[InCider]

Thought this was quite a good 'rough guide' for newbies, regarding scams in Thailand.

Don't have a link, but it was originally posted on Stickman's site.

Some of it is specific to Phuket but it's a fair general guide.

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A-Z of Thai Scams And Financial Annoyances Part-1

ATM fake
This western scam has made it to Thailand. Scammers place their bogus device upon the cash machine. When you make a withdrawal the scammers harvest your card details and PIN enabling them to clone a duplicate card which is used on a spending spree or to drain your account.
Do not use ATMs which seem to have an odd interface. Use ATMs outside banks as their machines are likely to be checked regularly for any interference.

Beggars
Beggars in the tourist areas may not be as poor as they purport, and for some it is a lucrative career. Bangkok has even seen scammers dress as monks for the purpose. Real beggars do exist, the more likely candidates are those that you see Thais giving money to.

Cheap Charlie
'Cheap Charlie' means 'miserly' and is a term of derision. It is so well known in bargirl and punter circles that 'CC' is a known abbreviation on Thai forums.
Now you may think that your hard earned dosh is yours to spend as you see fit. Not so, as a hardened bar girl may describe you as a CC to attempt to cajole you in to buying her an overpriced 'Lady drink'.
This verbal whip has become so hardwired into the brains of some regular mongers that they can be quick to deride their fellow drinkers at a bar who fail to fall for it. Bizarrely they think they are morally superior. In doing so they hope to remind the bargirl of the monies that they have shelled out in Lady drinks in the hope of gaining her respect. Some hope. The last person in the world a Thai girl respects is a fool who parts with his baht too easily.The term is rife on Thai forums and is often used by the aforementioned suckers to denigrate those who choose to assertively negotiate fees for services.
If you haven't been called a 'CC' at least once on a trip you're doing something wrong. If a bargirl calls you it say; 'yes I am, thank you very much', and give her a big smile because she has just paid you a very big compliment.
p.s. Another big compliment in a similar vein is 'you know too much'.

Dual pricing
AKA double pricing, racist pricing.
Dual pricing refers to the practice of charging farang a different (invariably) higher price for entry to tourist attractions.
(Almost) unbelievably it has its defenders amongst farang. Let's run though the excusers' excuses.
1. Tourists have lots of money so paying extra is not a burden.
Tourists' wallets come in all shapes and sizes and not all are super rich. Why should a Thai billionaire pay 10 times less than a farang backpacker? Additionally, the cheaper cost of living is one of the attractions of Thailand for many farang.
2. Upkeep of attraction is paid for by taxes that are paid for by Thais so farang should pay more.
This argument has no consistency as private attractions dual price as well. Farang pay taxes on their flights (Thai Airlines), departure tax, hotel room tax, beer, tobacco, petrol and alcohol tax. Also being a Thai income tax payer does not automatically guarantee entry at the local rate.
3. It's only a small amount of money so it's not important.
Opponents of dual pricing would oppose it if the farang was expected to pay only 1 baht more than a local ?? it is the principle of discriminatory pricing based on skin colour that is objectionable. It also sends out a message that the state sanctions unfair treatment towards farang, which can have knock on effects in areas like the police and judiciary.
See also Zoo, Phuket.

Exact change required (taxis, tuk tuks)
An increasingly common annoyance is drivers almost invariably having 'no change' for your proffered note, hoping that you'll forgo the change. Have the change before your ride, or make the tw@t wait while you get some from the bar.

Free taxi ride
A friendly chap approaches and says he will give you a free taxi sightseeing trip of the area, including Buddha monuments and the like and 'duty free' shops. He claims he can do this because he gets 'petrol vouchers' from the shops. Actually he gets a fee, or cut of your spending. What follows is a dreary tour of tourist trap shops where you will be (usually soft) sold into buying pearls, silk shirts etc. Not particularly evil, but a waste of an afternoon.

Gem scam
This scam is rife in Bangkok, particularly around tourist attractions like the royal palace. A friendly chap approaches and informs you that the venue you want to visit is closed for a holiday or some such. However, joy of joys, he has a profitable way to kill the time. A gem shop has an offer that means that the stones you buy in Thailand can be sold back home for many times their worth! Back home the hapless tourist finds out that the stones he bought are low quality and worth nothing like promised. This scam is a big money earner, and as Thailand has virtually no consumer protection laws to speak of, there is no redress.

Hotel safe
Your hotel safe may not be as safe as you think. Safes can have a master override combination that can be learned by a thieving employee. Counter by not bringing large amounts of cash into the country and opt for ATM withdrawals instead.

Internet love
See sponsorship.
Enterprising net savvy girls have learned that they don't even have to meet love starved farang in the flesh to extract money from them. Chat sites are used to establish online relationships and the financial request begin. Amazingly many farang pay up, and large sums can be earned by girls who groom large numbers of marks.

