Scammed again!

[Lourens]

You have to be very very careful when living in Bangkok or any other place in Thailand for that matter. The Thais are some of the worst scammers (or is that some of the BEST scammers) in the world.

I complained before about the boys in brown (Police) stopping me while driving between towns to extort money from me by making up some bogus excuse that I did something wrong. All you can do is pay-up and move on. Trying to argue for fairness is just going to make the situation worse. Save face and get it done. I’ve had some good advice from someone to avoid this in future and I will try it for sure. But sometimes you are just powerless and have to pay the consequences.

My wife and I went to an exhibition at a large complex in Bangkok the other day. There is a parking area complete with controlled entrance and roaming guards. It creates a sense of security and to leave a car there should be safe. We were at the same place before with no problem, so why should we be concerned.

We spent a few hours looking around and generally had piece of mind knowing we could return to our car and it would still be there. Well, we did return and the car was still there but with an almost flat rear wheel. Who would suspect any foul play? Punctures happen. I was thinking of driving to the nearest gas station to have it pumped but decided it would be best just to change it for the spare. As soon as I started the job, a friendly guard arrived and offered his help. He was soon joined by his friend complete with hydraulic jack and tools. A few minutes later the wheel was changed, my wife paid them some money for their friendly help and we were on our way again.

On the way home I stopped at a service centre to have the puncture fixed because you should not drive around without a spare. The wheel was pumped and inspected for leaks – nothing! Check the valve – nothing. Take the tire off and inspect the inside – nothing. No puncture. Checking the pressures of the other wheels revealed the other rear tire was also underinflated. Pump all the wheels again to make sure. Three days later now and all wheels are still good.

You know what happened right? We arrived at the parking area and were checked out by those friendly guards. As soon as we left for the show, they moved in and did what was necessary to make work (and money) for themselves. When we returned to our car, they were there almost instantly to offer assistance. Those friendly Thais. Always smiling - even while they rip you off. But how do we prove it? Or how do we even prevent it? Live with it.

I still wouldn’t live anywhere else…

[Admin]

  Thai style.  I know it's frustrating but there is nothing you can do about it or prevent it from happening again.
Try to Take it easy.

[nookiebear]

Thai style.  I know it's frustrating but there is nothing you can do about it or prevent it from happening again.
Try to Take it easy.

Use the bus!!!I know its not so convienient but at least you would cut out the scam................

[Lourens]

Like I said - Live with it. It's not like it's going to make me poor. (I'm poor already  ) I see these scams as paying my bit of taxes in the country where I chose to stay.

[Admin]

Thai style.  I know it's frustrating but there is nothing you can do about it or prevent it from happening again.
Try to Take it easy.

Use the bus!!!I know its not so convienient but at least you would cut out the scam................

Don't be so sure.. 

[burilad]

I wanted to got my thai girlfriends pickup cleaned and  thought i would surprise her while she was at the beauty salon. I took it to the shopping mall where the local cinama is. I asked the guy how much and he told me 180Tb to clean it and i agreed, but did not want him clean the inside as we had a few things in the pickup.Any way i take it back to my girl to show her my good deed for her and the first thing she says is HOW MUCH YOU PAY ? I tell her 180Tb and she gives me a big bollocking as she said you should only have paid 120Bht and had inside cleaned also WOW CAN'T WIN CAN I

[Admin]

Hi burilad, If you're talking about the "Tuwikit" local mall car wash you should have paid around 60-80 Baht only the outside and your girlfriend is right: 120 Baht In & Out.

[Prakhonchai Nick]

The real loser here is not Burilad, but the Tuwikit car cleaning scammers. At 60-80bt Burilad would likely have had the car washed on a regular basis, and told his friends too. But never again. 60-80 bt on a regular basis far outweighs 180bt just once!

Out of interest how much is charged in Big C?

[Admin]

60-80 Baht is ONLY OUTSIDE!

120 Baht In & Outside Clean!


Big-C charge 220-250 Baht In & Out Clean!

*All prices are from what I remember,not sure about EXACT prices.

[Lourens]

60-80 Baht is ONLY OUTSIDE!

120 Baht In & Outside Clean!


Big-C charge 220-250 Baht In & Out Clean!

*All prices are from what I remember,not sure about EXACT prices.

You paid the farang price. I remeber my wife paying 120Baht inside and outside at Big-C. Also, the size of your car might make a difference. For a pick-up the price might be higher.

[Admin]

All prices in Big-C Car Wash are on the board (at the time I washed the car).

They had some promotion when they just opened so it's costed something like 150 Baht,than they back to their "original" price on board which is something like 220-250 Baht.

At this point,I just didn't washed the car there.. it's DOUBLE than other car wash places in the Buriram city area.

I have to compliment them as well and admit they are one of the best place to wash the car in Buriram,clean,use the spray on dash board. all good but hey, double?! 

In Korat I had some problem finding "120 Baht car wash" place.. Found only in "Tesco Lotus" and "The mall" which are charging way too expensive, something like 250-350 Baht In & Out Clean.

Skipped it and washed the car in Buriram.   

[3100034]

Taxis BKK approx 100THB  for 40 mins aircon free and nice chat!
Tuk Tuk Buriram Train Station to Bus Terminal 100 THB "SCAMMER"
Sam Law Buriram Train Station to Bus Terminal 15 THB and you can see this guy work out !

Any one have prices here in Buriam for referance ?

What about other services or other Bussinesses?