Of course I've read several accounts of the "Gem Scam." A variation of the scam was attempted on me today in Chiang Mai. From what I've read online, the Gem Scam has a "Thai Version" (special tax-free day, buy gems) and an "Indian Version" (join our business and help us export).I experienced the Indian version in Thailand.

It started out in the typical way, a well-dressed Indian man hanging out at the Tha Prae gate (busy with tourists) gets talking to me and invites me to his house for tea. I go and quite enjoy it, there are actually other tourists at the house and it is extremely friendly. He doesn't even mention anything about gems or what kind of business he's in. He gives me his phone number and tells me to come over again some time for a home-cooked Indian meal. I meet with him again and he takes me to show me his family business. Of course, a gem shop run by him and his cousin. We all talk for quite a while (and, of course, they bring me coffee) before they suggest that I go into business with them (I had mentioned that I am currently out of work). They say that they need people to help them export gems. They say the mail is un-trustworthy and they need people to carry the gems for them. I'm perfect because I'm American, meaning that I can travel quite freely to most countries, I stand to make hundreds of thousands of dollars, all I have to do is be available to travel the world and carry stones. The company also uses me as a loophole to avoid taxes, everyone wins and it's a perfectly legal loophole. He shows me a binder with documents showing other tourists who have joined the business.

He says he would like me to work with the business full-time in the future, but as a start, why don't I carry some gems back to the US with me, he has a buyer waiting there, I make a few thousand dollars and then can contact him if I want to do it again. Of course, since he's trusting me with $10,000 worth of stones, he'll need to swipe my card as security, also, then he can have an official receipt of the sale so everything is legal with the government.

It was very well-done and I left the conversation confused; illegal? scam? legitimate? I told them I'd decide and let them know tomorrow. Of course a quick internet search revealed the truth about Ugal and Dave and their family business.

The shop is called Need Gem's Co. Ltd.

It's located at the base of the Meridien Hotel in Chiang Mai, near the night bazaar.

Androa, now that is a new scam for me and actually quite clever one as well..... you mention " you are perfect because you are an American and can travel anywhere"!!, You do realise that most westerners can travel most places as well, its not just Americans! Follow the principles "all that glitters is not gold" lol

The casual nature of we'll just swipe your card made my blood run cold. So plausible and easy to do.

Thank you for the post great information about a new variation of the classic gem scam and full marks for delaying them and getting research online.

Andraos

the bottom line here ( scam aside) is that they would be trying to get you to circumvent customs and duty costs. either way you will loose, and mite end up serving time/.

Kepp wel away from GEMS !! Be very carfull in Maesai , !

Any border point stinks to high heaven of customs scams. Remember you wont be the first and you wont be the last to get caught, smuggling is stamped on heavily as it involves money.

Dont ruin your trip for the sake of a supposed bargain.

Andraos
I'm glad that my post has prevented you falling in their scam, last year i could absolutely find nothing on the internet about it. i know it's my own foolish fault but i can at least inform other

I met these people as well and I walked away. Besides the fact that I tought it was a scam, I doubted the fact that it was legal.

There is a 7/11 next door the shop, people still being in Chiang Mai, ask the 7/11 to put up a warning about these people

I regularly recommend thailand to all my friends but also tell them what can go wrong and a few of the more known scams, tuk tuks, grand palace closed and a few others.

Always would recommend that people come to thailand to enjoy and experience the country and make up their own minds. There are many genuine people here and the scammers are a troublesome but quite small minority. Asides from that there is something for everyone here, nice people, food, nightlife, beaches, shopping centres, oversaturation of hotels keeping prices low, usually the expense behind every holiday but less so here.

