What started as a dazzling winter escape to Harbin turned into a textbook travel horror story for one Thai family. According to a viral Facebook post by one of the travellers, 16 members of the family paid a staggering 700,000 baht for a supposedly all-inclusive, week-long tour from December 28 to January 2 — flights, four-star hotel, transport, entrance fees, insurance and even a New Year countdown programme. Instead, they got missed flights, empty promises and improvised first aid.
The moment everything unraveled
The trouble began at Suvarnabhumi International Airport. The travel agency owner — identified only as Frame — allegedly told the family that there was a mistake: “no tickets could be found.” Facing the nightmare scenario of a holiday gone before it’d begun, the organiser, Chonchanok, reportedly paid more than 200,000 baht out of pocket to purchase new Bangkok-to-Beijing tickets. Frame promised a refund within three days.
But that payment didn’t fix the dominoes that started to fall. Family members and Frame took separate flights, which led to missed connections on the Beijing-to-Harbin leg and yet more unplanned expenses for replacement tickets. By the time they reached Harbin, the coach bus that was part of their package never arrived. Frame said the only vehicle available was an old van — and then the van driver stopped offering service, claiming he hadn’t been paid. Chonchanok says she had to keep pressing Frame to transfer money just to keep the trip moving.
Hotels, tickets and a stingy “insurance” response
The four-star hotel that was meant to be included in the package was not booked or paid for, forcing the family to scramble to find and fund their own accommodation. Major attractions were off-limits when entrance fees hadn’t been paid, causing delays and missed visits — a bitter pill when you’ve come all that way to see the ice sculptures Harbin is famous for.
Matters took a more serious turn when Chonchanok’s sister badly injured her foot on broken floor tiles. Even though travel insurance was part of the advertised package, the response was shockingly inadequate: Frame reportedly provided nothing more than a bottle of saline. With no proper medical care available, the family improvised — using sanitary pads to staunch the bleeding until they could find help themselves.
Return flights, police and disappearing refunds
Worse still, when it came time to come home, Chonchanok discovered that return tickets hadn’t been properly arranged. Frame later admitted she had not booked the family’s return seats in advance, buying only two or three tickets at a time at the last minute. On returning to Thailand, Chonchanok took Frame to Suvarnabhumi Airport Police Station, where Frame again promised refunds — and then reportedly went silent.
After the Facebook post went viral on January 17, other travellers surfaced claiming they were also victims of the same agency, alleging their transfers had been diverted to fund the Chonchanok family’s trip. Thai authorities have pledged to investigate, but details about formal charges or compensation remain unclear.
Lessons for travellers (and a few hard-earned tips)
This ordeal is a reminder that even seemingly “fully organised” packages can hide huge risks. For anyone booking group travel, especially international trips, consider these precautions:
- Confirm airline bookings yourself: get PNRs and verify them on the airline’s website before you leave.
- Use credit cards or official payment channels that can be disputed; avoid large cash transfers where possible.
- Keep printed and digital copies of all contracts, receipts and insurance policies.
- Vet the agency: read multiple independent reviews, check business registration and ask for references.
- Insist on written guarantees about essential services (hotels, transport, entrance fees) and what happens if they fail.
This family’s trip to Harbin should have been all frosty fun and glittering ice art, not a string of avoidable emergencies. At minimum, the story underlines the importance of transparency and accountability in tour operations — and the need for consumers to protect themselves before handing over huge sums.
Authorities have said they’ll investigate, and more alleged victims are coming forward. For now, the Chonchanok family’s experience stands as both a cautionary tale and a call to action: when booking holidays, don’t assume “fully organised” means “fully reliable.”
I wrote the original Facebook post and we still can’t believe it happened. We paid 700,000 baht for a supposed all-inclusive trip and ended up buying tickets and hotels ourselves. The worst part was seeing my sister injured with no proper help.
This is outrageous and reminds me why people should never pay everything in cash. Travel agencies need stricter oversight. Frame should be prosecuted if she deliberately misled clients.
Prosecution is fine but police investigations in these cases often take months and people get nothing back. We need faster consumer protection mechanisms.
Or maybe people need to stop trusting flashy ads and do their homework. Not saying they deserved it but red flags exist for a reason.
We did check reviews but Frame used fake testimonials and a borrowed business registration number. It felt like everything was tailored to look legit until it fell apart.
From a regulatory perspective this is a systemic failure: lack of bonding, inadequate verification of agencies, and weak enforcement. Travel industry trust depends on escrow-like mechanisms for group bookings. Policymakers should mandate third-party escrow for payments above a threshold.
Escrow is a good idea but implementing it for small agencies is complicated. Banks and fintech can create micro-escrow products that are affordable and scalable.
Escrow would help but most consumers won’t demand it until after they get burned. Education and visible verification badges could help too.
This sounds technical. For ordinary travelers, basic steps like getting PNRs and booking confirmations directly from airlines would have prevented much of this mess.
Two things: shame the scammer publicly and sue. Social media was the only reason they got attention. If that hadn’t gone viral they’d be out of luck.
