Top 3 SCAMS in THAILAND to Avoid w/ @Jason Rupp

I work for the Royal Thai Police. Oh, I have pants already. No, not yet. Pants, pants, pants. Let me just walk into it. Coming to you from Bangkok again today, Bangkok, Thailand, and today I'm exploring with my buddy Jason Rupp and we are checking out some of the top scams in Bangkok that you need to watch out for and you need to avoid. I don't know. We just walk around. I work for the Royal Thai Police. If you want, I introduce you. You have seen the King Palace? No. Is it open? No, no, no. Not open. But you cannot go to inside. But if you want to see, I think you can go to see the Lucky Buddha. Oh, the Lucky Buddha. Lucky Buddha and the sleeping Buddha. Is that good? Yes. You have map, map, map? No, I don't have a map. No. We just walk around. We don't know anything. Where you come from? We just arrived yesterday. Where you come from? America. Oh. Happy New Year. Happy New Year, sir, to you. What's your name? My name Wee Chai. Wee Chai. I work for the Royal Thai Police security. You have a... Let me see. Oh, that's nice. That looks official, huh? Wow, look at that. Oh, yeah. Young man. That's you? Wow, long time ago, huh? This one many years ago. Yeah. Wow. Still work for them, huh? Yes, I get four months every time. That looks just like you. Yeah, that's good. Very handsome man. Handsome, handsome. I like that. Actually, I was police for five years in New York also. Yeah, brotherhood. Thank you, yeah. Yeah, I finished because I broke my leg. I got a... There was like a... It was a bank robbery. And I was running, I was running, I was running. And I was going over the fence. Yeah. And it was really high fence. And I almost... Actually, I got him, but I broke my leg really badly. Right here. I couldn't walk for one year. And now you have salary from the police. They give a very little. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, I know. Because... I was very lucky because when I got disabled, then I get some money. But not much, very little. It's a small percentage. Because you see, I can walk five yards. When I be tired, I can have money. But not full. Not full 100%. Oh, you deserve it though. They should give it to you. About 80% or 90%. Oh, not fair. Not fair. Because... You're a very handsome man. Are you married? Yes, I have many. I have one son and one daughter. My daughter 25 and my son 23. Oh, that's so nice. Yeah, you can see that. I like you. This one not open. You look like my father. Your father, how old? He's 70. But you're much younger. But you have the same eyes. How long you stay here? We've only been here one day. We just got here late last night. The taxi was very expensive from the airport. They charged us like 2,000 baht from the airport. It was really expensive. Why is it so expensive? They told me at night time it's so expensive. New airport come to Bangkok, I think about no more 700 baht or 800 baht. Oh, really? And you pay for the expressway yourself. Expressway sometimes about 100 baht. Expressway. Oh, expressway. Come from the new airport and come to Bangkok. I think no more 700 baht. Oh, really? Yes. He didn't want to use the meter. We asked him to use the meter. Yeah, yeah. Because he take you long way but he don't use the meter. Oh, always make sure he uses the meter. Yeah, yeah. Oh, okay. I wasn't so upset because actually 2,000 baht was a good deal compared to where we're from. Yeah. And after you can go to see the Wat Pho, Wat Pho the sleeping Buddha. Oh, you're making a tour for us? Yeah, yeah. Lucky Buddha. We're not flying tomorrow. No, no. We're here for one week. One week. In Bangkok. Yeah, yeah. We're not flying tomorrow. Oh, that's interesting. Yeah, because... Oh, tailor. We really want to do some shopping. No, no, no, no, no, no. Tailor. 200 baht. For three people? How much? How much is it? 200 baht. 200 baht for what? For the tour. Oh, that sounds like a good deal, man. How much we have to pay each place? No, no, no. This one free. Okay. And this one, Wat Pho, I think 50 baht for the ticket. Oh. And this one free. Don't buy ticket. Oh, so... So, what? 250? What about a three-cowboy? He's planning to take us already? Oh, yeah. No, I don't understand anything. Okay. Oh. Oh, you got the paper. That's your ticket. That's my ticket? That's your ticket to ride. Lucky Buddha. Very lucky to meet a Buddha. Oh, it's only open once a month. It's only open once a month. Lucky Buddha is only open once a month. Dude, we're lucky. We're very lucky. 300. Thank you, Mr. Policeman. 