Tricksters in Bangkok June 6th 2012

They start by engaging in lively conversation during which they ascertain the victims country of origin, length of stay and where their accommodation is.  The dialogue centres around the fact that they have relatives in the victims home country and they have been invited to stay. In this particular instance the chap, an old timer, retired I would think, proceeds to tell me all about his relatives owning a Thai restaurant in London, where he will be going in January. He indicates zero knowledge of British food prices, even less knowledge of the British climate in January, all very suspect, but I stay with it interested to see where this leads.

By now the trickster has enough information to decide in which direction to take the victim. It could be towards an outright scam involving criminals or simply getting the victims to pay for a service where the trickster might earn some commission. Having read so many reports of these scams on the Internet I was aware of the signs and was ready to make a hasty getaway, but not before a little more investigation!

The Trickster knows I'm in Bangkok for 2 weeks without any agenda and it ends up in him almost insisting I go to this tourist office where I can get tours at the cheapest price? Actually, the tours where more expensive than I could get from the Khao San area, but at least they gave me a free carton of water as I pretended to show interest in their rather expensive packages for the next 5 minutes.

This guy is there, right outside waiting for me. He knows where I can get a shirt same as export price apparently. I have to admit this got me interested and he lead the way, giving the hard sell on how his shirt has lasted him 7 years! And here we are, at a place where there are no shirts but they can make one as an Indian  chap brings out his book of samples. Ok, this is where I cut and run, because these shirts are not the kind of bargains I'm looking for. Sorry, Mr. Trickster, no commission for you today!

The other, more sinister direction of the tricksters is to recommend a poker or casino game that can't be lost. It's a lie of course because the game is lost and the victim is marched off to the nearest ATM. It's not uncommon to loose around 2000-3000$. The only thing I lost was energy and sweat, but the yarns are so plausible it's unsurprising that so many unwitting travellers are taken in. Cambodia and Vietnam have been reported as the worst places for trapping naive and unsuspecting visitors.

Happy travels.