Bangkok (Lonely Planet) - Andrew Burke [219]
The card-playing scam starts out similarly to the gem scenario: a friendly stranger strikes up a conversation and invites the traveller to the house of his relative for a drink or meal. After a bit of socialising, another friend or relative of the con arrives and, lo and behold, a little high-stakes card game is planned for later that day. Like the gem scam, the card-game scam has many variations, but eventually the victim is shown some cheating tactics to use with help from the ‘dealer’, some practice sessions take place and finally the game gets under way. The mark is allowed to win a few hands first, then somehow loses a few, gets bankrolled by one of the friendly Thais, and then loses the Thai’s money. Suddenly your new-found buddies aren’t so friendly any more – they want the money you lost. Sooner or later you end up sucking large amounts out of the nearest ATM. Again the police won’t take any action – in this case because gambling is illegal in Thailand so you’ve broken the law, and it’s not the job of police to protect those who are cheated in the process of trying to cheat someone else – in other words, you deserve everything you get.
Other minor scams involve túk-túk drivers, hotel employees and bar girls who take new arrivals on city tours; these almost always end in high-pressure sales pushes at silk, jewellery or handicraft shops. In this case greed isn’t the ruling motivation – it’s simply a matter of weak sales resistance.
The best way to avoid all this is to follow the TAT’s number-one suggestion: disregard all offers of free shopping or sightseeing help from strangers. You might also try telling strangers you’re on your third trip to Bangkok, even if you only just arrived. Con artists rarely prey on anyone except new arrivals.
You should contact the tourist police if you have any problems with consumer fraud. Call 1155 from any phone.
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TAXES & REFUNDS
Thailand has a 7% value-added tax (VAT) on many goods and services. Midrange and top-end hotels and restaurants might also add a 10% service tax. When the two are combined this becomes the 17% king hit known as ‘plus plus’, or ‘++’. You can get a refund on VAT paid on shopping, though not on food or hotels, as you leave the country. For details see Click here.
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TELEPHONE
The Bangkok telephone system is efficient enough for you to be able to direct-dial most major centres without trouble. Thailand’s country code is 66.
Inside Thailand you must dial the area code no matter where you are. In effect, that means all numbers are nine digits; in Bangkok they begin with 02, then a seven-digit number. The only time you drop the initial 0 is when you’re calling from outside Thailand. Calling the provinces will usually involve a three-digit code beginning with 0, then a six-digit number. Mobile phone numbers all have 10 digits, beginning with 08.
To direct-dial an international number from a private phone, you can first dial 001 then the country code. However, you wouldn’t do that, because 001 is the most expensive way to call internationally and numerous other prefixes give you cheaper rates. These include 006, 007, 008 and 009, depending on which phone you’re calling from. If you buy a local SIM card (see opposite), which we recommend, the network provider will tell you which prefix to use; read the fine print.
For operator-assisted international calls, dial 100. For free local directory assistance call 1133 inside Bangkok.
A useful CAT office (Map) stands next to the main post office, and the TOT office (Map) on Th Ploenchit is mainly an internet cafe but does have one phone for Home Country Direct calls – buy a phonecard first.
Payphones are common throughout Bangkok, though too often they’re beside the thundering traffic of a major thoroughfare. Red phones are for local calls, blue are for local and long-distance calls (within Thailand), and the green phones are for use with phonecards. Calls start at 1B for three minutes; for mobile numbers it’s 3B per minute. Local calls