Known Scams:

Most Thai people are nothing short of decent, kind and generous however like all societies Thailand does have its bad eggs. Here's a list of scams known to us which may be helpful to first time visitors to the kingdom.

The ride-by bag snatch: Usually occurs in small lanes (soi's) or when not many people are around. Undertaken by 2 persons on motorbike. The pillion will snatch bags from a pedestrian as they ride past.

The shopping mall escalator hustle: A group of two or more people will bunch up in front of you on an escalator and cause a delay at the top. One or more others will crowd behind you, bumping into you and picking your pockets.

The friendly girl on the corner aka the empty hotel room scam: Perpetrated by the curb-side prostitute. Ie one whom you can't find again. Will do the business and then when you sleep will quietly empty your room.

The underage bar girl/ prostitute scam: Perpetrated by an underage girl with a fake ID and an older relative. Will do the business, possibly even working out of a bar, and then appear with her parent and a policeman the next day to inform you that you have slept with an underage girl. At this point it's pay up or jail time.

Various begging scams: Whilst some beggars may be desperate most view it as a job. This includes making themselves up for maximum effect. The worst use their children as props. There are simply too many varieties of the begging scam to list here however we will mention two very common ones:

The 'can you buy me a bus ticket home?' guy: This Thai gentleman is a regular in Chiang Mai. He will engage you in conversation and then after a big sob story eventually come round to asking you for money for a bus ticket home or some similar requirement. His usual haunt seems to be Thaphae Gate, Loi Kroh tourist area.

The tourist who lost all his money scam: Perpetrated by the ex-pat who claims to have fallen on hard times. Will feed you a sob story and ask to 'borrow' money. Although this can be genuine it is also often a scam. Use your judgement here.

The business shares scam: Perpetrated by the friendly ex-pat. Will offer the opportunity to buy shares in his business. Will present documents etc but in reality you will not receive any shares for your money. He has probably sold the same shares many times.

The church funded charity scam: These people will tap into overseas funding on the pretence of undertaking charity work. We have even heard allegations of one such place running a brothel staffed by the people they were supposed to be helping whilst receiving funding from a US church.

The till death do we part scam aka the 'I Love You Darling' scam: There is nothing better than being married to a lovely Thai woman, but there are always some who are less than lovely. Beware of the girl who seems too easy to win, too quick to say 'I love you darling' too eager to set up house with you and have you buy land, a home, a motorbike, etc. If you are lucky she will just depart with all your assets. If you are unlucky she might slip something nasty into your soup.

The 'I'll give you a ride' scam: Just don't get into a car with strangers no matter how friendly they seem. You might wake up abandoned and naked. You might wake up dead.

The 'would you like a can of coke' scam: Commonly used with the 'I'll give you a ride' scam. If you are in a car with strangers and they offer you a laced drink, well you may as well drink it - it will hurt less than a bash in the back of the head.

The 'buy my bar' scam: Perpetrated by the friendly ex-pat who is desperate to get out of Thailand. He will sell you a worthless bar for way too much money.

The friendly ex-pat scam: Most friendly ex-pats are just friendly - although most tend to be more retiring and don't readily mingle with tourists. If someone who you hardly know is trying to sell you something, and especially if you met this guy at a tourist bar, he is probably a con-man.

The multiple overseas boyfriends scam: Perpetrated by the bar girl, prostitute, or the same in kind. This is the girl that maintains a string of overseas boyfriends, each of whom send her money to support her while they are away. She relies on the fact that they probably won't all visit her at once, but of course sometimes they do. If she seems to not have much time for you on this visit this may be why.

The 'instant fine' scam: Perpetrated by the policeman who asks you to hand over money on the spot for some minor offence, such as a traffic infringement. It's your call as to whether you pay this or ask to pay it down at the police station which may result in the fine being 'dropped' but could involve you in even more drama if things don't go your way. Judge this one on a case by case basis.

So that's our list. If you know of any other scams not included here let us know and we'll add them to the list.