The most popular way to cheat tourists in Thailand
I have been living in Thailand for many years and am an employee of a travel company for the reception of Russian tourists. All these years, one of our biggest problems has been Indian (Pakistani) tailors, who offer their services in huge numbers in the tourist cities of Thailand, such as Pattaya, Bangkok, Phuket, etc. We always warn our tourists about this danger, but nevertheless fraud is less frequent. Thais are honest law-abiding citizens and the crime rate in the country is very low. It is all the more unpleasant that a small group of people (Hindus and Pakistanis) spoil the whole picture.
So here's how it all goes
On any street near every hotel, especially one where many Russian tourists live, you can see small shops with full glass windows, in which men's and women's suits are displayed on mannequins, in general, the appearance of an atelier is created. In front of the shop there is a smiling Hindu (Pakistani) who speaks excellent English, German and knows a few phrases in Russian (for example, "hello, man"). Hindus (Pakistani) are very easy to distinguish from Thais: they have European eyes and dark skin. Often they have in their hands an album with photographs of men's and women's costumes. These people are very good at ingratiating themselves, always smiling (Thais smile when they feel really good, Indians (Pakistani) smile when they want to deceive), they know how to ingratiate themselves, they will always look straight in the eyes, they will try to shake hands, they will offer drinks for free . When you are persuaded to enter his shop, you will be shown very nice looking fabrics and persuaded to make a suit (with tie and shirt) out of them. The costume will cost from $80 (2700 baht) to $300 (9000 baht), depending on how your "tailor" evaluates your purchasing power. A deposit of 90% of the total cost will be taken from you. At the same time, they will ALWAYS ask when you are leaving and set the time to finish work as late as possible, usually in the evening of the last day of your stay in Thailand. Guess why? Now understand. There are two possible scenarios for the development of events:
1) You will come for a fitting (usually two days before departure to your homeland) and you will be offered a terrible-looking hoodie that has nothing to do with the nice suit you ordered. You start arguing, and you are told that the matter has been spent, so if you want, we will continue, but if not, then the deposit will not be returned. There is no time to go to the police (and most Russians, unfortunately, do not speak English and do not trust the police, which the "tailors" know very well). Here the trick is that they DID NOT START sewing a suit for you, they hang this "as if suit" on all customers, it is made specifically to force you to refuse a deposit.
2) After trying on, you, in spite of everything, demand the completion of the costume and come to pick it up on the last day of your stay in Thailand. Here a whole performance is played out in front of you with wringing of hands, calling, etc. It is said that your costume was almost ready when: A) The pipe burst B) the workshop burned down C) Mom got sick, etc. At the same time, the "tailor" swears by mom that will send the costume to your address in Russia at his own expense. As you can guess, you won't get any costume. Russians in such cases do not make a fuss, they think: if we make a fuss, we will not get anything at all, and so - what if they send it? This happens to Russians 90% of the time, although sometimes they do give away the costume. When they work with Europeans, they donate suits 40% of the time. This is due to the fact that Europeans speak English (which means they can talk to the police) and are much more like to make trouble. About 10 years ago, they almost always gave away costumes. But over the years, they began to understand that it is much more profitable to sew nothing. The police, in principle, can help, but it will be very difficult for them to do this, since the "tailors" never give receipts, but only write by hand on the back of their business card, and this is not a document. Another trick is that in fact these "tailors" really CANNOT SEW. The only thing they can do is force the tourist to order a suit. Even if the suit is still sewn (a rather rare case), then the Indian (Pakistani) will order it from a Thai tailor for $ 27 (900 Baht) and put the difference in his pocket. Of course, it is impossible to make a good suit for $27. You may ask, why don't Thais make ateliers themselves? I answer: there are Thai studios, but the problem is that it is much more difficult for Thais to learn European languages than for Indians, since the Thai language is very different from European ones, so Indians (Pakistani) win because of eloquence, the ability to lure, "squeeze" money from anyone, get into the soul. They will talk to you very friendly, pat on the back, maybe they will introduce you to your family, treat you with something, but this is only as long as everything goes as it is to their advantage, if something is wrong, they start loudly without warning shout, insult and even threaten. This is done not because the "tailor" is really angry, but so that you get embarrassed and leave, spitting on the money. And the smile and threats are one hundred percent pretense.
The Thais call them "kek". There is a Thai proverb about "kek": who should be killed first, the snake or the "kek"? Of course, "kek", it is more dangerous.
Understand, I have nothing against Indians and Pakistanis in principle, I have acquaintances and even friends in India and Pakistan, they are quite normal people. But the Indians and Pakistanis who live in the Kingdom of Thailand become like this... Why this happens, I have no idea, but everyone knows who lives here.
It is very unpleasant that every year thousands of Russian tourists have their holidays ruined because of this. They get the impression that Thais are dishonest people, WHICH IS CRAZY WRONG. Thais and Indians (Pakisans) are two completely different nations, Indians (Pakistani) are immigrants (very often illegal). They cannot and do not want to work, so they settle only in tourist cities where you can get easy money. Thais are generally very very honest law-abiding people, especially those who live in small towns. But even in Pattaya, an internationally renowned resort, the crime rate is VERY LOW compared to other tourist cities. Here you can safely walk anywhere and anytime. This is primarily due to the peace-loving religion of the Thais, Buddhism. Hindus and Pakistanis in Thailand belong to a different religion, they are Muslims.
I kindly ask everyone who reads this article to warn people leaving for Thailand about this danger, as most often travel agencies forget to do this. If there are at least one less person deceived, I will already be pleased.