Thailand Corruption

[NorthAmericanguy]

Wow, I got to admit I'm pretty taken back by this info. Basically I'm now doing some research on how bad the scams are in Thailand, seems to me that if you go to Thailand you need to make sure you have extra money put aside to pay the cops/locals to get out of a jam in case you are being scamed.

Story short, we got to think with our heads and not our dicks, I don't give a dam how much P**** is over in SE Asia, if the country is corrupt as they say it is I will find some place else to go.


This is a link to the top 10 scams in Thailand:

http://www.thai-blogs.com/2008/08/05/to ... -thailand/


Link to jet ski scam video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsPuoaktoAw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A181C8gEzLY


Random Comments:

•

"Do NOT rent jet skis, motor bikes (if you can help it, especially expensive bikes), cars in Thailand.

Nor girls

My friend rented a bike and it was "stolen" by the owner of the rental shop!

My friend called the owner to report the theft and the owner immediately asked for payment for the bike in full without mentioning the police.

this is #7 in the top 10 scam of Thailand,based on Lonely Planet's website.

Thailand is FULL of scam.And the cops are in on it.

Thank you for exposing this video.


•"The foreign tourist police in Pattaya confirmed to me the local police get 20% of the take. This is also the case in Phuket."


•
"Similar scam happened to me on Koh Phangan involving a moto-bike two weeks ago. When I protested I was knifed in the face just above my eye. Too many bottom of the barrel thugs trying to extort money in popular tourist destinations in Thailand. Thailand is no longer the Land of Smiles.....it's the Land of Switchblades."


•"I just scamed in upstairs bar in patong, nearly got knifed. Lucky to get out with my and my wife's lives. DONT GO TO THAILAND."


•
"don't forget the motorcycle scam.I sat back and watched it in Phuket. You rent a bike,and they say you don't need a helmet. So you go about half a km up the street,and what a surprise a police check point is there.He gives you the traditional 500bht cash fine for no helmet,and you have to ride back and rent a helmet for an additional 300bht.All the while about 100 locals are going by(some bikes with 4 people)with no helmets,and not being pulled over."



•

"MY FRIENDS TOLD ME WHO WERE ON KOH SAMUI THAT THE THAI POLICE EXTORTS MONEY EVERYWHERE AND THE PROSTITUTES HAVE TO PAY TO THAI POLICE. SOME EVEN GET FREE BANG BANGS FROM THE GIRLS. NOW IN THAT COUNTRY THE POLICE IS THE NUMBER ONE MAFFIA, I WILL DEFINITELY NOT TRAVEL THERE RATHER SUPPORT OTHER GREAT COUNTRIES IN FRANCE OR SCANDINAVIA. SORRY THAIS, YOU NEED TO SORT OUT THE POLICE AND JUSTICE THERE.."

•


"Ive been to this dump of a Country and the same thing happened to me..

Later that eveing I was at a local bar and told some Thias there. They said for some money they would take care of the thugs I gave the 7 of them $300.00 usa dollars in total if they really messes them up.. Lets just say from what I saw there are 2 of them now that will probably never able to walk without a limp agiain.. Their legs were smashed in with metal pipes..

Best 300 bucks I have ever spent.."



•"f***ing thailand, full of criminals, scam artists, pedophiles and faggots who try to dress like slutty women, you can't even say anything slightly negative about their piece of shit king without fear of going to jail. "land of smiles" my ass, maybe for expats who are on interpol's most wanted list"

[Rock]

Wow, I got to admit I'm pretty taken back by this info. Basically I'm now doing some research on how bad the scams are in Thailand, seems to me that if you go to Thailand you need to make sure you have extra money put aside to pay the cops/locals to get out of a jam in case you are being scamed.

Story short, we got to think with our heads and not our dicks, I don't give a dam how much P**** is over in SE Asia, if the country is corrupt as they say it is I will find some place else to go.


This is a link to the top 10 scams in Thailand:

http://www.thai-blogs.com/2008/08/05/to ... -thailand/


Link to jet ski scam video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsPuoaktoAw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A181C8gEzLY


Random Comments:

•

"Do NOT rent jet skis, motor bikes (if you can help it, especially expensive bikes), cars in Thailand.

