My mate Brian booked a condo for a month on Koh Samui through a company called kohsamui.com and wired 28,000 THB to them. The idea was to sort out a place for his annual Christmas trip to tourist Thailand and after the long flight from Scotland to be able to head to his accommodation with his elderly mother and get settled down.
Five days after his arrival he and his mother are in a hotel at their own expense, no condo, no money back and nobody doing anything. I find it hard to believe this has happened. But from my own bitter experience, Koh Libong in particular, I can hardly say I am too surprised. I would never pay for anything up front in Thailand again unless I was there and was happy with what was on offer.
In the great scheme of things, we all make mistakes and most of us try our best to put them right. In business you say you're sorry and pay the money back immediately because you are fearful of the consequences for your reputation. I am staggered that my mate is still waiting for a refund and likely will have to make a trip to to the tourist police and regulatory authorities. He is being subjected to procrastination tactics: "Sorry the owner is away and won't be back until tomorrow" "It's a holiday weekend". What's wrong with a simple phone call - give this guy his money back and apologise.
A relative is coming to Thailand soon and he too is headed for tourist Thailand. I am fearful for him. I am sorry to be so negative about tourist Thailand but it really makes my blood boil to learn about this sort of practise. As you know I don't like paying 80 baht for a bowl of noodles!
So be warned.
Update: Brian got his money back after 3 weeks' dogged persistence; there was also some police involvement. He learned a lot of other people were in the same position with this company. So once more, be warned.
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