Written on April 29, 2003

To the editor:

Dear Sir:

We read with interest the idea proposed by the Ministry of Commerce about gem scams, as reported in your April 28, 2003 article ("Gems may be put on price control list" as posted online at http://www.bangkokpost.com/280403_Business/28Apr2003_biz39.html).

The intention behind the proposal to put gems on a price control list is certainly admirable, and our Group is pleased that the government is showing a proper level of concern for the damage to Thailand's reputation this scam causes every year.

However, we tend to agree with the source from the jewellery industry that was quoted in your article as saying that "gem scams were mostly related to overcharging by a handful of operators rather than about substandard or counterfeit goods."

Indeed, these scam stores will overcharge tourists for substandard gems for a few months before closing up and then re-opening under a new name a week later. These scam stores, however, have to register with the Ministry of Commerce before they can open again. The usual pattern is to have the new store registered under the name of a tuk tuk driver, rather than the actual owner, so that tracking one store to another is made more complicated.

Rather than force reputable and law-abiding jewellery stores to have their operations fall under the auspices of the Ministry of Commerce, a more practical solution is as follows:

Require new jewellery store registrations to include a refundable 500,000 baht security bond with the Ministry of Commerce. This bond would be returned to the operator after three consecutive months of operations with no unresolved complaints against the store. This requirement would not apply retroactively to existing stores, but to new store registrations. Thus, reputable stores that work hard to ensure their integrity and reputation would be unaffected by this proposal. Scam stores, however, would find the cost of paying 500,000 for every new store opening (typically between 2 and 4 months) to be more onerous and may discourage some rogue operators from continuing this scam.

An added benefit is that this bond could be used to refund scammed tourists from the store, thereby ensuring that tourists who do fall victim of this scam can gain comfort from the fact that the Thai government is helping them to recover some, if not all, their money. This would go a long way to improving Thailand's image abroad.

Our Group wishes to praise the Thai government for its innovative ideas in dealing with the scam, and we sincerely hope that these good intentions will lead to positive steps in reducing the frequency of this terrible scam, and the ease with which gangsters operate. Eliminating this scam closes one important avenue for drug traffickers to launder their money, which benefits the people of Thailand, as well as their guests.

Contact: thaigemscamgroup@yahoo.com


Back to Press Releases

Jump to Coverage

Back to Main Page

thaigemscamgroup@yahoo.com