Before I even got here, I'd read things about scams people had fallen for in Bangkok. One of the most common ones happens when you go to visit one of the main tourist attractions - someone that seems like a helpful stranger will tell you that it is closed today, or whatever time you're there, but luckily for you they'll take you to some other place that just happens to be open today only, and for a really cheap price. You go with them and instead of taking you to any attraction, they'll take you to a jewellery shop or a tailor and say that they're having a special sale today only and you get really good deals, then they won't even take you the place they promised. I thought I could avoid that pretty easily, I generally just do my own thing and don't worry about what other people are saying, but when you're new to a city you really can't help but maybe trust what people from there tell you.
Another scam involves some friendly people finding out where you're from and saying they have a relative moving there, maybe you could come and talk to them. Then somehow the people that go along to be helpful get roped into playing some card game and owing lots of money. Finding out about this one made me feel lucky I guess because in KL some people sitting at an outdoor cafe stopped me to ask where I was from, and said their sister was going to work in Toronto, then they asked me about it a bit, and wanted me to come sit with them and wait for the sister or something. I didn't really want to, so I said I had to go somewhere and that was it. Now I don't know if they were trying to scam me, or really were just interested, because they seemed pretty nice at the time and weren't pushy about me staying.
So, upon arrival I knew what to look out for, including taxis that didn't use their metres. However, when you're dropped off in a city you've never been to before at 5:30 in the morning after an all night bus ride where you barely sleep, you don't really care what happens as long as you get where you're supposed to be. I got a taxi to my hostel, and put my bag in the trunk and got in, then asked him to turn on his metre. He said it was broken, which is just so old. I told him I wasn't stupid, that I really wanted him to turn it on, and he started getting mad and said to get another taxi. I wasn't up to getting out, so I just said I'd give him less than he'd wanted, and he was okay enough with that. He actually even took me to the right place.
Later that day when I was walking down the main street near me, some woman tried asking me where I wanted to go that day and stuff, and I was just like, I'm just walking around, I'm okay, and walked away from her.
The ripoffs include the "J. Crew" t-shirt I bought today for $5, all the fake Abercrombie and Fitch t-shirts for sale, and this place (like TCBY, but not quite):
I didn't know people would even rip off stuff like A&F t-shirts...Chanel bags and stuff I'm used to, but this just surprised me.
So yeah, at first I wasn't so impressed, but that was just the first morning.
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