and the decline in the number of European visitors who might be interested in the
concept. For various reasons, touts can’t make much progress with Chinese
tourists who make up the majority of international tourists these days.
Surprisingly, a dubious practice which continues to be popular is the “beer tower
scam”. A group orders a 3-liter tower of draft beer but staff then insert a smaller
tube with ice which reduces by up to 30 percent the space available for the beer. It
is not suggested that this scam is commonplace in Pattaya and most bars, clubs
and restaurants are more concerned these days with attracting customers rather
than annoying them.
If not exactly a scam, a common complaint by tourists this year remains
harassment by transvestites. The most prevalent feature is the ladyboy gang who
work in groups to try and distract a stranger by groping or kissing him whilst his
wallet or possessions are stolen. The group then typically escape on waiting
motorbikes. A spokesman for Pattaya police said arrests had gone up markedly in
recent months and many non-Thai cross-dressers had been sent back home,
usually to Cambodia or Laos. He advised tourists not to wear expensive jewelry at
night, to avoid dimly-lit areas and to keep valuables in a secure pocket or money
belt.
Overall, the most common scams recorded in our survey were – in order – street
crimes, beer towers, wrong change (usually an argument about whether the note
was 500 or 1,000 baht), and bill padding of one sort and another. Jet Ski incidents
and timeshare fraud, which achieved headlines several years ago, were rarely
mentioned as significant worries. A city spokesperson commented, “Pattaya is
certainly improving as visitors become more sophisticated and the police continue
to crackdown on illegal activities.” However, he conceded that street crime remains
the biggest issue to be tackled.
Article by Pattaya Today