Recently we visited Thailand for a glorious month. Naturally we ended up in Bangkok first and perhaps were a bit green behind the ears as we got conned by a woman on the street(don%26#39;t talk to strangers!!!)to go to a TAT travel agency. it was your textbook appraoch as warned in Lonely Planet. eg Well dressed lady in the street meets tourists, asks the usuall questions where you from, how long you staying in thailand. unfortunately this did not register with us Dumb tourists at the time.
She sent us to K%26amp;J international business centre 110- 112 Rongmuang road Patumwan Bangkok 10330 which she said was affilaited to TAT: tourist authority of Thailand The travel agency in question is close to the central station.
We were met there by a New Zealand guy from Christchurch called Simon. He is a good salesperson and immediately wrote out an itieneray for us. This was quite helpful but one of the most annoying things was that he fobbed us off saying that he had found a cheap flight with Thai airways from Chiang Mai to Phuket for 123€ one way. This sounded quite good to us at the time as it was a direct flight. Later we found out the actual cost was 83€. I know the travel agencies need to make money but not that much per person.
We felt this charming Kiwi guy- Simon had totally ripped us off and obviously the captalist attitudes of his six year stint in Thailand had rubbed off on this greedy';Farang';
Naturally we will be more vigilant next time but it is sad when you gain someones trust then later find out he has cheated you is not a pleasant experience. AVOID THIS YOUNG MAN AND HIS TRAVEL AGENCY AND BE WARNED THEY DON%26#39;T GIVE YOU AN ITEMISED BILL FOR ANYTHING YOU BOOK ONLY VOUCHERS FOR THE SERVICES REDERED.
AN UPSET WELSHMAN
Rip Off travel agents K%26amp;J international Bangkok
Any foreigner working in Thailand needs a work permit. There are a few working in agencies legally, but not many, so be careful. The Tourism Authority of Thailand only licenses agencies but does no business with them and sells no tours. Complaints to the TAT or police could be productive.
Rip Off travel agents K%26amp;J international Bangkok
TAT is a government agency. It is not affiliated with any travel agencies, only grants licenses to them.
As in any other country, it%26#39;s ';buyer beware.';
Thais do not normally approach strangers on the street with helpful information. If anyone stops you on the street with unsolicited information, assume they are scamming.
The best way to book airline tickets - and domestic travel of all sorts in Thailand - is on your own on the Internet. Travel agencies do not get you a better deal. In my experience even reputable agencies cannot match the prices of online booking of flights and hotels.
If you don%26#39;t want to book tickets online and use your credit card on a public computer:
A reliable travel agency is on Soi Convent (Saladaeng BTS station). Name is ';Express International';.
I have been using them for tickets for domestic flights and for flights to neighboring countries.
One of the many counter staff is an Indian lady. She always got me good deals.
This agency also sells railway tickets.
I actually have the exact opposite to say about this particular travel agency and Simon himself.
My partner and I have just come back from a 2 week trip to Thailand where for the last half of the trip we decided to book our travel in house in Thailand and came across K %26amp; J International Bangkok.
Simon would have to be one of the most helpful and enthusiastic people I have had the pleasure in dealing with and I have been working in customer service orientated roles myself for approximately the last 15 years.
He wasted no time finding out what we were interested in seeing and doing and put some rough itineraries together for us on the spot. At all times he checked with us as to what our budget was and suggested suitable trips and accommodation within those financial boundries.
He explained all individual prices thoroughly and methodically throughout the whole consultation process so we knew exactly where we were finacially before arranging anymore tours. No pressure at all and all decisons on everything was purely up to us.
The trip itself involved us going up north to Changmai to do basically everything we could squeeze into a solid week of sightseeing. At all times the service from the various tours arranged by Simon was first class and certainly impressive to say the least.
Even with the domestic flight back to Bangkok from Changmai Simon gave us various options as to who we would like to fly with and checked with us on prices before locking in the flights. I checked the same flights myself(Air Asia) on-line later that night and they were only about $20AUD cheaper than what Simon and K %26amp; J International charged us. Not too bad at all, I expected a lot more personally...
Simon even arranged all the transfers from the hotel to the airport for us so everything was inclusive, all we had to do was look for our name on a sign when we arrived...
When we got home from our trip we checked the prices we paid for everything and pretty much every single tour we booked through Simon was so much cheaper than if we had pre-booked the same tours over here in Australia through a local travel agency.
I would have no hesitation what so ever in recommending Simon at K %26amp; J International Bangkok for any travel arrangements you may be seeking whilst in Tahiland.
We%26#39;ll definitely be going back to him and K %26amp; J International Bangkok everytime from now on!!
An extremely happy and satisfied Aussie...
PLease do not tar all Kiwis with the same brush!
Normally we are thoughtful, honest and caring people, come to NZ and see for yourself.
All the Thailand Scams have me a little scared as a true Kiwi I am very trusting, but thanks to Trip Advisor I am informed and aware.
Hope that the trip was good anyway.
Obviously simon charmed you as he did us and yes we did check through the details with him but whenever we asked for a price rundown he refused to give it to us. Strange don%26#39;t you think? If he had nothing to hide or was not ripping us off why could he not give us an itemised bill. The guy scribbled on umpteen bits of paper and that waqs our itineray. nothing printed whatsover. Maybe he should buy a computer. he should be able to afford it if he rips every other innocent trusting tourist off as much as he did us.
I am sorry he has become a greedy unscrupulous farang. Myabe he treats antipodeans different but Not others.
I know the kiwis are great people. I have been there 3 times and it is still my most favourite country. I think the faxct that he was a westerner we trusted him more than perhaps a local. Once he got our trust he blatantly ripped us off for a flight that he told us was on special. He charged us 123€ and he paid 83€ that is a big difference.
anyhow life goes on and the trip was a good one
What I do think was strange was the fact that everytime you asked for a price rundown he refused to give it to you.
Now that would definitely have to raise some alarms bells??
It seems as if you%26#39;ve learned from this experience though so thats a positive if there is one.
At the end of the day at least people out there have comments from both perspective in dealing with Simon and K %26amp; J International Bangkok.
They can make up their own mind as to what they would like to do.
Like I said I would recommend him at the drop of a hat...
I agree with you totally. Your experience was a good one, ours not.
It was when we found out about the actual price of the flight that is when I felt he had done the dirty on us as he called thai airlines in front of us and said there is a deal on at that moment and quoted us the inflated price. I know they have to make money but a difference of 40€ is a bit over the top don%26#39;t you think. nonetheless we had a great time but next time will do it ourselves.
%26lt;%26lt;I checked the same flights myself(Air Asia) on-line later that night and they were only about $20AUD cheaper than what Simon and K %26amp; J International charged us.%26gt;%26gt;
$20AUD is, like, about half the price of the average Air Asia flight. I would not call this an inconsiderable difference. Why do you let these shyster travel agencies rip you off???
Book flights yourself online.
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