It's a Thai rip off as marathon organizers take the money and run!

[The Deerhunter]

8 hours ago, rkidlad said:

The saddest part of the story isn't that they stole money from these runners. It's that they stole a perfect opportunity for many of these runners to post selfies on social networks informing the world of what they're up to. Many of these people may have been running for a charity and are now not going to get the recognition and validation their lives are so badly missing. 

 

Neither will Thailand get the publicity they want.  Just spent 4 nights in Hua Hin.  There would not have been even 20 rooms occupied in a 16 story hotel.  I sure hope some of the others were getting g better occupation.  The lady minister of sports and tourism will be bitterly disappointed.   That is 1500 people who will probably never come back

  Sex and entertainment is a more reliable drawcard than marathons, temples and waterfalls.  At least people know they are going to get screwed.

[oldlakey]

9 hours ago, dotpoom said:

Let me get this straight. A few guys pocket the takings and ut is considered a "Thai rip off".

   So, if a bank robber robs a bank in the USA.....that would be considered an "American rip off"?

No if you are really serious about getting it straight, then its an American Bank Robbery

[cyberfarang]

10 hours ago, rkidlad said:

The saddest part of the story isn't that they stole money from these runners. It's that they stole a perfect opportunity for many of these runners to post selfies on social networks informing the world of what they're up to. Many of these people may have been running for a charity and are now not going to get the recognition and validation their lives are so badly missing. 

 

Brilliant, this really does sum it all up. This probably has more importance to them than actually being first to the winning line at this marathon.

 

I really do feel pity for these people that have been ripped off, no one deserves to be treated like that, it just means they can still publish selfies on their social media networks, only they will have egg on their faces.

 

 

[01322521959]

Christ! Could it sink any lower. Very sad state of affairs. No one will be brought to book for it, I dare say. 

What a joke.

[Ulic]

13 hours ago, darksidedog said:

It would probably be a much easier task for TAT to promote the country as it truly is. The hub of cons and rip offs.

Maybe not easier, but certainly more honest.

[Jimdandy]

They still don't get it. You cannot continue to expect Thais to act like Westerners and vice versa. 

[wakeupplease]

10 hours ago, rkidlad said:

The saddest part of the story isn't that they stole money from these runners. It's that they stole a perfect opportunity for many of these runners to post selfies on social networks informing the world of what they're up to. Many of these people may have been running for a charity and are now not going to get the recognition and validation their lives are so badly missing. 

 

The saddest thing is cons and scams are part of everyday life here and looks to be in the nature, Just remember the so call lawyer a few weeks ago ripping off a young female who was in a wheelchair due to an accident a few years earlier.

 

Every day we see a new con or scam on FB

 

Does the word Trust have a translation here?

[stephen tracy]

10 minutes ago, Jimdandy said:

They still don't get it. You cannot continue to expect Thais to act like Westerners and vice versa. 

Westerners scam each other too.  

[burgdawg]

"TRUST?"

once you or anyone extends "'trust" to kon Tai, that is the very start of the CONfidence scam, kao jai mai?

You are had...but really, taken by one own gullibility and cc--culutral conditioning.

 

Kon Tai do IMMEDIACY very well---if you hand over baht, you get an excellent meal. You hand over baht, you get a bus trip, BTS ride or motobike taxi ride. Or shortime. Or fresh juice. Or fresh fruit. Anything that extends into the future more than 24 hours and you are hosed in the Kingdom.

 

The East/Orient works on all being NOW and various scams all involved this extension into "TOMORROW."

You want to entertain yourself, try explaining any financial intrument to kon Tai.

[stephen tracy]

4 minutes ago, burgdawg said:

"TRUST?"

once you or anyone extends "'trust" to kon Tai, that is the very start of the CONfidence scam, kao jai mai?

You are had...but really, taken by one own gullibility and cc--culutral conditioning.

 

Kon Tai do IMMEDIACY very well---if you hand over baht, you get an excellent meal. You hand over baht, you get a bus trip, BTS ride or motobike taxi ride. Or shortime. Or fresh juice. Or fresh fruit. Anything that extends into the future more than 24 hours and you are hosed in the Kingdom.

 

The East/Orient works on all being NOW and various scams all involved this extension into "TOMORROW."

You want to entertain yourself, try explaining any financial intrument to kon Tai.

I think that's a very sweeping statement. I have rented the same flat from a Thai family for 7 years, and last year when I became unemployed for 6 months, they cut my rent by 50 percent, and when I got another job and offered to pay it back, they refused the money, and told me not to worry about it, just to start paying the full amount again.  You can't tar an entire people with the same brush. 

[jacko45k]

Bet they don't get that in Turkey!

[csabo]

 

[YetAnother]

6 hours ago, Jimdandy said:

They still don't get it. You cannot continue to expect Thais to act like Westerners and vice versa. 

true enough;  a key point in expats' maturity living here is to level their expectations

[johncat1]

Thais must be running out of Farangs to con so they are turning on their own now

[StevieAus]

Of course rip off's scams etc do not occur in other countries?

Try following the news from the rest of the world.

[PAIBKK]

On 10-11-2017 at 10:25 AM, webfact said:

The eager runners had paid 400-600 baht

 

On 10-11-2017 at 10:25 AM, webfact said:

A total of 1,500 people were expected to take part.

