You have your package with you?


Once you have your package back, you are in a position to negotiate a refund. If your store has closed, click here.

Ideally, your store is still open. The safest way is to go back to the Tourist Police and ask them to call the shop to send a representative. As with the receipt, you will have to insist, with a smile, that they do it now. You will be told, eventually, that someone will be there at a particular time. Generally, this is true, but if the rep is more than 15 minutes late, start insisting again. Most shops are within a 5 block radius of the Tourist Police (a sign of the arrogance of this scam).

You can attempt to return to the store and negotiate directly, but as with the courier receipt, the store is suspicious of foreigners arriving without their escort. Violence has been reported as well, so avoid going back alone.

Generally, the stores will not give you a 100% refund, claiming they had to pay the tuk tuk driver, the actors, the cost of the shop, etc...You can certainly try for 100%, but it's almost unheard of. The members of our group who negotiated with the stores got back anywhere between 50% and 88%, with the average being around 70%. Whether or not this is good enough is up to you, but you do have to ask how much of a disruption to your travels you want to have.

Most of our members reported some fairly abusive negotiation sessions. These representatives are assigned to take as many cheap shots on your self esteem as possible, always referring to stupid or greedy tourists, and openly admitting they have scammed you. Be ready for this when you start negotiating.

Once you have your money, you will most likely be terribly exhausted, yet relieved to not have lost as much money as you thought. Most people have to extend their stay in Bangkok or Thailand, so they want to leave pretty quickly. Before doing so, they should click here.

If the store refuses to refund you money, click here.


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