Nor girls

My friend rented a bike and it was "stolen" by the owner of the rental shop!

My friend called the owner to report the theft and the owner immediately asked for payment for the bike in full without mentioning the police.

this is #7 in the top 10 scam of Thailand,based on Lonely Planet's website.

Thailand is FULL of scam.And the cops are in on it.

Thank you for exposing this video.


•"The foreign tourist police in Pattaya confirmed to me the local police get 20% of the take. This is also the case in Phuket."


•
"Similar scam happened to me on Koh Phangan involving a moto-bike two weeks ago. When I protested I was knifed in the face just above my eye. Too many bottom of the barrel thugs trying to extort money in popular tourist destinations in Thailand. Thailand is no longer the Land of Smiles.....it's the Land of Switchblades."


•"I just scamed in upstairs bar in patong, nearly got knifed. Lucky to get out with my and my wife's lives. DONT GO TO THAILAND."


•
"don't forget the motorcycle scam.I sat back and watched it in Phuket. You rent a bike,and they say you don't need a helmet. So you go about half a km up the street,and what a surprise a police check point is there.He gives you the traditional 500bht cash fine for no helmet,and you have to ride back and rent a helmet for an additional 300bht.All the while about 100 locals are going by(some bikes with 4 people)with no helmets,and not being pulled over."



•

"MY FRIENDS TOLD ME WHO WERE ON KOH SAMUI THAT THE THAI POLICE EXTORTS MONEY EVERYWHERE AND THE PROSTITUTES HAVE TO PAY TO THAI POLICE. SOME EVEN GET FREE BANG BANGS FROM THE GIRLS. NOW IN THAT COUNTRY THE POLICE IS THE NUMBER ONE MAFFIA, I WILL DEFINITELY NOT TRAVEL THERE RATHER SUPPORT OTHER GREAT COUNTRIES IN FRANCE OR SCANDINAVIA. SORRY THAIS, YOU NEED TO SORT OUT THE POLICE AND JUSTICE THERE.."

•


"Ive been to this dump of a Country and the same thing happened to me..

Later that eveing I was at a local bar and told some Thias there. They said for some money they would take care of the thugs I gave the 7 of them $300.00 usa dollars in total if they really messes them up.. Lets just say from what I saw there are 2 of them now that will probably never able to walk without a limp agiain.. Their legs were smashed in with metal pipes..

Best 300 bucks I have ever spent.."



•"f***ing thailand, full of criminals, scam artists, pedophiles and faggots who try to dress like slutty women, you can't even say anything slightly negative about their piece of shit king without fear of going to jail. "land of smiles" my ass, maybe for expats who are on interpol's most wanted list"

The issue with Thailand when you have a 'problem' is that it seems like everyone is in on it. Its kind of like the Nigeria of Asia. You have no recourse. And your embassy will generally not help you. Well, I do remember once instance where the victims (jet ski scam) were Chinese nationals. A quick call to a PRC embassy contact got things straightened-out real quick and they left without paying a nickel. But western embassies can't be bothered with such trivial problems.

Somehow, I've been very lucky so far and not had locals try to scam me other than taxis who didn't want to use the meter.

In the few times I've rented motorbikes, I've never had anything go wrong. Once on Ko-Samet, my gf and I rented a scooter for a day. The roads on that island are very bad towards the southern half. We had a nasty spill and scratched-up the brand new looking scooter. When we got back, owner only asked for just 600 Baht (US$20) even though the cosmetic damage was extensive.

Now jet-skis are a different matter. The ones rented in Pattaya and Phuket are run by hard core mafia. You should never even go near these guys. More generally, I would avoid all jet-ski rentals in Thailand.

You should avoid anyone who approaches you and is overly friendly, whether it be a tuk-tuk driver, taxi driver, man in suit around a temple, someone who has a few questions, etc. They may propose free this or free that but somewhere along the line, there is probably a set-up and scam waiting. Honest Thais will generally ignore you. Also be careful of overly friendly foreigners.

