Thailand Travel Advice: 10 Things To Avoid Doing In Thailand

Thailand has a mandatory death sentences for drug smuggling and whilst this is almost always commuted to life imprisonment for foreigners, the death penalty may be the better option from what I hear of Thai prisons.

Getting involved with drugs is the number one thing that you should not do in Thailand.

"I am not a Drug Smuggler, just a Recreational User"
The Thai police won't see it like that if they catch you either at the border or within the country with any type of drug, "soft" or "hard". If you are caught with a large amount of any drug, the police will assume you are a dealer and you are in for at least 10 years of hell, locked in a cell with 30-40 other people, in blistering heat with one toilet and guards who have never heard the term "human rights". You don't want to experience that so don't touch drugs.

Even if the police were to catch you with a small amount of any drug, there would be big trouble. Most likely you would be extorted out of a large amount of money in order to avoid jail. And don't expect the police to be nice to you, there is no police complaints commission so they are not answerable for their actions.

Full Moon Party
I know what you are thinking - a bit of weed or some amphetamines at the full moon party can't hurt. Well, chances are that you won't end up in prison but you could easily get arrested and taken for all your money. That is not to mention that by getting involved with the dealers you are getting involved with some seriously bad people. Violence towards foreigners is very rare in Thailand but it is becoming disproportionately common on Ko Pha Ngan and Ko Samui: Murder and violence at Koh Phangan full moon party. That's what happens when you get involved with drug dealers.

If there is one thing guaranteed to make my blood boil it is when I see foolish tourists posing for photographs with wild animals such as gibbons, monkeys, snakes, birds or other such unfortunate creatures.

Please don't end up in photos like the one here showing this buffoon with three unfortunate gibbons.

In a number of tourist locations such as Pattaya, Phuket, Ko Samui, Ao Nang and occasioanlly even in Bangkok wild animals, occasionally dressed in nappies to make them look even more cute (pathetic?), are offered to tourists for a hug and to have a photo taken, for which they pay the animal's "owner".

What are They Thinking?
What on earth are these people thinking? Do they think that there is some cutsie creature farm where these animals are selectively bred for a life of posing?

Orphaned, Abducted, Tormented & Drugged
This subtitle gives readers a clear picture of what life has been like for these animals. All of them have been taken from the wild. Birds are usually taken from the nest and gibbons are obtained by shooting the adults and collecting the falling babies.

Many of the animals offered for photo opportunities are potentially very dangerous; an adult gibbon is very strong and could do real damage. To make sure tourists are not harmed, these animals are heavily drugged.

On top of all this, when they are not being hawked around the streets, these animals are poorly treated by their owners, usually kept in totally inappropriate accommodation and fed substandard food; ultimately they die young through neglect and incorrect care.

If you don't wish to contribute to wildlife crime, trade in endangered species and cruelty to animals then do not pose for photos with these animals. If their owners cannot make money from this trade it will stop.

A Word of Warning
If you see such activities do not intervene yourself, these people are violent criminals and will not take kindly to interferance. Equally, so not ask the police to intervene, they are usually taking part of the proceeds and are also ilikely to cause you trouble. If you are able to, take a secret photo with your mobile phone and send it to an appropriate campaign group and write a letter of disgust to your local Thai ambassador.

Here is a list of adresses for Thai Embassies around the world.

Please remember, these animals are protected under CITES and by having your photo taken with them you are taking part in the international trade in endangered species, which, not surprisingly, is a criminal activity.

Unscrupulous elephant owners in Thailand are constantly bring their beasts into Bangkok and other cities and using them as tools for begging. Whilst they tend to hang around tourist areas such as Sukhumvit Road, Silom Road and Khao San Road, they can be found all over Bangkok, wandering around with their owners waiting for foolish people to buy a bag of food to give to the elephant.

Please do not join the legion of idiots who help perpetuate this life of torment for elephants in Thailand. Really, are the busy, polluted streets of Bangkok any place for a beautiful creature like an elephant? Each year a number of street elephants are mortally wounded in collisions with cars; if tourists were not financing the elephants' stay in Bangkok then their owners would take them somewhere else.

