Navigating Tuk-Tuk Scams in Bangkok

Yes sir, how are you? Doing good, how are you? Where are you from? From the United States, California Obama Obama What to do first? Wrong president man Yes sir Um, how much is the city tour? How long is the city tour? About 3 hours or 4 hours, up to you, you want your time Oh I don't want 3 hours man 2 2 hours But it's my first day in Bangkok I'm not this week in Bangkok because Bangkok Fashion Week He can get free Ubon Kac from the factory. Oh, full body massage. Turkish bath massage. Okay. Good afternoon from another beautiful day here in Bangkok, Thailand. Now today, we're actually about to embark on a pretty sick adventure because we are purposely going to get ourselves involved in one of the oldest but yet most common scams here in Thailand. Now today, as I mentioned, I'm in Bangkok, Thailand and Bangkok is home to quite a bit of scams, however, I must be honest, as someone that comes to Bangkok all the time, I probably pretty much never really encounter them unless I'm walking around these same areas that are known for these type of scams such as Sukhumvit Road, Khao San Road, anywhere around the Grand Palace. Those are the areas where you're typically going to run into the scams where everybody's telling you that the temple's closed today or that the Grand Palace is closed today. Those kind of scams happen in the touristic areas just like anywhere else in the world. But recently I've been getting a lot of comments from you guys saying, Chris, can you show us the tuk-tuk scam and I thought about it real hard like what scam are they talking about and I'm like oh yeah duh the 40 baht tuk-tuk scam where they offer you you know a city tour around in a tuk-tuk they pretty much target people that have never been to Thailand before so today for the sake of the video we're gonna pretend we've never been here before first things first I got a grab it's about two minutes away it's gonna be pulling on up and then we're gonna head to khao san road because if we got to get scammed Well, we gotta go where the scammers be hanging out, so. not saying that every tic-tac driver is a bad tic-tac driver but there's a lot of people on the hustle on the grind out there and the moment that you say it's your first time in thailand they tell you welcome to bangkok let me take you around and give you a nice tour so we'll be waiting for a grab we'll jump on and then we'll make our way towards khao san road sawadika for chris so yeah we're literally about a six minute ride from khao san road but yeah khao san road a place that's known for you know low budget backpackers that's where I hung out my very first time coming to Thailand you find a lot of really good hostels it's a nice vibe but you know it's not one of those places that you hang out at all the time especially once you you know you've been in Bangkok for a while it's one of the streets I actually tend to to avoid but lately I've been playing tour guide with a bunch of people I've never been to Bangkok before so I've been hanging out there quite often but yeah it's one of those places you should experience but it's also one of those places you shouldn't spend all of your time in Alright, we're going to weave through a little bit of traffic and I'll see you guys on Khao San Road. The streets are active today too. It's Friday and things are just starting to warm up. We're approaching Khao San Road now, but since we're at a red light, let me just talk to you guys about something that a lot of you that probably have never been to Bangkok probably don't realize. Now, prior to my first time visiting Bangkok, I thought that everybody pretty much got around to it. on a tuk-tuk and although the tuk-tuk is like the old-school form of public transportation in Thailand it's not really used by locals all that often anymore I mean every once in a while you do see locals in you know outside of the tourist zones using it to get their food for their street food stalls brought to their uh what well to wherever they're working or whatnot but nowadays it's actually more so just used for tourists so keep that in mind every time you typically get into a tuk-tuk ride it's going to cost you a lot more than a lot of the other forms of transportation in the city so like i said when somebody comes up to you like they will now once we start walking down kawasan road a lot of people People are going to start coming up to you and they're going to offer you rides around the city for 10 bahts or 40 bahts. Something ridiculous. You always got to keep that in mind that if it sounds too good to be true anywhere in the world, it's probably too good to be true. All right, we're about to hop off here shortly. And I need to find something to cover up this microphone. Then I'll tune back in. I love this area of the city though. Reminds me of my first time in Thailand. Every time every time I come back so beautiful the natural leaf you got a Domino's pizza over here All the street markets are out. So I just made it a few streets down from Khao San Road. And before we actually, hopefully before we get approached by a tuk-tuk, I want to talk to you guys a little bit about my story before we jump on in to the tuk-tuk. So basically, my very... first day arriving to Khao San Road I was walking down these streets and my hostel was literally a few streets down it's called mad monkey it I believe it's still around this was back in 2017 so I'm walking the streets just got to Thailand know nothing about Thailand except You know, tuk-tuks and, you know, parties. That's pretty much it. I didn't really know much. So as soon as I turned a corner, a tuk-tuk driver comes up to me and says, Hey, bro, city tour for 40 baht. And in my head, I had just changed money for the first time in the country. And I was like, 40 baht for a full city tour for 30 minutes? Bro, that is ridiculous. That's so cheap, like a dollar. And I was like, damn, Thailand's ridiculously cheap. And let me just tell you guys, Thailand is pretty affordable for most of us that come from Western countries. But it's, you know... It's still hard to find things for 40 bahts. Keep in mind, every time you jump into a taxi, the automatically meter starting price is 40 baht. So it's hard to get a lot for 40 bahts. However, when you first arrive, you're like, oh man, sick deal. So, you know, I jumped on and... what happened he took me to a temple he took me to a suit shop he took me to a souvenir shop then he took me to another temple and all in all you know it took about an hour and a half of my time but i actually did get to see the city quite a bit and we actually were quite cool with the tuk-tuk guy he kind of explained to us like man spend like 10 minutes in each shop then i get commission and then no pressure you just give me whatever you want at the end well we ended up doing a full loop at the end We did it wasn't a whatever you it wasn't a you give them whatever you want We gave them like 300 baht which was still like 12 US dollars or 10 US dollars at the time and man It was a great experience and I think everybody should do it when in Thailand So even if you know about it man participate if you got some time to kill it could be fun Alright, let's see if we can get you know offered a tour by any tuk-tuk driver. Well, the tuk-tuks in Thailand are awesome I love them and I definitely think it's an experience for everybody like the orange man just pulled up selling oranges out the back of the The space cab it's called never heard of that truck before. Oh, they just got them in the tic-tac Hello sir, how are you? Yes sir, how are you? Doing good, how are you? Where are you from? From the United States, California. Obama! Obama. You want to do some fun? Wrong president man. Yes sir. How much is the city tour? 100 baht. 100 baht? Yes sir. that's it for how long up up to you how long is the city tour about three hours or four hours up to you you want your time oh i don't want three hours man two two hours yes no no no let's do let's do like half hour city tour half hour okay all right thank you 100 bucks okay where we go for city tour Where are we going for city tour? He show you. He know. Okay, alright. Alright, thank you. Alright, so here we are. We're going on a city tour. Where do we go first, sir? Standing Buddha. The Standing Buddha. Okay. It's very busy today, huh? Very hot Okay, so first up on the tour is the standing Buddha So yeah great way to get around the city and of course you got to experience Thailand in a tuk-tuk So what better way to do it than to participate in a little one look at this this a lot of like cannabis shops popping up bars left and right over here you got the Taco Bell massage parlors so this is actually the streets over Khao San Road and I would definitely recommend it if you want to come by and have a dinner listen to some music great place for that okay I don't know But I'll see you guys once once we make it up there or at least close by It's nice and shady down these streets Yeah, you see a lot of backpackers walking around with their backpacks reminds me of the good old days When I first came to Bangkok, but nowadays man, I'm constantly rolling around suitcase and it's actually a lot more enjoyable when you're walking around this incredibly hot climates like having a big backpack on you man it gets to get stressful and hard every once in a while you get all sweaty so it's nice having a suitcase now but yeah look along these shops you can also find a lot of places to book tours flights ferries things like that but I personally always recommend just going to one to go Asia And on there you can purchase all your ferry tickets, train tickets without all the big price markups that you find on the side of the street. You also find a lot of great street food around here. Who knows, maybe I'll film a little street food video for you guys later on. I know you guys always enjoy those videos. But yeah, see you guys here shortly at the Standing Buddha. Huh? You want to film me with you? Yeah, 30 minutes? 