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Big Trouble in Thailand
Hi everyone. Here is your chance to tell your story of your time in Thailand. We are looking for stories that are of interest for tourists and travellers alike. It can be about a scam you fell for, something bizarre, frightening, a brush with the law or simply a story that advises people who travel to Thailand not to make the same unfortunate mistake. If you do care to write to us then please no bad language or anything that is discriminating or racist. We will choose accordingly so our viewers do not just read about someone's rant. Send to info@khaosanroader.com
Editor's Word
During the last ten years I have lived in different places such as the Canary Islands, Sydney in Australia, London in England and returning to my hometown in Cardiff, Wales for a 2 year spell. Every country I have ever travelled to have their commercial areas that thrive on the tourism industry. In each commercial area you will find that people generally pay a little more for things and they are places where opportunists go to make a quick buck. Thailand is no different than any other place in that respect. Over the last year or two I feel Thailand has come in for some unnecessary criticism, especially with the advent of the new TV series "Big Trouble in Thailand". Yes, there are scams going on which people have pointed out but there are scams in all these types of areas in all countries. Labeling Thailand as one of the most dangerous countries in the world is absolute nonsense. The possibilities of being mugged, stabbed, shot, blown up, accosted or violated in any way is much higher in places like London in England, New York in America, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil etc.
Most incidents in Thailand happen in its seedier places. If you frequent places as these or get involved with people who are of the criminal element then yes you can find yourself in big trouble just like you would anywhere else in the world. These places and people make up an extremely low percentage of society. (Less than 1% percent)
I've lived in Bangkok, Thailand for almost 5 years and I have travelled around the country extensively. I frequent Khaosan Road regularly and most trouble or incidences I have witnessed or been involved in personally, have involved foreigners under the influence of alcohol. This is a common problem in western society.
I have never felt under threat from any Thai nationals at any time. In fact, Thai nationals make special allowances for foreign visitors which they would not grant to their own. My advice to people is act accordingly when in Thailand, use your common sense and be respectful to everyone you meet. This is also something you should do in your home country or anywhere else in the world. Happy travelling!
One way ticket to Palookaville, please.
Last year I travelled to Thailand for the first time. I was on a tour of Asia and Bangkok was my first destination out of Perth, Australia. I decided to spend a few days at Khaosan Road partying and getting to find my way about. I can't recall the street I was on but it wasn't Khaosan Road but one of its side streets. As I was walking I saw that a "travel agent" was selling flights to Sri Lanka, India, Vietnam etc. I stopped to check things out. The travel agent was just a table outside other travel agents offices with signs and prices draped from the table and pictures of tours on the table itself. I spoke to the lady who was very polite and funny. I asked her for prices and she kindly assisted me. She quoted me a package flight from Bangkok to Sri Lanka to India to Vietnam then back to Bangkok. This would include all means of transport in Thailand. She quoted me a bargain price that I just couldn't say "No" to. After getting my funds together I returned to her within a couple of days and booked my trip of a lifetime around Asia. I couldn't wait to go as I'd had enough of Khaosan Road as well. She gave me a receipt for everything and told me to return the next day to collect my tickets. I was overjoyed to be going.
The next day I returned to her "travel agents" and she wasn't there. I asked in the travel agents and they said they didn't know her. After a while, it sunk in, I had been "conned" and she wasn't coming back. She had taken the money and run. I had laid out over 2000 Australian dollars for my dream holiday only for it to be stolen from me. I was so angry and I wanted to kill her and I am sure if I had seen her, no matter what, I would have done.
I went to the police station and told them but they said there was nothing they could do except to make a report and possibly get someone to check there in a couple of days but I knew it was falling on deaf ears. I walked the streets looking for her all day and the next day. I couldn't enjoy myself anymore. I told all the other travellers I had met and they consoled me with beer and kind words. A friend who I had met there told me that he was going to go to Laos for a month and asked if I wanted to go with him. I promptly accepted as I didn't want to be in Thailand much longer. I just felt I couldn't trust them anymore. This was my first experience of Thais and it wasn't good.
My friend Alex and I travelled to Laos the next day. As soon as I got to Vientiane I loved it. I really felt good. I felt the people were genuine and welcoming. Over the next month I made some great friends and had an amazing time. I travelled up into the jungle and stayed in some really primitive villages where not many tourists visit due to the fact you can only get to some places by boat or long haul treks. It truly was magical. On our return to Bangkok, Alex and I quickly made our way to Angkor Wat in Cambodia for a week and then returned to the Southern part of Thailand where we had the time of our lives. Over my journey, I had to be extra careful with my budget and missed out on a lot of things which I feel aggrieved about but time was a great one and I made some good friends which I am very grateful and fortunate for.
Andy - Perth, Australia
Every Man's Fantasy, 2 for the price of 1
Hi, this a story that I feel needs to be told. I'll try and make it as short as possible. About 18 months ago I was in Phuket in Thailand with a band of friends, five to be exact. It wasn't our first time in Thailand and we were pretty wise to all but some things you just can't see coming. We had been there three days and everything was fine. We were doing the usual of going to the beach in the day and the girlie bars at night.
