Makara

1 hour ago, jenny2017 said:

 Thank you very much for the long post. Would you mind to share where the two women are now, today on the 21st of March 2018? 

Thailand. Literally read back for yourself.

Their passports have been confiscated and held. They have to check back every 12 days until the investigation is over and they go to court.

Which seems that the authorities will postpone and drag out the process on purpose--and have done so.

46 minutes ago, Crash999 said:

I think it’s most likely C. Though I’m sure their lawyer will be advising them to admit to only B. 

 

B is possible but I think unlikely given the circumstances. A is also possible as they never posted any evidence and strangely there was no local news coverage. But I think it’s unlikely too as they had posted some details difficult to know unless one has had an encounter with the police. 

 

Kudos on you Makara for being polite and reasonable in the face of so much skepticism. 

 

The reason there are a lot of cynics is because there have been so many previous cases of people claiming to be scammed, robbed, or losing their stuff only later to find out it wasn’t true. And the initial approach taken by the friends and family of these girls raised a ton of red flags. 

Agreed Crash999, agreed and thank you for the compliment--it is appreciated.

I feel the same way about what some of their friends and significant others did; how they damaged the situation with their approach. Again, their initial reaction was made out of fear and misinformation. Then add the threat (and fear) of the women being in a foreign country and facing foreign judicial system, and a possible prison sentence; so the loved ones felt they had to scramble to figure out how to help finically when none of them really had much to contribute to helping. Enter gofundme here. 

10 hours ago, rebo said:

So it seems time becomes ripe for a survey ;-)

a.: The entire story is a total scam. The initiators want to collect as much as possible to enrich themselves. Nobody was ever accused/arrested.
b.: The girls found - whereever, however - these notes, didn't recognize them as counterfeit and did'nt hand them in to L&F. Planned to use the 1'000 $ for their own purpose. They where arrested while trying to exchange them and on bail now, waiting for their trial.
c.: They found - however - these notes, recognized them as fake but tried to exchange them in another country thinking they wouldn't be identified as fakes over there. Arrested and on bail they are waiting for the court hearing.
My own vote goes for c..

I hope it is B. I hope it is not C. Only they know... and whichever one it is they are facing their own punishment. It is definitely not A. 

9 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Look at their eyes.,,,

Would you date these girls??

In my opinion this has nothing to do with the conversation of this thread and should be removed from the admin. 

30 minutes ago, ericthai said:

Marka, you've taken allot of heat here and sorry about that, but this is typical TV. 

 

I'm on the boarder line if the girls got arrested or not.  The story about not knowing the money was fake is really difficult for me to understand.  They had to know it was fake. Have you ever seen or touched spirit money?  As soon as you touch it you know it's not real, it's way too light. I believe they found it and thought it's so close the the Thai's will never know. 

 

As for not hearing anything from the police or papers, that is odd as typically the police love to show off they caught foreigners doing something wrong.  

 

The girls boyfriend that setup the go fund me page is a real winner.  Anyone that questions that it's real he lets loose with a bunch of profanity, which just makes the whole thing look bad. 

 

I get that you and her friends dont believe it's a scam, as they are  asking friends and family for money. However, after living in working in Thailand for over 20 years I have seen people make up stories to tell family back home to get some money to stay longer. I know a guy that told him mom in the UK that he had to get operated on. He went to the hospital for something minor and then came up with this idea.  I know a guy that told his family he was arrested and needed money to pay the police and so on. I think allot the posters that have lived in Thailand a long time have seen and heard the same, that is way there is so much skepticism about this story.  Not sure any of us will ever know the real truth.

Thank you for being reasonable in your response and not throwing daggers. I have asked about the lack of media presence from a friend who is from Thailand, among other people and from my understanding there can be reasons for the lack of media exposure. It seems a lot of things revolve around money and pay-offs all across the board. As an American this is beyond foreign to me, and call me naive or whatever but I was shocked to hear from several sources how things happen over there when faced with these kind of issues and or similar issues. It is pretty cut and dry here when you get in trouble--commit an act--go to jail--depending on crime bail set (usually extremely high so you can't pay it) then you stay in jail until court. Then it is left to the lawyers to paint the story to the judge and juror. There it sounds like a lot of hoops to jump through, money involved from all directions, applied stress and pressure to try and break you down further (especially as a foreigner). Long drawn out process on purpose. Then add being a foreigner and not knowing who to believe or trust. I have heard the word pay-off umpteen-million times when people give me inside view as to what could be happening. I have also heard that the authorities in this situation have been extremely nice. But all in all it sounds like a very confusing process. It has also been explained to me that not every foreigner situation gets media. This seems to be one of them. IDK maybe I am wrong and what everyone has said to me is wrong. There is a lot of pieces to this puzzle--I get that--and it is not up to me to share any and all info I have. I won't do that. It is frustrating to me to know the back side of the story and watch all these people only make assumptions. But thanks for being kind. 

