Tennis,
I think your color or rather the color of your relations DID play a role in their being targeted. I have a Singaporean friend of mixed race who has told me of ill-treatment based upon the color of his skin by Chinese (and he's half Chinese). Unfortunately, very pale skin is sought after by Asian women & I have to believe that Asian men would be particularly racist towards black people (African or American).

I would encourage you call the Thai embassy in NYC & DC and write a letter of complaint to the ambassador, to the Thai Tourist board & challenge the charge on the credit card. If the menu said 3000 BHT next to the names of dishes, then they CAN'T legally be charged 'per gram' as the menu did not state it was 'per gram'.

Then go onto Trip Advisor & post a warning there too.

The sad aspect of all this is it makes me dread getting a cab to/from the BKK airport to our hotel. It's not that we're not capable of saying: METER... but why do we tourists have to go through the stress/hassle of demanding the meter be turned on by a series of taxi drivers?

Why don't the Thai tourist police ENFORCE THE LAW?

Singapore doesn't have this problem... all these ripoff artists succeed in doing is pushing tourists to take expensive shuttle services.

You have my empathy... and no one has a right to blame your unsuspecting relatives for being ripped off. If they were beaten, mugged & raped, would it be their fault too?

Bravo for going back & giving the slimy owners a bit of Big Apple Justice!

We need more people like you who are willing not to allow others to be victimized.

Tennisbum-I encourage you yo write a letter to various officials and make sure you cc the restaurant and TAT, and have your siblings challenge the credit card charge. While your impromptu protest conjures up a great image, the official communications may have a more lasting effect. You might also write a letter to Fodors, Frommers, Lonely Planet etc. with cc's to the restaurant.

I don't know whether the color of Tennis's skin had anything to do with how he was treated or not, but I would leave it to the expertise of the African-American travelers on the board who have spent time in Bangkok to give their experience, Guenmai and Femi for instance.

Oksana, there is no need for you to demand that taxi drivers use the meter, ask nicely. And you question of why don't the Thai tourist police enforce the law? - well, ask that question of every city in the world where someone has run into a taxi scam. As many of us have stated we've run into the biggest taxi scams in the US.

"Bravo for going back & giving the slimy owners a bit of Big Apple Justice. We need more people like you who are willing not to allow others to be victimized".

Oksana are you suggesting that others should confront the restaurant owner and tuk tuk drivers like he did. Very dangerous to do on your own and he was luky to walk away. Always take your complaints to the Tourist police, not the regular ones.

All you Bangkok experts should know how Thais can become very aggressive when they deemed to have lost face.

And I have doubts that this is the complete story. Scams do happen but not to this magnitude unless it involves jewerry. Yes I have seen warnings about tuk tuk and taxi drivers taking people to restaurants with a similar name and being overcharges but not to the tune of $400

I thought I'd just quickly jump on the forum and post my travel report and jump on the skytrain. Didn't know I'd come into all of this.

Anyhow, it's unfortunate of the poster's experiences. I'm Black American, have been coming to Bangkok, for extended vacations, up to 3 weeks, and almost annually for almost a decade....1-2 times a year. I haven't experienced any real big problems. I'm even thinking of part-time residence in this city.

Last year there was some crazy guy, as I was walking down the street, who, out of the blue, said "F" you to me as a Thai friend and I were walking down the street. I ignored him. Two Thai women walking behind me were VERY upset about it and walked over to me and apologized for the ---hole's behavior. My Thai friend was upset,too. I let it totally roll off my back and actually kind of laughed in his face which shocked him. I've heard far worse, at home, and also in Europe throughout the decades. One has to choose one's battles and that wasn't one that was worth even wasting my time over.

As for people staring, that hasn't really been a big problem with me here. Of course if one looks different there'll be curiosity stares. I got that A LOT for 2-plus decades in Scandinavia... FAR more than here.
When I was here in August/September I noticed a Black American couple on the skytrain. So I started talking to them. They were in their 30s and will be here for 3 years and had already been here for almost 6 months. I asked how they liked living here and they both said that they liked it.
I've just noticed that during this trip, people on the skytrain and other places have been asking me more...in a curious way...where I'm from and I tell them L.A. and then they smile. Yesterday, when my substitute Thai instructor came to my apartment to give me my Thai lesson, she asked where I was from and when I said L.A. she also smiled and then asked me if I knew that there were 79(?) provinces in Thailand....and then went on to comment...78(?) in Thailand...plus L.A. and then she cracked up laughing. So maybe that's where the common bond is.
I thought that maybe they were asking more about where I'm from because recently in the Bangkok Post there was an article on a big African drug bust around Suk, soi 3 or 4. Thais were interviewed about it and had their opinions on the situation....basically on just being against unlawfulness going on in the soi. Some Thais are upset because now supposedly many of the law-abiding African population has left the area and thus business is down.

