2Bangkok.com - The Gem Scam

Latest gem scam report - March 27, 2008
From a reader: I just finished browsing your web site and could not help crying over the scam I just went through this afternoon. The incident is exactly same as what most of people described on your web site, involving friendly thai in front of Grand Royal Palace telling me the palace is closed, best bargain price with 40Bah with Tutu driver, and the worst foreigner claimed himself coming from Belgium. I purchased Blue Sapphire and Red Ruby bracelets with about 135,000 Bah and don't even want to imagine how much they are really worth. I bought them really for personally usage, although the "Belgium" guy claimed those jewelry can be resold with double price. With a bit of suspicion, I search for "Golden Argosy Factory Export Center" and found out about the Gem scams on your web site. I am calling credit card company and Thai tourist police but none of them seem to be interested in helping me to get my refund. I am wondering if you have heard any news that the refund can be made 100%. If you do, please let me know. Thank you very much for posting those scams on the web site. Without your web site, I might think I bought those jewelry at decent price. Gosh, I don't even want to admit how stupid I am to fall into this trap. Thanks for your kind attention to my email.

Latest gem scam report - March 15, 2008
From a reader: My husband and I were recently scammed by Leela Lapidary in Pranakorn. We would like our money to be returned. Thank you in advance for any assistance you can offer.
On 1 January 2008 around 11:00 am, my husband and I arrived at the Grand Palace. We were told by a man at the entrance that the palace was full and would not allow more people in until 1:00 pm. He recommended that we visit Wat Benchamabophit and Wat Saket, as well as a place he called "Thai Center," which we thought must be a cultural center. Refer to the map attached where he wrote this information. He called over a tuk-tuk driver and arranged the fare for us. At one of the wats a very friendly Thai man approached us. He told us that it was a good investment to buy gemstones in Thailand, that they would bring us luck, and indicated that the "Thai Center" had very good prices.
The tuk-tuk driver took us to the "Thai Center," which turned out to be the jewelry store Leela Lapidary (address: 589 Prasumeru Road, Wat Borwornives, Pranakorn, Bangkok 10200. Tel: 2629-4513-16.) My husband was lured into buying a sapphire ring by the saleswoman who kept insisting that the rings were such high quality, we would save on taxes, all the Thai people shopped here because of the good wholesale values, etc. He paid 153,300 bhat for a ring that was only worth 85,533 according to Mr. James Corbett, a registered gemologist in Australia. (Refer to the receipt from Leela Lapidary and the valuation/appraisal from Mr. Corbett. Note that the valuation shows Australian dollars. I have written in US dollars.)
We began to realize that we might have fallen in prey of the scam group only on our return to Australia the following day. We would like to inform you about the crooked sales tactics of this shop and ask for your help in getting our money back (preferably in US dollars). Unfortunately, this ruined our wonderful holiday in Thailand.
We will be returning to Thailand on March 26 for a couple of days. We can bring the ring back at that time. We would prefer not to mail it, but will do so, if instructed.

Getting a free ride from the gem scammers - December 13, 2007
A reader reports: I am currently in bangkok, just spent the day touring some temples (many of my choice) for only 20 baht. And yes, while i did have to visit some jewelry stores, i am a poor student who would have no interest in buying anything anyway! I read about the scam in Lonely Planet (and more on your website) and I just knew not to buy anything, so I acted like an idiot to get a cheap ride around town. I even agreed to go to a random fashion store and pretend like i would buy something for 10 minutes, presumably so my driver could get a voucher. I think this would be a great way for tourists to take the scam in their own hands and use it to their advantage. Maybe your tuk tuk will ditch you, but just act dumb to the next one that approaches. It was almost amusing to watch the scam play out exactly as you warn, and know it for what it was. If I can add to your site, I would love to help others from being duped.

