Bangkok Tourist Trap Tips by chatterley

"Want to see Lucky Buddha?" Closed? Best check for yourself. Review

After visiting the Royal Palace, we decided to walk to Wat Pho. We followed the map, but it was such a long walk that we started to get confused after a while (we were worried that we could be walking in the wrong direction). Just as we stopped for a rest and checked our map, a Chinese-looking man asked if we needed help. We asked for directions to Wat Pho, and he replied in Teochew (a Chinese dialect) that he's a Thai of Chinese descent and he could help us. Initially, we felt relieved to get help, but our suspicions were aroused when he kept asking us questions, eg. which hotel we are staying, how many days we are spending in BKK, etc... instead of telling us if we were going in the correct direction!

My husband got a bit impatient, and asked him (again) politely how to get to Wat Pho. He started to tell us that Wat Pho is closed (for lunch?!) and would open after 2 pm. He said he could bring us to see some "Lucky Buddha" instead. We instantly knew he was a scammer, trying to trick us to see some crap and purchase "jewellery at discounted prices"... We walked away immediately, ignoring his little speech about the temple being closed and we're "wasting time", etc...

After 10 mins, we finally arrived at Wat Pho, and of course it was opened! Thankfully, we didn't get conned by that man!