30? Big Buddha, Lucky Buddha and Cafe. Big Buddha, Lucky Buddha? And Cafe. Okay, so let's do one hour then. How much is one hour? Same price? All to a lift. 200 baht for one hour. Okay. One hour to a par hour. Let's do the one hour. Yeah, why not? One hour is more fun, right? Okay, sounds good. Okay, sounds good. So we're gonna do one hour for 200 baht instead. I think that's better anyway. This looks like the right way to spot it. It's the time of the day, in the back of a tuk-tuk. I feel like doing a whole lot of walking. I see. Where are you from, sir? You're from Bangkok? Uh... Hi. Okai. Okai. Oh, that's in the north of Thailand. Near Isan? Near Isan. Isan. Oh, very nice. Okay. I've been to Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Bangkok, Pattaya. What time? What is the holiday? I don't know first day Maybe five day yeah, but it's my first day in Bangkok Thank you cup and cup Oh, that's the standing Buddha? You wait for me here, okay, how many minutes? Okay, thank you, come on come Thank you. Oh Nice, we made it to the standing Buddha Okay, so this guy here He seems like you know like one of those very honest tuk-tuk drivers that I was telling you about and They started the price at a hundred but let's be honest guys nothing cost 100 on a tuk-tuk. I don't care how many of you guys tell me it does and it might for locals but Hello, sir. How are you? 40 40 bucks. Yeah, okay for the tourist tickets You have change for 100? Cup and Cup Cup You speak Thai very well Cup and Cup I speak Thai very well Sawadee Cup Cup and Cup Alright so 40 baht to enter this temple with the standing Buddha Now actually I did this exact tour with my mom when she came to Bangkok. So after I had met the tiktok driver the first time who brought me to all of these locations, I ended up just taking his number from me and, you know, he made me laugh the entire time. So I didn't really. take it as like okay this guy um really up tried to upsell me um and after that he gave me you know pretty good prices for tuk-tuk rides all around the city always charging me between 250 and 300 which is totally reasonable especially as a tourist but yeah not only do you get to you know drive around to different temples but you get to see different parts of the city that you probably wouldn't have saw if you just order a grab and you know put the GPS location to set somewhere so we'll see exactly how this whole city tour turns out maybe the whole taking the suit shops and all that isn't a thing anymore I'm not sure we'll find out though wow this is beautiful I love temples in Thailand. They're always all so different, so unique. There's the standing Buddha. Wow, it is beautiful. See, this is what I'm saying guys. It's awesome. They bring you to... You know several temples and show you some iconic sites in the city that all in all if they actually Charge you the price that you agree on It's very well worth it Here we go the big standing Buddha Wow that is beautiful only in Thailand do you see stuff like this this is incredible isn't it What a beautiful Buddha image here in Bangkok. Okay, well, I'm going to spend a few minutes here walking around, take a couple pictures, and then we'll jump back into the tuk-tuk and see where we head off to next. Last time, if I remember clearly, we went to a suit shop after leaving this spot. We'll see if that happens or if we actually go to other locations. To be honest, I don't know. My guy seems, like, very friendly. And I might be falling into the trap myself. But, yeah, I don't think he's actually going to take me anywhere. But we'll see. Maybe they're just that good, huh? But, yeah, one last look of the Buddha image. Alright, see you guys in a second. So long to the temple, definitely a nice first stop. But yeah, it's too hot to actually fully walk around that thing right now. Time to jump back into the tuk tuk. Alright, here's my driver right here smoking a cigarette. That one's very beautiful. This is the standing Buddha, okay. And then this one, what they call the big lucky Buddha. Big lucky Buddha, okay. After on the way to the... You want to see the palace? The Grand Palace? Only on the outside, right? You go inside. No, I don't want to go inside today. Please, please. You can allow here. Pardon me. Please, please. You can allow. Okay for 200 right? Okay let's do it. After Raky Buddha I show you the Thai center. The Thai center? Because today I have free gasoline. Oh you get free gasoline? When I take you there you have a look inside for me. Okay let's go. Thank you. My name is Chris. My name is Som. Som nice to meet you Som. How's business? Very slow? Many tourists? It looks like many tourists. Yeah. Today I bring you good luck. Are you going to... So right now we go to Temple first or to Thai Center? Temple. Temple, okay. Doesn't matter how many times. It can't be the only one I've been to. It still always feels exciting and like the first time and it just feels completely different. It gives you a different vibe and the city as a whole. Oh, this is the temple? What's the name of this one? The lucky Buddha temple is this the most famous temple in Thailand? Okay, oh yeah looks beautiful I've never been here before This is the king? Oh, after we come to the sitting Buddha. Okay. This one is the sleeping. The sleeping Buddha? This one. Oh yeah. I show you the sitting. The sitting Buddha first. Okay. Go inside. Okay. And I'll just show you there. Okay. Leave my shoes out here. Awesome. Thank you. That is a beautiful Buddha. So there's always some things to keep in mind whenever you're at Buddha, you never turn your back to Buddha, and you can never sit with your feet facing Buddha. So just some things to keep in mind if you're ever entering a temple, and of course, ladies, always be respectful. Respectful men too about what you're wearing cover your shoulders cover your knees Whether you believe in the religion or not turn somebody else's home and place of worship, so Yeah, beautiful, right? So yeah guys, I don't know so far I'm enjoying this trip it's super enjoyable. He's already been very straightforward that We're gonna go to a little center afterwards where he gets a fuel coupon the last guy actually told me that as well So who knows maybe? Yeah everything's gonna be you know honest and smooth sailing but yeah what a beautiful temple huh what was that I'm saying and Buddha carry amble you see oh yeah yeah you can go to you never see like it I can't be because Buddha's head we can see sitting, standing, reclining. But this Buddha, like this, hand carry arm row. So you'll never see a Buddha like this anywhere in the world. This Buddha original, like the Buddha's style. Some temples have the Buddha, they have that small one, so some people don't know, but this the big one in Bangkok. So if you go to Dukkha Yard, Dukkha Yard, you go Captain of Thailand, big one, about. 59 meters. 