we were scammed

I'm kind of embarrassed to write about this because I totally should have known better. I had read through the guidebook about scams that people try to pull on you in Bangkok and I was all prepared to tell those kinds of people to get lost. The big scam they talk about is the gem scam. With this one, the scammers will come up to you when you're trying to get into some tourist attraction (like the grand palace) and will tell you the attraction is closed, BUT they know of this other great place. They end up taking you to a gem store where they try to sell you some crappy gems that aren't worth anything.

Here's our story. Lance and I walked down to the grand palace the morning after the king's birthday. We were planning to meet up with Jared and Jane on one side of the grand palace. As we were walking over there, a few people came up to us to tell us that the palace was closed today because of the king's birthday. We just kept walking and I said, ya right. When we arrived at the spot where we were meeting up with Jared and Jane, I noticed the guards at that entrance weren't letting people in. So, I started to wonder, maybe it is closed today and that is so lame! We had to wait a little for Jared and Jane to meet up with us and while we were waiting in this park, a tuk-tuk driver came up to us and was all friendly. He asked where we were from and said oh yes, the palace was closed because the monks were using it this morning since it was the day after the king's birthday. But, it would be opening again at 2pm. And hey, since you're waiting, why don't we take you to another site? (I know, I should have known right there.)

Jared and Jane show up and they tell us people were telling them the same thing as they were walking over, that the monks were using the palace this morning. We didn't want to waste any time and did want to see some more sites, so we asked the tuk-tuk driver and his friend that was another driver how much it would cost for them to take us to see a buddha at another temple. They said 20 baht (which is less than a dollar). (Again, I should have known here, because it was so cheap, but we hadn't taken any taxis in Bangkok yet and didn't really know how much they would charge.) So, we went with them and they took us straight to this buddha, I forget which one it was, sitting buddha? There was even a guy there that talked to us for a few minutes about the buddha and he said something about how the monks were using the palace that morning. So, I thought this must actually be legit.

But then the tuk-tuks took us to a suit store. They stopped and said, look, we just took you to this buddha and we are going to take you to another place, but first you need to go look around in this store, don't worry, you don't have to buy anything, just look around. I was mad at this point and wouldn't even go inside. Jared and Jane went in for a few minutes. So then the driver that had me and Lance came up to me and he tried talking me into going in there so he could get his gas coupon. I refused. He then pulls out his wallet and shows us a picture of him when he was a monk and that he was a really honest man. He just needed us to go into the store so the government would give him his gas coupon. I still wouldn't go in.

But, he then talked us into going to another store and then he would take us to a tourist site. (We should have just taken a real taxi back to the palace at this point.) So, I agreed and he pulled up to a jewelry store! Not the gem scam! I didn't want to go in here, either, but finally agreed so he could get his stinking gas coupon. We walked in and then right back out. And he was still mad at us because we didn't spend enough time in there. Before he took us to the real tourist site, we had to spend more time in the store or they wouldn't get their gas coupon. This is where I asked him, how much is this gas coupon worth, anyway? I wanted to just give him some money to cover the gas coupon, but he wouldn't tell us. It was so annoying. So, they take us to another jewelry store, we walk around in there for 5 minutes and then the drivers take us back to the palace, didn't take us to the last tourist spot that they promised, which was fine with me.

And guess what? When we walked around to the other side of the grand palace, we found the actual entrance, we hadn't walked far enough to find it earlier in the morning and it was open. It hadn't been closed at all. I was so mad we had been scammed by the drivers who wasted our time. I read in the guidebook later that night about this exact scam, so don't go with a tuk-tuk driver that offers a ride for 20-30 baht.