share your travel stories

Great place to share all the good times and bad. Would be fun to hear from all the travelers out there. :-)

Mike

Watch out for Gem Scammers in Thailand. They are good, very very good. They had me tagging along for several days. Their Govt videos supposedly genuine telling tourists to beware of gems scammers and then still having the audacity to pull their scams off. They had certificates of authentication, embossed by a genuine assayer supposedly licensed by the govt. They were good.

The scam goes like this, well in my case it went like this.

I was approached by a helpful local when I was negotiating with a tuktuk driver to take me sight seeing to the Palace.

He told me about this being my lucky day. (as it happened it was my lucky day as I managed to avoid being scammed, but, that’s another story).

"Why I enquired?"

"Well because today is the last day of the Jewellery Emporiums Show which is a once a year govt sponsored event promoting Thai Jewellery and if you hurry you can get some real bargains at wholesale prices, if you like I shall direct the tuktuk driver to take you there."

"No its ok I just want to tour the sights thanks."

"Ok then I shall tell the driver where to take you, do u mind."

"No as long as its here and here and here etc."

"Ok the driver will take you to these places you indicated, but, if you should change your mind then this is where you should be to catch the last day of the Show, but, you must hurry as it closes at 6:00pm."

At the first temple I visited a charming gentleman of Thai origins approached me and started talking knowledgeably about my camera etc and engaging me in small talk about where I am from etc and all about his family connections in Australia and how he pays for his trips each time he goes to Sydney to visit them. He tells me today is the last day of the Jewellery Emporiums Show which is a once a year govt sponsored event promoting Thai Jewellery and if you hurry you can get some real bargains at wholesale prices. He goes on to explain that you should only purchase the stones one carat and above mounted in white gold and if you keep them for a year or more you can sell them abroad for greatly increased sums of money. In fact the last trip he did he explains and shows how he doubled his money. This is all very enticing and expertly done.

Well I am dubious and say my farewells and direct the taxi to the next temple.

Lo and behold whilst viewing the intricate carvings of the temple and photographing this and that if another gentleman doesn’t approach me and engage me in small talk. Same charming patois, but, claims to be from some other part of the world and that he finances his trips by selling jewellery etc etc. and he tells me today is the last day of the Jewellery Emporiums Show which is a once a year govt sponsored event promoting Thai Jewellery and if you hurry you too can get some real bargains at wholesale prices. He goes on to explain that you should only purchase the stones one carat and above mounted in white gold and if you keep them for a year or more you can sell them abroad for greatly increased sums of money. In fact the last trip he did he explains and shows how he considerably more than doubled his money.

I begin to fall for this tale as it seems too incredible that 3 different people from what seemed like different walks of life generously share there wisdom about taking advantage of the once a year opportunity as a result I tell the driver to take me to the show.

Upon entering the Jewellery Emporium I am directed to view this video purporting to be a govt warning that tells you to beware of gem scammers and explains their modus operandi etc. This video completely throws you off your guard as who in their right mind plans to scam you, but, tells you in advance how they are going to go about it. As a result you believe in the people entertaining you, after all 3 different sources none of which appear to be related have explained how the system works etc. etc.

Well I must have been in the store for several hours looking at this piece and that piece and discussing the merits of the clarity of the stone and the various cuts and being shown how to choose a genuine stone against a fake etc. etc. It was all very interesting, the book reviews they were giving me it all made me seem very important and they kept complementing me on my knowledge of precious stones, bringing me tea and biscuits and making me feel important. They introduced me to the govt appointed assayer who explained how she would assay the piece I chose and then provide a genuine certificate of authenticity etc.

All the time they were putting nicer and nicer pieces in front of me to examine, building up my confidence in making a wise choice etc. Eventually they put this one piece in front of me. It was exquisite, its clarity, its flawlessness and its actual beauty. All of a sudden I was an expert on choosing Jewellery and I had to have this piece on the pretext that I was getting a wedding anniversary present for my wife and that she deserved and would only accept the best. They quoted me a price which I had to pretend was not out of my league. They even went along with me to charge it to my credit card and help arrange the transaction. Even when the card company advised that I had exceeded my limit they advised not to worry as all I should do is charge a deposit and that they would help contact my bank directly when it was open and arrange the balance to be transferred directly from my account. They were also agreeable to keep the piece in safe custody and for me to pick up the piece once I was due to leave Bangkok. They even arranged that they would give me my own personal chauffeur and tour guide to show me the sights of Bangkok on my last day and then take me safely to the airport.

I told you these people were good.

So I left the shop a satisfied customer or so I thought. Of course I mentioned my good luck to a person I met later that evening and they told me about the scammers. I couldn’t believe my ears. So I took this persons advice and checked up on the internet. It was true. Thank goodness I had only paid a deposit. Anyway through the internet I got in touch with an organisation that helps unsuspecting tourists out of this situation. These people were even surprised at the audacity of the scammers and the sophistication of their scam as usually they did not have the ability to transact with credit cards and certainly they did not take deposits and usually you would never be able to locate them again once you had been scammed. Anyhow they helped extract myself from the clutches of the scammers. I didn’t get my money back, but, they did ensure that I got some genuine gems to the value of the deposit I had paid and certainly saved me loosing what was not an insubstantial sum of money.

So the next time you are in Thailand beware of the gems scammers, they're good, oh so good.

Oh do I have some stories on St Croix! :-) Will check back in a few days and share same after my brain returns to normal as a result of jet lag. I think it's Friday but am not sure :-)

Next June/July I am planning a trip to Cuzco, Peru to do the 4 day Machu Picchu trek. I want to follow it with a 1 week visit to New Orleans. Could anyone tell me about the timeshares at New Orleans, and the best way to travel from Lima to N/O.

Here, I’d like to tell you my stories in Spain. Last summer, I’ve been to tarragona and tenerife which are the world’s best climate in summer. In tarragona, enjoying the beaches is the most comfortable leisure. The sand is fine, the water is crystal clear and balmy, The beaches are crammed with local people and tourists from morning till night. In Tenerife, I want to get out of the beach and away from the sun, and just relax the classic metropolitan way, that is, I join the nightlife in Tenerife that cann’t be found in other tourist areas. The food in Tenerife is cooked in a traditional ways with international cuisine, the dishes usually accompanied by vegetable stews and fish casseroles. Don’t you think it is a meaningful trip, I not only relax, get much pleasure, the most important thing, but this trip has broadened my eyes, making me knowing much more about Spain’s cultures, history and lifestyles.

We once owned at Hotel de L'Eau Vive a couple blocks from Canal Street and the French Quarter and one block from Harrah's casino. It's a quaint resort with period Creole decor (it's not your basic hotel decor).

We enjoyed staying there. Our unit had two bedrooms, 1 bath with huge roman type jacuzzi tub/shower combination, kitchen and living/dining combination. Our unit faced the center courtyard with palm fronds against our windows, but some units face the street. I would request a courtyard view due to the traffic noise on Tchoupitoulas St.

The Quarter House is also a nice resort closer to the French Quarter. These two resorts would be my choices in New Orleans.

alisonj5 wrote:

Next June/July I am planning a trip to Cuzco, Peru to do the 4 day Machu Picchu trek. I want to follow it with a 1 week visit to New Orleans. Could anyone tell me about the timeshares at New Orleans, and the best way to travel from Lima to N/O.