Gem scam report - November 24, 2007
A reader reports: On September 22nd 2007 my husband and I were caught by the above shop in a gem scam. We had travelled through Malaysia and Thailand and had 2 days in Bangkok prior to flying home. Our story is like the many others told, being approached by a talkative Thai when we were making our way to the Grand Palace. We were told that the Palace was closed for prayer and would reopen in 2hrs.It was our lucky day as it was the last day of the Government promotion towards tourism. Tuk Tuk drivers with white number plates could only charge 30 baht for 2hrs to show tourists 4 other smaller temples. One of the 4 places was the government Export centre where donations could be left for the orphans of the tsunami and the tuk tuk driver would get his coupon for the gasoline and his time. This chap then summoned a white plated tuk tuk and off we went. At our second stop which was the lucky Buddha we were approached by another friendly Thai who voiced his surprise that we had found this very special Buddha and reinforced the fable about the government promotion and how tourism was dropping off and how the government were trying to remedy this. He asked us what the biggest export earner for Thailand was, ah not silk or palm oil, no, gems, rubies and sapphires and how the Golden Argosy was the government approved shop during the promotion. We could buy one set per passport and avoid the 200% govt and vat tax. Needless to say this second person’s story made it sound believable.
We ended up at the Golden Argosy, with many other farangs arriving by, tuk tuk. The shop looked professional and the manager was wearing a Government badge on his lapel. To cut a long story short I purchased a pair of sapphire earrings to go with my late Mums ring that she had left me. I left the shop happy with my purchase but the more I thought about it the more uneasy I became about the circumstances leading us to this one gem store.
On our way back to our Hotel I called in at a TAT office and asked if there had been a government promotion and alas there had been no such thing. Once back at our hotel I looked up the rough guide and read about the gem scams and went on-line to find your page and a photo of the very shop we had bought from.
Instead of sight seeing on our last day we spent it running over to the Jewellery Trade Centre Building to try and get the gems valued before making a complaint.
Being Saturday they were closed so over to the tourist police with our story. They told us it was a scam and the ear-rings would be a real gem and not glass but would be only worth a quarter of the price we paid. They said it wasn’t worth laying a complaint. The tourist police rang the Golden Argosy and spoke with the manager before we told him we were coming back for a refund in cash. The manager initially said he couldn’t pay in cash, but my husband was firm and told him to have it ready as we paid in cash the day before. We didn’t try to haggle for the full refund as we had willingly signed a document stating 80% return in the first 3mths if not happy. We got our cash and I was able to give him an earful of what I thought about him and his dishonesty, but he only laughed. He knew that everyday more gullible tourists would walk through his door.
Thank you for your website it enabled me to return the ear-rings before leaving the country. I have certainly learnt a lesson but still feel puzzled how easily we were duped.

Gem scam report - November 12, 2007
A reader reports: I want to report and share my experience on leela lapidary gem scam. On 9/23/2007, my boyfriend and I were on our first trip to Thailand, and the story is not even worth repeating: we were told the palace is not open on Sunday to tourists until 1pm and only then they would have free sarong to lend to tourists who wear shorts, and we were recommended to see two other temples by a guy in uniform who claimed to the guard at the palace, and arranged TU TU ride for us to go to these other places to kill some time. Anyways, we went to some temples and Thai center, which is Leela Lapidary, and there i was persuaded to buy a top quality ruby pendant and after negotiation I bought it at 40% off the sticker price, for 35K baht. Of course, later we came to realize the palace was open the whole time, and we became suspicious, and on our last day in Bangkok, i did my research and read all about leela lapidary and the gem scam on your web site. Thank you for all the good work!
When i return to hong kong, I went to two jewelry shops, both expressed doubts as to its authenticity and the shop owner in my neighborhood was a lot more frank about it. I immediately called my credit card company to dispute the charge and went to the Thai tourism authority's office in Hong Kong and filed a claim. I was told by the latter it will take 1-2 months and can only get 80% refund. But to my surprise, today, two weeks after I disputed the charge with my credit card company, I got the full refund before even being asked to return the 'ruby'!! what a ruby I guess.
I am pretty sure it's the credit card company who made it happen not the tourism office, the latter made clear to me it'll take them two weeks to translate my claim to thai before sending to thailand authority. So if you paid by credit card, don't forget to try dispute the charge, and don't be fooled by the positive reports on leela lapidary, and don't blindly believe the gem is real and you only overpaid. It seemed to me that the more expensive/top quality gem at leela lapidary were more likely to be fake than their cheaper ones. BTW, the 'ruby' i bought was a beautiful stop-light red color, which later i read no genuine natural ruby is of that color. I am very lucky and I learned a hard lesson.

Latest scam report - October, 2007
A reader reports: We were caught by the gem scam in an almost copycat of other stores on the site. We paid £2,500 for a ring that was valued back home at £1,500. I contacted Leela Lapidary and spoke to Mr, Paul the Manger and gave him a choice--either he refunded the £1,000 and I keep the ring or the credit card company would reclaim the full amount of £2,500 on the grounds of poor quality of goods. He asked for the valuation to be sent to him and he would refund the £1,000. I sent it (via) registered mail and within a week it recorded letter arrived informing us that he would indeed repay the £1,000. It did take three weeks of phone calls, but the money was indeed refunded to our credit card... I still cannot get over the fact that we were caught, but you live and learn as the saying goes. I'm just glad we got our money back and have a ring to the value we paid...

