What to do if you're scammed - Bangkok

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.

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How to avoid being scammed

I was told Jim Thompson house was closed due to buddhist holiday. Referred to Gem Production LTD on the very next street by gentleman named Teanpoan P. Munee. Stated he work for BKK Bank. Even gave me phone # which I did not try. 085-9554694. Luckily I did not buy anything. Returned same day to Jim Thompson house- it was open, surprise, surprise. Similar experience at Grand Palace, but walked away.

Mary T. Roesner

Same story happened to my husband and myself. We had a bad feeling a couple of days after having done the purchase and did go to make an appointment with the Internal trade office. After a couple of months, we managed to get a refund of 90% of our money. They refunded the money to our credit card.

Mel

Hi, I just got scammed by the exactly same scenario this afternoon (March 16 2008). One guy claiming himself coming from Belgium is part of criminal group. I think he is worse than other thai gang.

Yin

Hi, I'm from Singapore and I was scammed in October this year by Yindee Lapidary. In fact, from my searching in all the various sites, it seems that Yindee has been very active since August this year. I went back to Bangkok 3 weeks after the scam (couldn't go back earlier as the coup d'etat happened soon after I left Bangkok) and together with some Thai friends, went to report to the Tourist Police at their office in Bangkok Tower. A representative from Yindee came down and in front of the Tourist Police, issued me two credit notes - a full refund, without even a negotiation. However, the credit note never went through to our Singapore accounts even after 3 weeks. In the end, I had to trouble one of my Thai friends for help, and quite miraculously, she got back the whole sum of money for me in cash (THB). Judging from the stories that I've read about refunding, they've even become more rampant than before, issuing dud credit notes. Perhaps a help group consisting of civil Bangkok people should be set up to help foreigners who have been scammed.

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