minority corrupted officials that give Thailand a bad name.

To Tan and Cat - Mr Suchat's number is in the link provided.

Hi, by the time I read all the post here it is already too LATE. Yes, I'm a victim myself of one of the Gem scam. And it happens just 2 days ago. Just got back from BKK yesterday.

TO keep long story short as I'm not going to repeat how I got scammed since it is all quite similar and already mentioned above. But the different is I got back 100% of my refund.

So, I just going to post here my experience of how I got those back but it would only serve as reference for future traveler and probably already too late for the victims.

Like everyone else, I've lost 130,000 Baht to the scam (But recovered). You probably won't notice that it was a scam till you return to your home country and have your gems verified, that would be too late. I was lucky (too say at least) when I feels something was not right the moment I return to my hotel. As I found the chain of event that surround the scam are all highly coincidental (Heard of the term 'black swan'). But most important of all (and you may not realize this), the scam feeds on the info you provide. Eg...
1) Where do you come from. This is where they'll establish the right stories to con you. If you're foreigner, They will probably mentioned Tiffany USA or their relative in Australia. If you're Malaysian or Singaporean the stories would probably centered around Poh Kong and Poh Hong.
2) Are you on Honeymoon? 2 persons and especially a guy would be easier to be con if her beloved is around.
3) How many days you're in BKK? When will you be leaving?
Ta da... Probably this is their best opportunity, it would be very hard to pursue the matter once you leave BKK.
4) If you're Malaysian/Singaporean, they'll mentioned something like Malaysian/Singaporean looks like Thai people. This bring your guard down!!!

OK, back to my experience. When I felt suspicious that it could be a scam, I went to check with Tourist Office (any will do). She did a search for us and found that it was a scam after all. You can search the internet yourself if you have the resources. She suggested to us to report the matter to the Tourist Police and call off your credit card transaction.

I'll explain the rest of the detail in present tense. Not important though but it is easier to related in sequence...

Take a taxi with your merchandise go to the Tourist Police HQ at Bangkok Tower at New Petchaburi Road, few blocks down the TAT office. You may have problem along the way like the Taxi driver didn't know where is Bangkok Tower and drop you off at TAT office itself :), makes me wonder whether the driver know that I'm being scammed and try not to get involve in it. Make your report to the Tourist Police. She probably wouldn't take down your report as this may leave her with a trail of paper work BUT she will call the shop and negotiate on your behalf. Tell the police you want a full refund so that she know how to liaise with the shop.

Bring your merchandise back to the shop. If your transaction are on the same day, you can have the shop to void all the transaction and return your merchandise. Remember to check back with your bank that all the dubious has been call off. This would probably chalk up a big roaming fee, but it probably small compare to your loss. Get back all the Visa/MC transaction slip you have signed (they probably couldn't make further claim if there handed back your signed transaction slip).

You'll probably left shaken by all this experience like we do at the end of it. But It would probably just cost you a wasted day and a coupled of Baht for taxi fare. Oh yes, we also find it strange that the cab we hail from the street would actually drop you quite far from the shop as the told you it is traffic jam. Hmmm... fishy isn't it.

I hope the experience can serve as a reference for future traveller and hopefully the info may be useful to the victim all there. Thank God we were able to settle it before leaving BKK and never believe it again if you find yourself in a "very lucky'" situation.

I am another stupid victim of this scam as well. I have been reading everyones emails and it just feels hopeless. I would love to get even the 70% back that is agreed after 3 months of purchase but there is no way i can get back to Bangkok. If anyone can let me know what or how i can do something please, please let me know

I'm not greedy. My fault is I should not trust Thailand friendly man. Same story, same man speaking good English, tuk-tuk, Lucky Budda, free drink, we were brought to Pan-Siamese Gems Co., Ltd. I don't care gems were overpriced, but I was hurt by the friendly cheating. I will never tell my husband we were caught in the scam, (we bought ruby rings for each other as our 10th Anniversary gifts) and I will never go back Thailand. I feel very upset I have to wear this ring to celebrate my Anniversary......