Just now, Makara said:

Perhaps I say the same things, make the same points because they are all true! You don't care to hear the truth. You really want these women to be making up this story and really want this to be a scam, so you can be "right" but sorry to say your outrageous speculations are off base and farther than the truth. The only reason why I came on here was to spread the truth. I have been called a troll, a sammer, a liar, a fraud, a lowlife and all sorts of things. But nobody has stopped to think that maybe the reason I come on here is for good not bad. A lot of you are very quick in your judgements rather than stopping and thinking for a second that what I may be saying is true. I'm not a fraud, a liar, a scammer, a lowlife, a bad person. I will not give any of their personal info to please this forum. That doesn't make this story a scam or untrue. 

 

Really it doesn't matter what I say most of you spin it the way you want, make up your own speculation and stories in your heads. I clearly know more than you in this situation, but it doesn't matter. 

I am thinking after reading the qoute again that it was for AmyKat but what I said still applies! 

Just now, Makara said:

Perhaps I say the same things, make the same points because they are all true! You don't care to hear the truth. You really want these women to be making up this story and really want this to be a scam, so you can be "right" but sorry to say your outrageous speculations are off base and farther than the truth. The only reason why I came on here was to spread the truth. I have been called a troll, a sammer, a liar, a fraud, a lowlife and all sorts of things. But nobody has stopped to think that maybe the reason I come on here is for good not bad. A lot of you are very quick in your judgements rather than stopping and thinking for a second that what I may be saying is true. I'm not a fraud, a liar, a scammer, a lowlife, a bad person. I will not give any of their personal info to please this forum. That doesn't make this story a scam or untrue. 

 

Really it doesn't matter what I say most of you spin it the way you want, make up your own speculation and stories in your heads. I clearly know more than you in this situation, but it doesn't matter. 

I am thinking after reading the qoute again that it was for AmyKat but what I said still applies! 

2 hours ago, sanemax said:

All the points that she raises have been answered numerous times in this thread and she just keeps on making the same points over and over again 

Perhaps I say the same things, make the same points because they are all true! You don't care to hear the truth. You really want these women to be making up this story and really want this to be a scam, so you can be "right" but sorry to say your outrageous speculations are off base and farther than the truth. The only reason why I came on here was to spread the truth. I have been called a troll, a sammer, a liar, a fraud, a lowlife and all sorts of things. But nobody has stopped to think that maybe the reason I come on here is for good not bad. A lot of you are very quick in your judgements rather than stopping and thinking for a second that what I may be saying is true. I'm not a fraud, a liar, a scammer, a lowlife, a bad person. I will not give any of their personal info to please this forum. That doesn't make this story a scam or untrue. 

Really it doesn't matter what I say most of you spin it the way you want, make up your own speculation and stories in your heads. I clearly know more than you in this situation, but it doesn't matter. 

6 hours ago, ChouDoufu said:

not entirely correct.  i've got some cambodian ghost money right here

next to me that i picked up while traveling.  have posted photos previously.

 

printed on cheap recycled paper, but won't disintgrate when wet.  will

wrinkle, mud stains will be permanent.

 

not all have "copy" or alterations to the printing.  some are simply

exact copies on plain paper.

So as you just said not all have the word copy on them. Both of these bills are fake monies or "ghost monies?" 

Some of these stories are getting elaborate. They did not find up to 50 bills, they did not try to exchange all of the money. And just to stick up for the women here, on my friends page which is private there was pictures of that day as they set off for thier biking/backpacking journey. In all of the pictures there were rainclouds in the sky and muddy roads. Yeah so we have dry season here too, and yes in our summer it does randomly rain. Are you telling me (not who I qouted in paticular) but for the whole forum that it had never rained in Cambodia during that time. Damn wow I am so AMAZED at her EXTERME Photoshop skills. Smh.

