The taxi scam telling you chinatown is closed because of buddha day, or asiatique only open at 930pm is still very common. On the recent trip to bangkok, at pratunam area around 8pm, a friend and i wanted to go to the above mentioned places, as other taxi wont be using meter, we rejected them, until came this pink color taxi that agreed to use the meter. We never thought much but to take this taxi. While stating we wanted to go to chinatown or asiatique for dinner (another mistake telling taxi driver we are target), the taxi driver Start to give reason as stated above, and recommend us to go to a local seafood place, he said that curry crab, lemon fish is the recommended dish. I start to feel skeptical as i remember few yrs back somewhere i read article abt this but i wasn’t too sure until we reach the place and saw the name on the restaurant stated “somboondee”, i started to tell my friend abt this scam discreetlty. While the taxi still there, We pretend to look at the menu, and when the driver left, we walked out soon after that without Ordering anything. Luckily i read about it, or else will end up like other tripadvisor user who reported that they have to pay for the overcharging food.
You should raise your alarm when they tell you this,
- restaurant you want to go is no good and local will go to the shop he recommended
- the place you wanted go is closed for some occasion / open late
- beware of taxi driver that speak good english/ chinese
- taxi driver start to recommend you some restaurant/shop
- traffic jam, don’t want to use meter
What you should do:
- nvr tell them you are first time to bangkok
- Check google / online for more info if you sense something fishy.
- Dont give too much detail on where you stay, they will judge how richer you are based on hotel you stay
- If you want to go to a restaurant, try not to tell the driver directly, instead look for neaby landmark like shopping mall, bts, mrt station, etc drop off point there and walk to the shop.
- Tell them you are meeting “some friend” in that destination place if you really want to go there
If you realise you are in the Scam taxi and they dont want to go to your destination, kindly reject their suggestion and ask them to drop off, or drive to nearby mrt, bts station
The restaurant is digging their own grave by cheating/scamming the tourist as more and more internet posting news about them. Too bad we didnt record down the taxi plate number.
Another one is Sriayudhya Seafood Market according to this news
https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/bangkoks-legendary-rip-restaurant-gets-probed-over-thb1000-tom-yum/
Many post about this,
https://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/Show...10540144-Somboondee_seafood_scam-Bangkok.html
https://cathyandgarystravelpages.com/somboondee_seafood_markets.htm
http://tourist-scams.com/tourist-scam-destinations/bangkok/scam-somboondee-seafood-market/
#somboondee #bangkoktaxiscam
Tags: somboondee seafood bangkok taxi scam
