Bangkok Tourist Trap Tips by Audrey118

There are plenty of people offering you to take you around at a cheap price, or to practice their English etc - do not fall into such scams as they would ultimate corner you to a spot and you would be coughing up lots of money for their services.

Anywhere in Asia - be it Bangkok or even in my country home, Kuala Lumpur, avoid at all time to take taxis which are pulled over at the side roads and with the drivers standing outside their vehicle. They usually never run the meter, and would be calling their prices - at least 2 -3 times if not more higher than metered prices.

This happened to us once too often. As we walk from Saladaeng skytrain towards the Jim Thompson shop (which has been there since I was a kid!!! but now a larger boutique), there would be ladies or sometimes men asking where are you off to. And they would chit chat with you and tell you that you are being ripped off to buy Jim Thompson stuff, and you should shop at the shops at the next block up from the JT shop. These people actually operate in a small booth at the corner street of JT shop, and if you do not take heed of their advise and come out of JT shops with bags of goodies, they may even snare at you. It is just their way of luring you to their shops to earn them a commission.

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VAT -

In the recent years, Thailand has started with the Value Added Tax. Some of the larger shopping centres offer this preparation to claim the VAT for tourist. But each shops would have their minimum amount spent before they would issue the documents. It is usually between 2-3,000 baht.

You must make sure that the documents are stamped by the store and signed at the appropriate places. I have seen a number of tourist having problem to get their refunds due to such errors.

When you reach the airport, just before you check in (this is very near the entrance of the airport) there will be small rooms marked Customs, and together e with all your documents (VAT refund forms complete with the bills attached, air ticket and passport), the officer will stamp on each form and signature it. After that you may check in all your goodies in your luggage for checking into the plane (no need to hand carry in).

After you have checked in the imigration checkpoint, it is towards the right hand side... It is quite a long walk, and there is a counter for VAT. They will look through the forms and you will need to show them your passport. It can take at least 15 minutes or more if the queue is long....they will do some calculation etc. The refunds are in Thai Baht.

A lot of tourist are not aware that they need to get the documents stamped outside - ie before the check in, and have lost all their VAT refunds.

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