200. But I should tip him? Yeah, yeah. Should I tip him? Yeah. Just the tip. Just the tip for that guy. Yeah. He's making a circle. But what about... Everybody I ask... Every Thai man I ask is married. Where can I find a single man? Where do I find a... Yeah. I'm looking for the single man. He wants dancing. Lady boy. Dancing lady boy. Okay, okay. Well, that might be a sign for you to get married. No, I'm serious. Patpong has him? Yeah, yeah. King Bar? Okay, I'll look for King Bar. King Bar. Okay. Let's go look. Let's go look for the single man. Single man. Okay. Just a moment. I need to change my pants. No, no, no. Everybody told me I cannot go in. Because I don't have the pants. So the scam with the tuk-tuk guy basically is just a continuous scam. He's going to get money from the people at the temple when he brings you to the temple. He's going to get money from the tailor when he brings you to the tailor. He's going to get money from whether he takes you to a gemstone store or a tourist office that sells like bus tickets for four times the price. He's just going to keep racking it up and they're just going to keep trying to milk you and milk you for... There's going to be a boss at that temple who's going to act like he just met you and that he has a friend back in L.A. He's going to ask you where you're from. Oh, I've got a friend there. Actually, my best friend who I went to high school with he has a business there and blah, blah, blah. So now you have the connection just like a timeshare salesman. Right, right. Make it personal, you know. And then he's going to try to size you up and see what much more expensive he can get you for. Right. Like, oh, I have a connection to the factory outlet of this. Right. But it's only today that everything is on promotion. Right. Yeah, what is it? Pants. Oh, I have pants already. No, not yet. Huh? No pants? Yeah, yeah. Are they going to open? No, not yet. How much are they? Yeah, how much, how much, how much? Two hundred? How much? Oh, okay. But they're going to get three. Let's pay you two hundred, right? Okay, you take credit card? Credit card? Yeah, yeah. Visa? Visa, MasterCard? Visa? Visa, MasterCard, American Express? All you take? You have the machine? Yeah. Machine? Do you take Bitcoin? No. Oh, she doesn't take Visa. I've got to change money first. I've got to change. Do you take dollars? How many dollars? One dollar, thirty baht. Thirty baht. Oh, okay, okay. Okay, one dollar thirty baht. I've got to go to the ATM. Thank you, thank you. Okay, I have change. One dollar. Ten dollars? Yeah, I have change. That would be three hundred baht. No, ten dollar. I have change. You pay one hundred. Oh, okay, okay. I give you eight dollars. I'll let you know. I'll check around. Eight dollars. Okay, eight dollars. What about hers? She needs it too, right? Yeah. You're not going. Okay, eight dollars. Okay, I give you two for twelve dollars. Two for twelve dollars? That's a deal. That's the same price. Oh, that's the same price, yeah. Exact same price. Okay, ten dollars for you. That's the exact same price. Ten dollars. Two hundred baht is six dollars. Yeah. Okay, two for twelve. Oh, what a deal. Special deal. Two for ten. Oh, that's a discount. That's a one dollar discount. Yeah, two for ten. Oh, yeah, but people told me that if you pay for grand powers, they let you borrow for free. I don't have. Okay, I'll give you two for ten. Okay. What's your name? ATM. Okay. The other lady came over to warn her that these guys are playing around. So we're near the Grand Palace here in Bangkok and just encountered a typical scam here in Bangkok. Big scam. Yeah, all the tourists are getting scammed by this, by these ladies on the corner telling you that you're wearing shorts and you can't get into the Grand Palace with those shorts. Right. Which is true, but if you pay the entrance fee to the Grand Palace, they actually give you a free pair of pants to make sure you're covering and being respectful. Yeah. I'm not sure. I don't remember exactly what they give you, but I don't think it's pants, but they give you like a shawl and you put it around your waist. Right. And that's free. Yeah. And then you just give it back when you leave. That's it. There's also at least one other scam regarding the Grand Palace and big tourist attractions in general. And that is someone will stop you when you're on your way and they'll just say, oh, you're going to the Grand Palace, right? It's closed today. And the idea with that is to redirect you to a place where they can overcharge you and you can get committed. They get commission. And I guarantee you those guys are over there. That's why those tuk-tuks are waiting there. And somebody will be over there and telling you, oh, Grand Palace is closed today. And if the tuk-tuk's ready to zoom you out of here. Right. And they'll take you to a place, probably a temple that's normally free. They'll charge you to get in. other places, any place they can get a commission and just keep milking you for money. They're going to be sizing you up in that tuk-tuk, seeing what they can get you for. If you're a single man, they're going to take you to massage shops. If you're a couple, they're going to take you to try to get beautiful dresses and suits made and so on. Right. So anytime you're walking around, wherever you're going, if someone stops you and says, oh, it's closed, wherever you're going, just keep walking. And you can just say, my ow, which I don't want, right? Yeah. My ow, my