1/5 Morgan W. 7 years ago on Google
This
place
is
a
scam.
Let
me
tell
you
my
story.
First
day
in
Bangkok,
went
to
to
grand
palace,
then
walked
by
wat
pho.
Outside
wat
pho
and
Thai
man
approached
us
enthusiastically
telling
us
"this
temple
is
closed
to
public
right
now
for
prayer,
but
will
be
open
at
1800".
He
suggested
we
take
a
Tuk
Tuk
around
to
standing
Buddha,
happy
Buddha
and
some
other
well
know
tourist
sites.
He
circled
locations
on
the
map
and
also
wrote
Thai
export.
For
100
baht
it
sounded
like
fun.
The
Tuk
Tuk,
very
nice
man
took
us
around,
waited
for
us
at
each
location...we
went
down
some
remote
roads
to
the
white
Buddha
temple.
We
were
the
only
ones
there,
very
small.
Upon
leaving
the
man
who
was
standing
at
the
door
starting
chit
chatting,
he
spoke
perfect
English.
Talked
about
all
the
places
in
USA
that
he
visited.
Then
began
to
tell
us
how
he
afforded
to
go
to
college
abroad.
INVESTING
IN
SAPPHIRES.
He
said
"One
week
per
year
the
government
allows
sapphires
from
exporting
shops
to
be
bought
by
the
public
tax
free,
they
do
not
charge
the
195%
tax".
When
asked
why
on
earth
they
would
do
this
he
said
"so
the
young
people
here
can
afford
to
get
an
education
abroad
by
selling,
then
come
back
to
the
country
to
work".
This
man
had
such
an
elaborate
yet
convincing
story.
So
of
course,
the
Tuk
Tuk
took
us
the
this
shop.
Upon
entering,
it
seemed
a
bit
sketchy
but
we
casually
looked
around,
while
the
10
employees
sat
around
looking
busy.
The
owner
Chan,
started
talking
and
of
course
told
us
about
the
tax
free
week...promised
us
that
we
can
sell
for
at
least
double
in
USA,
named
all
NYC
jewelers.
He
explained
that
we
can
each
only
take
$5,000
USD
on
the
plane,
his
story
went
on.
We
were
suckers
and
gave
in,
the
get
rich
fast
scheme
hit
us
hard.
We
bought
a
pair
earrings
and
a
ring.
Chan
provided
us
with
endless
documents
proving
the
value
of
the
ring
etc,
we
left.
Immediately
back
at
the
hotel
and
on
wifi
we
quickly
found
out
we
were
scammed.
We
talked
to
the
hotel
who
was
extremely
helpful
and
took
us
to
the
tourist
police.
The
hotel
said
this
is
one
of
the
biggest
scams
in
Bangkok,
as
does
the
internet,
trip
advisor
etc....the
value
of
the
products
at
this
shop
is
EXTREMELY
LOW.
We
worked
out
a
deal
and
got
90%
return
after
the
police
had
the
owner
come
to
the
station.
The
tourist
police
were
almost
hinting
that
we
couldn't
not
file
a
report.
It
was
either
get
90%
back
or
file
report...not
both.
Our
hotel
later
informed
us
after
we
left
that
this
was
because
the
police
get
a
cut
of
money
for
not
filing
a
report
and
reporting/shutting
down
this
FRAUDULENT
business,
it
is
all
corrupt.
LEARN
FROM
OUR
MISTAKE!
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