Gem scam "gas voucher" - October 17, 2007
A reader notes: Hello! We were in Bangkok in August and fell for a new line we hadn’t heard before: “The government is giving out free gas coupons, so I just need to drive by and get you to sign the voucher.” Where did we end up? Jewelry store, of course. We had to walk home in the rain. Awful. Please let your readers know!

Gem scam report from Golden Argosy - October, 2007
A reader reports: I am sending my report on what happened to us on August 11th 2007 at the Golden Argosy. Having given some thought to this I think we should put pressure on the credit card companies to refuse to deal with the gem scam shops. We would never have bought a gem if we had not been able to pay by Mastercard. The fact that the shop offered the Mastercard service lent it some respectability.
Swindled in Thailand
Towards the end of a two week holiday in Thailand we spent a few days in Bangkok. It was the worst part of the holiday and left a nasty taste in our mouths because we ended up being swindled.
On our first day there we had bought a tour of the city with car and guide. She took us to see the two most famous temples and, at our request, arranged a short boat trip along the canals at an over-inflated price. We then were taken to four individual tourist shopping outlets. It turned out that she signed in at each one we visited so that the shops obviously had an arrangement with the tourist agency. We resisted buying anything at three of the shops and bought just a few things at the handicrafts store but the techniques of hard selling were used at all of the shops.
The next day we decided to visit the Grand Palace and took a train and water taxi as close as we could get, intending to walk the rest of the way. After getting off the boat we stopped to check our map and a man came up to us. What followed from then on was the Gem Scam which happens all too frequently in Bangkok.
The scam was elaborately done and we were manipulated so well that, even though we found some of the coincidences bizarre we did not think anything was wrong while it was happening.
The first man engaged us in conversation and helped us to find a tuk tuk driver who would take us to see the Grand Palace for 40 baht as it was a special Thai holiday (the day before the Queen’s birthday) and the driver could get coupons for petrol. As tourists usually get ripped off when catching a taxi or tuk tuk we were grateful for this man’s help.
The tuk tuk driver in turn told us that the Grand palace was closed at the moment and offered to take us on a tour of some temples around the city that were not usually open to tourists but this was a special day. We agreed to this and off we went to visit the temples.
At one of the temples containing the Lucky Buddha we met a man who engaged us in conversation. He had just got married, so he said, and he had come to the Lucky Buddha to ensure a happy marriage. He asked us where we were from and then said that he had visited England a few years ago and had paid for his trip by buying gems in Thailand and then selling them in London making 100 per cent profit. He was planning to do the same when he went to Sydney on his honeymoon to cover the costs. He told us many Thais bought gems in lieu of a pension for their old age as the gems increased in value each year particularly as they are now becoming quite rare. We ought to go to the Thai Export Centre and buy some jewellery to take back to England. Today was a special day as the Government allowed these shops to sell to tourists and ordinary Thais on just a few days each year and today was such a day. He had just bought some to trade in Sidney and cover the costs of his honeymoon.
After meeting the man we got back in the tuk tuk and the driver told us he would take us to the Thai Export Centre. We now thought this sounded like a good idea as it would be nice to get something valuable and that would appreciate in value over time that we wouldn’t be able to afford in England.
The shop was called the Golden Argosy Factory Export Center Co., LTD and it looked respectable and official. We told the salesman we would go up to £200 but he said we could not get anything for less than £300. We were looking at pendants in rubies or sapphires and the cheapest ones were about £400 to £500. The one we eventually chose was a simple sapphire and we bought a chain to go with it, the whole cost around £540. The salesman offered a refund of 80% if we returned it within 2 months and a certificate to go with the purchase. It all seemed above board especially as the shop accepted Mastercard which we assumed gave us a degree of insurance if the purchase should go wrong in some way.
When we got back to our hotel I decided to look up gems in our guide book on Thailand. The section in the index was headed gem scams. When I read the description of the typical scam it described exactly the scenario that had just happened to us. We were due to catch the plane home early the next morning so we did not have time to go back to the store and claim our 80% of the price for returning the goods.
When we got home I went to a reputable jewellers. The jeweller confirmed that the stone was a sapphire and that together with the setting and chain it was worth between £100 and £150. So we have lost around £400. We feel absolutely foolish for having been taken in like this but the crooks knew exactly how to work us so that we did what they intended. When I found the above website and read the stories of other people who have been scammed it is clear that the Thai authorities have no intention of cleaning up the gem shops and their criminal gangs. However we wonder why Mastercard agrees to work with these people as I suspect they know exactly what these businesses are up to. It is a disgrace that Mastercard allows these stores to use its facilities to fleece tourists. It is tantamount to Mastercard aiding and abetting in a crime.We would never have bought the sapphire if we had not been able to pay by Mastercard and we thought we were protected because we had used the card. Obviously we were wrong. I think that we should all contact Mastercard to pressure them into withdrawing their services from these shops. Maybe that will be more effective in curbing the activities of the criminals.