Too many positives to outweigh the actions of a few crappy scammers

"No matter if you live here or not its Thai price and Farang price most of the time"
I agree so what to do? I can speak Thai which helps so I argue with them as I object to paying 1,000% more than my wife entrance fee at some places most times it works and the times it doesn't I do a u turn and leave so they get nothing.
The last time we went to the hot springs in San Kampaeng my wife paid as I was too busy trying not to let our little dog become a snack for the vendors big dogs. I can understand Thai numbers so there are 2 price lists and when I was looking at the massage area I saw that farangs were being charged 120 baht but Thais 80 baht so I asked the girl why, as are Farangs feet 50% bigger than Thais feet? The poor girl didn't know what to say when I asked my wife how much it cost to get in she said 60 baht it used to be 20 baht for everyone but not now 30 baht for me 15 baht each for the 2 Thai people thats it! home, on the way out the girl in the ticket desk had forgotten how to speak English and in Thai said she was doing as she was told. Another place off my visiting list, as nice as it is here ther are other equally nice places on the itinery for farangs to settle with a more welcoming approach Viet Nam, Cambodia, Maylasia etc so carry on at this rate and with the world recession this attitude may well come back and bite them. I am from the UK and there the welfare state is a magnet for scum from all over the world here nothing so I am at a loss to understand why the visa rules are being tightend up instead of 30 days at the land borders now 15 days anyone coming into the UK including my wife who went there last year with me for a holiday 180 days. So what you may say, well try this with the collapse of many western currencies the GBP down 30% in a year many retirees who have lived here years can not show the neccessary income per month to qualify for the visa, no money no visa. no visa then it's visa run bad enough 30 days when your young how about every 15 days when your 70 years old?

Maybe it would be good to have a general and chat page on the site to keep the scam topic parts relevant and up to date? It would be good for the site moderator to start off as its not my site.

In between the banter and chat new users could find some useful knowledge about Thailand in general that would stop them from falling for the most common scams as well as more detailled scam reports from those who have been scammed or experienced the spiel.

Pighoglet I agree with you, I was thinking about that earlier on. It would be good also to know how people eg. scammed by fake gems...got on with Mr S when they exchanged gems for cash etc. As you say maybe the mods could have a general chit chat section for moans and groans, advice and laughs as well. Wonder whether we are being heard?

Laughs. Yes Pighoglet says he always stands behind his words. I dont. My posts about Thai women here didnt represent at all my views. I usely just amuse myself with the reactions and I like to tease a little bit. Sometimes may be I go to far. One post has been removed already. Well its Thailand overthere, not Holland so one has to watch his words ha ha. As many here seem to have married a Thai the subject is ideal for some small teasings. A general page would be the solution, because now we are misusing this forum.
From now I am going to reduce my posts here until there comes a general page.
Theos readers can be split up in two catagories. One catagory likes him, the other hates him.
But the most important thing is: His posts are read!
So goodbeye until I have a real scamstory to tell or there is a general page

Scam story: I used to go out fishing on the island Koh Samet using a canoe. One day I was out about 200 meters out of the coast when the canoe became unstable. It seemed to make water somehow. At a certain moment I couldnt stabilise the boat anymore and the boat turned over. As there was water inside there was no way to get on the canoe again. It would turn over again right away. Some blooks of the jetsky company ashore saw my problem and in no time there was a jetsky there.
In trouble? I came to help you!
I was suprised. Usely nobody cares unless maybe the owner of the canoe but he was far away.
I said thanks to him and wondered why I was always so distrustfull towards Thais
Then he said: You can sit on the back of the jetsky and I will pull the canoe back as well.
For 500 baht

I had an office and knew the TukTuk driver out front of my place. Said hi every day and sometimes used his TukTuk to go to the end of the Soi.
One day, I left my cell phone in the back seat.
I called right away and was relieved the driver had it in his possession.
He would bring it to me for 1,000 bht.
Nice guy.

"You can sit on the back of the jetsky and I will pull the canoe back as well.
For 500 baht "

Did you pay it?

"He would bring it to me for 1,000 bht"

Did you pay it?

