Forget about Thailand: government doesn't care for you

My experience in Thailand is no good. The Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MOTS) there won%26#39;t respond to my complaint. So when you have problems in Thailand, don%26#39;t expect any help from its (corrupt/incompetent?) government. Visit Thailand at your own risk.

In April, 2008, I filed an online complaint against a Pattaya travel agent for ripping me off to MOTS via the website touristassistancecenter.go.th (this site is no longer functional). A Ministry staff acknowledged my complaint by email.

However, despite repeated online inquiry about the progress of the complaint, I received no response from the Ministry.

When I was in Bangkok earlier this year in May, I went to MOTS National Stadium office to inquire about the progress of my complaint (which I filed online in April 2008). Amazingly, they found no record of the complaint and asked me to file a written complaint while I was in that office. I did accordingly and a staff said I would hear from the Ministry in 2-3 weeks.

Not having heard anything, I sent a letter to the National Stadium office in August and another one in September, 2009 inquiring about the progress of the complaint, but again I heard nothing. About a month ago, I sent a letter about the matter to Mr.Weerasak Kowsurat (Minister of Tourism and Sports) at the Ratchadamneon Rd. address, but heard nothing.

I think it is conclusive that MOTS is not going to do anything about my complaint. I wonder why (corruption/incompetence?).

Forget about Thailand: government doesn't care for you

This is the usual process for EVERY form of complaint in THailnad, whether it is to a Govt. office or a shop or whatever.

In general it is believed that if confrontation is avoided (and therefore ignored) it will go away.

So the answer is - DON';T GO AWAY%26gt; - keep on at it til youget a respnse.

Now there are some things you must be clear on.

what is you complaint and what do you see as a satisfactory result.

Is your complaint genuine and demostrable?

KEEP A LOG

note phone calls, emails, etc etc and try to find otwho you have spoken too.

Note how long your calls were.

In essence you now have 2 complaints

the initial one and one about how tyour complaint has been handled.

As for your own complaint - well that%26#39;s up to you - but I would have thought you should be dealing with TAT - tourist Authority of Thailand or even the Tourist police (watch them!?!)

Forget about Thailand: government doesn't care for you

Thanks for you reply.

Yes, I kept all records, including the name of the staff who took my written complaint in April, 09. But the problem is this: If Weerasak Kowsurat (Minister of Tourism and Sports) ingores the matter, I think that is the end of the matter as far as MOTS is concerned. (Isn%26#39;t TAT under MOTS? In any case, I also filed a complaint by mail to the TAT office in Pattaya many months ago, but never heard from it.)

Maybe I should write to cabinet members/legislators/royalties about the matter. Can you suggest who I should write to?

If this is about the 500 THB you were conned out of at the poipet border early in 2008? If so, it really is time to let it go.

Not only that (visa fee). The actual tour was too deviated from the tour descriptions and the tour is just a ripoff.

even if the initial complaint is trivial it deserves a reply.

Now the persistent ignoring of the complainant has escalated the problem into a far more serious thing.

I think however you are tackling the situation incorrectly by going too high too soon.

Not sure what this is all about, but if you consider any crime was committed you should have filed a written complaint with the police.

The ripoff won%26#39;t quality as a criminal offense and it should be dealt with by MOTS. The post here is about MOTS ignoring my complaint and repeated inquiries about the progess of complaint.

One less whinger to put up with on holidays !!!! good thing if you ont like it and dont want to go back.

It is no tgood that you did not receive a reply.

But in regards to what happened to you: it was really not worth a complaint, let alone keep moaning about it.

I can%26#39;t believe someone would advise people against visiting a country because of the lack of response to a complaint! If that was the standard I would never advise anyone to visit the UK because you are likely to get even less of a response from our government. Don%26#39;t tar all of Thailand with the same brush just because you aren%26#39;t satisfied!