Public shaming can work but it can also backfire legally. Better to combine public pressure with formal legal action so it leads to real consequences.
Viral posts help but they don’t replace evidence. Save all receipts, screenshots and bank transfers. Those are the keys in court.
This makes me scared to book tours. How do you verify a hotel’s reservation if the agency says it’s included? I don’t trust agencies now.
Call the hotel directly and ask for a reservation under the agency’s name or your own. Also get PNRs and verify on airline sites immediately.
Always ask for written confirmation with reservation numbers. If the agency refuses, it’s a red flag and you should not pay in full.
We asked for PNRs and were told they were being processed. By the time we realized they didn’t exist, some of us were already at the airport and spending more to catch up.
I feel for them but some responsibility lies with the travellers too. Splitting payments, using cards, or even buying tickets yourself would reduce risk. Not blaming, just practical advice.
Easy to say when you’re not organizing 16 people. Coordinating payments and tickets is messy and people trust the tour leader to handle it.
True, organizing a group is hard. Still, insist on seeing confirmations before boarding.
I’ve worked for agencies for years and some owners cut corners to save cashflow. They gamble that transfers won’t be noticed right away. This is why licensing must be tied to financial audits.
Police will investigate but evidence matters. Frame’s silence at the station is suspicious. Anyone with bank transfers should file formal complaints and request case numbers for consumer protection offices.
Also contact your credit card company if you paid that way. Chargebacks are often the fastest remedy compared to criminal proceedings.
What about the insurance company? If policy was included why did they only get saline? Sounds like insurance fraud or refusal. That should be another investigation angle.
If the policy was never actually purchased or the insurer denies coverage due to non-disclosure, victims must document what the agency promised. Regulators should also audit insurers that approve bulk policies without proper documentation.
Sometimes agencies advertise insurance but buy cheap, limited policies that won’t cover emergencies. Read the fine print.
This story is a classic mix of human error and criminality. A family should not have to improvise medical care abroad. That level of negligence is unforgivable.
I keep thinking about the driver who stopped because he was unpaid. You can see how quickly a trip unravels when cash and trust break down. Every link failed.
A practical checklist: get PNRs, verify hotel bookings, ask for supplier contacts, pay with traceable methods, and split responsibilities among group members. It’s extra work but prevents disasters.
That checklist is great but exhausting for a family holiday. Part of booking a package is trusting someone else to manage logistics.
I get that. But trust must be verified. Small checks like verifying airline PNRs take two minutes and save a week of misery.
Agree, and if the agency refuses to provide details, walk away. A legitimate company will be transparent.
For those wondering about refunds: gather transaction IDs and bank statements and escalate to your bank. Fund transfers can sometimes be traced and frozen if done recently.
I wonder if Frame scammed other groups to fund this family. If so, there may be multiple victims which increases pressure on authorities.
After our post went viral others contacted us saying they had similar experiences. We believe Frame rerouted payments to cover ours and others’ trips until it collapsed.
Multiple victims will strengthen the case. Consolidate testimonies and provide them to investigators so patterns are clear.
I feel angry but also helpless. If the agency goes bankrupt there’s no guarantee victims will be compensated. Stronger travel consumer laws are overdue.
Public pressure got attention. The family did the right thing by posting. Shame and exposure are often faster than official channels.
The image of using sanitary pads to stop bleeding made me cry. Tourism businesses must have minimum medical contingency plans for groups abroad.
Agreed. Agencies handling international groups should certify emergency procedures and partnerships with reputable insurers and local medical providers.
Why was Frame allowed to take full payments without proof? There should be mandatory deposit limits for small operators to reduce risk to consumers.
Deposit limits and mandatory merchant escrow accounts could be enforced by tourism authorities. It’s a policy solution worth exploring.
Until policy changes, consumers must pressure agencies for transparency and use credit cards where possible.
As someone in the trade, regulation helps the honest operators and weeds out the flies. But enforcement is the bottleneck.
I keep thinking about the driver who stopped because he was unpaid. You can see how quickly a trip unravels when cash and trust break down. Every link failed.
We should also put pressure on review platforms to verify reviews. Fake testimonials make scams look real and mislead customers.
Collective complaints make investigations faster. Victims should file official police reports and also contact the consumer protection board with a compendium of evidence.
If anyone paid via bank transfer, notify your bank immediately and request any possible tracing. It’s not guaranteed but it’s worth trying quickly.
A sad lesson for all: convenience can be costly. Modern travel relies on trust, and when that trust is exploited the damage is huge.
I hope the authorities act fast. Otherwise the market will just adapt and scammers will keep evolving their methods.
Why didn’t they just book everything separately online? Sounds scary, I don’t want that to happen to my family.
Booking separately reduces risk but increases hassle. For big groups, hybrid approaches work: have the leader manage logistics but require independent confirmations for each major item.
Thank you all for the advice and support. We’re now gathering evidence and contacting consumer protection and the media to pursue this properly.
Good luck. I hope you get justice and the money back. Stories like this should be lessons for everyone.