"Again, don't go to this "dark travel house" for your travel needs."

I agree and everybody should aware of.

 I think this is just another example when tourists tried to safe money and arranged their tours with the local tour companies without having check their profile. I can refer you for your future trips to the company I’ve been using when I travel to the one of those exotic destinations. Orient Flexi Pax has a very good reputation and excellent service. It looks like you are paying a lot at the first sight but it really safes you money in a long run. This company is very concern about its reputation and it works for me.

This is an update of the story and it is getting hilarious.  

     In April, 2008, I filed an online complaint against the Pattaya travel agent Maneerat Transport & Travel  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.

    I was in Bangkok in May 2009 and I went to MOTS National Stadium address.  The office responsible for tourist complaints didn't find the record of my complaint and asked me to file a written complaint right there.  I did accordingly and a lawyer named Mr. Zon said I would hear from him in 2-3 weeks.   However, I heard nothing for almost a year even after sending several letters inquiring the progress of the case.

      I was in Bangkok in March 2010 and I visited that office on March 8.  Mr. Zon, the lawyer who received my complaint, was on holidays.  I talked to a lady lawyer there (strangely, she wouldn't give her name when I asked; I remember I talked to both her and Mr. Zon when I was there in May 2009).  She remembered my complaint and said the office was waiting for new laws in order for my complaint to proceed further.  I then asked if there were existing laws and why she had to wait for new laws. Unfortunately, she never made herself clear.  She said she would inform Mr. Zon about my visit.

     I heard nothing until June 22, when I received an email (written in  broken English) from a hotmail account by Laksanara.  No official title and no full name were provided (see below), but I am quite sure Laksanara is the lady lawyer I met on March 8.  Laksanara said Mr. Zon had departed and my complaint was dropped, but a warning letter had been sent to the travel agent.  I was surprised since I was told to wait for new laws, but now the office drops the complaint without referencing to any law.

>>about your complaint with Maneerat Transport.co.th‏

From: Muumie Gold (muumie_gal@hotmail.com)

Dear Sir

About your complaint with Maneerat Transport co.ltd( Khun Zon take care this case but now he not work here )We'd like to inform you about the result of your complaint with Maneerat co.ltd We can not force them like you ask we to do for you,because you already used programe and about over charge which you think about your case it 's too much expensive we can not foce them about price cos how much? ,it's depend on yours that's mean only you and tourist company. How ever our office sent the letter to warn them already. Any way we hope you to revitsit again and dont forget to check about the record of tourist comany.

Finally we'have to stop your complaint.

Regard,

Laksanara <<

     I suspected that no one in the office has even gone through my complaint file and Laksanara just wanted to make her job easy by ending the case. The warning letter story was to make me think that something was done.  I then emailed Laksanara on July 9, asking for an official reply together with a copy of the warning letter.  She emailed to me on July 14, saying

>>Dear Sir,

Abou your complaint ,which I reply you with written in broken English and email with an unofficial response from Ministry of Tourism and sports. I will let you knoe as soon as possible,because I am sick so I can not reply your email but I will go to the office in this week ,may be on Thursday.

Sincerely,

Laksanara<<

      I heard nothing for about 3 weeks and so I started emailing Laksanara. She finally responded by email on August 9 and wrote

>>Dear Sir,

Please do not disturb me by using a private e -mail . You can contact this office via [email]complaint@tourism.go.th[/email]

Now I have already draft the warning letter then they will send it to Maneerat and you soon. Anyway I 'd like to tell you that Saturday and Sunday is weekend

in Thailand .Once again I am not the person who take care this case as you known since I have to read all document as you know and post or forword this by put my name like this to public ,I think you have to consult your lawyer first because it's seem to discredit me.

thak you for stop do like this ,your complaint will take the time almost 1 month.The office will let you know soon ,around 2 weeks later

Laksanara<<

      She hasn't finished writing the warning letter???  So she hasn't written he warning letter she claimed to have sent weeks ago (!!!!), just what I suspected.

      I have asked her if she is the lady lawyer I met on March 8, but she never answers.   I have asked her to provide me her official title and full name, but she still hasn't provided.  She wrote in the above email that she is "not the person who take care of [my case]".  If she isn't the person, then why is she communicating with me and why is she writing the warning letter herself?   I also asked her the official title and the full name of that person who takes care of my case, but she never answers (obviously, there is no such person and she is just trying to avoid responsibility).

     A comedy in making?  Maybe this kind of incompetence is typical of Thai agencies.

A happy
ending for me: I got 20,000B back (out of the 31,000B I paid for the Cambodia
tour).

To make a
long story short, I found out last month from Maneerat, the travel agent, that
it had paid someone in MOTS (specifically, Tourism Business and Guide
Registration Office in Bangkok) 20,000B back in Sept. 2009 (a few months after
I filed my complaint there). Maneerat thought the money had gone to me and that
the matter was settled. Of course, I was never informed about the 20,000B. I
presented this fact to MOTS and I finally got the 20,000B (actually less
because of bank wiring fees).

I don't
think I would ever find out the whole truth, but here is what I think happened:

Mr. Zon (the
lawyer who received my complaint; his full name is Tungsoomboon Krittapas)
contacted the travel agent and it sent a staff to MOTS National Stadium office
to meet him (or someone else in MOTS). The staff was asked to pay me a partial
refund of 20,000B and the money was transferred bank to bank on Sept. 16, 2009
to a personal, rather than an official MOTS, bank account given to the staff (I
have a copy of the bank transfer receipt provided by the travel agent). The
name of the money recipient was Pornphirung Raethong.  Laksanara, the female lawyer who handled my
case after Tungsoomboon Krittapas' departure (I checked out that he did leave
MOTS) also has the last name Raethong. 
Since  Laksanara might not have
given me her real first name (which is likely as she kept avoiding to give me
her full name and official title), 
Laksanara herself might have been the money recipient.

When I
presented the 20,000B story to MOTS, 
Laksanara emailed to me, saying that she found my story true and that I
wasn't informed about the money because MOTS didn't know what the money was for
(but she didn't tell if she was the money recipient). Here is the intriguing
part: Why didn't MOTS know what the money was for? For bank to bank transfer,
the recipient knows who the sender is. If MOTS didn't know what the 20,000B was
for, all it had to do was to contact the sender, which is Maneerat (the bank
transfer receipt clearly stated that the sender was Maneerat). So I think  Laksanara or someone else in MOTS wanted to
keep the 20,000B for her/his own use, hoping that I would never find out.

My
persistence paid off.

I can ask
MOTS to investigate this matter, which is full of irregularities on the part of
MOTS. However, I am satisfied as I got most of the money back.

What is your
thought?