Just got back from BKK out of curiousity did a quick google search and now I feel sick as underlying fears are confirmed. My partner and I have also just been scamed out of the best part of £1000 for 2 sapphire rings although we have not had them valued and we proberbly won't bother now. Live and Learn hey! Even read about the stupid scams and still fell for it never expected it from these nice friendly people but thats the idea!

Lucky Buddha how ironinic!

Dear all victims,

Really appreciate with Ben's advices, I have contacted Mr Suchat who work for Department Internal Trade(DIT) in BKK. He is a really a good and helpful Thai people.. And so for his assistance..

Finally, I have successfully get back all my money by reverse the credit card transaction through DIT's help, LUCKILY... I just lost some of the money after convertion of currency.. DIT's members were so helpful and they were willing to take the responsibility to help me in order to reduce my lost and get back my money..Honestly, even though maybe it was part of their job, but it was not neccesary they must give us a favor.. Thanks DIT and GOD..

In addition, I would like to say that, for all of the victims, included myself, we were someone who likes to take the advantage, somemore greedy... Thus, we fall into the traps which set up by those gem shops... If we insist not to buy any, we really wont involve in such incident..

Lastly, I wish all other victims can get back their money asap, and not to be greedy anymore in taking those "advatages" again.. good luck, guys..

* Mr Suchat and DIT is not part of the scam, please trust them..They will offer help if they could.. REALLY..

I will visit to Thai again in the future :)
And take it as a good lesson for myself, and my friends... etc
Ben, Thx again.. TQ

just to put some prices into perspective' i buy loose gems when i visit Bangkok everytime i go'

1 to 1.5 carrat Burma ' reasonable gem quality' should only cost about $15000 baht at the good disscounted rate. Thai and Burma Sapphire very similar prices for reasonable gem quality. Thai ruby is actualy almost no mines anymore so most good quality Ruby are from Burma for sale in Thailand.

once you get above 2 carrat in weight the price jumps up quite a bit' but the price realy depends on the color and clarity of the stone if you are looking at ruby or sapphire.

my last trip i baught two Burma ruby' one only cost $425 Australian dollors' i had it lab tested by expert in Australia and retail valued at $1700 aud

if you want to buy gems in BKK there are many legit places to buy and easy to find information just by researching the web if you know nothing about what to look for in such things

shame BKK is becoming known for gem scams instead of the great buys available.

BKK is a place for value-for-money ruby and sapphire but I guess we have to know where to get them. Never buy from a place that has to borrow a credit card machine from their neighbours :)

Hi Rachel,

You manage to get back the money without going back to Bangkok?

I was a victim on 28Jun. I cant believe that i had fallen to this....this had heppened so many many things......

Help me and assist me in getting back the money. I had sent an email to Mr. Suchat and hope that he will reply soon.....

Where is the fraudulent transaction?? You got the goods and handed over your card to pay for it. The goods are not damaged nor are the stones synthetic or simulants. These are just of poor quality. Nobody confirmed the purchase of top stones etc.
forget about claiming money from your credit card company.
I just wish tourists would stop being enthralled by these wellspoken and friendly Thai con people who linger on all major skytrain bridges and near tourist areas.
I'm an expat living in BKK and I have on various occasions offered assistance to tourists who were on their way 'into the arms of a friendly Thai' - no, better listen to the local who will know better.
I wonder if we will ever see the end of tourists complaints?????
A piece of advice: why do you all think that these nice jewellery store folks wanted to sell you a top stone at bargain price???

Top tip . If anyone smiles at you in Thailand , dont trust them.

sorry i should be more subtle

hi Rachel, is good to hear you get back your refund. i am also one of the victim for malaysia. i would like to know the detail on how you get your refund. can you contact me by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ? or can i have your email add??

hi, bibi, where are you from? will you back to bangkok to get your refund? i am planning to back to bangkok soon. you can contact me by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .