The kind stranger who introduced us to our tuk-tuk driver told of us an amazing secret factory sale – bespoke suits made of imported Italian cashmere for around $300USD – or less! The sale was one week only, today was the last day – we should stop by on our tuk-tuk tour. He circled it on our map, we thanked him, and went on our way.

Our tuk-tuk driver was a sweet younger gentleman that knew very little English. He took us all over the Banglamphu region, stopping at every formidable building and temple we passed. When we wanted to stop and explore, he would sit and wait in a parking spot until we returned.

At our first stop, a beautiful monastery, I found Aleksiy talking to another kind stranger. He wanted to know where we were from, how long we were in town, etc… He gave us a few recommendations and also mentioned the last day of the amazing sale. We figured it was something to check out, so we added it to our itinerary and off we went.

Once we got around to the “Bangkok Factory” and went inside to see it for our own eyes, we realized we’d been had. It was a normal menswear store. The associates (ours was named Rahm, just like another snake oil salesman I know) didn’t even have the same “last day, one week only” story as the 2 men that had sent us there.  We sat and listened to the Rahm’s spiel, when prompted touched a fabric labeled finest cashmere, mumbled a few “ooh very nice,”  nodded politely, drank our complimentary waters, and GTFO to find our tuk-tuk driver.

Our driver smiled at our return, confirmed “no like, no buy!” and showed us the coupon for 5 liters of gas they gave him for taking us there. Would’ve appreciated the heads up on the way in, but at least we got out with our wallets. As our day continued, (and my animosity softened) we agreed to visit another suit store in a different neighborhood so he could get another coupon. He got his coupon, we got bottled water – not such a bad deal after all.