59? In Ayutthaya? That temple was built in the Ayutthaya period. The Ayutthaya period is about 1000 years. So I recommend Bangkok to be busy. You can see many Buddha, many temples, about 400 temples. But if you are from Bangkok, Bangkok will take the train to Ayutthaya in one hour. One hour is the most. You see the old castle, you see the old temple, big gap, everything they got. But look for how they built about a thousand years ago. Wow. Construction building. Okay. I mean, amazing. Who they built, how they can take something to the top. Because a thousand years ago, technology was not like this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now, if we have money, we can build everything. Exactly. Amazing. I look at people big like a giant. Really. Yeah. People to see. You go in the morning and evening, you can take a train back. Okay. Why go by train? Because from Bangkok to outside, traffic jam. Take a train like this, take a bus, traffic jam. Same from outside, come to Bangkok, about 100 km, more busy. So they take a train, like that, train better. Every train, they pass Ajutthaya, train from Bangkok to Phra Phu Cha, and then they go to the north, the north end and the point. Okay. Say that some people, they don't know, they go by bus. By bus about two hours. I am Thai people. I know about everything. I've been here for a month before. Anyway, I know about tourism because I used to work in immigration office. Okay, okay. Well, thank you for sharing. Thank you. You come from? America, California. From what city? Los Angeles. Oh, that's great. A lot of Thai people. A lot of Thai people. Yes, Thai restaurant, Thai people. I have one Thai friend. He lived in San Diego. Oh yeah, that's close to me. He lived there, I think about 35 years. I'm now 65 years. He lived there, he worked, he studied, finished there and worked there. He married with American girl. She was 9th and 2nd rank. Beautiful. She come, oh she like a superstar. Yeah. And have many American friends. Also I have friend from San Diego. from Mexico. Yeah, many Mexican people. Come to my country. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because he come, be my house here, he come here. And when he come back to Thailand, he like, because I am make food, you know, I cook. Thai people make the best food, huh? Yeah. When he come, he like, he have a special whiskey. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So good, you know. So good. Not often. About four, five, eight come one time. When he come, he not come alone, come big friend. Nice. Come to only one time. After Covid stopped, they came to repeat about three weeks. And now this family come back again. But they just moved from Bangkok 5 days ago to the north. Yeah, to go visit other places in Thailand. Not Chiang Mai, they go to Lampang. Lampang. Lampang, you don't know. Chiang Mai, you know. But Lampang, the land of elephants. I can say, if you check about Lampang, very old history. They have a hut and they build a hut. They did not so good. Lampang and that area, they have this red path and quite not busy. I'll have to go one day. They have resort there. Oh, okay. You stay there with a family and play. And after Bangkok, where you going? Um, I don't know yet. I'm just... Why not? Because I come to Thailand before, like a few times. So I'm just seeing what I want to do. Third time. Thank you so much for visiting my country. Have you been to North Thailand? Yes, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and Pai. Have you been to the South? Yes, Phuket, Surat Thani, Krabi. I recommend if you come back again, you go to eat in Thailand. Go to Koh Samit, Koh Chang. Koh Samit, Koh Chang, they eat no tourists. From Bangkok to Koh Chang, to Trak, about 4 hours by car. Koh Chang is so big, no tourists. So, it's smart to go to relax. When you go, you look many rooms, many night place, and condition. You leave here, and everything complete. If compare that area we resting, like a VIP room in Bangkok. Okay, okay. But that floor too, the beach, sea view, so good. Got chan, got chan or got cement. But if talk famous one, got cool. That Christian or whatever. I have to go next time. Thank you. Well, it's nice meeting you. And how you get to this temple? How you come here? In a tuk-tuk. How much you pay here? It's a little bit of a journey. What's the normal price? What's the price? 200 baht. Yeah all together. Yeah, it's good price Because Bangkok Fashion Week, tuk-tuk driver, he can get free coupon gasoline from the factory. Have you been? You've been here two, three times. Have you been? No, I haven't been to the factory. The factory, Thai factory. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They make tailor, they make suit. Oh, okay, cool. And this place, they make suit sent to, going to Armani. Okay. That is because Armani, most famous in Europe, in the world, Armani suit. Armani suit, okay. Armani suit, how much? 400, 500,000 baht. Importing how much transport? So this factory in Thailand, they make sense to many brands. So now they open for everyone, for everybody. So if you take you there, you have to look free. You don't buy anything, but you get a coupon, gasoline. But if you need tailor, custom, so custom 100%, make perfect fitting. You are style your size, that's place so good. Right about 400, 500, 600. dollar for your and this place they have free transport okay so my friend everyone they come from california they went there already they make finish okay okay they're not they're not picking up making it fitting already and more they are sent to san diego they have freedom not carry because they have free transport they are already so this place most of american people they come to my country okay they like to tell they make from here okay okay not make in turin area because to come to nearby here cause I yeah yeah yeah 3d have shops okay they call you not me they are pulling history okay okay okay okay so the lot benefit they come playing some time I know I know I don't know what to do you work Do you wear a suit or not? Okay. Do you wear a suit? No, I don't wear a suit. It's okay. Thank you, sir. I'm going to get going. I'm going to go to my tiktok. You're waiting. Or sometime you eat. No, I got a tiktok waiting for me. So go. You make from there and leave and go. Okay. Okay, but maybe later. Maybe later. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Very nice Buddha. Oh, man. Nice meeting you! Alright, so after I walked in there, the tiktok driver actually sent in that guy. I saw it out the corner of my eye and sure enough, he gave me a full-on spiel and was trying to tell me that I should go to the factory and make a suit after this. Probably where we're gonna be heading afterwards, but first let me show you the Lion Buddha. Wow, this is beautiful, right? Definitely a unique temple that's for sure. Let me take a picture with the phone. Alright and let's get out of here. So yeah definitely um everybody works together on this thing but yeah crazy right as I just got done saying that maybe this guy's gonna be honest I saw this guy literally like kind of give the guy a shoe to go inside the temple to start talking to me and yeah sure enough this Dude spoke amazing English and was giving me the best rants and to be honest he seems like a very nice guy Ready Cup and Cup Where are we going? Oh? monkeys oh Yeah, those are monkeys, huh? No, oh What is that? fruits Wow, it almost looks like a lanky. What is that? Yeah, I've never seen that before. Oh, bees! Those are bees, huh? Dang, dude, it's like a big... I don't know what you call it. Not a herd, but a bunch of bees. Okay, we come inside? Let's go, let's go. Kaboom kaboom. It's quite funny, I can actually see the old man with the pillars right now. Man, quite sneaky. Alright, on to the next spot. Beautiful temple! Where are we going now? We're going to the Thai center, Thai fashion. You look for me. The Thai center? What's the Thai center? What's inside? Fashion shop. Are you looking for me 5 minutes? 5 minutes looking. Okay. What do they sell inside? They sell shoes? Maybe shirt, shoes. Shirt, shoes, okay. Next stop, the fashion center. I think I just went 5 minutes. It's in there and then they're gonna give them my gas So they give you gas coupon For how many liters how many liters of gas do you get? One liter of gas if I look okay couple cup Sounds like a fair deal, you know, it's funny to be fair when You know, basically around this. Yeah, it's pretty much staying. We're pretty much staying around the same area, but. Where the market of the ambulance are. Where they make the images. The biggest flower markets in the world is in this area. Yeah, a lot of factories. So I'm guessing this is why we're heading in this direction right now. And yeah, you also find like a bunch of trendy cafes and restaurants in between like all these old little like mechanic shops and traditional style clothing shops. Oh is this where we're coming? So take a look here All right, let's come on inside You can grab some water. Oh You get a drink Hello Hello, Sawadika. How are you? Good, good. How are you? Very good. Where are you from? The US, California. Alright. Yeah, and you? Where are you from? I'm born in here, sir. Oh, this is on? Yeah, I'm making a video. Ah, there's no recording here, sir. No recording? Oh, okay. You can take the photo but you cannot record