firecat69

Can I ask where you met the boy and what Hotel you were staying . I use Hotel and apartment safes all the time and never had a problem. But I do stay at 4 or 5 star Hotels . That said I try not to leave much money in the safe because much easier to take money out of my Thai Bank ATM and thus rarely I would have much in the safe except my iPhone and whatever baht left over after a day.

Good for you!!

Well I agree we are both breaking the law. However I 'm not sure where you find your moneyboys . I find them in a Bar where it is assumed you will pay. The boy does not have to lie to me. Same on the Apps. Most have something in their profile that makes it plain they are moneyboys and those who do not , certainly tell me before they leave for my room or apartment that they expect money. Usually How much you give me? is the question. So definitely nothing to do with a scam!

Possibly you should do the same! Again try reading and comprehending. I am stating that Bucknaway 's experiences do not seem to be the norm and the first time visitor should pay little attention to them because you , myself and many others have not had those experiences. All of whom have far more days and years in Thailand I think then Bucknaway.

You are the one making it about you and all the thefts and scams you have suffered, and yet nobody else has anything but an isolated experience to report and most have nothing to report. Do you somehow think that all the other posters in this thread have not lived life to its fullest. I assure you I have and I am sure most of the posters in this thread have. I have no idea why you are the only poster who picks up thieves and goes to Bar that rob you etc etc etc. Possibly you make a lot of bad choices or are just unbelievably UNLUCKY!

As I said before you must be the unluckiest visitor ever to Thailand because according to you , you have suffered more thefts then every poster in this thread combined who when combined have hundreds or probably thousands of more days spent in Thailand.

Please give us the rest of your report, it is much more interesting then discussions of supposed Scams.

I did not experience that in Hanoi. You must ask your Hotels which taxi companies are honest and once you have them in your phone, a quick call and that company shows up within 5 minutes. Just a little bit of experience with boys off the apps and those meetings were all positive. Plus 5 months out of the year the weather is just beautiful.

Phone no good could mean it no longer works for internet or that some functions don't work. Conspiracy Theorists like Bucknaway and apparently now you want to impart that as a possible Scam. Ridiculous!. Did Bucknaway get scammed .No. In fact has has he listed one scam that he experienced personally from a Gay Boy or Gay Bar. The answer is no the same as the resounding response in the scam thread . Look up the word evidence. No where in the definition is supposition or suspicion mentioned. Let me know when someone personally reports this supposed ridiculous scam happening to them. Until then I will continue to believe what everyone (including you) has posted in the Scam thread that either they have never been scammed or Taxi driver tried to get flat rate. And thus I will continue to encourage people who have never visited Thailand to be comfortable that they will be welcomed and treated honestly and not worry about Scam Theorists.

I'll be happy to keep the argument going because you make no sense. CB has no standing to be making comments about Thai boys being dishonest because it it to his advantage to denigrate Thai Boys to get more customers. Bucknaway 's comments about someone putting a phone on the edge of the bed. Did I miss where the boy tried to scam him ? I must have! I've had hundreds of Thai boy phones on my bed desk, table etc. Again meaningless repeated drivel with no facts. Bucknaway did not get scammed by the phone on the bed and has no reason to think he would have. The thread on scams got started because Bucknaway says he has been scammed repeatedly in Thailand. He must either be the unluckiest visitor to Thailand or the scams only happen to visitors to Lady and LadyBoy Bars.

