I would recommend that others should book this in advance with their travel agent if possible...it saves a lot of worrying. We finally made it to the Grand Palace today. After being told twice that the place was closed we found the front door and made it in. We read about this scam in the guidebooks but still fell for it. Frequently people, even those who appear to be officials or representatives, will tell you that the site is closed in an effort to get you to go shopping instead of visiting the site. Ignore them. The site is open from 0830 to 1530 each day and the only entrance is on the north side. Once in you can visit both the palace and the Wat (temple) which is located inside. In the temple is the famed Jade Buddha which is very neat to see.