it. Well, what are you guys doing in here? We're selling suits. Oh, okay. Well, I don't know. My tuk-tuk driver brought me here. I'm on a tour. Oh, okay. So please can you cancel the... Yeah, that's off. Come, have a look. Show you the... So, okay. I'll follow you. You guys sell suits? Suits, yeah. It's here, it's up to you. Because we have here, selling suits. If you like, you can buy. If you don't, no problem. Okay. But, example, you like to buy, but you don't like to carry around, so we can send it to your home as well. And you send to United States? Yeah. This is all my previous customers, sir. Okay. Okay, but, um, how much are your suits, sir? It depends on the customer. The fabric. Okay, well I've never bought a suit before. You want to show me something? Yes, sir. Here, like this. Have a look which style you like. Well, I've never bought a suit before, so I don't know. So you don't have any suits? I've never had a suit. This is how we made it. Here, have a look. So what is that called? This is called the traditional suit? This is a suit, a three-piece suit. A three-piece suit. Yeah. And how much does something like that cost? It depends which fabric you like to have it. Oh, damn. I have a cashmere wool, merino wool, linen, silk. What's this? This is cashmere wool sir. It's a wrinkle free. You can wear suits, you can sleep, you can party. Next day you wake up look at the mirror, suit is not wrinkled. Really? Yeah. And how much is that? You want with the vest or without the vest? When do you use a vest for? Like what do you use a vest for? Wedding, marriage, for parties, special occasions. Oh okay. All right. No vest or with the vest? With the vest. Yeah with the vest is... damn bro business must be doing good huh look you got that gold watch thank you sir twenty thousand five hundred well this is a jacket fan wear shirt style oh that's 600 us huh yep about 600 us and here good thing is you can pay by visa master mx no extra charge no tax okay okay cool okay well maybe later bro maybe later I'll give you guys a mind no I'm on a city tour yeah if you say yes only take two minutes so tomorrow I can give you the fitting sir no No, it's okay. It's okay. I'll see what I got going on tomorrow. No problem. Yeah. Okay. So that's like a six-piece suit? This is, yeah. Jacket, pen, shirt, vest, tie, and it's coming pocket square as well, so yeah. Okay, okay. All right, let me think about it. All right. Thank you, bro. You're welcome. Appreciate it. Thank you. Well, have a nice day, okay? You too. How far is that? You guys make all the suits in here? Yeah. So how long does it take from the beginning to the end to make a suit? 3 days. So example if you bought something today, if you don't like to carry around, so tomorrow we can give you the fitting and then we shift it or someone pick it up later. Okay, okay. Okay, alright, thank you bro. Appreciate it. You're welcome. Okay, gabung kap. Thank you. Now, you want to see the boat or not? The which one? Boat tour. Boat tour? How much is a boat tour? Thank you, sir. Thank you. One hour, one and a half hour, or one hour. On the boat, okay. Well yeah, that was pretty, pretty easy, right? We just walked in there, looked at some suits, talked for a little bit. Yeah, they were, seemed a little bit sketch, but yeah, definitely not a place I would just walk into and buy a suit from, but yeah, who am I to judge, but hopefully the dude got his gas coupon, but yeah, that was pretty straightforward. I mean, I walked in there, I walked out, and I agreed to do that, so yeah, so far everything, everything good. One hour, one and a half, two hours. We are start here. That's for the boat tour? Yes. Okay, and how much is that? They have the, this one, what do you want? One hour, one and a half, or two. You buy ticket there. Last stop, I bring you there. Okay, okay. No, no boat tour today. What else do you have? Now, one hour and then come back. Yeah around and come back right and you don't have any other tours no tours no girls no girls tours like beautiful ladies yeah how much for a happy ending Many many times. Superstar, young star. Oh, so depending on if they're young or old, the price change. The price not the same. The price not the same, huh? For old lady and superstar girl. Young star, many many girls. What is it? Massage? Everything. Everything. Oh full body massage. Turkish bath massage. Okay. What's the starting price? I think he start about four thousand four thousand for one girl one hour Okay, okay, okay, no, let's do it. Let's do the tour and come back Couple cup I Take your number. Maybe later I go Thank you brother, thank you Superstar Gabor Beautiful girls? Superstar Gabor Where's the girls? Sukhumvit? Silom? Petchaburi Road Oh Petchaburi Road Ok Not too far 10 minutes There's actually a video I want to film for you guys later on this time, but yeah guys so I must say definitely Well the one-hour trip around what what I've been what I've been seeing, you know, it's been around six US dollars and To be honest, we haven't really done a whole lot A lot more just walking around in a matter of an hour, but why not it's worth the experience and you gotta go into a suit shop and to be honest with you guys it kind of sucks that he gave me the warning beforehand it is fun when you jump on it you know they take you to all those spots unexpectedly and it's your first time so yeah genuinely i don't know how it feels about this adventure. I'll tell you guys, well, everything, as soon as we park and we make it to the end, as long as nothing changes with the price, I think so far it's been pretty straightforward. I can't say it's a scam, you know, I can say They try and upsell you all kinds of other things to try and take you to make more money, more commission. But you guys have heard. I say no, and it's kind of like, okay, and that's it. And I hop into the tuk-tuk and continue. But definitely a few years ago when I first came here, man, it wasn't like that. Like, they would hound you at the suit shop, absolutely everywhere. But then again, the whole world has changed now that they've seen so many of these videos on YouTube. And so many people were like me running around with a camera. So it makes sense that a lot of things are not the same anymore. But yeah, now we're stuck in some traffic Overall, if the price stays the same, man, what a cool little experience for 200 baht. I think the only other money I've spent is the first us Luda. I think it's a win-win. Great way to see the city, great way to stay out of the sun for a while. We're making it back to Khao San Road now and in total we've been gone 50 bad. Definitely a nice enjoy. We definitely circled. Here's Khao San Road. We're back in the little small side streets now. And this tour should be coming to an end. But yeah, along here you're going to find all kinds of jewelry shops, tattoo shops. This is actually where you can come and buy some wholesale jewelry if you're interested in that. You can find like all kinds of piercings. Yeah, jewelry. I don't know what else to say about that but... Yeah, a lot of wholesale shops here in this area. You also find plenty of massage parlors, a lot of really good food in the evenings. It makes for a fun time. Sir, we could go right here's okay. Okay. Cup on cup. Yeah, it's a little hot back here. let's see okay cup and cup sir that was nice thank you cup and cup have a good day all right well that was nice and you guys saw how smooth that was so yeah he gave me the warning about the suit shop i agreed to go um had a little two hour trip around the city for $200, but not bad. Yeah, so I don't know how to feel about that. Don't know if that's really a big scam or not, but the other day, literally, I was walking around and people were offering me a 40 baht city tour so i know that there's still some bad people out there doing those tours but then there's also plenty of hard-working honest men just like him who you know they give you a tour around the city like i said tic-tac tours are always a bit expensive but 200 bots yeah we did a couple laps around the same area it gives you the experience of riding around in a tic-tac but generally speaking i would say you know taking tic-tacs is the most expensive way to get around anyway and to be honest the fastest way is by moto taxi or um simply just taking the public public transportation when available. But yeah, definitely a nice way to spend 200 baht and knock off an experience here in Thailand. So for now guys, I think, well that's gonna be the end of this one. I'm gonna put the camera down and I'll tune back in for another one. Maybe later on today, here in a bit. Maybe in the next few days. Later guys. You were always smarter. I was the one to take a look. I remember how it started

