Happy Scamming!
A breath of fresh air in Siam’s Hustle and Bustle
After arriving in Siam it took one look at the Lacoste and Miss Sixty shops to realise it wasn’t the place for us, full of imported brand names; we might as well be in a London mall. We took to the streets but it was all the same and very boring until we got talking to a Thai couple who caught our attention by complementing on Laura’s new outfit. The man introduced himself as a police officer on vacation with his wife; just the thing to ease us into a comfort zone. My mind was ticking over with realisation but I wasn’t listening. We said we were heading to a beach in a week and the man recommended a special TAT office that does discount booking. Now I already know the TAT, Thailands touirsm authority, does not deal with bookings, anyone who says different is trying to scam you. But still I listened not! After giving me the address to this imaginary wonder-agent they went on to suggest a better place for us to spend our money; “cheap Thai clothes, not American import!”, ah, just what we’re looking for then. After more chit-chat he said the best way to get there is by tuk-tuk. Eh oh, not a tuk-tuk. Let me explain what a tuk-tuk is to those who aren’t familar with Bangkok’s closest thing to an extreme sport. It’s like a three wheeled golf cart powered by a moped engine and driven by a psychiatric escapee. This means not only are the passengers engulfed in the fumes of the tuk-tuk’s engine, free to inhale the warm mixture of Bangkok’s choking pollution and the not so mild smell of it’s not so wonderful sewage, but also treated to a white nuckled roller coaster ride through the heavy traffic that never dies down. I mean never. Ever.
Yet another sign was the unsurprising concidence that a tuk-tuk was standing by, and the con artist gave a convincing harsh word to the driver ensuring we’d only be charged twenty Baht (the usual fare is about fifty, often more) to our mystery destination.
we jumped in and I lent over to Laura, “watch this, we’ll be greeted by someone and ushered into this place. Wait and see”.
Our first tuk-tuk ride wasn’t all bad.
As you can see we were very much enjoying this ride. Having read countless books and websites warning me of the dangers I had satisfied myself that we were not going to get the opportunity to be a part of this national treasure of an experience. Yet here we were careering down the busy roads of Bangkok, smiling with a passion the Thai’s would be proud of, as we were taken to the suburbs of this grimey city and dropped off to be greeted, as promised, by a man who was eager to show us his product. We made our excuses and walked off quick, sucessfully back the way we had come. I don’t think a trip to Bangkok is complete without experiencing this adventure.
Tags: Bangkok, Scams, Thailand, Travel
Monkey
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