Unbelievable! Attack??? I pointed out that CB denigrating Thai boys as being dishonest and using an example such as putting a worthless phone on the edge of a desk so it could be knocked off and damaged was just plain not true. First Thai boys are not in general dishonest and this invention of a scheme that Thai boys use , not a single person has said that they have experienced this fraud. Next it is time for some members to remember as posters they represent a tiny minority of the visitors to this site. At any one time there are 10-15 x as many readers of this site as there are members. Not only that but of the members , it is even a smaller subset that actually post. That said I consider it important that when a comment is made about the dishonesty of Thai Boys , that someone clarifies the veracity of the comment.It makes no difference in what form the comment was made. People who have never visited should not be made to think things about Thailand that are not true. That is all I did. I don't know how many posts I can make praising Numazu's story telling and just because I choose to point out that CB was wrong does not in any way criticize Numazu. It is a comment on the assertion of CB . We have a whole another thread here where a member actually tried to make a case that Thailand is the Land of Scams for visitors. I'm still waiting for those scams to surface.

Possibly you need to learn how to read carefully??? This is just one of my posts praising Numazu for his storytelling and generosity. My comments were about CB trying to color Thai boys as dishonest and like another thread scammers. This is not my experience nor do I find the experience of any Gay Poster here. There has not been one criticism by me directed at Numazu. Please read carefully below and then find one sentence directed at Numazu that I should apologize for.???????? "I made it plain that I love your storytelling and appreciate the way you treat the boys. However the story that CB tells you about Thai boys being bad with scams etc like broken phones is patently ridiculous. In the last 15 years I have seen hundreds maybe even thousands of Thai Boys. I have run into 1 thief. Have I had boys tell me sad stories in order to get more money. Yes but still a very small percentage. There are a number who try to get a little extra for taxi and this usually happens in BKK and almost never in Pattaya. CB would naturally love to divorce you from Thai Boys which of course limits his competition. Somehow I think you probably understand this?"

I have had occasion to make a reservation during Xmas and New Years and at least in my cases it was spelled out quite clearly about the mandatory buffet. I have failed in the past to read a reservation carefully about cancellation requirements and have lost some money. My fault and once was enough, I now read and save the confirmation. If it is not in the confirmation , the Hotel is out of luck trying to charge me anything. Although rare in Thailand, I have had a Hotel try to charge me for a guest . I just show them the reservation for 2 people and remind them it is none of their business who the other person is and all they can ask is the person registers. By the 3rd night of them registering a different person they cease to bother.

Since I am not really experienced in boy meets girl in Thailand I can only surmise this happens from people stupid enough to pick someone off the street or beach late at night. I doubt it would happen in 99% of the cases on Boy meets girl from Soi Nana. Those Bars do not need those kind of things to happen because the word would spread and they would be out of business. I am still waiting for all the scams that Gay members have had foisted on them.

I'm really not sure what you have a problem with. The reason this Board exists is for discussion of various topics. This thread is about scams and despite GB 's real estate scams I don't see many members having any personal problems with scams. Many of the posters have spent many hundreds or thousands of days in Thailand and Taxis trying to charge a flat rate seems to be the only supposed scam mentioned by more then 1 member. All and all just seems that most people are happy with the lack of scams rather then being worried about scams they have had done to them.

I have acknowledged Taxis trying to charge flat rate. I don't consider that a scam . They are upfront and i can take the offer or look for another taxi. I don't go to LadyBoy Bars or Lady Bars so apparently they like to scam you. Pretty sure 99% of the members here don't care because they don't go to Lady Bars. I have also acknowledged I had 1 boy steal from me. Big Deal . Hundreds possibly thousands of boys and I have had 1 boy steal from me. Not important. I have probably had hundreds of times more experience with the Gay side of Thailand then you and lived in BKK for 2 1/2 years . I have been scammed more in 1 trip in Prague, Budapest etc then hundred times more time spent in Thailand. Maybe you drink too much and don't understand what to look for when you travel to Thailand. Plus I don't see any hordes of members rushing to list all the scams they have experienced. That should probably tell you something!

All I can say is you are a very unlucky person. Interesting to note no problem in Gay Boy Bars . Not sure what that says.