I will also say this...do people really think that they took wet and dirty bills in to exchange? I mean common sense tells me that any person who found money and thought it was real would dry them and clean them off regardless if they were going to turn them in or not!

Some people's ridiculous speculations are so off base. What's even more ridiculous is you would rather continue on with speculations than listen to a word I have said. 

2 hours ago, smx1313 said:

Not supporting or condemning the women's story. Like most of the posters here I'm just playing armchair detective:

 

A few pages back someone here made basically the same point about the Trump petition.  It is evidence of 

the most popular theory about this matter, it's a scam. 

I'll reiterate my response to them. Based on Facebook posts that I read, my gut feeling is that someone not involved with the case believed the solution to this was to have Trump intervene on behalf of the women. They then took it upon themselves to start and promote the petition.

 

I agree with you on the point that it is an odd endeavor.   

 

@smx1313   Literally when I saw that petition posted on gofundme I didn't know if I should laugh, get pissed, or what. I did however shake my head. I also wonder if it was someone's joke. A lot of people are being real awful towards these women. Complete strangers--I will never understand this type of behavior. The one odd thing I noticed about that ridiculous petition is the person's name that posted it, looked as if it had changed from one day to the next. I call fake trolling.

It certainly didn't help with their "watch out everyone it is a scam" allegations. As you and I know the women had nothing to do with that. 

32 minutes ago, kevozman1 said:

See if all they did was find a petty sum of fakes, and tried to exchange them, I hope they get off lightly and can return home quickly. That is small time and there are regular heinous acts that occur in Thailand that go unpunished.

 

Thing is, I have been about, an offense like this involving foreigners not hitting the media in Thailand is incredibly fishy. I am calling BS on the whole affair unless someone can show some evidence.

The admin has made it clear stating personal information on this forum is against the rules. People are asking for proof which you have got on this thread. Bangkok Post had a small article on this, Coconuts wrote an article, 2 US articles, a person on this forum got information from the police of their arrest, I know one of the women arrested, but none of that is good enough for some of you. Because it is not plastered on every media station or paper there you claim it is fishy or a scam. Yet somehow you guys want personal information such as arrest record, proof of lawyer, proof of paid bail, date of next court date, if the gofundme money has been withdrawn and what the gofundme money is being spent on, where they are staying and a bunch of other things asking for proof which the admin clearly stated is against the rules! And really is not okay to post on a public forum. We have gave proof, articles have been written, people on here investigated and came up with that they indeed where arrested, yet, YET, none of that is good enough. 

34 minutes ago, rott said:

They found money and tried to "turn it in" at a currency exchange. That is part of why it is hard to believe.

Why, they found money in a remote place while backpacking and it was on a muddy road strewn about, dirtied, tattered and thought it was real money. So they went to exchange it. The right thing would have been to turn it in after they found it. And if it actually was real and the authorities kept it (as I have heard WOULD happen) then the karma would have been placed on their hands. My personal thought is they should not have kept what they thought was real money. But they are not me. They made the wrong choice and are now in this mess. That's the real truth.

37 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

 

I believe you.

I hope so, and honestly I have empathy for the people who believe this is a scam or really want to believe it is a scam. It must be difficult to live in an environment where something like this is just so plausible, and that the people truly think that they started this scheme as an idea, and then began planting things on fb posts so they could get all these people on board to start gofundme pages and then to donate money just to have $ to extend their vacation (or some crap like that). Some of the things I have heard on here have been so outrageous that I have to find empathy for such misguided thoughts. I also will find empathy for all the people judging, calling lowlife and scrutinizing characters of which they know nothing about. I asked once in this thread if it was your own family or friend would would be so cruel? The answer was "we are not blinded by family ties, these are strangers." So not really answering the question at all. I am positive if something similar was happening to their aunt, mother, father, husband, wife, etc, they would not be on here calling them lowlife or any other awful things that have been said. Perhaps they would be giving or raising money some way or another, to help get them a lawyer and pay fines/bail. So easy to judge a complete stranger yeah? But if it is a loved one, bet it wouldn't be so easy then. And for the people stating they should get the 15 years makes me think they really hate Western women. See the funny thing about life is some are so quick to hate our differences yet we are so much more similar than we think. I will continue to empathize and not hate or wish ill will, or name call (especially in this situation) when it just isn't needed.