If you hit a full-moon party, don't get carried away. If some local offers to give or sell you some weed, you're probably being set-up. Get away from the scum before its too late. Best policy there or anywhere else is to only drink from bottles you see opened right in front of you or better yet, you open yourself.

You gotta understand, the Thais have so much experience with tourists, they know exactly how far they can take things and get a way with it. Its an us vs. them mentality so they all tend to stick-together. If you're a newbie and not on your toes, you may just learn a few of the tricks the hard way.

[NorthAmericanguy]

+1^

See, that's the thing that scares me, no recourse. Say I want to have a good time with a bargirl, or a random girl, and she has drugs ON HER (and I did not know and how would I being that I'm not going to pat down every girl I meet), and somehow the cops get involved and decide to sick it to me. BAM! Just like that, I'm now looking at 50 years or something crazy like that.

It almost seems to me that a foreigner needs to stay away from the tourist areas all together, but even that has it's own risk being that you might not be welcome.

[Rock]

+1^

See, that's the thing that scares me, no recourse. Say I want to have a good time with a bargirl, or a random girl, and she has drugs ON HER (and I did not know and how would I being that I'm not going to pat down every girl I meet), and somehow the cops get involved and decide to sick it to me. BAM! Just like that, I'm now looking at 50 years or something crazy like that.

It almost seems to me that a foreigner needs to stay away from the tourist areas all together, but even that has it's own risk being that you might not be welcome.

About any nightmare scenario is possible in Thailand. But I've never heard of that particular one going down. What I do know happens on some occasions is that a guy gets into a relationship with a girl and at some stage, pisses her off so badly that she sets him up by planting something in his residence and following-up by a call to police, sometimes staying anonymous.

[Mr S]

Wow, I got to admit I'm pretty taken back by this info. Basically I'm now doing some research on how bad the scams are in Thailand, seems to me that if you go to Thailand you need to make sure you have extra money put aside to pay the cops/locals to get out of a jam in case you are being scamed.

Story short, we got to think with our heads and not our dicks, I don't give a dam how much P**** is over in SE Asia, if the country is corrupt as they say it is I will find some place else to go.


This is a link to the top 10 scams in Thailand:

http://www.thai-blogs.com/2008/08/05/to ... -thailand/


Link to jet ski scam video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsPuoaktoAw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A181C8gEzLY


Random Comments:

•

"Do NOT rent jet skis, motor bikes (if you can help it, especially expensive bikes), cars in Thailand.

Nor girls

My friend rented a bike and it was "stolen" by the owner of the rental shop!

My friend called the owner to report the theft and the owner immediately asked for payment for the bike in full without mentioning the police.

this is #7 in the top 10 scam of Thailand,based on Lonely Planet's website.

Thailand is FULL of scam.And the cops are in on it.

Thank you for exposing this video.


•"The foreign tourist police in Pattaya confirmed to me the local police get 20% of the take. This is also the case in Phuket."


•
"Similar scam happened to me on Koh Phangan involving a moto-bike two weeks ago. When I protested I was knifed in the face just above my eye. Too many bottom of the barrel thugs trying to extort money in popular tourist destinations in Thailand. Thailand is no longer the Land of Smiles.....it's the Land of Switchblades."


•"I just scamed in upstairs bar in patong, nearly got knifed. Lucky to get out with my and my wife's lives. DONT GO TO THAILAND."


•
"don't forget the motorcycle scam.I sat back and watched it in Phuket. You rent a bike,and they say you don't need a helmet. So you go about half a km up the street,and what a surprise a police check point is there.He gives you the traditional 500bht cash fine for no helmet,and you have to ride back and rent a helmet for an additional 300bht.All the while about 100 locals are going by(some bikes with 4 people)with no helmets,and not being pulled over."



