The Gem Scam

Here is an interesting report on gem scam (s) in Thailand, the colored gemstone capital of the world. There are endless variations, but an educated customer (s) in theory should never fall into the trap. Always do your research. If you are doubtful regarding gemstones have it checked by a reputed gem testing laboratory.

The ThaiGemScamGroup writes:

The Scam has been working for over 20 years, and succeeds due to several factors:

1.Complicity/indifference of local authorities.

2.Love/hate relationship between Thais and "Farang" (hate the victim, blame the victim).

3.Tourists can't stay in the country to press charges.

4.Tourists don't get to talk to one another and share information.

5.Everybody is greedy and wants to get rich quick.

There are several excellent sites that outline the process of the scam (including www.2bangkok.com) so do check out the Links page to get other points of view. Don't assume you are too smart to fall for this scam; they've been practicing it for 20 years. How long have you been dealing with scams?

Set up
There are, in fact, two variations on the scam, but both involved you paying far too much for jewellery. The other one is where a tuk tuk driver simply takes you to a gem shop and tells you to look around for 10 minutes; he gets a free gas coupon for each customer he brings in. This is simple and obvious, and most people don't make a purchase in this case.

The scam discussed on this page involves "coincidental" meetings with "friendly" Thais. Because of the coincidences and the friendliness of the people involved, the victim's guard is let down, thus ensuring the scam's success.The usual set up involves a tourist (or tourists, as couples get targeted as well) walking out of their hotel, on the street, near a tourist attraction, and being approached by a friendly Thai.

Thais, as a rule, do not approach foreigners alone. This is the first warning sign. The Thai will be very friendly and ask where you are from, where you are going, etc...perhaps identifying himself (herself) as a guide, a student, a government employee, a tuk tuk driver, etc.... Regardless of what you answer with regards to your destination, the Thai will give you some reason as to why you can't go there. People going to the Grand Palace or Wat Pho are commonly told that it is closed for some holiday involving Buddha or the Royal Family.

The Grand Palace and Wat Pho are a main attraction of Bangkok, one that provides a large amount of revenue through admission fees. As such, they are both open 365 days/year; why would they close? This is the second warning sign. They both open at 8am and the Grand Palace closes at 15:30pm while the Wat Pho closes at 17:00pm. Note there is only one entrance for the Grand Palace and that *parts* of the Grand Palace may be closed for royal functions, but never the entire complex.

Never fear, however, your Thai "friend" will tell you about another temple or Wat that is open. They usually say that it is not normally open to the public, it is just today. The Thai usually also mentions the Asia economic crisis, and how it is harder for Thai students to pay for their studies abroad with the devaluation of the Thai currency. Usually, there will be a mention of how the government lets Thai students sell one jewellery set a year, tax free, to help fund their studies abroad.

The Thai may or not mention that foreigners are allowed to participate in this scheme once a year, in a bid to promote tourism. The Thai then tells you about the special tuk tuks that take tourists around for a special rate, due to the holiday. Usually this is 20 baht/hour or something like that, and they'll always tell you there are only certain tuk tuks that do this.

There are no government or special tuk tuks. They are all privately owned and no one in our group has yet to meet an honest tuk tuk driver. This is the third warning sign.

The Thai will choose the tuk tuk (he has to in order to get his accomplice, although there are several tuk tuk drivers in on this). He will arrange things for you and send you off to this other temple.In fact, there is nothing too special about this temple, but it is quiet and deserted. The tuk tuk driver will send you in, assuring you that he will wait. Of course he will, he has to be the one to take you to the gem store.

You wander around the temple where you will meet the second "friendly" Thai. He may approach you, asking you questions or offering some advice; you may approach him, because he dropped his keys and walked away; some monk might lead you to a quiet corner of the temple where a man is meditating. In all cases, it is a casual, chance encounter, with all the friendliness and coincidence to disarm your suspicions. He will identify himself as a businessman, student, whatever he thinks will allay your suspicions.

This Thai will ask you various questions about you and somehow steer the conversation back to jewellery. They often get you to mention it, as you've heard about it from the other Thai earlier. Almost always, they make no effort to sell to you, they drop some hints that lead you to ask questions. You are made to feel like you are lucky to know about this, or that you would be foolish to miss out. They tell you that foreigners are allowed to participate in this for only a short time each year, and today is always the last day. They even have a receipt showing that they just bought jewellery that very day.

The Thai government does not have a 195% export tax on jewellery, and couldn't care less about foreigners taking jewellery out of the country. Your own country's Customs, however, does care about how much you import back into your country, making any Thai government promise meaningless. This is the fourth warning sign.

Note that at this point, a foreigner might join the conversation, if not at the temple, then at the shop itself. The foreigner will assure you it is all legitimate, that he/she uses it to pay for his trip all the time. It may also be another Thai who tells you they live abroad and come home once a year for this. In either case, it adds to the legitimacy of the scam, and adds to the number of "coincidences" that you encounter. By now you are curious. The tuk tuk driver may take you to yet another temple, for yet another "chance" meeting with someone who confirms the story. Usually, you are now on your way to the gem store. This is your last chance to save yourself from a very bad experience.

The gem store itself will make every effort to look respectable. There will be staff in uniforms, display cases, etc....but most shops will not have windows, or else they are covered up. Officially recognized jewellery stores should have a Jewelfest logo in plain view, although given the proliferation of fake identification in Thailand, this guarantees nothing.

You will always be taken to a separate room, not left in the main selling area. There will be almost no other customers, and if there are, it will be a foreigner again, who confirms the story and tells you exactly what everyone else said. In this smaller room, you are told the same story, shown a book with photocopies of other passports of "customers", and assured that you can get your money back under any circumstances.The transaction involves mailing the jewellery back to you, or to whatever address you give them (parents, Poste Restante in another country, etc...).

Your country's Customs treats goods imported by you the same, regardless of whether they are with you or were sent to you via the mail system. If this is a tax free purchase, they should not object to you taking the jewellery with you. The use of the mail system is essential in making this scam work. This is the fifth warning sign.

Most people do not have the cash with them. The stores never have credit card machines, so those people wanting to pay via credit cards are told the shop does not usually do business with the public, so they have no credit card machine. Fear not, their other store does sell to the public, so they will loan you their car, driver and escort to that store to run your credit card through the machine. This is a gold store, where you are told you have to buy gold (for whatever reason, inventory, tax purposes, etc...) and take the gold with you. You will trade the gold for the jewellery set. If you pay cash, they will give you their car, driver and escort to take you to your ATM or wherever else you need to go to get your cash.

Back at the jewellery store, you get all kinds of official looking receipts, they show you the courier package they put the jewellery in, make you sign the envelope once it's sealed to ensure no one tampers with the package, and you've now overpaid for cheap jewellery.

As a sign of their gratitude, they will always give your their car and driver and take you around town, to a restaurant, tourist attractions, Thai massages, etc...They do this to distract you and get your package to the mail center as quickly as possible. If they can get your package out of the country before you realize you've been scammed, it will take you over a week to get the gems back in your possession, giving them time to close up shop and vanish forever.

Have you been scammed? If so, click here to find out what options you have. Was this description useful to you?

Send your comments, suggestions and feedback to thaigemscamgroup@yahoo.com.