Scamming?

While you are generally very safe physically as a tourist here in Thailand, you will occasionally run into people who try to scam you out of money.  One technique employed is the scammer will be at the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew (one of the must see places) and will approach a tourist.  They will explain that the Grand Palace is closed that day, but offer some tour that results in you at some shop being pressured to buy overpriced goods. 

I had never had anyone attempt to scam me until my last trip to the Grand Palace.  I've been there at least four or five times before so I'm certainly familiar with it.  There is a big wall around it, and there are multiple gates.  Tourists have to enter a certain gate.  There is another gate that Thais can enter and exit, and I think there are some other entrances for VIPs and people who work there.  The cab dropped me off and I started to walk towards what I thought was the tourist entrance.  I wasn't certain that it was the right entrance, as its been more than a year since my last visit.  I was about 25 yards away when a Thai man pointed in the other direction and told me that I buy tickets there.  I was immediately suspicious, but as I wasn't certain about which gate, I walked towards the other gate which was maybe 50 yards away.  As I got closer, I saw a Thai man talking to a falang woman.  As I approached the entrance, there was a guard blocking the way, and I could tell at that point that this wasn't the right gate.  I asked him in primitive Thai about buying a ticket, and he motioned towards the gate I had come from.

I turned around and walked back the way I came.  The guy who misdirected me must have seen me, because I saw him hurry across the street and sit in a chair almost out of site.  I took a few photos of him, but I didn't have my telephoto lens, and I only got the back of his head.  I thought about going over and taking a picture of him but decided I really didn't care that much.

I'm not sure of the scam, but I'm thinking that maybe one of his accomplices was supposed to approach me and either sell me a "ticket" or offer me some alternative tour.  Maybe he was counting on the guard turning me away, and that bolstering a story that the place was closed.