Latest scam report from Golden Argosy - October 6, 2007
A reader reports: Have returned to Australia via Bangkok today 11th September 2007 after 15 days in Phuket with family (wife and 2 children aged 5 & 4). We then had 2 nights in Bangkok on way home...
Very elaborate Set up occurred for us after advised we could not enter the kings palace as after 1530 palace was only open to Thai people (absolutely no mention of blue sapphires at this stage). Very well dressed older thai gentleman explained other temples nearby showed us by writing on our map in english. He professed to be employed by thailand tourism commission and showed us a badge - he hailed tuk tuk and we went to a close by large temple. Tuk Tuk driver very friendly and did not suggest any side trips only that we wished to visit temples for tourism purposes. At 2nd of temples tuk tuk driver stated he needed the toilet and 2 minutes later a "student" walked by and started conversation. Where we come from? how old are kids? Ages? First trip to Bangkok ? etc really really friendly - thai people have really been friendly and loved our kids to death the last 2 weeks!!
After some 5 minutes "student" asked if we knew of a 1 week special offer of sale of blue sapphires that will end this afternoon ( Saturday 1800) - time was then approximately 1630. After some 10 - 15 minutes of the student elaborating that he had travelled the world by buying blue sapphires on this 1 week of the year ( storyline went that govt allowed these stores to sell less 200% tax for 1 week only - first 4 days were for students last 3 for tourists and other Thais) He was really convincing - mentioned that he had sold sapphires in UK (3000 pound profit) & USA ( 4000 US dollar profit at tiffany's in New York). Easily done as all jewellery came with guarantee and also weight and certificate of authentication and all legal as was for personal use or gift. Clincher was that after February next year all blue sapphire mining will cease in thailand and that this was the last opportunity for this type of trading and that blue sapphires were about to get a whole lot more expensive. IN fact the student's mother had bought a large necklace to later divide after the sapphires went up in price. He himself had bought a bracelet to leave for overseas.
At about this time the student innocently asked Where is driver? we explained his need for toilet. 2 minutes later driver arrives and of course we are extremely interested in this opportunity.
Go to Golden Argosy and get all the same spiel - VERY FORTUNATELY for us we did not carry our credit card. Was in the safe at our hotel. We decided we were keen to purchase a $3000 (AUD) bracelet but no credit card. NO problem - organised gift wrapping, certificate of authentication including gold weight gem weight & picture of item of jewellery , guarantee of 80% refund in 1 month, 70% in 3 months, and they would take us to our hotel to collect funds. Had to hand write out a letter stating for gift purposes only.
Fortunately for Bangkok notorious traffic as we had a long hard think about this on the 50 minute trip back in Taxi (paid for by Golden Argosy staff member) and decided we would make some enquiries before handing over payment.
Spoke to Concierge who stated to be very careful as he had heard of this type of thing and when I showed him the card he stated I was the 4th guest today to share the same story ( 2 earlier had returned and settled for refund - not sure of amount)
We apologised profusely to the lady who came with us and gave her 200 baht for taxi fare and that if it all checked out we would call Golden Argosy the next day and if they were genuine they would understand. She did not argue took the money and walked away.
We were extremely lucky and looking back cannot believe how easily we were fooled. The story appears so genuine, from all people involved and no one ever gets pushy they basically leave it up to the individual. ( Greed always is a sure seller as it plays on most peoples intuition) This must be a massive operation involving obviously hundreds of people yet I figure the results must be staggering. We were staying at a very plush 5 star American hotel chain and on that day the concierge fielded 4 queries similar to mine. I wonder how many did not query and never figured the sting until getting home or were caught and become too embarrassed to mention the fact.
I am relaying this in the hope that someone will read it and take heed of this blatant and outrageous rip off. We have visited Thailand twice and love the country and its culture and people. However can never be to cautious either at home or away so take care and remember tuk tuk drivers only make a minute portion of their wage as abiding and friendly taxi drivers - the majority from kick backs and commission from getting passengers to part with their money...

Older news