Thai Cons
The Boat
I was new in town – about 2 minutes outside my hotel. The wonderful staff at my hotel had sent me down to catch the boat to go to the Palace and Buddha sites. I wandered down the road towards the jetty and a very nice Thai man approached me. Hey I’m a Kiwi and we talk to anyone and so I stopped. I thought he was trying to be helpful!
He asked if I wanted to go on the boat. “Yes” I replied.
“I can take you. I take you all the sights and tour of river. How long you want to go?” he said with urgency.
“Oh…I don’t know….about 2 hours”.
“Two hours I give a very good price. Be 2000Baht” - (around $85NZD).
“Too dear” I said. (Later I realized that he could have retired on this trip!)
“I give it you 1000Baht.”
By this time I had gathered my wits and said no, I just wanted to catch the public boat.
Sulkily, he went on his way.
But…..catching the boat was not easy. I had no idea what I was looking for and approached just about every likely craft that came into the jetty. It was hot. I was getting flustered. He saw my confusion and approached me again but got the same polite answer. Oh he tried hard. The next day we went through the same questioning but this time I was a little wiser. By the third day he ignored me.
Eventually the boat I needed came in and I continued to catch it every day and had a lovely time – all for 15Baht. Sure it was a little less convenient but MUCH more satisfying and fun. I got to mix with the locals and found them to be very helpful and polite.
Directions
1. I was walking in the Khao San area and I was very hot after wandering the very narrow and airless passages between the stall holders. I was on my way to catch the boat back to my hotel and was fantasizing about a nice cold beer. I’d been on my feet for awhile and still had a few twists and turns to go to get back to the jetty when a Thai man approached me and said “where you go……to the boat?”
“Yes” I said.
“You go this way to boat”, he said pointing in the opposite direction.
Hmmm. I thought I was going the right way but paused momentarily to question myself. Then, I felt sure I was walking in the right direction and so I carried on.
“You go the wrong way”, he shouted out after me. “Boat this way”, he said pointing left when I was going right.
Oh well, I thought if I get lost so be it. Two more minutes in the direction I was going I reached my destination! I have no idea what he had to gain by pointing me in the wrong direction.
2. I’d just come off the BTS and was going to CentralWorld, a massive shopping centre around Siam Square. A lovely Thai lady approached me and again I engaged with her. She wanted to know where I was going and when I told her she said “Shopping centre closed today. Chinese New Year. Usually open at 10.00 but not today. Chinese New Year.”
“Oh really” I replied sounding very disappointed as I had made my way here especially to go to one of the big malls and also the MBK Center (see my shopping article).
“What you wanna buy?” she asked. “Just want to look” I said – hey I’ve already got way too much luggage!
“You go here” she said and grabbed my map to mark it with where she thought I should go. “Take bus or tuk tuk – cost ‘bout 30baht” and she wrote down the bus number.
I was puzzled but it WAS Chinese New Year and so it did sound plausible. But I carried on my way anyway with her shouting after me “do you no good – not open”.
I reached the mall and it was open!
Good Luck ?
This happened on my first day. I crossed the road (not an easy thing to do in Bangkok) after going to the Grand Palace. An old lady rushed up to me and pushed some plastic bags of dried sweet corn into my hands. Confused I looked at her.
“Good luck for yooou”, she sang.
“Oh thank you” I replied, every bit the polite Kiwi.
“You throw” she said waving her arms to show me what I should be doing to feed the pigeons. “Very good luck”.
I obliged.
“You pay now……70baht. 70baht!” she responded.
“Ah….I haven’t got 70 baht”, I said beginning to feel embarrassed. I quickly gathered my thoughts and realised that she wanted about $3 for a handful of old corn. I was still new in town and not at all used to the currency but knew I only had a few 500 baht notes in my wallet and money belt. I did have a few coins and I think I gave her about 20baht which was still a good price for that. As I left her I smiled at how easy it is to snare a gullible tourist, I’d managed to avoid the boatman but not the next one.
