If you act soon enough after being scammed, you may be able to get at least some
of your money back:
The first step is to make sure you have all the gems, receipts etc. If you
mailed them abroad, contact or go to the mail center near Bangkok airport
(details)
as soon as possible to try and stop them before they are flown out. If you
go soon enough, you actually have a reasonable chance of catching your package.
Directions in Thai for a taxi driver are shown below, a taxi journey will
probably cost around 200 - 300B.
Go straight away to a branch of the Tourist Authority of Thailand or the
tourist police (Tel: 1155). You will be referred to the police in order to
make a report of the incidence, and you will have to try your best to persuade
them to follow up your case. At present, no illegal act has been committed
unless you have been sold fakes instead of real gems. The shops argue that
you purchased the gems of their free will, and that their is no standard pricing
for their products so they are free to charge whatever they like.
If it turns out that in essence you have simply overpaid for real gems rather
than being sold fakes (as is most common), the worst that can happen to the
seller is a fine of 1000B (US$25). With the laws as they stand, unfortunately
it's barely worth the time of the police to pursue any cases. Even so, you
may be able to get a proportion (sometimes almost all) of your money back
if you can persuade them to return to the shop with you (providing you know
where the shop is).
You're slightly more in luck if you've been sold fakes under the impression
that they were real gems, as this is actually illegal and criminal action
can be taken. However, this is a cumbersome procedure which will mean having
to stay in Thailand for the duration of your case and depends on the willingness
of the police to pursue it for you. Should it be pursued, the shop will very
likely simply close and reopen elsewhere under a different name a bit later.
It is then up to you to find it and identify the salesman who you dealt with
previously. Again, this is hardly an encouraging situation but you are legally
at least in the right and may be able to get a substantial amount of your
money back if you can get the tourist police to accompany you back to the
shop that you bought from.
From what we've heard, people's experiences with the tourist police in regard
to the gem scam seem very mixed. Sometimes the police can be very helpful,
other times unwilling to do anything and seemingly in the pay of the gem stores.
A common situation is getting passed from one authority to another with no-one
really doing anything to help, which can be very frustrating. With the monthly
salary of a low ranking policeman under $200, it's hardly surprising that
the gem stores manage to buy pay off some of the police to avoid investigating
them. Nevertheless, it's a very hit and miss situation - if one branch of
the tourist police don't seem to want to help, try going to a different one
further away and it might be a totally different story.
If the police are unwilling to go with you and you go back to the shop alone,
but with the 'gems' and receipt you may be able to get some of your money
back. However, remember that these people are professional criminals with
mafia connections, and you risk being imitated, threatened or worse if you
go back looking for a fight. A story in the Bangkok Post speculated that many
of these shops are simply fronts for Burmese drug gangs.
To help your case, stay calm, be polite, patient but insistent, and you will
probably get a partial refund in the end. Chances of a full refund are next
to nothing, and you'd probably be well advised to take anything over 70%.
You can find more suggestions of what other people did in the same situation
on the experiences page. If at all possible,
go with someone else or in a group so it's less easy for them to intimidate
and dismiss you. Whatever you do though, don't get agressive or start shouting
- this rarely works in Thailand, and is only likely to inflame the situation.
We received the following information from the British Embassy in Bangkok:
We have a contact within the Thai Department of International Trade who
has asked to be kept informed of any gem scams involving tourists. His details
are below:
Mr Manat Soiploy, Director, Department of International Trade.
Telephone: ++ 66 2 622 2424
Fax: ++ 66 2 622 2413,
E-mail: manats@dit.go.th
Providing you are still in Thailand, still have the "gems" and the
necessary documentation (you should also have had the gems independently valued
by a reputable establishment, such as the Asian
Institute of Gemological Sciences, the Tokyo Gem Laboratory (55/11 501
Charoenkrung road
42/1) or the International Gemmological Institute (B.G.I. Building, 9 Charoengkrung
Soi 36)), he may be able to help arrange a refund of a substantial proportion
of your money for you. We've heard of people successfully getting some of
their money back this way even after the police claimed nothing could be done.
If you have already left Thailand however, there is little that Khun Manat
or anyone else will be able to do for you.
If you have paid by credit card, then it should obviously be cancelled as
soon as possible. You should also contact the issuing company regarding your
purchase, as you may be able to get a refund from them depending on the circumstances.
For the sake of everyone else, please let us know
your experiences, write to your embassy, to the Tourist Authority of Thailand,to
the Thai police, to guidebooks, to newspapers etc and make them aware of your
case. The gem scam presents a very negative image of Thailand to all of it's
victims, but the police and the government don't really seem to be aware of
it. Negative publicity increases the pressure on them to act, and seems to
be the only hope for a permanent end to this scam.
After having been take advantage of, some people get a very negative view
of the sincerity of the average Thai. This is unfair, and it's as well to
remember you were deceived by a gang of professional criminals, Most normal
Thais have no idea that this goes on, and are shocked and embarrassed when
they are made aware of what takes place. You're as well to keep a degree of
cynicism in any future encounters with overly friendly strangers, but don't
let it ruin the genuine friendliness often shown by the Thais outside the
main tourist areas.
