I've been researching this country a lot, and I see incredible beaches, lush landscapes, seemingly good weather, and a rich, colorful culture. A much more sane, calm version of India, if you will. And yet, not many people have it on their wish list. You don't hear about it compared to so many SEA countries. Even people I've known who've gone tend to have a "oh yeah, it was lovely" or "it was really pretty" depiction of it but aren't necessarily racing to go back like they would Thailand. The conversation never really comes across as that inspiring. Travelers don't get "addicted" to Sri Lanka like they do elsewhere.Any reasons for this?

I just came back from a 2 week trip through Thailand where I went to Bangkok, Koh Phi Phi and Phuket. The country itself is beautiful and most of the locals I've talked to where extremely polite and nice. However there are lots of people trying to scam tourists which could lead to empty pockets or even worse:

• Taxi drivers will try to rip you off almost every time. They'll tell you the meter is broken or something like this and tell you a fixed price which is two or three times more expensive than it would be when he would use the taximeter. I used Bolt and Grab almost all the time to get around. The advantage is that you pay before entering a taxi or a private car so you don't need to discuss with the drivers. Grab worked well in Bangkok and on Phuket I used Bolt most of the time. Never ever use a taxi in Phuket. There is a taxi mafia going around and they inflate the prices extremely (I paid 100 Baht with Bolt while a ride with the taxi for the same distance would've cost 250 to 300 Baht). But be careful with Bolt there. Never show or tell a taxi driver that you are waiting for your Bolt driver. He will get extremely angry at you. At the airport on Phuket I tried to find a Bolt driver but almost none of them drove straight in front of the airport because they are scared (one driver on Bolt texted me that he can't drive to me because "they" beat him up and then he gets arrested). Just keep searching for a driver and eventuelly you find someone. Never use the taxis there!

• Tuk Tuks are a scam most of the time. They ask for super high prices to drive you around a few minutes and they are everywhere. Chances are that you hear the sentence "Tuk Tuk ride here" multiple times during your stay. I avoided them completely even when I had to scream at them to stop asking me or the dude even following me. It's bad at the main sights like the Grand Palace and the reclining Buddha. Around 6 or 7 Tuk Tuk drivers formed a half circle around the exit and tried to get you into their Tuk Tuk. I just walked through them but I guess many people will not.

• "The palace is closed today" scam: Chances are you gonna hear that when you want to go to see the Grand Palace. A person will tell you that the palace is closed today but suggests to show you others temples around the city because he is a nice person, right? Don't fall for that. The person will try to lure you into a Tuk Tuk and drive you to different shops like a tailor or someone selling watches. Once you're there the driver and the owner of the shop will pressure you into buying their expensive stuff. The Grand Palace is rarely closed and you can check the times on the website. Don't fall for that cheap trick.

• Khao San Road in Bangkok is extremely overrated and quite dangerous if you get drunk there. Just read a story a week ago where someone got drugged there by one of the bar girls and they made him deposit alot of money at an ATM. Never talk to the bar girls or drink something they give you for free. Also the prices there are super inflated for tourists. Go to the night markets if you wanna eat and drink for a fair price.

I hope I can help some people with this post and if you have anything to add feel free to do so. Thailand is the most beaitiful country I've ever been to and without doing some research before I probably would've felt for a scam there. Safe travels!

My friend who was travelling with me to Thailand decided to hire a motorcycle. The rental company took his passport to be sure that he has to pay. The company didn't mention anything else. He was happy with the deal. However, only days later, he had to return the motorcycle. Here's where the scam comes in.

When he arrived at the rental company, the woman in there came out to collect the motorcycle, when she then said that there was damage. She pointed out a very faint scratch that we didn't notice while he was getting the bike. She then demanded that he give them around 15000 baht. He refused but remembered that they have his passport. Worse, our plane back was leaving within a day. He reluctantly paid them, but he was very mad at them.

Don't fall for this scam, guys.

This place is straight up out of this world. Definitely worth the drive from Chiang mai.

So I am on holiday in Thailand and went to a boxing event. Left a 3 star review because I had been to better organized matches and the selection of snacks wasn't my favourite. Also no live music for the fights.

All in all, not a bad review, can be seen as constructive criticism.

Half way through a match, an employee of the owner pulls me from the ranks and asks me to speak to the owner. The owner then made it very (and aggressively clear, that my review needs to be deleted asap). I did so.

He then called the police on me and said he will file a report. He tried to get my passport info and my real name, hotel and room number from me. I didn't hand that out, afraid he would seek me out and beat me up or something.

Now I read that it's actually a CRIME to leave bad reviews in Thailand (has something to do with defamation) be it a true review or not, you can end up in jail and people have been fined thousands of dollars.

I don't want to pay up or end in jail. What is a realistic punishment? Am I screwed, and if so, how bad?

I can only find the big public cases but nothing about tourists being fined for "petty" reviews like mine.

Any experience or help in that matter? Should I go back to the police in the morning or should I just wait and see if anything comes around?

I was in Thailand for just over 2 weeks and got back Sunday night. The timezone difference is about 12 hours, and I went to bed early that night with no problems (after a long exhausting flight). But last night, I decided to stay up until midnight to try to fight the jet lag, and woke up in the middle of the night extremely disoriented. I was disoriented to the point where I couldn't even recognize my bedroom. I fell into a panic and felt the symptoms of a panic attack. I kept looking around and everything seemed familiar, but it was almost as if my brain couldn't comprehend I was back in my room.

For instance, I was staring at my tower fan and in my head I was like "oh I have the same tower fan at home", but my brain couldn't comprehend that's because it was my fan. I was looking around my bedroom in a panic for about 20 seconds until I slowly woke up and realized where I was.

I finally was able to chuckle to myself and quickly calm down and head back to bed, but I found the experience quite scary since it's never happened before. Wanted to ask if anyone else has had that experience before and how common an experience like this is.