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Bangkok is an interesting city, but there are a few precautions to take if you want to avoid being ripped off or worse. The most important (according the the local tourist authority) is not to accept any free food or drinks from strangers on trains or buses. In the past people have been drugged and robbed. Some people even needed hospital treatment because of the drugs used. The next precaution is to never accept a visit to a gem or jewelry shop that's having a sale today. If you're accosted in the street by a guy who asks you where you're going and tells you it's closed but his brother's gem shop is giving big discounts today, then you're probably being invited to pay a 500% markup on cheap gems. Carry on to wherever you're going and find something better to spend your money on (like more Thai food!). Be wary of people standing around outside shrines selling "tickets". Quite possibly they're there just to rip you off and are nothing to do with the shrine at all. Now, traffic is the big one. Bangkok roads are full of pedestrian crossings, but they are placed more for show than effect. You can never be sure of which side of the road the traffic will be driving on, let alone which way they intend to go at a junction. In addition, traffic only gives way to larger vehicles or occasionally to red lights. This means that as a pedestrian you give way to everyone, in particular the cars and motorbikes which are taking a short-cut along the sidewalk to avoid the traffic jam ahead. Note in particular that if a car is indicating that it is about to turn, the driver may well suddenly decide that they are going to go straight ahead or turn in the opposite direction. The only safe way to cross a road is to take an overpass, but then you miss out on half the fun. Few Thai taxis have seatbelts, but most have at least one Buddha on the dash to protect you instead. They are theoretically cheap, but taxi drivers like few things more than getting you to pay New York prices. If you are arriving at the airport and take a taxi for 300 baht, you may well find that the price rises to 500 once you're out on the road in the middle of nowhere. To avoid this, go to the taxi desk instead and get a price arranged on paper before you leave. If they try to rip you off you can then call the desk and they can track down the driver in question. Generally taxis in the city don't expect tips unless you start or end at an expensive hotel. With any luck the trip from the airport will soon be much easier with the arrival of the rumored Airport bus service. The other problem with taxis is that few drivers speak much English and definitely no Finnish, Serbo-Croat or Venusian. Ideally you should have your destination written down in Thai to show to the driver. Even giving them a map will probably not help as most seem unable to read them. Perhaps this is because most tourist maps are marked in English rather than Thai. However, they are much easier to use than buses, which are an exercise only for the truly adventurous or those who understand enough Thai to buy a ticket. The clinically insane might like to try the motorcycle taxis instead, squeezing between cars and buses at high speed on the back of a motorcycle, with no helmet. Thai food can be dangerous if you're not used to hot peppers and spices. Many places will cook dishes cool if you look like a foreigner, and for those of us who can take it that can be a little annoying. However those who can't and get a real Thai dish may wish they had a fire extinguisher to suck on. You may wish to try a small mouthful before you dig in for real. Street food is cheap but may upset your stomach if you've been living a sheltered life away from bacteria and other undesirable organisms. Pollution is pretty bad but unlikely to kill you in a short visit. Worse is the heat, which will dehydrate you rapidly if you come from colder climes and walk a lot during your visit. In the height of summer you should carry a bottle of water with you if you're going to be walking far. The local tap water is not really safe to drink, but luckily bottles of purified water sell for about 3 baht ($0.20) in small stores. There are many stray dogs running around the city, but try to avoid the urge to pet them. An estimated 3% to 10% of them have rabies and a bite could really spoil your holiday. You may wish to obtain a vaccination before you travel, just in case. This will not fully protect you but will increase the time available before you must get to a hospital for further injections if you are infected.