‘This Thai Jordan Belfort Appears’: Honeymooning Couple Goes To The ‘Oldest Temple In Thailand.’ Then They Check Their Receipt—And Learn Someone Added An Extra 0

A couple on their honeymoon in Thailand say they were talked into a private temple visit, a tuk-tuk tour, and a custom suit fitting by a string of strangers who turned out to be running one of Bangkok’s most well-documented scams. They didn’t realise anything was wrong until they checked their credit card statement and discovered they’d been charged $1,000 instead of the $300 they thought they agreed to.

Logan Miller (@loganmiller489) posted the TikTok earlier this week. It has since drawn more than 125,000 views, with dozens of commenters sharing their own versions of the exact same scam, with some dating back more than a decade.

“The Oldest Temple In Thailand”

Miller says he and his wife were walking around Chinatown in Thailand when a man with decent English approached and struck up a conversation. When they mentioned it was their honeymoon, Miller says he “lit up like a firework.”

“He was like, ‘this is amazing. You have to go to this temple. It’s the oldest temple in Thailand,’” Miller says. “He also said the temple is only open once a month and today’s that day.”

A tuk-tuk driver appeared “out of thin air” and offered to take them for 60 baht — about $2. “We felt like we were in The White Lotus,” Miller says.

The temple turned out to be empty. “We were the only two people there,” he says.

From The Temple To The Tailor

From the temple, a second man directed them to a suit shop. “He tells us that, ‘oh, we have to go to this suit shop. It’s going to be amazing. And they charge you little to no money. They’ll ship it to your house and it’s high quality suit material,’” Miller says.

At the shop, another man was waiting. “This like Thai Jordan Belfort appears out of nowhere as if he knew we were coming,” Miller says. “He’s like wooing me with confidence. He’s like, three suits, $100 each. We’ll have it to you in a week.”

They agreed, got measured, and were given free beer. After the fitting, the tuk-tuk took them to a pre-arranged boat tour that Miller describes as “an hour and a half of trash.”

It was on the boat, drinking a warm beer, that Miller says the doubt set in. “That all seemed way too good to be true,” he says. “I said to my wife, ‘that didn’t make sense.’ She was like, ‘no, no, no, it’s 100% true. They gave us a receipt.’”

A Complex And Notorious Scam

After the tour, Miller Googled what had happened. “This is what Google told me—literally laid out the entire scenario I had in my head,” he says.

Then his wife checked the credit card statement. “They added an extra zero,” he recalls. “It was a thousand dollars they charged us, not 300.”

They couldn’t dispute it immediately because the transaction was still pending. In a later comment, Miller confirmed the suit never came. “Still never received a tracking number from this guy,” he says. “Still says pending.”

What happened to Miller is one of the most thoroughly documented tourist scams in Southeast Asia. The pattern is consistent: a friendly stranger near a tourist attraction tells you a site is closed or recommends a “special” temple, then a tuk-tuk appears at a suspiciously low fare, and the route includes stops at tailor shops or gem stores where the driver earns a commission for every tourist delivered.

The tailor shops typically offer rock-bottom prices to close the sale quickly, knowing the tourist is only in town for a few days. By the time the suit arrives (if it ever does) the buyer is home and the quality is often nowhere near what was promised.

Adding an extra digit to a credit card charge, as Miller describes, takes the scam a step further.

“A Canon Event For Every Young Couple Who Goes To Thailand”

The comments section was full of people who’ve fallen for the same thing.

“I felt like the biggest dumba** ever … cried myself to sleep haha,” wrote shmoo, who says he ended up with three suits for $1,300 after a similar encounter in 2016. “But … suits got delivered to my house in LA 3 weeks later. Fit perfectly, said exclusively hand tailored for me in the inside jacket. I’ve worn them to every wedding since.”

Kelly called it “a cannon event for every young couple who goes to Thailand. My boyfriend at the time and I fell for the exact same thing when we first went.”

Halechase described a variation: “Me in the temple that is only open ‘today’ driven by a tuktuk driver that charged us $2 for a whole day’s tour.”

Earl V James shared how he escaped. “Once we arrived at the tailor, after making a number of stops at ‘secret’ temples, I unfortunately only had a little bit of baht and no cards. They were pissed and I walked an unbeaten path back to the hostel. 9/10 day in Bangkok.”

Several commenters urged Miller to go directly to his credit card company. Jane wrote, “Dispute the charge with your credit card company. They will fight it and refund you if it’s Visa or Amex or whatever.”

Caroline shared her outcome from a similar 2016 incident: “Paid for the suits with credit card and were able to chargeback at least.”

How Do You Avoid This Scam?

For travellers heading to Bangkok, the advice from seasoned visitors and travel guides is consistent: be wary of anyone who approaches you unsolicited near a tourist attraction, especially if they tell you a site is closed, offer a suspiciously cheap tuk-tuk ride, or recommend a tailor shop. Book tours through established platforms, and always check credit card receipts line by line before leaving a shop.

As Miller wrote in a follow-up comment from his next stop in Khao Sok: “At this point, what suits?”

BoardingArea reached out to Miller via TikTok direct message for additional comment. We’ll be sure to update this if he responds.

@loganmiller489 gotta give it to them, as upset as we are – an insane hustle from the locals. #thailand #honeymoon #fyp #scam #whitelotus @Maraaaaa ♬ original sound – Logan Miller