Please report all your scams while on holiday in Thailand. We will either send our undercover team to investiage 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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Nong Khai Bus Scam Warning |
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Written by ScienceGuy
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Tuesday, 06 May 2008 |
Just got scammed... Here's how it works:
1. You get off some bus at Nong-Khai
2. The ticket office is closed or the worker is mysteriously missing
3. There is a table next to the office selling tickets for 370 baht to
Bangkok(should be 350). Yes they have uniforms, yes they tell you it's
2nd class and point to the regular buses.
4. When it's time to depart, they lead you off to a bus on the side of
the station. The bus has broken air-con, exhaust leaks, water leaks(if
raining), is filthy, many seats are broken, etc.
5. Mafiosos jump on board and start ordering people around and the bus departs.
6. They take you to every bus station between Bangkok and Nong-Khai,
some stops are for an hour or more, some are roadside stops.
7. They overload the bus by making people stand in the center aisle. I
counted 26 additional passengers after all seats were filled.
8. The staff proceeds to drink alcohol and become intoxicated. They start bullying the passengers.
9. When I objected(promptly) and told them I want a refund they blocked
the door and I was forced to "sit down and shut up" by a drunken ex-con
covered in tattoos and a 180cm kick-boxer. After I told them what
they're doing is totally illegal they say "Oh it's just Thai people".
10. At each stop someone climbs into the luggage compartment, probably
to steal things. New passengers are hustled on and off. The mafiosos
call ahead to each station and more people are scammed and loaded into
the bus.
11. 14 hours later you arrive in Bangkok(should be 10 hours). You can't
sleep at all with the drunks singing and carrying on all night.
Wonderful
I believe they're hitting all the stops between Nong-Khai and Bangkok
with the same tactics. It's too organized to not call it organized
crime.
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