Yes sir, how are you? Doing good, how are you? Where are you from? From the United States, California Obama Obama What to do first? Wrong president man Yes sir Um, how much is the city tour?

How long is the city tour? About 3 hours or 4 hours, up to you, you want your time Oh I don't want 3 hours man 2 2 hours But it's my first day in Bangkok I'm not this week in Bangkok because Bangkok Fashion Week He can get free Ubon Kac from the factory. Oh, full body massage. Turkish bath massage.

Okay. Good afternoon from another beautiful day here in Bangkok, Thailand. Now today, we're actually about to embark on a pretty sick adventure because we are purposely going to get ourselves involved in one of the oldest but yet most common scams here in Thailand. Now today, as I mentioned, I'm in Bangkok, Thailand and Bangkok is home to quite a bit of scams, however, I must be honest, as someone that comes to Bangkok all the time, I probably pretty much never really encounter them unless I'm walking around these same areas that are known for these type of scams such as Sukhumvit Road, Khao San Road, anywhere around the Grand Palace.

Those are the areas where you're typically going to run into the scams where everybody's telling you that the temple's closed today or that the Grand Palace is closed today. Those kind of scams happen in the touristic areas just like anywhere else in the world. But recently I've been getting a lot of comments from you guys saying, Chris, can you show us the tuk-tuk scam and I thought about it real hard like what scam are they talking about and I'm like oh yeah duh the 40 baht tuk-tuk scam where they offer you you know a city tour around in a tuk-tuk they pretty much target people that have never been to Thailand before so today for the sake of the video we're gonna pretend we've never been here before first things first I got a grab it's about two minutes away it's gonna be pulling on up and then we're gonna head to khao san road because if we got to get scammed Well, we gotta go where the scammers be hanging out, so. not saying that every tic-tac driver is a bad tic-tac driver but there's a lot of people on the hustle on the grind out there and the moment that you say it's your first time in thailand they tell you welcome to bangkok let me take you around and give you a nice tour so we'll be waiting for a grab we'll jump on and then we'll make our way towards khao san road sawadika for chris so yeah we're literally about a six minute ride from khao san road but yeah khao san road a place that's known for you know low budget backpackers that's where I hung out my very first time coming to Thailand you find a lot of really good hostels it's a nice vibe but you know it's not one of those places that you hang out at all the time especially once you you know you've been in Bangkok for a while it's one of the streets I actually tend to to avoid but lately I've been playing tour guide with a bunch of people I've never been to Bangkok before so I've been hanging out there quite often but yeah it's one of those places you should experience but it's also one of those places you shouldn't spend all of your time in Alright, we're going to weave through a little bit of traffic and I'll see you guys on Khao San Road. The streets are active today too.

It's Friday and things are just starting to warm up. We're approaching Khao San Road now, but since we're at a red light, let me just talk to you guys about something that a lot of you that probably have never been to Bangkok probably don't realize. Now, prior to my first time visiting Bangkok, I thought that everybody pretty much got around to it. on a tuk-tuk and although the tuk-tuk is like the old-school form of public transportation in Thailand it's not really used by locals all that often anymore I mean every once in a while you do see locals in you know outside of the tourist zones using it to get their food for their street food stalls brought to their uh what well to wherever they're working or whatnot but nowadays it's actually more so just used for tourists so keep that in mind every time you typically get into a tuk-tuk ride it's going to cost you a lot more than a lot of the other forms of transportation in the city so like i said when somebody comes up to you like they will now once we start walking down kawasan road a lot of people People are going to start coming up to you and they're going to offer you rides around the city for 10 bahts or 40 bahts. Something ridiculous.

You always got to keep that in mind that if it sounds too good to be true anywhere in the world, it's probably too good to be true. All right, we're about to hop off here shortly. And I need to find something to cover up this microphone. Then I'll tune back in. I love this area of the city though.

Reminds me of my first time in Thailand. Every time every time I come back so beautiful the natural leaf you got a Domino's pizza over here All the street markets are out. So I just made it a few streets down from Khao San Road. And before we actually, hopefully before we get approached by a tuk-tuk, I want to talk to you guys a little bit about my story before we jump on in to the tuk-tuk.

So basically, my very... first day arriving to Khao San Road I was walking down these streets and my hostel was literally a few streets down it's called mad monkey it I believe it's still around this was back in 2017 so I'm walking the streets just got to Thailand know nothing about Thailand except You know, tuk-tuks and, you know, parties. That's pretty much it.

I didn't really know much. So as soon as I turned a corner, a tuk-tuk driver comes up to me and says, Hey, bro, city tour for 40 baht. And in my head, I had just changed money for the first time in the country.

And I was like, 40 baht for a full city tour for 30 minutes? Bro, that is ridiculous. That's so cheap, like a dollar. And I was like, damn, Thailand's ridiculously cheap.

And let me just tell you guys, Thailand is pretty affordable for most of us that come from Western countries. But it's, you know... It's still hard to find things for 40 bahts. Keep in mind, every time you jump into a taxi, the automatically meter starting price is 40 baht. So it's hard to get a lot for 40 bahts.

However, when you first arrive, you're like, oh man, sick deal. So, you know, I jumped on and... what happened he took me to a temple he took me to a suit shop he took me to a souvenir shop then he took me to another temple and all in all you know it took about an hour and a half of my time but i actually did get to see the city quite a bit and we actually were quite cool with the tuk-tuk guy he kind of explained to us like man spend like 10 minutes in each shop then i get commission and then no pressure you just give me whatever you want at the end well we ended up doing a full loop at the end We did it wasn't a whatever you it wasn't a you give them whatever you want We gave them like 300 baht which was still like 12 US dollars or 10 US dollars at the time and man It was a great experience and I think everybody should do it when in Thailand So even if you know about it man participate if you got some time to kill it could be fun Alright, let's see if we can get you know offered a tour by any tuk-tuk driver. Well, the tuk-tuks in Thailand are awesome I love them and I definitely think it's an experience for everybody like the orange man just pulled up selling oranges out the back of the The space cab it's called never heard of that truck before.

Oh, they just got them in the tic-tac Hello sir, how are you? Yes sir, how are you? Doing good, how are you? Where are you from? From the United States, California.

Obama! Obama. You want to do some fun? Wrong president man.

Yes sir. How much is the city tour? 100 baht.

100 baht? Yes sir. that's it for how long up up to you how long is the city tour about three hours or four hours up to you you want your time oh i don't want three hours man two two hours yes no no no let's do let's do like half hour city tour half hour okay all right thank you 100 bucks okay where we go for city tour Where are we going for city tour? He show you. He know.

Okay, alright. Alright, thank you. Alright, so here we are.

We're going on a city tour. Where do we go first, sir? Standing Buddha. The Standing Buddha.

Okay. It's very busy today, huh? Very hot Okay, so first up on the tour is the standing Buddha So yeah great way to get around the city and of course you got to experience Thailand in a tuk-tuk So what better way to do it than to participate in a little one look at this this a lot of like cannabis shops popping up bars left and right over here you got the Taco Bell massage parlors so this is actually the streets over Khao San Road and I would definitely recommend it if you want to come by and have a dinner listen to some music great place for that okay I don't know But I'll see you guys once once we make it up there or at least close by It's nice and shady down these streets Yeah, you see a lot of backpackers walking around with their backpacks reminds me of the good old days When I first came to Bangkok, but nowadays man, I'm constantly rolling around suitcase and it's actually a lot more enjoyable when you're walking around this incredibly hot climates like having a big backpack on you man it gets to get stressful and hard every once in a while you get all sweaty so it's nice having a suitcase now but yeah look along these shops you can also find a lot of places to book tours flights ferries things like that but I personally always recommend just going to one to go Asia And on there you can purchase all your ferry tickets, train tickets without all the big price markups that you find on the side of the street.