 

On 10-11-2017 at 10:25 AM, webfact said:

The runners demanded why they had been conned out of a million baht

And again those Thai calculators are wrong.

1,500 x 600 THB will make 900 k

1,500 x 400 THB will make 600 k

 

So the Thai calculators are  10% to 40% wrong.

But in Thailand 40% is still called an acceptable tolerance.

 

Note to myself: Never ever buy a calculator produced in Thailand. Chinese are better !!!

 

 

[biplanebluey]

On 11/10/2017 at 1:15 PM, saakura said:

I have been taking part in these runs (mini, half, super-half marathons) in Bangkok and other cities for the last about 18 years, so several hundred runs. Most of them are well organised, a few could have been done better but only very few were poorly organised, but never been cheated. I hope the authorities track down the organisers and take action.

Surely with an event of this size it must be an easy job to track these B*****ds down.Or has ALL the authorities turned their back ??????????

[i claudius]

The wife does them .luckily no problems so far.but then she only does local ones

 

Sent from my SM-A720F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

I spoke to the wife about this and she had heard about it .it seems they still did the run and locals helped out with food and water for the runners as some had come a long way to compete. She said when she does local ones many of the people come from other parts of Thailand.

 

Sent from my SM-A720F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

 

[KIWIBATCH]

Never ever pay for anything online in Thailand......you run a huge risk of being scammed...at least 95% of the time in my view. The Thai human body contains a "scam gene"...it triggers at the sight of money

[billd766]

On 11/10/2017 at 1:15 PM, saakura said:

I have been taking part in these runs (mini, half, super-half marathons) in Bangkok and other cities for the last about 18 years, so several hundred runs. Most of them are well organised, a few could have been done better but only very few were poorly organised, but never been cheated. I hope the authorities track down the organisers and take action.

 

Please stop posting good news stories on this website.

 

It upsets the Thai bashers and there are so many of them too.

[the guest]

So the SCAMMERS have run more than the marathon runners.

[the guest]

So the SCAMMERS have run more than the marathon runners.

[Bluespunk]

On 11/11/2017 at 4:13 AM, StevieAus said:

Of course rip off's scams etc do not occur in other countries?

Try following the news from the rest of the world.

We do.

 

It’s in the world news forum. 

 

This forum however is about thailand. 

[gk10002000]

How would the so called organizers give back the money?  I guess it could be possible they could refund charges on credit cards if those were used, but is it that easy to do that with credit cards from other countries?  Did they take checks (doubtful being Thailand).  Paypal? 

 

Anyway, just another example of how one should raise an eyebrow when paying for anything in advance in Thailand, especially any large amounts.

[gk10002000]

On 11/11/2017 at 2:02 AM, PAIBKK said:

 

 

And again those Thai calculators are wrong.

1,500 x 600 THB will make 900 k

1,500 x 400 THB will make 600 k

 

So the Thai calculators are  10% to 40% wrong.

But in Thailand 40% is still called an acceptable tolerance.

 

Note to myself: Never ever buy a calculator produced in Thailand. Chinese are better !!!

 

 

abacus still work pretty well after a few thousand years,

[The Deerhunter]

On 11/11/2017 at 1:10 AM, burgdawg said:

"TRUST?"

once you or anyone extends "'trust" to kon Tai, that is the very start of the CONfidence scam, kao jai mai?

You are had...but really, taken by one own gullibility and cc--culutral conditioning.

 

Kon Tai do IMMEDIACY very well---if you hand over baht, you get an excellent meal. You hand over baht, you get a bus trip, BTS ride or motobike taxi ride. Or shortime. Or fresh juice. Or fresh fruit. Anything that extends into the future more than 24 hours and you are hosed in the Kingdom.

 

The East/Orient works on all being NOW and various scams all involved this extension into "TOMORROW."

You want to entertain yourself, try explaining any financial intrument to kon Tai.

Yeah.  I agree.  They probably had good intentions at the start and then decided that it might mean a lot of work and planning for them.  Suddenly this avenue was easier once the money was in hand, they found the people due to arrive and nothing organised yet.  Greed and lack of planning are not necessarily exclusively Thai traits,  but perhaps they are not as scrupulous about delivering value  promised after money paid, as some other places.   PS  BTW my wife sells and health life insurance so we have some experience in this.  Get cancer, THEN ask for a health policy, and be surprised when they decline. Everyone's  time wasted.

[anono222]

On 11/10/2017 at 1:15 PM, petermik said:

Love it.......it could only happen here..........

 

p.s. I,m thinking of holding a tiddly winks world championship in the near future...would I need a work permit.....

No... that is not a protected position that can be performed by Thais

[mikiea]

On 11/10/2017 at 12:35 PM, Misterwhisper said:

How ironic we just had that following news piece today:

 

 

hahaha , dont piss off the turks , they tend to play hardball .

[thaibeachlovers]

I guess their brains are in their legs.

In a country where money for post 2004 tsunami relief was stolen one should never assume anything is as it seems.

http://www.truth-out.org/archive/component/k2/item/87377-tsunami-recovery-hit-by-corruption-apathy

Far better to have arrived with own accommodation booked, and paid on the day of the race for any administrative costs.

[thaibeachlovers]

2 hours ago, Jiggyfly said:

No... that is not a protected position that can be performed by Thais

???????????????????

That has nothing to do with a work permit which covers any sort of work.

Being a protected job just means non Thais can't do it at all.