The Boat
I was new in town – about 2 minutes outside my hotel. The wonderful staff at my hotel had sent me down to catch the boat to go to the Palace and Buddha sites. I wandered down the road towards the jetty and a very nice Thai man approached me. Hey I’m a Kiwi and we talk to anyone and so I stopped. I thought he was trying to be helpful!
He asked if I wanted to go on the boat. “Yes” I replied.
“I can take you. I take you all the sights and tour of river. How long you want to go?” he said with urgency.
“Oh…I don’t know….about 2 hours”.
“Two hours I give a very good price. Be 2000Baht” - (around $85NZD).
“Too dear” I said. (Later I realized that he could have retired on this trip!)
“I give it you 1000Baht.”
By this time I had gathered my wits and said no, I just wanted to catch the public boat.
Sulkily, he went on his way.
But…..catching the boat was not easy. I had no idea what I was looking for and approached just about every likely craft that came into the jetty. It was hot. I was getting flustered. He saw my confusion and approached me again but got the same polite answer. Oh he tried hard. The next day we went through the same questioning but this time I was a little wiser. By the third day he ignored me.
Eventually the boat I needed came in and I continued to catch it every day and had a lovely time – all for 15Baht. Sure it was a little less convenient but MUCH more satisfying and fun. I got to mix with the locals and found them to be very helpful and polite.
Directions
1. I was walking in the Khao San area and I was very hot after wandering the very narrow and airless passages between the stall holders. I was on my way to catch the boat back to my hotel and was fantasizing about a nice cold beer. I’d been on my feet for awhile and still had a few twists and turns to go to get back to the jetty when a Thai man approached me and said “where you go……to the boat?”
“Yes” I said.
“You go this way to boat”, he said pointing in the opposite direction.
Hmmm. I thought I was going the right way but paused momentarily to question myself. Then, I felt sure I was walking in the right direction and so I carried on.
“You go the wrong way”, he shouted out after me. “Boat this way”, he said pointing left when I was going right.
Oh well, I thought if I get lost so be it. Two more minutes in the direction I was going I reached my destination! I have no idea what he had to gain by pointing me in the wrong direction.
2. I’d just come off the BTS and was going to CentralWorld, a massive shopping centre around Siam Square. A lovely Thai lady approached me and again I engaged with her. She wanted to know where I was going and when I told her she said “Shopping centre closed today. Chinese New Year. Usually open at 10.00 but not today. Chinese New Year.”
“Oh really” I replied sounding very disappointed as I had made my way here especially to go to one of the big malls and also the MBK Center (see my shopping article).
“What you wanna buy?” she asked. “Just want to look” I said – hey I’ve already got way too much luggage!
“You go here” she said and grabbed my map to mark it with where she thought I should go. “Take bus or tuk tuk – cost ‘bout 30baht” and she wrote down the bus number.
I was puzzled but it WAS Chinese New Year and so it did sound plausible. But I carried on my way anyway with her shouting after me “do you no good – not open”.
I reached the mall and it was open!
Good Luck ?
This happened on my first day. I crossed the road (not an easy thing to do in Bangkok) after going to the Grand Palace. An old lady rushed up to me and pushed some plastic bags of dried sweet corn into my hands. Confused I looked at her.
“Good luck for yooou”, she sang.
“Oh thank you” I replied, every bit the polite Kiwi.
“You throw” she said waving her arms to show me what I should be doing to feed the pigeons. “Very good luck”.
I obliged.
“You pay now……70baht. 70baht!” she responded.
“Ah….I haven’t got 70 baht”, I said beginning to feel embarrassed. I quickly gathered my thoughts and realised that she wanted about $3 for a handful of old corn. I was still new in town and not at all used to the currency but knew I only had a few 500 baht notes in my wallet and money belt. I did have a few coins and I think I gave her about 20baht which was still a good price for that. As I left her I smiled at how easy it is to snare a gullible tourist, I’d managed to avoid the boatman but not the next one.
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