We get scammed in Bangkok

3 times! On our first day!

It began when we left our hotel in the morning. We were trying to decide whether to walk to the train station or get a cab. The desk clerk suggested we take the hotel van to the train station, and assured us it was the same price as a cab would be - 200 baht. So we took the hotel van. When we returned that evening, the taxi from the train station back to the hotel was only 100 baht. To be fair, it may be that we were expected to dicker over the price, as is the Thai custom. 200 Baht amounts to $6, so the damage was minor.

Our first tourist destination was the Grand Palace. As we were walking that way a nice Thai lady struck up a conversation with us. She asked us where we were from and where we were headed. When we told her the Grand Palace she told us it was closed today. She then told us about a boat tour. At least that's what it sounded like from her broken English. We decided to walk to the Palace anyway and, lo and behold, it was open. This turns out to be a pretty standard scam. Someone tells you the place you're headed to is closed and offers you another tour instead. I'm glad we didn't quite fall for this one as the palace was quite spectacular.

After our tour of the palace and a nearby Temple we planned to go to a bookstore to get some maps of Thailand. A man offered to get us to the bookstore via Tuk Tuk for 40 baht, including a stop at a temple and a fashion store. A Tuk Tuk is a three-wheeled auto rickshaw. He explained simply enough that the fashion store would pay for the Tuk Tuk's gas. We had no interest in the fashion store but we're willing to play the game for only $1.20 for the ride. It was a thrill zipping around the busy streets in this conveyance that was innocent of any safety equipment. The temple was pretty underwhelming, and we dutifully, if briefly, walked through the fashion store. After we got back to the Tuk Tuk, the driver told us he couldn't take us to the bookstore which was our original destination. But he said he would take us to a wharf where a canal boat would take us there.  He did take us to the wharf and did not accept a fare for the ride. The canal boat turned out to be another fun and exotic experience, and cost only 18 baht. So we got to our bookstore for only $0.60. This scam was a harmless one as we got a couple of interesting experiences along the way.

The next day we planned another canal boat ride. A nice man at the Wharf wanted to sell us an all day pass for the boat. Your older and wiser travelers recognized this scam as fares are collected only on the boat.