Grand Palace Closed Today and other Bangkok, Thailand Tourist Trap Tips

If you've read the guide books, they warn you that people stop you on the way to the Grand Palace and other tourist sites in Bangkok, and tell you the Palace is closed today, for a few hours, etc. Don't believe them no matter how well they are dressed (suits even) go find out for yourself. This happened several times, verbatim. We found that telling the Scammers "We live in Thailand", sent them walking in the other direction, fast. Also telling the merchants that constantly stop you, follow you, really want you to buy buy buy, that "I have no money" works well enough to get past a few more shops unscathed too.

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All 4 of us came in on different days, same flight/time, however we all paid something different for the cab ride to the hotel from the Airport. Best tip is pass all the taxi drivers and walk straight to the official taxi stand outside at the airport. Get into a metered taxi ONLY and make sure they run the meter. Also make sure the driver is clear on where you want to go BEFORE leaving the airport or Hotel. Many times the staff loading you into the cab will tell you the driver knows where you are going and they have no idea. Trying to point it out on the map on the freeway is not the great follow-up idea. Also, Tuk Tuk's can be fun and the drivers know the local streets much better then the taxi drivers, beware. They often overcharge tourists. But if your cab driver doesn't know where you want to go, after you get to town, switch to a Tuk Tuk. They are more familiar with the city streets. We found this particularly true in Phuket.

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