So we're walking around bangkok Tuesday with nothing in particular to do. We're kinda looking at our book and discussing where we want to go when a well dressed man comes up and IN ENGLISH (this is very huge, Thai is a very difficult language) is like "hey guys do you need some help?"
- Umm kinda, were just walking around is there anything we should see?
-Can I write on your map?
- Of course.
So he explains that it's Buddha day and entrance to a bunch of monuments is free, and since Buddha day is government sponsored, we can get a tuk tuk ride for like 10 baht ($0.30) to all of the places. We look at each other, Jackpot! Instead of walking around seeing nothing, we get to see 4 different buddha sites. We flag down a tuk tuk and off we go. We are still a little skeptical when we arrive at the first site, but sure enough after taking pictures and whatnot our tuk tuk is still out there waiting for us. At the second site, there is one man inside praying. He motions for us to join him, instructs us how to pray, and tells us we should make a wish because this is the good luck Buddha. This guy speaks decent English so we chat with him for a minute and he explains that because it's Buddha day not only do you get in these sites for free but if we buy a suit at a government owned store we don't have to pay any tax today. Once again, jackpot! We had heard about getting tailored suits in Bangkok and we were thinking about getting some anyway. Buddha day was quickly becoming one of my favorite holidays.
When we got back to our tuk tuk, he informed us that in order for the government to sponsor him he had to take us to a suit store. At this point we were happy to go. We walk in there half excited but tell the salesman that we gotta think about it and we might come back. On to the next site. When we get to this one we walk onto the grounds and a man sitting on a bench explains to us that its not going to be open for another 30 minutes. By this time Ryan and I are kinda Buddha'd out anyway so we are like ok we will just bounce. The guy keeps on talking to us, telling us he lived in California for a few years. He lets us in on the little secret that the government owned jewelery stores are also tax free on Buddha day. He always buys a bunch of jewelery and takes it to the States to sell. Neither of us are interested in jewelery. We get back to the tuk tuk and say, man just take us home we are pooped. He asks if he can take us to two more places so that he can get his government money. The guy has been super nice despite the language barrier so we are like yeah of course. One is the TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) where we just walked in and walked out. The next is a huge suit store. A salesman takes us upstairs and sits us down and starts asking about our day, doing the typical salesman thing. We simply say what's the deal with the suits. He offered four top quality tailored suits, shirts, and ties for $1250.00. Once again we say we gotta think about it, how late are you open? - 7pm - Ok we will be back. On our way out of the store the guy shows us a big book, National Geographic Top Ten of Everything. This place is in there as the #1 tailor.
Needless to say Ryan and I are excited. We figure we can talk them way down on that price. We head back to the hotel discussing how many we want, what colors, styles etc. We decide it would be best to calm down, do a little research online, and go back with a much lower price. Later on, I type "top ten tailors national geographic" into google. BANGKOK SCAMS is the first thing to pop up. Ryan and I decide no suits, we didn't really need them anyway. Huge downer for me though, the idea of having a tailored suit sounds awesome, much less having a few of them.
Fast forward to Wednesday. We have some temples and palaces in mind that we want to see and we set off walking toward the giant reclining Buddha. About 5 minutes into our walk a well dressed man comes up and asks where we are going and if we need help. Guess what else? It's Buddha day! At this point we start to realize that something is up. We tell him thanks but no thanks, walk in the other direction, grab some fruit and sit down at a little park to brew on the situation. It's starting to dawn on us that the whole thing Tuesday was probably a scam. Pretty good script though; well dressed English speaking person asks you if you need help, if you know where you are going they tell you that it is closed that day (or at least until 3pm because its Buddha day and the monks are in there praying) but did you know that its Buddha day and these other sites are free? We had probably 6-7 separate well dressed, English speaking individuals approach us and try that exact same routine.
The funniest part in looking back on the whole thing is the level of the scam. I literally think everyone we talked to was in on it. The guy we talked to initially, the driver, the man teaching us how to pray, the suit stores, a few random people on the street, a few guards at the temples. After our experience Wednesday I have had to question everyone we have talked to in Bangkok. I'm starting to question whether we are even in Bangkok or if this whole city is a scam.
If you make it to Bangkok be wary of the 10baht tuk tuk drivers and anyone who speaks English. I'm not mad about our day because we got a free ride around town, but I'm sure plenty of people have wound up in much worse spirits after a Buddha day shopping spree.
One of the extremely helpful English speakers steering this couple toward the free Buddha day sites.
At this point in time we loved our tuk tuk driver.
The prayer instructor slash scam artist. Maybe the lowest of the low.
I'm still happy about any good luck I may get.
Kyle
Kyle
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