ow. If you say that, they will totally turn their back to you and walk away because they know that you know what's up. You know what's up because you're speaking Thai. You're telling them, I don't want that. So if we take a taxi, we should use a meter. Oh, yeah. The meter. Always use a meter? Yeah. You talk to him. He didn't want to use the meter. We asked him to use the meter. Yeah. Because he take me long way, but he don't use the meter. Oh. Always make sure he uses the meter. Yeah. Oh, okay. Use the meter? How come you don't use the meter? You can't use the meter? Why? Behind? Behind. But why do you have the meter then? Meter no work? Oh, the meter doesn't work? Okay. Use the meter? No? Okay. I'm trying to go to the BTS. BTS? You use the meter? No? Thai, Thai. Meter? Put Thai, put Thai. This? Put Thai. You know this? Huh? You know? You use it? If the tuk-tuk guy pulled out the badge, he'd be like, oh, trust me, I work for the police, you know what I mean? But if that badge was so old, even if it was real, that was like, he said he was like an 80-year-old man. Right. And that would have been, he would have been in his 20s. Right. So that's like a 60, almost a 60-year-old badge. Right, right. I don't think it was even real at all. And what I think is really funny is it reminds me of when we were in India, the New Delhi Railway scam. We had a similar thing where a guy pulled out on like an ID card, like a fake ID you would buy on 42nd Street back in New York in the 80s or something. He's like, I work for the railway. No, believe me, I work for the railway. The New Delhi Railway scam is basically these guys hustle you and try to take you to a ticket office off the railroad yard where they charge a lot more for the tickets. It's a common scam there. And because they have a foreign ticket office, the New Delhi Railway. So the foreign travelers can go there, they speak good English and they can get good tickets. But pulling out that fake ID, almost just like this, pulling out the badge of this guy, the 60-year-old badge. I thought it was brilliant how there was one stop on the tour. You got that paper? Oh, yeah. The paper he wrote. He wrote us on a tour. The one stop, which is probably the key stop on that tour, the first one is Lucky Buddha. That's going to be the key spot for you to pay attention to if you're walking around and anybody wants you to go to a Buddha. They talked about a lay down Buddha, a standing Buddha, and a lucky Buddha. Yeah. And I think it's all the same thing. It's Lucky Buddha. And that temple has some scam going on that everybody's well aware of there. Yeah. Lucky Buddha. And also the Expo Center, which is probably an overpriced clothing or something like that. He said it was going to be a tailor shop. And actually, I coincidentally did not know that you were a NYPD retired police officer. Actually, that's based on truth of a friend. So that was not me. I wasn't ever a NYPD. I got a lot of respect for NYPD. And I just want to tell you, I love you, NYPD. I love you. But I haven't broken my leg. I did break my foot one time, but it was not chasing down a bank robber or going over a fence. When I think of someone breaking their leg chasing a bank robber, the image of you, it's like the archetypal image of that badass cop. He's making up lies. I just made up lies back. You like to up the ante. If someone's lying to me, I'm going to lie back to them. And I love how you kind of diffused him by asking him if he knew where to find any single men. That was a good way to kind of slow. So he kind of took a step back. Yeah, because at the end, he was really laughing. He was laughing. So it was good. We were ending that with a laugh. It derailed his kind of game, you know, because he's probably got an internal script. Like, OK, I got to do this, this, and this. Give him the paper. Get him in the tuk-tuk. And cha-ching. Right? And then all of a sudden, Jason's like, all the men are married around here. Are you married? How about this tuk-tuk driver? Is he married? Yeah, he's married. What about the other one? Is he married? And then I thought, yeah, there's just no single men around here. If you can find me one, you know, put that on the tour. And yesterday when we were in Coe's Hand Road, all the guys trying to sell suits with the books of the men in suits, and Jason goes, oh, no, no, no, I'm not gay. As if they were trying to sell a male prostitute. That was hilarious. But they loved it. Then they were laughing. They were laughing. It was good. It all ended in a laugh. Ended with humor. That not only you are laughing, that they are laughing as well. The scams ended in a laugh. What about this little cowboy? Abda! You come with me? I buy you drink. I buy you beer. Oh, I don't have. You like the beer, you go outside. They have no dancey girls. They don't have that. Keep on, keep on. Yeah, yeah. He has diarrhea, so we have to find a bathroom. Bathroom, okay. They have a toilet there? Yeah, I mean, you go toilet. Toilets are free? Infamous.