The Thai Gem and Jewerly Scam

If this is your first travel or holiday to Bangkok, you presumably are very excited at the prospect of a delightful Oriental holiday, but like all good things this one too comes with a clincher! While traveling through Bangkok, if you happen to have a fascination for gems and Jewelry you need to be aware of the infamous Jewelry scam that is a very integral part of shopping for stones in Bangkok.

Amazing as it sounds, there is a well maintained racket involving Jewelry scams in Bangkok that involve the highest authorities to the man on the road often to such penetration levels that are difficult for the average tourist to comprehend.
 

How the scam works

This scam has been very smoothly conducted in the streets of Bangkok innumerable times on the unaware tourist who is taken in by the smooth talking and friendly Thai (or Foreigner) who in good english tries to make you aware of a good bargain deal at the jewelry shop. He advises you to take a waiting tuk-uk which will drive you to the store making you splurge on a piece of gem that is actually much less in value than what it has been propagated as.


Most of the time, a tourist out on the streets of Bangkok is decided on as the target by the ever observing force of cheaters waiting to dupe you. The process starts with the tourist chancing upon a friendly Thai at a touristic area such as the Grand Palace. This friendly scammer tells the tourist that there is an expo, where cheap jewelry can be bought in an authentic ‘government’ gem stone shop, where the rates are fix and the price is standardized by the government. There have been many reports also that even Foreigners have joined the clan of the scammers, acting as a tourist themselves and advising other tourists that this procedure of buying the stones and selling them abroad has worked and is 100% faleproof.

You will be briefed on the throwaway prices at which you are getting the stone. You will also in all probabilities be told of some fine and fascinating story that surrounds the stone. The value of the stone will turn out to be so much that you can earn quite a sum for yourself by selling it back home. Most of the time the friendly helper would show you an ID card that is fake and easily made on the streets. While at the shop which is in tow with the peddlers, you are given a stamp or seal of authenticity which turns out to be totally false.

There was a time when this scam was mostly associated with Blue sapphires. So much so that the scam got a name as Blue Sapphire gem stone scam! This usually involved selling of fake stones that were procured from Burma.

Be cautious...

The first thing you need to remember is that involve no one unless it is a personal known friend of yours while buying a gem stone.

Secondly, remember that there is nothing like an overtly friendly Thai that exists. Most respectable Thais will speak to you only if you ask them for assistance and not the other way around. So beware of locals that seem to friendly and eager to help.

If you are taken to a Thai gem stone shop by a Tuk-Tuk driver or even an over friendly Thai beware. Use you practical senses never settle into buying something precious at one go, compare prices in other shops and don't get thrown off by comments like "this is the last day of the expo".

Do not proclaim that you want to buy a piece of precious stone. If necessary make enquiries at you hotel which is a more authentic place about Jewelry shops in general keep your ideas about purchase or the amount you want to spend casual so that you do not generate too much of outside interest on the sum you want to invest.
Always follow your gut instinct when you are suspicious about a particular character because most of the times, there is something fishy going on!
 

ATTENTION: Don't believe if a local tells you that the temple or place you intended to visit is closed! That in most cases is not true and they only want to lure you into coming with them to buy fake goods. If a Tuk Tuk driver tells you he gets free gasoline coupons if he passes by a place, this should bring up the alert flag and he obviously wants to take you to a place in where you will get scammed. Never believe if something is "government owned" and the items are sold to a fair price. This applies to everything ranging from gems to clothes etc.

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