Once again, please do not feed the elephants on Bangkok's streets, you are contributing to their misery, not helping them.

The photo used here is from Mistifarang's blog which documents many examples of poor treatment of animals.

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Showing the soles of your feet to a Thai is just about the most offensive gesture one could make and if you were to do it in an argument, violence would almost certainly result.

Luckily, Thai people are used to "silly foreigners" not understanding their culture very well and any accidental "foot incident" such as crossing ones legs while reading and showing the sole of your feet will be dismissed as a faux pas by an ignorant and vulgar foreigner. Most of us do not want to be thought of in such a way so it is good to think of local customs and to be careful what we do with our feet in Thailand.

What is the Problem with Feet?
Thai Buddhist culture considers the feet the most unclean part of the body and therefore pointing them at people is undesirable. Actually this extends to using the feet to point at things, push things around or to support things. Whilst Thais usually will forgive foreigners any transgression like this, it remains that they will feel uncomfortable and do their best to get out of your company as quickly as possible.

There are other things, such as touching the head, which should be avoided, but in my experience it is the feet which causes most offense and my wife has really exploded at me a couple of times when I have stepped over her whilst she was lying on the floor!

This is a widespread and long-running scam whereby a tuk-tuk driver (or other passer-by) tells potential customers that their intended destination is closed because of renovations or some such similar bogus excuse and offers to take the unsuspecting tourists to an alternative tourist destination that happens to be open, via a gem shop.

When in the gem shop the victims are harrassed, possibly drugged, into thinking that they can buy cut prices jewels and sell them at home for a vast profit and finally are cheated out of a lot of money in exchange for costume jewellery.

I have never experienced this myself so maybe the perpetrators of this crime are very good at their trick, but I just wonder why people who have no experience in the gem trade would suddenly think that they could be international jewellery traders.

The MO of these scammers is described here;

"She cautioned us against going to the Grand Palace area and instead recommended us to go to Lucky Buddha which she said was open only once a year. She then said that we should go to Yindee Export which is having sales for the last day. She called up a Tuk-Tuk to bring us to the hotel for check in before bringing us to Lucky Buddha and Yindee Export. At that time, I did not know that Yindee is selling jewellery and we duly obliged feeling lucky to come across a friendly person. "

The full story is described here: Bangkok gem scam.

Don't be stupid enough to jump into this remarkable career change when on holiday in Bangkok.

Here is a variant of this scam, from Chiang Mai: Gem Scam.

How to Avoid the Gem Scam
1. If a tuk-tuk driver offers to take you somewhere for less than 30-40 baht, it is too good to be true.
2. Don't talk to random people who strike up conversation in tourist areas such as Wat Pra Kaew, Siam Square, Wat Po etc.
3. Don't believe people if they say that your intended destination is closed.
4. Don't get into tuk-tuks or taxis with people you only just met.
5. If you do end up at a gem shop, just walk out, don't get engaged in conversation and definitely don't drink anything.

Quite often, in Thailand, situations can get very frustrating for foreigners not used to the Thai way. Often service is not how one expects it from home, rules are applied infrequently and inconsistently, the system can be VERY slow and the heat can make your temper short.

However, DON'T GET ANGRY.

There are some situations that can only be resolved by a show of anger, but not in Thailand. The satisfaction you will receive from a Thai will be indirectly proportional to your anger levels.

If you become red-faced and angry you will be seen as a coarse and vulgar person who cannot control themselves and you will be treated with disdain. At its worst, a show of anger may be replied with extreme violence or arrest.

As difficult as it may be, whatever the situation, please just take a moment to relax and try again with a smile and polite words, this will get you much further than getting angry.

Patpong Road is possibly the most famous of Bangkok's naughty nightlife locations, if not in the whole of Thailand. Patpong road is quite strange in that amongst the gogo bars and other girly bars there are banks, pharmacies, restaurants and a tourist night market along the street.

Generally, this makes Patpong road a safe place to be and many of the bars are used to groups of tourists coming in to have a quick look along with those, of course, who are interested in doing some serious shopping!