No Mr Richard. I told him I wouldnt pay. Not that I am tight but I disliked his attitude. Then he said it wasnt his problem and went back to the beach. I was in deep water, about 20 meters of fishingline to the bottom and about 200 meters off the coast. I had the boatpeddle saved. (lucky utherwise I probably would have had to pay a scamprice for loosing it) My fishingrot went in the dept. But lucky enough I could save my scubaflippers. This way I had my hands free and could swimming on my back pulling the boat back to the beach, and overthere get the water out of the aircompartments to get the boat stable again. I went back to the place I rented it and asked my money back or at least a part. I paid 400 baht for a day and used it for an hour, and the boat was no good. And I lost expensive fishing gear. As one can imagine, because this is Thailand, no money back. They didnt even apologise . Nice experience again. Land of smiles.

I think the game is not to bring too many valubale personal items with you to Thailand. A cheap MP3 is suffice, an ipod leave at home, expensive jewellery leave at home, when you have used the items give them away to a good cause and no one gets hurt. I dont like to feel weighted down with anything whilst travelling. I do not like to hire anything in Thailand, the penalties are too severe, what looks like good ideas like hiring boats, jet skies, cars, motor bikes etc, end up with nose bleeds all over your face. When visiting temples there is always a small back pak on me to place my shoes, I am so tired of coming out and finding my shoes have disappeared, that goes for hospitals as well. Have you seen night markets? full of farang shoes, how desperate, low, how sad and how scandelous that the religion of the country has to stoop so low!

Papa Theo tells: Years ago when at Ao Luk Yon, Koh Samet not far from the national park campingsite, there was almost nothing there exept for a small bar and some cheap bungalows, now there are like everywhere on the island extremely expensive bungalows (building, building for who?) I saw on the beach a rowing boat, rather big, and very good for fishing. There was a sign informing Theo he could rent it as far as he remembers for 50 bath an hour. Of course I went to the nearby mentioned bar to ask who was the owner and were I should pay. No problem Pay here. So Theo went out fishing and fishing paying 200 or 300 or more a day. One day he happened to get in contact with the owner of PAPA GUESTHOUSE (Big sign outside: Rooms 100 baht. Take a look If you like it grap the key and pay me later) Papa was an old man, he said he was an Eastern Europe gypsy. His hotel was more popular with cockroaches then with farangs. On one occasion we started to talk about fishing boats. He said he had a boat on Luk Yon beach. You can use it. Buy me a beer in the evening. No money. I told him about all the money paid to the bar. He never got anything. I suggested going there together and maybe even to the police. He answered that he spent about 20 years in Thailand. Thats the way they are. I dont care anymore. Few years later he died. They say on the plane to Australia. During the flight. Just another story from the land of scams

When he left for Australia it was said he closed doors inside of his little hotel with concreet and bricks to protect, yes to protect what? He didnt trust the Thais for a penny. He collected stones they said. Gemstones? For the argossy shop? Anyway as soon as the Thais found out about his death of course the place was looted by a Thai mob.

Theo, have you ever been to Walajack market in China Town (Bangkok), you won't believe the junk that people buy and sell?

Why cant you all shut up with your negativism .

Not all Thais are thieves and liars.

Just avoid all the tourist traps and have fun.

Thailand seems to have a large population of foreigners who are looking to finance their long term stays in Thailand via scam. Teaching English does not pay to well.

This is a great post. you got cheap shoes online .I like cheap designer shoes as well give you designer shoes outlet http://www.cheap-shoes-online.org

Great, thanks for sharing this blog post. Fantastic.flower delivery to mexico

Well our Club let us discuss in private, even shouted us lunch, no alcohol until we had greed to sign. When we tried to cancel they said we couldn't but visa refunded all monies.

Warning, achtung, danger, oliday clu..bs join at your PERIL!

Achtung, Warning, danger, oliday cubs join at your PERIL!

unsure did you have any trouble with club after visa refunded?