31 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

 

If you think it's all fake you should contact the police department in the jurisdiction of the originator of the GFM page. If it's not fake I'd like to know how it all turns out.

For the love of god... It's not fake. They tried to turn in money they found, and found out it was fake at the exchanger and got arrested. Then a bunch of misinformation happened while in jail stating they would need 30-40,000 each for any legal help and their siginifact others started gofundme pages for FRIENDS, FRIENDS OF FRIENDS, AND FAMILY to donate. Found out later after misinformation subsided that it wouldn't be that much, so they lowered the cap to 15,000. They are off on bail, await trial, can't leave Thailand, may go to prison, may just pay the fines and be banned. Won't know till court is over. I have been told the process can be extremly slow and various amount of things happen during the process.

How is this so hard to believe? Literally how?

51 minutes ago, KneeDeep said:

 

So why did you come here in the first place?

To leech off the resource, but to give nothing back?

What about your stated aims of "giving forward"?

.

No need for you to 'waist'(sic) "your breath" as you put it....as if somehow you are saving oxygen by not posting here.

Ridiculous.

I'll stick with my initial opinion, thank you.

All involved are simply low life in one way or another. 

None of your statement makes sense:

A: I came here to stop the rumor of scam

A: I did not leech off of any resource including yours (I did not need to prove if they were arrested or not--why it's not getting Thai media is a question to the officials.)

A: I merely stated "paying it forward" is similar to what gofundme is--what do I need to do here to "pay it forward"...that's right nothing, especially since paying it forward has to do with money. Like for instance, I walk into a coffee shop, I give the barista an extra 15 dollars and tell her to buy the next 3 coffees. There for I paid it forward.

So I say it is pointless because no matter what I say, most will only hear what they want. Believe what they want. Once all is said and done and they go to the courts and face whatever punishment occurs (and my personal hope is that they do not spend much or any time in prison there) then I may come back to prove once and for all this was not some scam to gain money from gofundme. The fact is they did not have the kind of funds to fight this case and family and friends donated to help the young women fight this in a foreign country they are not familiar with. Friends of friends donated too. This was not some elaborate made up scam to doop the public. That is what I find most ridiculous. @Kneedeep I don't need a journalist and that is why I did not contact them. They were arrested. There is a court date. They are facing their punishment. Don't ask me for proof. This is a public forum and it is none of anyones business the exact date they go to court. Just because I don't share this info does not mean it's a lie, though I am sure some of you will say so. It is beyond clear that the judicial system there is completely different than how we do it in the states. In fact there are not a lot of similarities at all! I came on here purely for the constant blame of this being some elaborate scam and to say this is no scam, they were arrested and facing punishment. I could tell you what I believe and know happened as far as the "fake money" goes but you guys wouldn't care or will find an excuse to say whatever I am saying is false, so I will not waist my breath. 

11 hours ago, smx1313 said:

To be fair I don't think the petition was something they started. From reading the Facebook postings at the beginning of all this it seems that someone thought, for whatever reason, that Trump should intervene. They then took it upon themselves to start the petition. 

Bingo. Wasn't them at all

12 hours ago, KneeDeep said:

Makara appears to have slunk away.

 

Just amykat left, putting up a robust defence for the alleged fraudsters.

I haven't gone anywhere just dealing with you guys is pointless.

7 hours ago, amykat said:

What the hell, I made a post  ..many people saw it, but you did not. In the meantime it got deleted, so I cannot give you the number of it. I tried to explain what happened that you are missing, it is not a large conspiracy  against you. C'est tout.

I saw the post. But let me guess they will just claim I am lying too.

And I guess the Bangkok Post that reported the story (a poster just stated yesterday) isn't legitimate enough for anyone. Yes, oh, yes, you guys are so right...It is just an elaborate scam. Lol.

It's hopeless. 

2 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Be specific.

I am trying to figure out why you only narrowed in on the word scrutiny from my last post, and nothing else. It seems useless to be specific and argue my points with you. They have been scrutinized from strangers from various places on various social medias. Across the board means exactly that, from every angle. 

1 minute ago, giddyup said:

What kind of scrutiny? Are you talking about all the theorising on this forum? Besides here, who else is scrutinising them?

Scrutiny across the board. 

1 minute ago, giddyup said:

What kind of scrutiny? Are you talking about all the theorising on this forum? Besides here, who else is scrutinising them?

Scrutiny across the board.