•

"MY FRIENDS TOLD ME WHO WERE ON KOH SAMUI THAT THE THAI POLICE EXTORTS MONEY EVERYWHERE AND THE PROSTITUTES HAVE TO PAY TO THAI POLICE. SOME EVEN GET FREE BANG BANGS FROM THE GIRLS. NOW IN THAT COUNTRY THE POLICE IS THE NUMBER ONE MAFFIA, I WILL DEFINITELY NOT TRAVEL THERE RATHER SUPPORT OTHER GREAT COUNTRIES IN FRANCE OR SCANDINAVIA. SORRY THAIS, YOU NEED TO SORT OUT THE POLICE AND JUSTICE THERE.."

•


"Ive been to this dump of a Country and the same thing happened to me..

Later that eveing I was at a local bar and told some Thias there. They said for some money they would take care of the thugs I gave the 7 of them $300.00 usa dollars in total if they really messes them up.. Lets just say from what I saw there are 2 of them now that will probably never able to walk without a limp agiain.. Their legs were smashed in with metal pipes..

Best 300 bucks I have ever spent.."



•"f***ing thailand, full of criminals, scam artists, pedophiles and faggots who try to dress like slutty women, you can't even say anything slightly negative about their piece of shit king without fear of going to jail. "land of smiles" my ass, maybe for expats who are on interpol's most wanted list"

The issue with Thailand when you have a 'problem' is that it seems like everyone is in on it. Its kind of like the Nigeria of Asia. You have no recourse. And your embassy will generally not help you. Well, I do remember once instance where the victims (jet ski scam) were Chinese nationals. A quick call to a PRC embassy contact got things straightened-out real quick and they left without paying a nickel. But western embassies can't be bothered with such trivial problems.

Somehow, I've been very lucky so far and not had locals try to scam me other than taxis who didn't want to use the meter.

In the few times I've rented motorbikes, I've never had anything go wrong. Once on Ko-Samet, my gf and I rented a scooter for a day. The roads on that island are very bad towards the southern half. We had a nasty spill and scratched-up the brand new looking scooter. When we got back, owner only asked for just 600 Baht (US$20) even though the cosmetic damage was extensive.

Now jet-skis are a different matter. The ones rented in Pattaya and Phuket are run by hard core mafia. You should never even go near these guys. More generally, I would avoid all jet-ski rentals in Thailand.

You should avoid anyone who approaches you and is overly friendly, whether it be a tuk-tuk driver, taxi driver, man in suit around a temple, someone who has a few questions, etc. They may propose free this or free that but somewhere along the line, there is probably a set-up and scam waiting. Honest Thais will generally ignore you. Also be careful of overly friendly foreigners.

If you hit a full-moon party, don't get carried away. If some local offers to give or sell you some weed, you're probably being set-up. Get away from the scum before its too late. Best policy there or anywhere else is to only drink from bottles you see opened right in front of you or better yet, you open yourself.

You gotta understand, the Thais have so much experience with tourists, they know exactly how far they can take things and get a way with it. Its an us vs. them mentality so they all tend to stick-together. If you're a newbie and not on your toes, you may just learn a few of the tricks the hard way.

Yeah, over friendly male Thais that approach you in the street are usually con-artists and trying to gett something from you in one way or another. Most Westerners are so nice they can't say no to them and end up spending more money then they planned while with this supposed "good samaritan smiling Thai". I got suckered a couple of times, even though you kinda know its a scam it's hard to just get away from them once it gets going. I got suckered twice. First time was some guy willing to show me around the tailor places, then realizing the place he took me to he got commission off of whatever I bought, I think I bought him lunch too, trying to be a nice guy, ha ha. The second time is when I really learned my lesson. I was trying to go to some place on my own and got lost and the guy came up to me pretending to help. Then said the place was closed because of a Thai holiday. Even though I sensed something was fishy I went along with him just for the experience. He ended up taking me to some Thai massage place, not soapy massage, but the real Thai massage where it feels like they are torturing you. Well it was a place I probably wouldn't have gone to on my own but i ended up having to pay for a massage for him as well as mine, plus he wanted me to give him a tip for showing me the place after that. I was pissed off but figured it was a learning experience. After that whenever someone tries to be nice to me on any street in any country I am on guard. So I just act like an asshole now in 3rd world countries and don't trust any of the locals to help me. Perhaps some are legit, but most are not. Scamming money off of dumb and nieve foreigners is their job.