The Bangkok Gem Scam at the Grand Palace

The Gem Scam And a Lesson in Temple Etiquette

This is quite a good warning. It’s a bit of an old scam called the Gem Scam. I think most people are aware of this now but this is something that actually happened and it will give you a good idea of what you shouldn’t do if that makes sense.

My wife and I have been enjoying going to Thailand for short trips as it is close to where we live and is usually cheap and easy especially in pre COVID times. Usually we stay in the city center and get lots of Thai massages great food I get some tailoring and we relax by the pool.

One time we had booked a newer hotel a Radisson but it wasn’t quite… it was quite a bit away from our normal area. This led to the first problem taxis. I didn’t know there was a second Radisson which was older than our hotel and they all knew that hotel. We gave them a simple map in Thai with instructions on where the hotel we were staying in was located.

One evening after dinner we got into a taxi and told him the name of our hotel. I tried to show him the paper and he waved it off not even looking at it. Sure enough he was heading to the wrong hotel. I kept trying to tell him that he was going to the wrong hotel. He just smiled and carried on.

Of course this was a cab where the meter was supposedly broken. In my limited experience of Thailand it always seemed like about 99% of the cabs in Thailand have broken meters or so they say. A few times in the past I’ve insisted they put the meter on but they just won’t do it. It’s almost as if I’m trampling on the graves of their ancestors and insulting them because I want them to not cheat me and put that damn meter on for once.

Finally we get to the wrong Radisson and the doorman opens the taxi door for us but the driver is yelling as we get out. The doorman says ‘You need to pay him.’ I said ‘I’m not paying him anything. He didn’t put the meter on and he wouldn’t listen to me and when we tried to tell him he’s going the wrong way he just kept driving.’

The Honest Hotel Doorman

We explained more to the doorman as he spoke good English and realized that the driver had cheated us. He took over and got into a heated argument with the driver. Eventually the taxi driver gave in he knew he didn’t have a leg to stand on. He drove off without a penny of my money. It gave me so much satisfaction to see him drive off.

We found out that the doorman was half American and had spent a long time in California. He arranged for the hotel Mercedes to take us to the correct hotel at no extra cost. And when we arrived in our room there was a birthday cake waiting for me. Every time Thailand disappoints me something happens that makes me smile.

The Grand Palace Disaster

The next day I thought we should do something cultural and suggested we take a water taxi to the Grand Palace. This was a big mistake. I went to reception and got directions on how to catch a boat taxi to the Grand Palace.

When we got there a guy kept telling me that I had to pay for the boat before it arrived. I don’t think he was even Thai I think he was a Filipino. I kept trying to ignore him but he was relentless. Finally an older Thai man who looked like he had lived ten lifetimes told me to follow him. As the water taxi arrived he gestured that we should pay the lady on board the boat and how much to pay. He was so nice.

We got off at the Grand Palace stop and made our way to the entrance. I was in shorts so they wouldn’t let me in. I asked what I could do. The guard at the entrance said I could buy trousers or a wrap from a local store and return and we would be permitted into the temple.

An Indian guy standing close by overheard the conversation with the guard and then started giving us the hard sell on being our local guide for the palace. In hindsight that would have been better.

We went off to find a stall of which there were many. They all seemed to sell everything except trousers or wraps. Not only that but the amount of people hassling us because of our failure was becoming overwhelming. One guy who was quite aggressive was told to clear off by the tourist police. A savior!

The Gem Shop

We arrived at the temple and were greeted by a guy named Arun. As nice as he was he genuinely seemed shocked that someone showed up for a tour. It was actually an interesting tour. The temple was now serving some sort of lunch so he helped get us some plates and we chatted at a table.

During the chat he told us that he’d lived in New York for a while and he even showed us his New York driving license. Then he told us that he could send us to a gem shop as the red stones from Thailand are very rare and we could buy lots of them and resell them back home. I said that this is not interesting to me. The admin work to buy and sell back in the U.S. when I don’t live there doesn’t make sense and it wasn’t a task I wanted to put on my nearly retired parents as my brother was fighting in Kabul at the time.

He then suggested that I buy for myself as they are rare and getting rarer the value can only go up. He said he sent us off with a wave in a cab and we arrived at the gem showroom.

First we were ushered into a nice air conditioned lounge and served cold drinks. We were then shown a 10 minute movie on how rare these red stones are with some impressive footage of heavy machinery working on the ground and everything coming to a standstill when red stones are discovered.

Next we were led into a showroom which had a very pleasant well dressed staff and what looked like a large jewelry store. We wandered around the showroom and found a few things that we liked but the prices were outrageous. Everything looked very cheap. The staff became less pleasant the more we seemed reluctant to buy any purchases.

There was an Australian couple at a counter and this guy was doing it right he had a calculator and he was working out his own discounts for the items that him and his wife were interested in. An American guy came in and made a big scene about not being interested he was quickly whisked away.

The Gem Shop Upsell

There were a few nice stones that would have made nice ornaments but because everything was so overpriced and expensive we literally had no interest in buying anything. I had found a nice pair of elephant cufflinks with purple stones they were still around three hundred dollars and they felt light to be honest they were rubbish. I liked another pair of cufflinks they were made from red stones they looked like a Japanese flag they were pretty neat looking but as light as paper clips. Those were three thousand dollars.

We decided that we had no intention of spending that much money so we bought the elephant cufflinks instead. They asked us where we would go next and we said we wanted a massage. They said that they could arrange for one for us. By then we’d realized we were being scammed and said no. After much insisting the lady backed off and arranged a van to take us back to our hotel.

I never wore the cufflinks. The whole thing left an awful taste in my mouth and it was the only time I felt like Thailand had let me down. I realized now years later it was me who let us down. We had let our guard down and trusted a guy we never knew and was hanging around a tourist area with so many touts that were absolutely relentless.

We were put off Thailand for a while but after trying Vietnam and Malaysia and even Bali we are always drawn back to Thailand. We have children now and do things that children enjoy. Luckily there isn’t too much scamming around children’s activities.