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Watch Your Pockets – It’s the Thailand Bus Scam!

Scams in Thailand are nothing new, but they do get more inventive the more tourists and expats wise up to their deviousness.

From the 20 Baht “I take you anywhere you want to go” tuk tuk scam to the “Grand Palace is closed” and the rigged meter taxi scam, one must remain on guard.

The latest scam is the Thai bus scam, which is not to be confused with the traditional bus scam where items in bags stowed in the cabin or undercarriage disappear, usually during late night rest stops.

thailand-bus-scam

This latest scam is a little more daring, and is said to involve having your pockets picked after being drugged.

A few cases of this bus scam have been reported, but I for one am skeptical about how it takes place.

You see there are five possibilities being bound around. The first two in the list are pretty unlikely, but the last three all very possible.

  1. The victim is drugged by the free water handed out by the bus operator. The victim wakes feeling exhausted and unaware of where the time has gone.  Hmm…Are the operators really serving laced bottles for unsuspecting foreigners? What if a Thai drank one by accident. I very much doubt this is true.
  2. The victim is knocked out with gas. Hmm..Surely the gas would affect everyone else on the bus. Unless you are travelling alone, which is very unlikely.
  3. The victim falls into a deep sleep, or takes a sleeping pill knocks him/herself out for hours. This is quite possible considering that many people take sleeping pills to get a good kip on long, jerky bus and train rides.
  4. The victim has one too many Singha beers prior to the journey and passes out drunk, only to wake up missing a few belongings. This is very possible, since most crimes of theft against foreigners happen when they are intoxicated.
  5. The victim accepts food or drink from another passenger and is drugged. Usually such crimes are carried out by a gang; a group of people working together to implement a multi-step scam. So it's feasible that a gang is riding the routes and waiting for unsuspecting foreigners travelling alone. Perhaps one member speaks English and befriends the traveller, sharing a drink or food. The traveller then passes out and, on arrival, or at a stop at a gas station, his her belongings are taken, either by the same member or another member of the gang.

But wait! It's Not Just Thailand

A quick Google reveals that the bus scam isn't exclusive to Thailand, although inside Thailand, looses of up to $2,000 have been reported.

So again; let's not blame this on Thailand, or its people. This is simply a case of there being bad people everywhere and, we as foreign travellers, must be stay alert when in potentially vulnerable situations.

 7 Ways to Avoid This Bus Scam

  1. First off, don't travel with a large amount of money. Only ever carry what you can afford to lose.
  2. If you can afford to, fly instead of taking a bus.
  3. Don't get drunk before boarding the bus, or drink alcohol inside the bus.
  4. Don't take sleeping pills during the journey.
  5. Don't accept drink or food from other passengers.
  6. Take your own water and food supply for the journey.
  7. Padlock any bags or suitcases you store under the bus.

Got an experience you want to share? Do so in the comments section below.



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  1. Louis says

    Not only cross country bus. The simple no window bangkok buses. Charging 20 Baht then I question it and they get their Ipad to show a bus ticket machine that actually says 13 baht. Also very rude half of the time
    Reply

  2. Nick says

    Why even bother visiting Thailand if you have to worry about being drugged, pickpocket, scammed by bus, taxi, tuk tuk, money exchange. Where there's a menu for tourists and locals or going to venues and be in charge of tourist rate much higher than the local rate. I have visited third world countries where I didn't have to worry about being scammed by so many people. Reading stuff like this continues to make everyone think that Thailand is just a place of scammers and sex.
    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Like any major tourist destination there are always a few things to be aware. There will always be some person trying to take advantage of others wherever you go in the world. I was almost scammed and robbed outside a Walmart on holiday in the US many years ago, and I recently watched a documentary on money exchange scammers operating in major European cities. Thailand isn't dangerous for tourists, but it's my duty to inform people of any known scams so that they can easily avoid them. Mostly it is just using your common sense.
      Reply

  3. Bastian says

    We got drugged at a bus ride from koh Samui to bkk back in 2010. They drove just a few hundred meters and told us that there is an issue with the air conditioning. So they stopped while we were supposed to stay in the bus. The next thing is that I remembered arriving in bkk being surprised having slept through the long bus trip. We went to our hotel not knowing bering robbed. Realizing it just the next day when I was looking for my expensive Ray ban sunglasses which I got shipped directly from Italy. Since we were traveling for 6 month through Asia we have had a 1.500 australian dollars on us - hidden in a book at the bottom of my luggage, which got also stolen. At first we thought we got robbed at the hotel confronting the manager and going through the video surveillance - which didn't show anyone entering the room. We went out to catch dinner and met accidentally other passengers of the bus who thought that someone went through their luggage. They had also slept through the whole trip. At that point we realized what has happened and went to the police. They asked us to go to the tourist police to get our complain translated which we did. Since the tourist police is not a legal authority we went back to the police station and got asked to follow an police office to his office. He then accused me of lying and told me that there are sensitive punishments for lying to the police trying to blackmail me... I asked to leave which he refused. After ending up shouting at each other I told him I would like to speak to my embassy and he eventually let us leave. At the embassy they told us that this is not Europe and they can't do anything about the theft.
    The bus trip went as most trips in Thailand go - getting picked up by minibusses get driven to different restaurants where a different minibus will take you to a different restaurant where more tourists are waiting... At the final restaurant we witnessed a Thai guy from the company hitting a tourist girl since she was complaining about getting asked to leave an actual bus going to bkk. When we tried to help her we found ourself surrounded by a whole crowd of Thai guys telling us to stay calm and not to interfere. We learned that they operated at least 2 busses separating the foreigners from the Thai ppl.
    Reply

  4. Eelke says

    Just a short mail. In 2002 I was traveling a night bus from South Thailand to Bangkok.
    Something strange happened already in the bus station.
    A guy with a raincoat and a wrapped painting stepped in at the counter just after me and said something in Thai and gave the person behind the desk some tangerines.
    I suppose he said something about being friends or something.
    In the bus he said next to me. I was sitting to the window seat.
    He offered me several foods and drinks. Water, cookies, bananas. The water was not sealed.
    When I accepted, but did not eat he said something about some people being very suspicious.
    After one hour I said I needed to visit the toilet and went to sit on an empty seat.
    Some stops later the guy was gone.
    Later I figured that the painting was a perfect "screen" to hide the robbing he planned.
    Advice: watch out and be careful. You are a wallet walking round, attractive to so many people. Don't be naive. Buddhist monks can be outright criminals, where you might think they're enlightened.
    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Thanks for sharing your story Eelke. Indeed, those bus and train journeys provide the perfect opportunity for would-be thieves to try something like that. Wherever you travel in the world, keep one eye in the back of your head, so to speak.
      Reply

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