'Joiner' Fee
Most hotels and guesthouses near the naughty nightlife areas understand that a large number of their guests are single men who will occasionally bring home female company for the night to the room that they have paid for. Fair enough.
More family orientated hotels may take the view that the breakfast walk of shame of Brian from Birmingham with his latest bed mate, a katoey that looks like Elvira dragged backwards through a hedge, does their image no good. They ban guests, or 'joiners.' Fair enough.
The third group want to be in the image bracket of the second, but cannot resist the temptation to screw the tourist for some extra dosh and charge a fee per guest, called a 'joiner fee.' Not fair!

Katoey Pickpockets
Not all Katoey are pickpockets, not all pickpockets are katoey, but it seems that a high number of tourists get their wallets lifted by some of them. They often operate in packs using distraction methods like the crotch grope.

Lady drink
Bargirls can be liberated from the bars by paying a 'barfine', ranging from 200, 300 and 500 baht in the beer bars, to 1,000 baht in the gogos.
The fine is perfectly reasonable as it represents compensation to the bar owner as the girls encourage customers to come and drink in the bar and therefore less girls equals less money.
Unfortunately most bar owners also operate the 'lady drink' system whereby a customer who wants to buy a girl a drink is expected to pay double the price of a beer for a small whisky and coke. So following the logic of the barfine system, if the girls are there to encourage the customers in to a bar to drink, why should the drinkers be penalised by being expected to buy lady drinks when the use the bar?
Bar owners often give minimum targets that the bargirls are expected to meet otherwise they get fined or lose their jobs. It can also encourage pushiness from the more hardened girls who can get quite nasty in the pursuit of the drinks.
Avoid bars with pushy girls. Do not buy lady drinks. If you wish you can tip a girl that you like, or bring in a bottle of whisky and coke so that all the girls get some drinks and the greedy bar owners get nothing.

Money changing
Some travellers have noted being short changed while changing their currency, particularly at money changing booths. Count your notes there and then.

Need you for a card game scam
You are approached to take part in a card game for money. The promise is that the game will be rigged in a way that you and the scammer's friends make money. The 'mark' will be a rich foreigner (say from Singapore) and your presence is needed to reassure the mark that all is kosher before he loses his money. Unfortunately the 'mark' is one of the scammers too, and you end up losing your stake.
The beauty of this scam is that as gambling is illegal in Thailand, how would you sound if you went to the police? 'Hello officer, I just took part in an illegal card game where I tried to scam someone and it went wrong and I lost all my money'.

Overpricing
Similar to double pricing.
Here the farang is seen as a sucker who is unaware of the real price. The exponents can vary from roadside vendors who might try and charge 40 baht for a 20 baht snack, to tradesmen like builders who will inflate their usual fees.
Counter by (in the first instance) learning the real price and offering it and refusing to pay any more. In the second instance you can get a Thai to do the price negotiation for you, and then enjoy the consternation of their faces as they discover who their real employer is.

Padding the bill
Thai bars operate the civilised 'bin' system which saves queuing at the bars and reduces the opportunity for short changing. It does however leave open the possibility of someone adding extra drinks which you have not ordered e.g. 2 Lady drinks, on to the bill. In a busy bar this can happen quite accidentally. Counter by checking occasionally and keeping a rough total of what you've drink. Sadly, I've even seen expat bums try to 'signal' staff to add their drinks to a newbie's bin.

Questionnaire and Scratch card
Some bars and restaurants may have a tourist 'questionnaire' form. You are invited to rate the establishment you are in and tick the box for the prize you would like if you're lucky in the 'free draw' (after filling in your accommodation address). Unfortunately the only prize you receive is a visit from an overfriendly timeshare rep who will whisk you off for three hours of hard sell which will commit you to paying out big money for a property you have never even seen.
Counter by filling in the questionnaire with false address details. The establishment gets 50 baht from the timeshare scammers, you get a chuckle imagining their wasted journeys, and everyone's a winner (well, two out of three ain't bad).
Another timeshare standard is stopping you in the street and giving you a scratch card which amazingly you win and entitles you to a free prize which can be claimed at their hard sell HQ. Politely say no, but if they persist tell them to f@@k off and say that you are looking for a policeman to report them for working without a work permit.

Rigging the price at the petrol station
Make sure the price is set to zero before the petrol attendant fills your tank. Let's say the previous driver got 50 baht of petrol. You ask for 100 baht of petrol but in reality receive only 50. So now the attendant has 50 baht of petrol (x however many times he does it) to sell to his friend who rolls up in a big 4x4. This scam is so common that the Patong petrol station has warning signs about it.
Plus, if you don't specify an exact amount the operator will almost invariably make sure that the bill comes to an odd amount, say 102 baht. This is to prompt you to give him 120 baht and say keep the change. Just wait there with a smile on your face and a long line of bikes behind you while he mutters off to get change.