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Hua Lamphong Train Station
At BangkokScams.com,
someone recently sent us a report of a scam that they experienced at
the Bangkok train station at Hua Lamphong. This station is a major
terminal that serves lines to the north, northeast, east and south of
Thailand. We were told that last year he was scammed by a Thai person
that told him that there were no seats left on the train and that he
would be better off going by coach. He was then taken to a nearby
travel agents. I decided to do some undercover work and I drove into
Bangkok yesterday to see if I could duplicate this scam. Time had
passed and I wanted to know if the Tourism Authority of Thailand
(TAT) or the State Railway of Thailand had clamped down on this scam or
not.
I walked into the station from the side entrance. I
had a daypack to give the impression that I was going on a short trip
somewhere. I decided my destination would be Surat Thani. I wandered
around a bit looking lost to see if I could get any nibbles. Nothing.
On the far side of the concourse was a large information booth that
looked official. I decided to go over there and ask for a timetable for
the train. I felt that I needed more props. Next to the counter there
was a sign that warned people in English not to trust anyone that came
up to you to sell tickets. It was starting to look like maybe that the
local authorities were actually doing something about the scams here
after all. But, I decided to persevere. I continued to wander around in
circles looking lost and confused. I glanced down at the timetable and
then up at the ticket booths.
Finally I got a bite. A guy came up to me with an
official looking i.d. card around his neck that said “Tourist
Information”. He asked in good English where I was going. I said Surat
Thani. He then asked where I would go next. I said Koh Samui. Then I
kicked myself. I had pronounced it with a Thai accent. I should have
said “ko” as in “low”. He continued to give me advice but didn’t offer
to buy me tickets or anything. No sign of a scam but this guy was being
too helpful to be true. Out of the corner of my eye I could see other
scammers lurking but they were keeping their distance. I decided to
leave and approach the station again from a different direction.
"I saw your picture on BangkokScams.com - go away!"
Around the front of the station I had better luck. I
spotted three Thai ladies working the farang crowd. Around their neck
they were wearing i.d. cards. It wasn’t long before I was approached
and she asked me where I was going. I repeated my story. She told me
that she worked for the Tourist Authority of Thailand, she flashed me
the official logo, and said she would take me to the travel agents to
buy the train ticket. She took me around the side of the station where
I could see a row of shops all with the words “TAT” on banners. One
even said “Lonely Planet” as if the famous publisher approved of them.
Now, I knew that to be a travel agent you need to have a license from
the TAT. But this scam artist was giving me the impression that her
office WAS the TAT. You should know that the TAT only give out free
tourism information. They don’t sell tickets. So, don’t be fooled by
these people.
She took me to the shop called Tongchai Tour and I was
told to sit down. She promptly left to look for more prey. I decided to
play along to see where this was going. I got a free drink which was
good as I was thirsty by this time. I told the travel agent where I
wanted to go. He said that there were two trains that I could catch.
Actually, I already knew that there were eleven trains per day that
went to Surat Thani as I had the timetable in my pocket. So, lie number
one. I said that I wanted to go for the 7.30 p.m. train. He said he
would ring and check. After a short phone conversation he told me the
bad news. No tickets left. However, I was in luck. I could catch one of
their VIP buses that would take me to Koh Samui for only 900 baht. I
said I would think about. I asked for his namecard so that I could ring
him about it later. Mr. Janchai gave me his card and I left.
Some of the travel agents the scammer represent
Now, this wasn’t a positive scam yet, though he was
giving me misleading information about the number of trains available.
He should have said to me, “could I go at another time”. I needed to
confirm it was a scam by going back to the station to see if I could
still buy a ticket by myself. This is easy to do. You can in fact book
tickets up to 60 days in advance so there is no real need for you to
use any of these local travel agents. If you go to the concourse, at
the far side there is the information booth that I told you about (see
picture below). There is a sign here pointing out the advance booking
office. When I went in, the place was empty, but very efficient. I
asked the guy in English about the availability of tickets on the Surat
Thani train. He said that there were some left but they were running
out fast. That confirmed it. I was scammed. I don’t know who Mr Janchai
telephoned, but it obviously wasn’t this office.
Whenever you are travelling in Thailand, don’t trust
blindly anyone that approaches you and who speaks in perfect English.
As a rule, Thai people are shy and are nervous about using English.
These people all had i.d. cards around their neck. Some said TAT. It is
easy for the scammers to make these cards themselves. They are two a
penny. If you are at a train or bus station then buy the ticket
yourself. There is no need to make use of these scam artists who just
want to direct you to travel agents which give them a nice fat
commission. There is no point giving these guys a commission when you
can easily do everything yourself. One final word. Only a small
minority of Thai people that work in the Tourism industry are scammers.
If you are approached by a Thai person then please give them the
benefit of the doubt. If you are not sure about their integrity, then
just say politely that you have to go. If you know that they are a
scammer then just tell them that you saw their picture on BangkokScams.com!
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