But Don't Go In The Upstairs Bars
However, the upstairs bars are to be avoided at all costs. A large number of touts walk along Patpong with "menus" that detail items in the "free sex show" that they provide. These items are quite unbelievable and it is tempting to go in just to witness these extraordinary feats just once. BE WARNED, nothing is free and there are gangs of thugs to make sure it remains that way.

If you were so foolish as to find yourself in an upstairs bar you would witness a disgusting and brief show, you would be charged 300-400 baht per bottle of beer and there would be all sorts of surcharges added to the bill to make it reach 1000s of baht within about 10 minutes of entering. You would also be harrased for expensive drinks by ugly and aggressive girls and would have heavy thugs looming over you in order to make sure you didn't argue about the price.

Don't go.

Just to reiterate, no matter what you are told, this IS a scam. Here is the introduction to one person's experience;

"After getting hassles from touts, wife lost interest in bars and insisted on going back. We decided to have dinner in Patpong area. After dinner, a tout approached us. He showed us a menu, Shigha 60 Baht, Coke 50 Baht etc, no cover charge. I thought its good deal. I asked him where it is. He pointed us to a bar on ground floor. We followed him, when we reached bar, he changed his mind and took us to another bar (second floor). I think it's called "Wild Cat". Some girls were dancing lazily on stage."

Please read the full account (careful it contains sexual reference) on the excellent Bangkok Scams website.

Whilst going into the upstairs bars is a foolish idea, shopping in the night market is a perfectly safe option that everyone can enjoy. Here are some photos I took in Patpong night market, just click on the thumbnails for larger images.

ALL taxis in Bangkok are required to have a meter. Any taxi without a meter is an unlicensed taxi and the safety of the vehicle or the driver cannot be trusted. In other words only get into taxis with meters and only if the driver turns on the meter.

As hinted at above, many taxi drivers that do have meters will try to negotiate fares rather than put the meter on. Hmmmmm, why are they doing this? Are Thai taxi drivers the most saintly in the world and enjoy sacrificing their fares to give tourists a more cost-friendly ride?

Or are they trying to rip you off?

A negotiated fare will never be cheaper than the real fare, so there is only one person going to benefit, and that is the taxi driver.

BEWARE, because there are an ever-increasing number of taxi drivers who specialise in the negotiated fare and will simply not take customers using the meter. These drivers are often found around Sukhumvit Road, Soi Asoke and Silom Road. As a rule, these drivers hang around in the street waiting for unaware tourists who they can trick into paying negotiated fares.

If you are approached by one of these drivers, simply ignore them and walk past.

To find a taxi driver who will use the meter, simply walk to a busy road where taxis are passing and flag down a taxi that has its light on. Tell the driver where you want to go and if he says yes, ask for the meter; he should say that it is okay.

A passing taxi driver is much more likely to put the meter on than one who is hanging around targeting uninformed tourists who don't know what is what.

If the taxi driver that you have flagged down begins to negotiate a fare, do not say another word to him. Politely close the door and walk a little down the road to flag down the next taxi.

NEVER get involved in fare negotiations; if the driver wants to, simply walk away without saying anything

Apart from the fact that drivers who try to negotiate fares are attempting to rip off their customers, it is also possible that will be dishonest in other ways, perhaps attempting a theft or taking you to another type of scammer.

Bangkok Transport
Transport options around Bangkok.
Stuck In A Bangkok Traffic Jam
My account of being caught in a bad traffic jam in Bangkok.

This really is a touchy subject and one I don't want to elaborate on here; it is sufficient to say that this is a subject taken very seriously in Thailand and the topics concerned should be avoided; foreigners have been jailed for what would seem insignificant remarks in other countries - don't be tempted to be a loudmouth on this subject.

The Wikiepdia entry here Monarchy is worth a thourough read to elaborate on this topic.

Before getting on your high horse about freedom of speech in Thailand, think about how freedom of expression, speech or information are stifled in your own country; if you do a little research you will be surprised. A good place to start is the press freedom index - see where your country is on that.

Now for some nice stuff about Thailand
Thailand is a great country to visit or to live in. The relaxed pace of life and low cost of living make it both a pleasant place to be and a cheap one. Here I will highlight just 5 things that make it a great place.
5 Great Things About Thailand