On the first day in Bangkok, my boyfriend, CK and I planned to visit some of the national monuments of Thailand. From the place we stayed, we took the sky train to the Hualomphong station.
Upon reaching the Hualomphong station, we saw a few tuk tuk drivers by the road side. With one video camera and one Nikon D60, we surely looked like a tourist couple. The tuk tuk drivers tried to approach us by one close-ended question, “Tuk-tuk?” As one of the tourist tips from the website is never trust the tuk-tuk drivers, thus, our reflex is to say “No. No. Thanks.” However, the drivers were persistent by repeating the same, “Tuk-tuk?”
It was irritating that when you were trying to read the map while someone was chanting the same words again and again. Thus, we took a left turn, walked a bit and definitely had the lost and confused faces. Then, a friendly Thai approached us.
He struck up a conversation by asking us, “Hello. Where are you from?”
CK responded to him. Then, he asked CK with his Thai-styled english, “First day in Bangkok. Where do you go?”
We mentioned to him regarding the places that we were interested.
He started circling the places we mentioned on our map with his pen. Followed by that, he said, “Thursday morning, Buddha day. Marble Temple is only open by 11 and the Grand Palace is open after lunch because monks praying”
He then offered us a suggestion, “Laughing Buddha Temple is not closed – Shop at Germ Expo - Marble Temple – Vimanmek Mansion – Grand Palace. 40 Baht on Tuk-tuk.”
As we would not be able to afford the germs, we mentioned to him that we were not interested to go to the Germ Expo. Then, he convinced us, “You are very lucky. Germ Expo is only opened three days a year. Today is the last day. Very cheap. Must see.”
So, we confirmed with him that it is 40 Baht for two people to go to all the mentioned places. Then, he took us to the tuk-tuk gang that we saw just now. He assured us by pointing at the Thai Tourism Board sticker on the Tuk-tuk. “No cheating. We are guarantee by the Thai Government. Always check for this when you want tuk-tuk.”
We boarded our tuk-tuk and felt so relief that our day was all set without having to read the map while matching it with the Thai-writing sign boards. By the way, 40 Baht was just equivalent to RM4. It was really a good deal!
Excited on the most happening vehicle in Bangkok.
After visiting the first temple, we were bought to the so-called Germ Expo to realize that it was just a jewelry shop. Oh, liar! But, since we were out for happy time, we just held our cool. Then, for the first time, our tuk-tuk driver talked to us, “One more shop?” CK asked him why? But, he just kept on repeating, “One more shop. One more shop.” Our wild guess was there is a government-monitored point system based on the number of tourists that they bring to the national-certified shops.
Liar gang!
After the shopping places, the tuk-tuk driver finally dropped us at the Marble temple. We stayed there for one hour. By the time we came out from the Marble temple, we realized that our tuk-tuk driver was gone. What?!
According to the local, for each shop that we visited, the tuk-tuk driver would get 150 Baht per person even though we were not buying. Thus, rather than waiting for us and taking the agreed 40 baht, he abandoned us and probably looked for other tourist like us, first-timer in Bangkok.
U dumped us!
Later, we realized that the “friendly” and “Tourism Board certified” people are everywhere in Bangkok. We met another “gentleman” outside the Grand Palace walkway. He showed us his so-called Tourism Board ID while telling us the grand palace is closed again. He offered us tuk-tuk to go to some other places packaged along with other shopping places too. We rejected him and headed to the Grand Palace. When I entered the Grand Palace, I saw a sign board stating – “Opened everyday – 8:30am till 3:30pm”