Bangkok Safety Tips
Considering Bangkok is a city of 10 million, Bangkok is still generally safe for travellers as long as they adhere to common safety tips. Majority of the crimes are petty pickpockets or "tourist rip-offs" (paying more than what should). And on the whole, police react efficiently to tourists' complaints.
Some safety tips:
- For lone women travelers, the usual commonsense rule apply. Keep your wits about you and be wary of befriending strangers.
- Padlock your luggage when leaving it in the hotel or guest rooms, or when consigning it for storage, as well as when taking public transport.
- You may encounter pushy touts like tuk tuk or taxi drivers when you step out of the airport. They' offer to carry your luggage with the intention of getting you into their vehicles. Make sure you keep your eye on your luggage and it is best to ignore them if you don't need their services. Alternatively, you can give a firm Mai ow krap / ka ( No thanks)
- Credit card fraud seems to be a persistent problem in Bangkok. Keep your credit card within sight at all times to prevent unauthorized charges.
- If you are using a public computer to do online banking transactions, make sure it has anti-spyware programs running.
- A common scam by tuk tuk or taxi drivers: driver offer you "free" tours around the city, provided you stop at a tailor or jewellery shop along the way. These are scams arranged between the driver and the shop owner, with the driver getting a commission from your purchases. Unless you do want to shop at these places, the best way to avoid this is to take a metered taxi.