I said in another thread that I am a voracious reader of trip advisor and booking.com With booking.com you must have paid your bill and checked out in order to post a review. No such restrictions on Trip Advisor. Yet I find no overall difference between the ratings on Hotels I have looked at. The overall scores are the same. Trip advisor tends to have more business travelers and they are members of various Loyalty Clubs that hotels have. Because of that I find much more information on how certain levels of Loyalty are treated on Trip Advisor and these kind of comments are mostly absent on Booking. I suspect most of those payments for reviews are made to newly opened Hotels where the chain need to drive occupancy.

On offer of fixed fares by taxi drivers , I hardly consider that a scam. He tells you the price and it is up to you whether you accept it. If he failed to turn the meter on and you don't notice it and then at your destination tells you the price that would be a scam. This mostly happens on Silom near Patpong and Surawong near Soi Twilight and the taxis are parked . Just wait for a moving taxi and in most cases he will turn on the meter. The best chance for them to get their price is when it is raining and no taxis are available and you don't want to get wet. In this case I have paid the set price many times . Most of the times it would be a 60 baht fare turned into 100 baht. I just could care less in the rain. I figure it balances out when many times I have got caught in a traffic jam . I am sitting in a nice air conditioned taxi and the meter barely moves and the driver is making nothing for his time and fuel.

The story you recount I would guess never actually happened on this Board as your post suggests.

This is what I posted in Numazu's thread. People who search for and worry about scams are much more unlikely to enjoy their travel experience. There needs to be a balance between supposed scams and the inmate honesty of most Thai people. I have encountered one thief in hundreds of visits and 2 1/2 years of residence. Balance that against multiple times maids in Hotels returned small amounts of money left in my shorts turned in to be laundered.

I agree with everything you said about Numazu , but it is important to point out Numazu did not observe any scam but merely repeated a possible scam from CB who has every reason for Numazu not to trust Thai Boys. People who search for and worry about scams are much more unlikely to enjoy their travel experience. There needs to be a balance between supposed scams and the inmate honesty of most Thai people. I have encountered one thief in hundreds of visits and 2 1/2 years of residence. Balance that against multiple times maids in Hotels returned small amounts of money left in my shorts turned in to be laundered.

They are such a tiny part of my experience in Thailand, I choose not to share them. My overall experiences are so positive that I don't believe it adds anything to talk about them. Believe me I have talked about it in other countries on different travel sites because even with prior warning I have been scammed .

Information is valuable but more valuable when it is presented by someone who does not have an axe to grind and has enough experience to understand what is rare and what is endemic. You must be capable of balancing the information especially from where it comes from. Perfect example is in another thread about people not relying on Trip Advisor. I have posted many reviews on Trip Advisor yet I understand that some reviews may be from people who never stayed at that Hotel. So Booking.com does not allow a review until you have checked out and paid the bill. So I read both of them and the funny thing is overall there is really no difference in the overall favorability of the Hotel Taxi cheats etc is the same all over the world . Meaningless information. I have had a few taxi cheats in BKK but as a % of my total taxi experiences it does not color my overall feeling about taxi drivers. There have been people here and other places that have tried to make it sound like that all BKK Taxi drivers are cheats. They are not. I'll take BKK taxi drivers over Budapest, Prague, Warsaw, Paris , Madrid etc etc etc. When someone either a customer or a competitor brings up that Thai Boys are scammers , people who have enough real experience to know that is not true need to speak up. Otherwise the first time visitor who comes here looking for information before his first visit gets the wrong idea in the back of his head. Most visitors with many visits will experience a taxi cheat , a boy trying to get or scam money , a bar that will try to pad the bill etc etc etc. The important point is that happens everywhere in the world and Thailand is no different then anywhere in the world. And when someone with limited experience or with an axe to grind posts something that a member who has much more experience knows is not true then it is incumbent upon that member to speak up. Otherwise someone with 1 or maybe no trips to Thailand can post erroneous information and it may be believed.

I don't discount reviews on Trip Advisor but take them with a grain of salt. I find Booking.com reviews more reliable because you must have checked out and actually paid the bill in order to submit a review.