You also find a lot of great street food around here. Who knows, maybe I'll film a little street food video for you guys later on. I know you guys always enjoy those videos. But yeah, see you guys here shortly at the Standing Buddha.

Huh? You want to film me with you? Yeah, 30 minutes? 30? Big Buddha, Lucky Buddha and Cafe.

Big Buddha, Lucky Buddha? And Cafe. Okay, so let's do one hour then.

How much is one hour? Same price? All to a lift. 200 baht for one hour. Okay.

One hour to a par hour. Let's do the one hour. Yeah, why not? One hour is more fun, right?

Okay, sounds good. Okay, sounds good. So we're gonna do one hour for 200 baht instead. I think that's better anyway.

This looks like the right way to spot it. It's the time of the day, in the back of a tuk-tuk. I feel like doing a whole lot of walking.

I see. Where are you from, sir? You're from Bangkok?

Uh... Hi. Okai.

Okai. Oh, that's in the north of Thailand. Near Isan? Near Isan. Isan.

Oh, very nice. Okay. I've been to Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Bangkok, Pattaya.

What time? What is the holiday? I don't know first day Maybe five day yeah, but it's my first day in Bangkok Thank you cup and cup Oh, that's the standing Buddha? You wait for me here, okay, how many minutes? Okay, thank you, come on come Thank you.

Oh Nice, we made it to the standing Buddha Okay, so this guy here He seems like you know like one of those very honest tuk-tuk drivers that I was telling you about and They started the price at a hundred but let's be honest guys nothing cost 100 on a tuk-tuk. I don't care how many of you guys tell me it does and it might for locals but Hello, sir. How are you?

40 40 bucks. Yeah, okay for the tourist tickets You have change for 100? Cup and Cup Cup You speak Thai very well Cup and Cup I speak Thai very well Sawadee Cup Cup and Cup Alright so 40 baht to enter this temple with the standing Buddha Now actually I did this exact tour with my mom when she came to Bangkok.

So after I had met the tiktok driver the first time who brought me to all of these locations, I ended up just taking his number from me and, you know, he made me laugh the entire time. So I didn't really. take it as like okay this guy um really up tried to upsell me um and after that he gave me you know pretty good prices for tuk-tuk rides all around the city always charging me between 250 and 300 which is totally reasonable especially as a tourist but yeah not only do you get to you know drive around to different temples but you get to see different parts of the city that you probably wouldn't have saw if you just order a grab and you know put the GPS location to set somewhere so we'll see exactly how this whole city tour turns out maybe the whole taking the suit shops and all that isn't a thing anymore I'm not sure we'll find out though wow this is beautiful I love temples in Thailand.

They're always all so different, so unique. There's the standing Buddha. Wow, it is beautiful.

See, this is what I'm saying guys. It's awesome. They bring you to...

You know several temples and show you some iconic sites in the city that all in all if they actually Charge you the price that you agree on It's very well worth it Here we go the big standing Buddha Wow that is beautiful only in Thailand do you see stuff like this this is incredible isn't it What a beautiful Buddha image here in Bangkok. Okay, well, I'm going to spend a few minutes here walking around, take a couple pictures, and then we'll jump back into the tuk-tuk and see where we head off to next. Last time, if I remember clearly, we went to a suit shop after leaving this spot. We'll see if that happens or if we actually go to other locations. To be honest, I don't know.

My guy seems, like, very friendly. And I might be falling into the trap myself. But, yeah, I don't think he's actually going to take me anywhere. But we'll see.

Maybe they're just that good, huh? But, yeah, one last look of the Buddha image. Alright, see you guys in a second. So long to the temple, definitely a nice first stop. But yeah, it's too hot to actually fully walk around that thing right now.

Time to jump back into the tuk tuk. Alright, here's my driver right here smoking a cigarette. That one's very beautiful. This is the standing Buddha, okay.

And then this one, what they call the big lucky Buddha. Big lucky Buddha, okay. After on the way to the...

You want to see the palace? The Grand Palace? Only on the outside, right?

You go inside. No, I don't want to go inside today. Please, please.

You can allow here. Pardon me. Please, please. You can allow.

Okay for 200 right? Okay let's do it. After Raky Buddha I show you the Thai center.

The Thai center? Because today I have free gasoline. Oh you get free gasoline? When I take you there you have a look inside for me. Okay let's go.

Thank you. My name is Chris. My name is Som.

Som nice to meet you Som. How's business? Very slow? Many tourists?

It looks like many tourists. Yeah. Today I bring you good luck. Are you going to...

So right now we go to Temple first or to Thai Center? Temple. Temple, okay. Doesn't matter how many times.

It can't be the only one I've been to. It still always feels exciting and like the first time and it just feels completely different. It gives you a different vibe and the city as a whole. Oh, this is the temple?

What's the name of this one? The lucky Buddha temple is this the most famous temple in Thailand? Okay, oh yeah looks beautiful I've never been here before This is the king?

Oh, after we come to the sitting Buddha. Okay. This one is the sleeping.

The sleeping Buddha? This one. Oh yeah. I show you the sitting.

The sitting Buddha first. Okay. Go inside.

Okay. And I'll just show you there. Okay. Leave my shoes out here.

Awesome. Thank you. That is a beautiful Buddha.

So there's always some things to keep in mind whenever you're at Buddha, you never turn your back to Buddha, and you can never sit with your feet facing Buddha. So just some things to keep in mind if you're ever entering a temple, and of course, ladies, always be respectful. Respectful men too about what you're wearing cover your shoulders cover your knees Whether you believe in the religion or not turn somebody else's home and place of worship, so Yeah, beautiful, right?

So yeah guys, I don't know so far I'm enjoying this trip it's super enjoyable. He's already been very straightforward that We're gonna go to a little center afterwards where he gets a fuel coupon the last guy actually told me that as well So who knows maybe? Yeah everything's gonna be you know honest and smooth sailing but yeah what a beautiful temple huh what was that I'm saying and Buddha carry amble you see oh yeah yeah you can go to you never see like it I can't be because Buddha's head we can see sitting, standing, reclining. But this Buddha, like this, hand carry arm row.

So you'll never see a Buddha like this anywhere in the world. This Buddha original, like the Buddha's style. Some temples have the Buddha, they have that small one, so some people don't know, but this the big one in Bangkok. So if you go to Dukkha Yard, Dukkha Yard, you go Captain of Thailand, big one, about. 59 meters.

59? In Ayutthaya? That temple was built in the Ayutthaya period. The Ayutthaya period is about 1000 years. So I recommend Bangkok to be busy.

You can see many Buddha, many temples, about 400 temples. But if you are from Bangkok, Bangkok will take the train to Ayutthaya in one hour. One hour is the most. You see the old castle, you see the old temple, big gap, everything they got. But look for how they built about a thousand years ago.

Wow. Construction building. Okay.

I mean, amazing. Who they built, how they can take something to the top. Because a thousand years ago, technology was not like this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now, if we have money, we can build everything.

Exactly. Amazing. I look at people big like a giant. Really. Yeah.

People to see. You go in the morning and evening, you can take a train back. Okay.

Why go by train? Because from Bangkok to outside, traffic jam. Take a train like this, take a bus, traffic jam.

Same from outside, come to Bangkok, about 100 km, more busy. So they take a train, like that, train better. Every train, they pass Ajutthaya, train from Bangkok to Phra Phu Cha, and then they go to the north, the north end and the point. Okay.

