almost got scammed visiting Wat Pho & Wat Arun!

Wat pho & Wat Arun

Beautiful Temples to visit with amazing architecture and design. Went on a weekday, and there were a lot of people already... can't imagine weekends and public holidays...

It's definitely a must visit for first-timers in BKK!

BUT be warned of potential scammers! As it is a major tourism spot, there may be people trying to scam you!

We took a grab from Pratunam to The Grand Palace. As soon as we alighted, there was a guy claiming to be a "volunteer" who told us that that palace is closed from 11am to 1pm for "lunch and cleansing." He then proceeds to inform us that during these 2 hours, we can go visit Wat Arun, Wat Pho, and the floating market first. He tells us that we can go on a "boat tour," which will cover all these spots in a 1-hr, 1.5hr, or 2-hr tour. He says that when we buy the tickets we should say "Thailand ticket" and the price for each person was 1500 baht. Otherwise, it will be 3000baht for tourists. Once he finished, he straightaway flagged a tuktuk for us, which cost 40baht to fetch us to the boat tour ticket location... and stupidly... we got on the tuktuk...

During the tuktuk ride there, it suddenly hits us that this whole thing could be a tourist scam/trap. How could the whole temple be closed for 2hrs? There was no mention of a 2hr break on the palace's main website. Furthermore, why was that guy so nice? He literally gave us no time to rest or say anything whilst he was explaining to us... and why he the volunteer and tuktuk driver know each other? and why did the tuktuk driver and ticketing people know each other??? Also... we look like tourists, how why would the ticketing people believe us if we say Thai Ticket? lollll there were many flaws and things that didn't make sense...

Luckily, realisation dawned on us before we actually went on the boat tour, and all we paid was the 40baht tuktuk and the 100baht grab back to the main area...

Maybe it was too early, and we weren't fully awake yet... that's why we entertained the guy...

Hope no one else falls into this trap...

#storytime #bkk #bangkok #travel #scam #watarun #watpho