Hair Here!

I was in Bangkok in 2025, walking around on Sukhumvit Road and enjoying the hustle and bustle of the large city. It was very crowded as I walked, and people were passing me all the time. One person who looked like he could be Indian or East Asian passed and nodded at me. A few steps later, another person of similar background passed and pointed to my hat.

The first person returned and said that he could help me. Not knowing that I needed any help, I was curious. He brought out his phone and showed me two pictures, a "before" and "after" of his head, the first showing almost no hair and the second showing a full head of hair. He then proceeded to take his hat off, pulled his hair with a pinch of his fingers, and said, "Look, now I have a full head of hair."

He said he wanted to help me to pay back his good fortune, explaining that all I needed to do was get some coconut oil, mix two powders into it, and use that for a month to allow the therapy to regrow hair on my bald head, which had been bald for many decades by now.

I was not convinced and continued walking. Persistent, this guy said, "You will really benefit from this, and all I ask is for you to help others when you yourself see the results."

He asked if I would be able to get the items needed for the therapy. Not wanting to brush him off, I said, "No, I won't be able to remember."

He said, "Okay, don't worry, I will help you get it," and proceeded to take me to a nearby grocery store, where he bought a bottle of coconut oil and had me pay for it. It seemed harmless enough, so I went along with him. 

Then he continued walking with me at a very rapid clip. As we passed a man standing on the street, he asked him where the store that sells the ingredients for hair growth was located. The random guy said it was on Soi 9.

Another five-minute walk later, we were at a store on Soi 9 which also had "before" and "after" images of bald people growing hair displayed inside.

The interior was a small room with back panel walls featuring hundreds of jars of different herbs and remedies, all brown in color. At the counter was a girl who seemed to use very few words. My guide talked to her, saying I was interested in the ingredients, and she took out a jar and placed 11 pinches of a brown powder on a piece of paper. He asked her how much a dose was, and she said it was 300 baht, amounting to about $10 USD. He asked me to pay, and I handed over my credit card, thinking that so far I was only in this for about $15 total.

Instead, she promptly charged me 11 times 300 baht for the 11 pinches. That was a nasty surprise, as I certainly didn't expect to pay $110 for just that part. Worse still, not only did she charge me, but she also took the bottle of coconut oil and dumped all 11 pinches right into it, completely mixing the herbal remedy and making it entirely unreturnable.

I was not happy, but I was willing to let it slide and move on with life. However, the guy insisted that there was another item that needed to be added to the mix. 

A second cashier on the other side of the partition was only too willing to supply the second ingredient, priced at 2,500 baht. With alarming speed, she scooped out 11 pinches of that powder, grabbed my credit card from the first cashier, and started to run the charge.

"No, no, wait! I am not willing to pay 2,500 baht," I protested, realizing with a sinking feeling that they intended to charge 2,500 baht times 11 doses.

Seeing my immediate pushback, the guy quickly intervened, telling the second cashier to only dispense 6 doses of it instead. Even with that "discount," 15,000 baht was charged to my credit card in an instant.

This second powder was also immediately dumped straight into the coconut oil bottle. Stepping outside the store, the guy casually said, "Okay, please apply this on your head for 30 days and see the miracle," and with that, he turned and left me standing there.

Holding the bottle in my hand, I went back to my hotel and reflected on what had just happened. I realized that it seemed very fishy and ran the episode by an AI, which promptly told me that I had been taken. It turned out to be a very common fraud in Bangkok.

I was furious, so I called my credit card company and told them what happened. They said they would investigate. Still feeling angry, I checked what remedies people use in such circumstances and discovered that there was a tourist police force I could complain to.

I called the tourist police, but no one picked up. My next attempt was to actually go find a tourist police office, but as I walked by around 9:00 PM, the office was closed. 

Still wanting payback, I decided to go and accost the store itself, heading back onto Soi 9 and straight inside.

The first cashier girl saw me, and I demanded my money back. She instantly became very talkative, saying she would not return my money and that I was free to do whatever I wanted. 

I raised my voice and said I would involve the police. Just then, I saw the second cashier as well and demanded my money back from her too. Both of them were very vocal and resisted my attempts.

Hearing the commotion, the rear door of the store opened, and a heavyset Indian man came out. I screamed at him, saying he was targeting tourists and cheating people, and that I was about to get the police involved.

He claimed he was running a legitimate, licensed business and that all I had to do was try his remedy for 30 days. I said I didn't care and wanted my money back. I thrust the two credit card receipts of the recent charges into his hands, one for $110 and the other for $500.

He was still trying to fend me off when I saw three other tourists walk through the door, no doubt brought in by other scammers using the exact same ruse.

"Give my money back right now, or I will tell these new prospects about what you did to me!" I yelled.

Not wanting to prolong the scene, he took the first credit card receipt and canceled the charge. However, he wasn't able to cancel the second charge of $500 digitally, so he proceeded to hand me cash instead. Taking the money, I turned and left.

A few days later, the credit card company informed me that they had also successfully canceled the original two charges.

In the end, I didn't get any hair back, but I walked away with a $500 cash bounty!