One of my friends (Brian) decided to take what I can only was a gorgeous beauty back to his room. Once he was back in his room and getting down to things, the girl he was with received a phone call. She acted excited and asked him if he wanted her friend to join them. 2 for the price of 1 she told him. His fantasy had come true. He immediately agreed. Her friend turned up to the room with a huge smile and what Brian described as "magnificent breasts". After fulfilling his fantasy, it was time to pay and the girls got ready to go. Suddenly there was a tap on the door. Brian opened it and who should be standing there but a policeman. He didn't seem too bothered at first with Brian and was talking with the girls. He escorted the girls from the room and left. About ten minutes later, the policeman returned to the room and told Brian to accompany him downstairs. Arriving outside the hotel, the policeman called the girls over and told them to get out their I.D. cards which proved that the girl with the "magnificent breasts" was actually a minor so being under-age to engage in the act of sex. Brian was promptly arrested and taken to the police station. The manageress who witnessed this knocked on our doors and informed us of what happened. The guys and I made our way to the police station all feeling worse for wear.
We went through the motions of enquiring what happened. It ws late in the morning and it was still quite dark. There was a policeman who could speak limited English but enough. He told us that Brian was arrested for having sex with a minor and was looking at a long jail sentence unless of course we came to an agreement. The agreement obviously involved money. He told us that if we were to pay an agreed amount that he would be released and nothing more would be heard of it. The amount was agreed between the police, my friends and myself. The amount was 200 thousand Baht (6500 Australian Dollars). The choice was easy as we had no choice but to pay it. If we hadn't paid then it would have been life over for Brian as he would have gone to prison, been labeled a sex criminal, lost his job etc etc, it was looking bad. The policeman gave us three days to pay. As we were all limited to the amount of many we could withdraw from the Bank and the amount of money we had on us, it took us three days exactly to get it together. We finally paid off the police and Brian was released. To say it put a dampener on things would be an understatement. We finished our holiday and returned to Australia with our tails between our legs. Yes it was annoying and p#ssed us off but I guess we were just unlucky because of all the times we have been to Thailand this was our first time of being scammed unless you count the Taxi Fares of course. Since then, we have returned to Thailand as we love it so much and wouldn't let one thing spoil the rest of this amazing country.
Brent - Australia
Double Bubble
After having finished my travels to America, South America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, My friend and I made our way to Asia and our first stop was Thailand. On our travel we'd had a few minor hiccups. When we landed in Bangkok, we knew that this would be a completely different deal to the other places we had been. After a few days in Bangkok, we made our way to Koh Samui. The next day was the Full Moon Party on Koh Pan Ngan so we had to take a speed boat across in the evening. After a great night of drinking and partying, My friend Paddy and I fell asleep on the beach only to find our wallets had been stolen which contained our money and bank cards. We had no money to get back to Koh Samui so we were stuck. We ended up asking other travellers for donation (almost begging). After explaining our predicament, kind chap from Israel of all places named Asaf gave us enough to get the ferry back to Koh Samui. Don't get me wrong he was staying on Samui too and we paid him back in days to come. When we arrived back to our hotel, we explained to the manager ( Khun Peng) about our trouble and that we had to get back to Bangkok. He was very understanding and to my absolute surprise, he lent us 8000 Baht so we could both get back to Bangkok and have enough for accommodation and food.
When we arrived in Bangkok, we headed straight for Khaosan Road and booked into place on the main strip. We contacted our parents who then sent us money via Western Union. As soon as we got our money we made sure we sent back the 8000 Baht to Khun Peng. We had enough money to get us over a week which we would then have more money sent when needed. We were revitalized and feeling much better. Paddy and I are pretty positive guys so we put this behind us quickly and let it be a lesson learnt. The next day I alone went for a walk around Khaosan Road and decided to stop for a beer in a small café. Whilst sitting there, I met a couple of teachers who had been in Thailand for a few years. I got talking to them as I was interested in staying for a while to teach. They were great to get on with and we talked about rugby, football and of course Thailand.
During the conversation, the subject of Go-Go Bars arose which I decided to enquire about. The guys started to laugh and joke about them and gave some interesting insight in to them. Later on, Paddy joined us and had a few beers. As the evening arrived and the sun went down, we were all quite drunk. We asked the two teachers to take us down to the Go-Go bars but they said that it wasn't their cup of tea. After a few more beers they agreed to. Before we made our way their we were told us if we were to take a lady for the night not to take her back to our room but go to a short time room and do our business there. When arriving at the area called "Nana" our eyes were lit up and we were certainly impressed. The drinks went down easily and we were beginning to falter. As things got hazey the teachers went home and Paddy and I stayed outside the bars after they had closed. Paddy was in full conversation with what must have been a "working girl". I told him that it was time to go and he insisted that he brought the girl back. Unfortunately, I agreed. Paddy and I had put all our things in Paddy's room. Big mistake! I woke then next day with a huge hangover. I knocked on Paddy's door for him to let me in. AS soon as I saw him I knew there was something wrong. He told me that he had fallen asleep and when he woke up, he found the "girl" had stolen there money, passports, even the bag of coins we had collected from country to country, cameras, you name it. It was an absolute clean out. I was devastated. It was back to the western union for more money from our parents, a trip to the British Embassy, a long wait for a new passport, a trip to the police station, more explaining to the hotel manager, lots more wasted cash. It was endless. That day, I went for a beer at the same café and who should be sitting there, the two teachers who I relayed the whole sad story to. They consoled me, bought me a few beers and of course reminded me that they had pre-warned me. After awhile, I felt in better spirits and began to see it as an experience I would never forget. They told me that I had become a statistic and this is an often occurrence when someone doesn't know "what the score is" when delving into the exotic side of Thailand. I wouldn't have been so annoyed if it had been me who'd made the mistake. Needless to say, Paddy didn't show his face that evening so I just spent my time sipping on a cold beer watching the world go by on Khaosan Road.
Chris - Northern Ireland