Say that some people, they don't know, they go by bus. By bus about two hours. I am Thai people. I know about everything. I've been here for a month before.

Anyway, I know about tourism because I used to work in immigration office. Okay, okay. Well, thank you for sharing.

Thank you. You come from? America, California.

From what city? Los Angeles. Oh, that's great. A lot of Thai people.

A lot of Thai people. Yes, Thai restaurant, Thai people. I have one Thai friend. He lived in San Diego.

Oh yeah, that's close to me. He lived there, I think about 35 years. I'm now 65 years. He lived there, he worked, he studied, finished there and worked there.

He married with American girl. She was 9th and 2nd rank. Beautiful.

She come, oh she like a superstar. Yeah. And have many American friends.

Also I have friend from San Diego. from Mexico. Yeah, many Mexican people.

Come to my country. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because he come, be my house here, he come here.

And when he come back to Thailand, he like, because I am make food, you know, I cook. Thai people make the best food, huh? Yeah. When he come, he like, he have a special whiskey. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So good, you know. So good. Not often. About four, five, eight come one time. When he come, he not come alone, come big friend.

Nice. Come to only one time. After Covid stopped, they came to repeat about three weeks.

And now this family come back again. But they just moved from Bangkok 5 days ago to the north. Yeah, to go visit other places in Thailand.

Not Chiang Mai, they go to Lampang. Lampang. Lampang, you don't know.

Chiang Mai, you know. But Lampang, the land of elephants. I can say, if you check about Lampang, very old history. They have a hut and they build a hut. They did not so good.

Lampang and that area, they have this red path and quite not busy. I'll have to go one day. They have resort there. Oh, okay.

You stay there with a family and play. And after Bangkok, where you going? Um, I don't know yet.

I'm just... Why not? Because I come to Thailand before, like a few times. So I'm just seeing what I want to do. Third time.

Thank you so much for visiting my country. Have you been to North Thailand? Yes, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and Pai. Have you been to the South?

Yes, Phuket, Surat Thani, Krabi. I recommend if you come back again, you go to eat in Thailand. Go to Koh Samit, Koh Chang.

Koh Samit, Koh Chang, they eat no tourists. From Bangkok to Koh Chang, to Trak, about 4 hours by car. Koh Chang is so big, no tourists.

So, it's smart to go to relax. When you go, you look many rooms, many night place, and condition. You leave here, and everything complete. If compare that area we resting, like a VIP room in Bangkok.

Okay, okay. But that floor too, the beach, sea view, so good. Got chan, got chan or got cement.

But if talk famous one, got cool. That Christian or whatever. I have to go next time. Thank you. Well, it's nice meeting you.

And how you get to this temple? How you come here? In a tuk-tuk.

How much you pay here? It's a little bit of a journey. What's the normal price?

What's the price? 200 baht. Yeah all together. Yeah, it's good price Because Bangkok Fashion Week, tuk-tuk driver, he can get free coupon gasoline from the factory.

Have you been? You've been here two, three times. Have you been? No, I haven't been to the factory. The factory, Thai factory.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. They make tailor, they make suit. Oh, okay, cool.

And this place, they make suit sent to, going to Armani. Okay. That is because Armani, most famous in Europe, in the world, Armani suit. Armani suit, okay. Armani suit, how much?

400, 500,000 baht. Importing how much transport? So this factory in Thailand, they make sense to many brands. So now they open for everyone, for everybody. So if you take you there, you have to look free.

You don't buy anything, but you get a coupon, gasoline. But if you need tailor, custom, so custom 100%, make perfect fitting. You are style your size, that's place so good.

Right about 400, 500, 600. dollar for your and this place they have free transport okay so my friend everyone they come from california they went there already they make finish okay okay they're not they're not picking up making it fitting already and more they are sent to san diego they have freedom not carry because they have free transport they are already so this place most of american people they come to my country okay they like to tell they make from here okay okay not make in turin area because to come to nearby here cause I yeah yeah yeah 3d have shops okay they call you not me they are pulling history okay okay okay okay so the lot benefit they come playing some time I know I know I don't know what to do you work Do you wear a suit or not? Okay. Do you wear a suit?

No, I don't wear a suit. It's okay. Thank you, sir.

I'm going to get going. I'm going to go to my tiktok. You're waiting. Or sometime you eat.

No, I got a tiktok waiting for me. So go. You make from there and leave and go. Okay.

Okay, but maybe later. Maybe later. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Very nice Buddha. Oh, man.

Nice meeting you! Alright, so after I walked in there, the tiktok driver actually sent in that guy. I saw it out the corner of my eye and sure enough, he gave me a full-on spiel and was trying to tell me that I should go to the factory and make a suit after this. Probably where we're gonna be heading afterwards, but first let me show you the Lion Buddha. Wow, this is beautiful, right?

Definitely a unique temple that's for sure. Let me take a picture with the phone. Alright and let's get out of here.

So yeah definitely um everybody works together on this thing but yeah crazy right as I just got done saying that maybe this guy's gonna be honest I saw this guy literally like kind of give the guy a shoe to go inside the temple to start talking to me and yeah sure enough this Dude spoke amazing English and was giving me the best rants and to be honest he seems like a very nice guy Ready Cup and Cup Where are we going? Oh? monkeys oh Yeah, those are monkeys, huh?

No, oh What is that? fruits Wow, it almost looks like a lanky. What is that? Yeah, I've never seen that before.

Oh, bees! Those are bees, huh? Dang, dude, it's like a big... I don't know what you call it. Not a herd, but a bunch of bees.

Okay, we come inside? Let's go, let's go. Kaboom kaboom.

It's quite funny, I can actually see the old man with the pillars right now. Man, quite sneaky. Alright, on to the next spot.

Beautiful temple! Where are we going now? We're going to the Thai center, Thai fashion.

You look for me. The Thai center? What's the Thai center? What's inside?

Fashion shop. Are you looking for me 5 minutes? 5 minutes looking. Okay.

What do they sell inside? They sell shoes? Maybe shirt, shoes. Shirt, shoes, okay. Next stop, the fashion center.

I think I just went 5 minutes. It's in there and then they're gonna give them my gas So they give you gas coupon For how many liters how many liters of gas do you get? One liter of gas if I look okay couple cup Sounds like a fair deal, you know, it's funny to be fair when You know, basically around this. Yeah, it's pretty much staying. We're pretty much staying around the same area, but.

Where the market of the ambulance are. Where they make the images. The biggest flower markets in the world is in this area. Yeah, a lot of factories.

So I'm guessing this is why we're heading in this direction right now. And yeah, you also find like a bunch of trendy cafes and restaurants in between like all these old little like mechanic shops and traditional style clothing shops. Oh is this where we're coming? So take a look here All right, let's come on inside You can grab some water.

Oh You get a drink Hello Hello, Sawadika. How are you? Good, good.

How are you? Very good. Where are you from? The US, California.

Alright. Yeah, and you? Where are you from?

I'm born in here, sir. Oh, this is on? Yeah, I'm making a video. Ah, there's no recording here, sir. No recording?

Oh, okay. You can take the photo but you cannot record it. Well, what are you guys doing in here?

We're selling suits. Oh, okay. Well, I don't know. My tuk-tuk driver brought me here.

I'm on a tour. Oh, okay. So please can you cancel the...

Yeah, that's off. Come, have a look. Show you the...

So, okay. I'll follow you. You guys sell suits? Suits, yeah.

