"Samboondee Seafood is NOT Somboon Seafood!" Scams and Conmen Tip by DarkRay

Bangkok's infamous Somboon Seafood actually place a warning on their webpage that "there have been groups of people who have used names similar to Somboon Seafood as a scam to confuse and mislead both Thai and foreign customers into eating at their restaurants".

Sadly, I only learnt about this upon my return to Singapore and naively trusted my taxi driver to bring me to the correct place. He brought us to Somboondee Seafood, which was located in a very off-city location, and told us that this was one of the branches of Somboon Seafood. He explained that he brought us here because the one in the city is always very crowded. For various reasons, my brain and that of my compansion's, was half-functioning that day and both of us actually believed him.

My friend and I did suspect that something was wrong when we found the restaurant being totally deserted and the menu prices seemingly very high by Bangkok's standard. Most of the dishes starts from 600 baht which are like up to 10 times the prices of the same stuff in the city.

As it was our last evening in Bangkok before our return to Singapore, and it was already rather late at 9.30pm, we decided to give it a try anyway (told you my brain was not functioning properly) and ended up ordering a Pad Thai, Curry Crab and a Vegetable dish that landed us a bill of over 2,300 baht for just 2 person!

Alas, it was definitely not a lucky day for me as I ran into another scam after leaving the restaurant, this time involving a local policeman.

Unique Suggestions: The food at Samboodee Seafood was ridiculously overpriced, even by Singapore's standards, considering the rotten location, very dated decor, and bad ambience. At that price, I could practically have a grand feast consisting of at least 5 different dishes that include crabs, prawns and venison at Singapore's own Jumbo Seafood, which serves far superior fare than the mediocre fare at Samboondee Seafood.

The real Somboon Seafood outlets are located in busy locations and are always perennially packed with people. Somboon Seafood serves far better fare at prices that are actually less than a quarter that of Somboondie Seafood.

So, if you landed yourself in a restaurant that is not spelt exactly like "Somboon" and is deserted, please cut your losses by alighting from the cab and take another cab Just get out from the cab and take another cab to the real Somboon Seafood Restaurant.

I hope my stupid mistake can serve as a good warning to other travellers.

Fun Alternatives: Again, just get out from the cab and take another cab to the real Somboon Seafood Restaurant. No point making the crooks' day and encouraging them to con other people by letting them earn your money.

Too bad, the taxis in Bangkok are not that well regulated or you should note the errant taxi driver's license plate and file a complaint or something.