As for scams...scams are everywhere in the world. I've been traveling the world, alone almost annually, since I was 17...1973... and I'm female. Have hit all of the continents and several many times over... and there are a LOT of places that I've been to where the scams were WAY worse. Many of them can be avoided by either reading a good guidebook, or now that we have forums...unlike in the "Old" days,keep current on the forums. And it also helps to read one of the Culture Shock guidebook series. Well, I've got to go. I need to get back to my trip report. Again, sorry to hear of your unfortunate experience. Happy Travels!

Tennisbum

did you ever wonder just WHERE and from WHOM those peopple learned to do this?

I hope all the mirrored glass in Bangkok was clean enough for you.

Sorry to the OP for the terrible experiences. Hope the rest of your vacation gets better. I find that knowledge and the right attitude carry you a long way in a successful and happy holiday.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

I've found that in many places people stare because I'm foreign looking first, then stare harder because of my skin color.

I figure fair is fair and I'm allowed to stare back as much as I want. Except I forgot that it's not acceptable to stare so hard in the States, and when I got back people here where staring, because I was staring

In Cambodia at the border check the women pushed forward a little girl, saying that I must be her long lost relative because we had the same skin color (joking of course).

It may be helpful to remember that people in other cultures do not share the same history as America, and thus view race from a different perspective.

Two thumbs up, Femi! Happy Travels!

Two thumbs up, Hawaiiantraveler! Happy Travels!

Guen,

Pop quiz - how do you say thumb in Thai?

What these scammers need to figure out is that they aren't doing themselves any favors by stealing things and scamming tourists. Because they stole a dollar or 3 from the tourists, those people aren't going to come back, and they are also going to tell all of their friends not to come, costing the country hundreds or thousands of dollars in missed out revenue from tourism.

However, if some vendor or driver was exceptionally honest and didn't pester you, you are far more likely to tip them, and also will come back and tell your friends to come back.

This short sighted ignorance on their part is very frusterating and their scamming can easily ruin your trip.

All of my great times in Cambodia came from outside of the tourist circle, out amongst the villiagers and children at the orphanage. All of the vendors at the Russian market just pissed me off after a few minutes and I could barely deal with them. I couldn't make my way back to the orphan kids fast enough.

You know, the other countries where we encountered a lot of scammers was the Czech Republic and Spain. It seems as though there were millions of pick pockets and scammers. My friend ended up paying 30 dollars for a hot dog in Prague... I paid about 10 dollars. They simply give you the wrong amount of change and hope you don't notice.

It's dishonest, it's lying and it makes you hate the people.... for every person they scam, you'll tell 50 people... how can they not look past the moment and see how damaging this is?

In conclusion... I sympathise with your frustration

Hi

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. I have been to Bangkok a few times and I have learned to deal with the tuk-tuk drivers, the people that tell you that a temple is closed etc. I have always been fasinated by Bangkok and I think it is an adventure to walk around looking at everyday life

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

Hanuman: LOL!

So how much should a seafood dinner at Somboom for 4 people with, say, 1 beer of wine per person, cost?

How do you know how much taxi fare should be to places, do you ask the concierge at the hotel?

How about a short tuktuk ride?

Thanks,

Lynnie

It will depend on what you order. The most popular dish are the curry crab and the price will depend on the crab size(the bigger the more expensive per gramme). Basically just read the menu but be aware that most of the time the price for the crab will be per 100g.

Just use common sense and if you don't understand the menu or if the menu is in Thai only(not in this case since Somboon's menu will be bilingual) just ask the waiter.

Taxi, make sure the meter is running and you'll get a fare price. Your hotel can probably guess as to how much the fare should cost. Tuk Tuk, negotiate the price before you get in.

Somboon does have a web site: http://www.somboonseafood.com/index_en.html

If the price is not listed call the restaurant before you go and ask for the price.

Lynnie, if you order wine, know that wine prices in Thailand are very high, since there is a 400% duty on wine. Beer prices are quite reasonable.

As Hanuman says, always ask the taxi driver to use the meter - I've never had one refuse. If you use the expressway, there are tolls, 40-65 baht, depending on where you are going, and as the passenger, you are required to pay the tolls (the driver will likely add it to your bill at the end). Drivers almost always ask if you want them to use the expressway, and will tell you the toll. The "right" answer is always use the expressway if the driver is recommending it. It will save you lots of time.

Thanks for the info. Glad I know about the wine prices. I hate beer. What about gin. (I will want a cocktail at some point I'm sure).

Liquor prices other than wine are ok, not cheap but not a shock.

tennisbum: I am sorry that you had such almost "incredible" experience in Bangkok. Last week friends of mine travelled from Central America to NY and while I offered to have a car pick-up for them, the taxi cost them $75.00 and to the wrong hotel..Guess what? They found Xmas in NY an extraordinary experience and if possible they would like to do it again. How about giving one of my favorite cities in the world another chance...