It's here, it's up to you. Because we have here, selling suits. If you like, you can buy.

If you don't, no problem. Okay. But, example, you like to buy, but you don't like to carry around, so we can send it to your home as well.

And you send to United States? Yeah. This is all my previous customers, sir. Okay. Okay, but, um, how much are your suits, sir?

It depends on the customer. The fabric. Okay, well I've never bought a suit before.

You want to show me something? Yes, sir. Here, like this. Have a look which style you like. Well, I've never bought a suit before, so I don't know.

So you don't have any suits? I've never had a suit. This is how we made it.

Here, have a look. So what is that called? This is called the traditional suit? This is a suit, a three-piece suit.

A three-piece suit. Yeah. And how much does something like that cost? It depends which fabric you like to have it.

Oh, damn. I have a cashmere wool, merino wool, linen, silk. What's this?

This is cashmere wool sir. It's a wrinkle free. You can wear suits, you can sleep, you can party.

Next day you wake up look at the mirror, suit is not wrinkled. Really? Yeah. And how much is that?

You want with the vest or without the vest? When do you use a vest for? Like what do you use a vest for?

Wedding, marriage, for parties, special occasions. Oh okay. All right.

No vest or with the vest? With the vest. Yeah with the vest is... damn bro business must be doing good huh look you got that gold watch thank you sir twenty thousand five hundred well this is a jacket fan wear shirt style oh that's 600 us huh yep about 600 us and here good thing is you can pay by visa master mx no extra charge no tax okay okay cool okay well maybe later bro maybe later I'll give you guys a mind no I'm on a city tour yeah if you say yes only take two minutes so tomorrow I can give you the fitting sir no No, it's okay.

It's okay. I'll see what I got going on tomorrow. No problem. Yeah. Okay.

So that's like a six-piece suit? This is, yeah. Jacket, pen, shirt, vest, tie, and it's coming pocket square as well, so yeah. Okay, okay.

All right, let me think about it. All right. Thank you, bro.

You're welcome. Appreciate it. Thank you.

Well, have a nice day, okay? You too. How far is that?

You guys make all the suits in here? Yeah. So how long does it take from the beginning to the end to make a suit? 3 days. So example if you bought something today, if you don't like to carry around, so tomorrow we can give you the fitting and then we shift it or someone pick it up later.

Okay, okay. Okay, alright, thank you bro. Appreciate it. You're welcome. Okay, gabung kap.

Thank you. Now, you want to see the boat or not? The which one? Boat tour. Boat tour?

How much is a boat tour? Thank you, sir. Thank you.

One hour, one and a half hour, or one hour. On the boat, okay. Well yeah, that was pretty, pretty easy, right?

We just walked in there, looked at some suits, talked for a little bit. Yeah, they were, seemed a little bit sketch, but yeah, definitely not a place I would just walk into and buy a suit from, but yeah, who am I to judge, but hopefully the dude got his gas coupon, but yeah, that was pretty straightforward. I mean, I walked in there, I walked out, and I agreed to do that, so yeah, so far everything, everything good. One hour, one and a half, two hours.

We are start here. That's for the boat tour? Yes.

Okay, and how much is that? They have the, this one, what do you want? One hour, one and a half, or two.

You buy ticket there. Last stop, I bring you there. Okay, okay. No, no boat tour today. What else do you have?

Now, one hour and then come back. Yeah around and come back right and you don't have any other tours no tours no girls no girls tours like beautiful ladies yeah how much for a happy ending Many many times. Superstar, young star. Oh, so depending on if they're young or old, the price change.

The price not the same. The price not the same, huh? For old lady and superstar girl. Young star, many many girls. What is it?

Massage? Everything. Everything. Oh full body massage.

Turkish bath massage. Okay. What's the starting price? I think he start about four thousand four thousand for one girl one hour Okay, okay, okay, no, let's do it.

Let's do the tour and come back Couple cup I Take your number. Maybe later I go Thank you brother, thank you Superstar Gabor Beautiful girls? Superstar Gabor Where's the girls?

Sukhumvit? Silom? Petchaburi Road Oh Petchaburi Road Ok Not too far 10 minutes There's actually a video I want to film for you guys later on this time, but yeah guys so I must say definitely Well the one-hour trip around what what I've been what I've been seeing, you know, it's been around six US dollars and To be honest, we haven't really done a whole lot A lot more just walking around in a matter of an hour, but why not it's worth the experience and you gotta go into a suit shop and to be honest with you guys it kind of sucks that he gave me the warning beforehand it is fun when you jump on it you know they take you to all those spots unexpectedly and it's your first time so yeah genuinely i don't know how it feels about this adventure.

I'll tell you guys, well, everything, as soon as we park and we make it to the end, as long as nothing changes with the price, I think so far it's been pretty straightforward. I can't say it's a scam, you know, I can say They try and upsell you all kinds of other things to try and take you to make more money, more commission. But you guys have heard. I say no, and it's kind of like, okay, and that's it. And I hop into the tuk-tuk and continue.

But definitely a few years ago when I first came here, man, it wasn't like that. Like, they would hound you at the suit shop, absolutely everywhere. But then again, the whole world has changed now that they've seen so many of these videos on YouTube.

And so many people were like me running around with a camera. So it makes sense that a lot of things are not the same anymore. But yeah, now we're stuck in some traffic Overall, if the price stays the same, man, what a cool little experience for 200 baht. I think the only other money I've spent is the first us Luda.

I think it's a win-win. Great way to see the city, great way to stay out of the sun for a while. We're making it back to Khao San Road now and in total we've been gone 50 bad.

Definitely a nice enjoy. We definitely circled. Here's Khao San Road. We're back in the little small side streets now.

And this tour should be coming to an end. But yeah, along here you're going to find all kinds of jewelry shops, tattoo shops. This is actually where you can come and buy some wholesale jewelry if you're interested in that.

You can find like all kinds of piercings. Yeah, jewelry. I don't know what else to say about that but... Yeah, a lot of wholesale shops here in this area. You also find plenty of massage parlors, a lot of really good food in the evenings.

It makes for a fun time. Sir, we could go right here's okay. Okay. Cup on cup.

Yeah, it's a little hot back here. let's see okay cup and cup sir that was nice thank you cup and cup have a good day all right well that was nice and you guys saw how smooth that was so yeah he gave me the warning about the suit shop i agreed to go um had a little two hour trip around the city for $200, but not bad. Yeah, so I don't know how to feel about that.

Don't know if that's really a big scam or not, but the other day, literally, I was walking around and people were offering me a 40 baht city tour so i know that there's still some bad people out there doing those tours but then there's also plenty of hard-working honest men just like him who you know they give you a tour around the city like i said tic-tac tours are always a bit expensive but 200 bots yeah we did a couple laps around the same area it gives you the experience of riding around in a tic-tac but generally speaking i would say you know taking tic-tacs is the most expensive way to get around anyway and to be honest the fastest way is by moto taxi or um simply just taking the public public transportation when available. But yeah, definitely a nice way to spend 200 baht and knock off an experience here in Thailand. So for now guys, I think, well that's gonna be the end of this one.

I'm gonna put the camera down and I'll tune back in for another one. Maybe later on today, here in a bit. Maybe in the next few days.

Later guys. You were always smarter. I was the one to take a look. I remember how it started

Transcript for:Navigating Tuk-Tuk Scams in Bangkok

Transcript for:
Navigating Tuk-Tuk Scams in Bangkok