Travel Advisory: Bangkok airport duty free scam

The BBC and the Times are reporting new allegations about passengers being detained every month in the duty free area of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport on suspicion of shoplifting, and then held by the police until large sums of money are paid to a middleman to buy their freedom. This time, two British IT experts were targeted but other recent targets have included two Danish nationals and an Irish scientist and her husband and one year old son.

Apparently, all were victims of a classic Thai scam called the "zig-zag” and the scheme has targeted Asians for some time already. In fact, a letter back in April to The Nation reported that an Indian national was recently a victim of such a scheme. However, it now appears that westerners are also being targeted.

Hence, the British Embassy has issued a warning to passengers at the Bangkok Airport to take care in not moving items around in duty free shops before paying for them as this could result in arrest. Moreover, other variations of the scheme include someone telling a group of travelers to place all duty free items in one bag or that its ok not to declare duty free items. Customs will then pounce on the traveler when they reach arrivals.

However, it should be noted that millions of travelers pass through the Bangkok Airport every year without incident but nevertheless, business travelers should take note and take basic precautions in light of the incidents being reported above.