Well it's been about a week in Bangkok and Jen and I have decided it's time to move to a more relaxing environment. I think at this point, we both still feel like this is a holiday because in the last 5 days, we jammed in quite a bit of stuff.
Upon arrival we were picked up by a couple of Jen's host sisters, Lek and Jin, and dropped off a our hotel, Rambuttri Village, which is about a block from Khao San Road For about 800 Baht (around $27) per night, you get a very basic room but thankfully with air conditioning. I know I'll eventually get used to the heat but I was basically a puddle the first few hours. That evening we enjoyed a great dinner at a restaurant recently opened up by another one of Jen's host sisters, Thip. The restaurant was very modern looking, which was not at all what I was expecting, and the food was amazing. Best way to describe it would be Thai-Chinese fusion. The best part was that I finally got to meet Jen's host family and they are definitely some of the nicest people I've ever met.
For the next few days, we went about seeing the sights. We saw some amazing temples and Buddha statues and experienced some pretty interesting things. Now I would never consider Jen and I the gullible type, but as I'm writing this, I can honestly say that we fell for a couple of tourist scams. Now we're not talking thousands or even hundreds of dollars, but still, it's the principle.
The first scam started with us getting a tuk-tuk (three wheeled taxi). The driver was very nice and suggested a few of the temples to see. Starting with the Standing Buddha and the Lucky Buddha. The day was off to a good start. The next temple (the Grand Palace) that we wanted to see he said was closed, so he took us to an alternate. Once there though, we were told this temple was closed as well until after lunch. And this is where we think the "gem scam" started to take shape. As we were led to a waiting area in the courtyard, we ended up sitting beside a "teacher" at the temple. Small chit chat ensued and he was a very pleasant man. Then he mentioned how Thailand is very famous for their sapphires and rubies and that we were in luck because once a week, every year, a local mine sells some pieces of jewelery retail and that today was the very last day. To further add to our luck, it was 12:15 and the store was open just until 1pm.
Of course at this point, both Jen and my bullshit radars were screaming. The "teacher" continued to talk about these jewelery pieces and how he would buy every year at this time, ship the pieces to the US, and double his money. Again, radars screaming but the man was pleasant enough so we were still engaged in the conversation. then the clincher. All of a sudden this German tourist appears and eventually joins our conversation. To our surprise, he backs up the local and says that he also has purchased jewelery at this yearly sale and made 150% profit. Now I wouldn't say that we leapt off our seats, but we somewhat hurried back to our tuk-tuk and told the driver that we would like to go and see this store. 2 minutes later, we're in front of a very unassuming store and we are herded in by a salesperson. Once inside we got a taste of high pressure sales, Thailand style. VEry nice man, but never more than two feet from us. Suffice it to say, we finally came to our senses and got out of there without spending a Baht.
We finally clued in on the scam when we asked out driver to take us for some food and he suggested that we go to another jewelery store. He said something like we just go look for 5 minutes so he could get a gasoline credit. A bit confused but mostly just hot and tired at this point, we agree and off we go. Upon arrival, again we are ushered in and to our surprise, we hear the exact same story. This store only sells to the public for a week per year and today is the last day. Booyah. Clarity at last. You cannot believe how relieved we are that we didn't buy anything in the end.
The next day we awoke and decided no more tuk-tuks or taxis, but instead we would walk. OUr attempt at the Grand Palace was thwarted yesterday but we figured if we set out by foot, nothing would stop us. The walk started out uneventful enough but as we were not more than 20 minutes away, we were stopped by a young local. For those of you who have never been to Thailand, the people here are very ice and very proud of their country so it's not rare to be stopped by locals who are more than willing to tell you what you should see.
I'm pretty sure it was me who first stopped, since for the first few days, I've probably heard 10 or more people talk about how I should get a suit made. Anyways, this young man named Jay says he is a university student on break and asks us where we are going. We say the Grand Palace. To our surprise, he says that the Palace is closed in the morning because of a national holiday. Our heads are buzzing. Was the tuk-tuk driver from the previous day telling us the truth? Regardless, he continues on by saying that we should take a canal ride to see the city and that the canal will drop us off at the end at a temple. He says that for 1800 Baht for the two of us, we'll get an amazing ride that he himself and his girlfriend took just the day before. But only with we go to the "Thai pier" because the tourist pier will charge us double. Before we could say yes, he's hailing us a tuk-tuk and we're off.
Now the boat ride was pretty cool and we eventually did make it to the Grand Palace. As a bonus, we also saw another cool temple called Wat Arun. So how does this sound like a scam? Well, when we finally got there we saw that the Grand Palace is open every day and as we left, we were offered the same boat ride for 1,000 Baht. And to boot, instead of seeing the palace in the early morning, we were there at the height of the day's heat.
Anyways, nothing too major, but no one likes to get scammed. The biggest questions for us though are whether or not the "teacher" we met was really a teacher and whether Jay was really trying to scam us. I know we ended up paying too much for the boat ride, but did he really send us on our way knowing this? Also, where did they find the German?
p.s. to see more pics, go to http://gallery.me.com/adamschen
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