Two American women held in Thailand after allegedly caught with fake US dollars

[Prince77]

1 hour ago, yogavnture said:

ok . lets get the story first. u are saying they found the money in a bag in Cambodia. and apparently brought it to Thailand and tryed to exhange it here. did they know it was fake money. that is key here.........because if they didnt . i still dont see the crime here. yes they should have reported the money. as a good person. but they did not steal the money. i still think they should be given  a break.   but i am american myself.  

So everybody who tries to exchange fake money should walk free by claiming it was found? Well, I will consider to change my business then.

[amykat]

3 hours ago, Henrik Andersen said:

I wonder about this 

Do you have any connections to this ladies or family because it's seems like you know more about this end we do I have sit read all the comments and you have a very different opinions as meny members in this tread my personal opinion is they have used fake money in US as well in Cambodia and get caught in Thailand I hope someone can verify this story as a real story because meaby it is just a scam for making money on fundraising 

I have talked about this to a friend there are a police officer in Chang rai but she don't know anything about this case but she will try find out more about it 

No, I don't know anybody involved.

[Prince77]

4 hours ago, scorecard said:

 

And it seems that Brandon is the person who actually started the gofundme activity.

 

All of it reeks of unethical and poor morals attitudes and behaviors. 

 

 

I commented on the FB page yesterday and Brandon was fast and furious with comments - wanted to kick-in my door... and equal nonsense. I advised him with his rude words and attitude he is a perfect candidate for a 25 years government sponsored stay in Thailand.  The whole story does not add up and jams on all corners and joints.

 

[Reedey]

American pie in the sky me thinks

[sanemax]

3 hours ago, yogavnture said:

ok . lets get the story first.

Read the whole thread, instead of us having to go back to the beginning and start all over again for your benefit, just because you cannot be bothered to read all the posts 

[sanemax]

3 hours ago, yogavnture said:

i dont see the crime here. if they found money on street. is that a crime? 

It isnt a crime to find money, but its a crime to keep it .

Finding an item and keeping it is theft .

[KneeDeep]

5 hours ago, yogavnture said:

ok . lets get the story first. u are saying they found the money in a bag in Cambodia. and apparently brought it to Thailand and tryed to exhange it here. did they know it was fake money. that is key here.........because if they didnt . i still dont see the crime here. yes they should have reported the money. as a good person. but they did not steal the money. i still think they should be given  a break.   but i am american myself.  

 

The hole in their "honest mistake", "cultural misunderstanding" and "innocents abroad" defence is that each and every note of Cambodian spirit money has "copy" printed on to it.

The claim is that they didn't notice it because the found the notes in a puddle, so they were covered in mud......see where I am going with this?

They had this money in their possession for up to four days, during which time they travelled from Cambodia to Thailand.

It is highly unlikely that someone who handles cash on a daily basis as a bartender will fail to see the word "copy" on any of the notes. They must have had at least ten, perhaps twenty notes.

 

These girls are no innocents. They tried to pull a fast one and got into more trouble than they expected.

[KneeDeep]

The note at the bottom is Cambodian spirit money.

Could you miss the word "copy" on all of the notes?

[yogavnture]

1 hour ago, sanemax said:

It isnt a crime to find money, but its a crime to keep it .

Finding an item and keeping it is theft .

who would they return it too?  

[yogavnture]

ok what are the basics of the story. did they find the money? or not........did they know it was fake?  or not

[KneeDeep]

1 minute ago, yogavnture said:

ok what are the basics of the story. did they find the money? or not........did they know it was fake?  or not

Refer to posts #434 & #435

[yogavnture]

6 minutes ago, KneeDeep said:

Refer to posts #434 & #435

i never proposed i was an expert on counterfeit money. im just saying that maybe the girls did find the money. and maybe they didnt know it was fake. thats all im saying. if they did know it was fake then i think they should be punished. but if they didnt i think they should be given some slack.  why does everyone want to lynch at first glance.  what happened to innocent until proven guilty

[yogavnture]

u are probably right. as an American. they have obviously seen alot of us currency over the years......so if the bills did say copy on them . i would assume they would have known they were fake. but seems a pretty stupid thing to do. the thais dont miss much. and they look at bills with a critical eye. the girls would have never gotten away with it.  so it was a stupid move. but still it was 1000 dollars.  cmon,  12 years in prison for 1000 dollars?  in the us that is 4 hours lawyers fees

[ChouDoufu]

the question is whether or not they intentionally

tried to pass counterfeit currency.  if so, then that

would be considered felony fraud.  punishment

if convicted in the us would be fine up to $15K

and/or 15 years in prison.

[KneeDeep]

6 minutes ago, yogavnture said:

u are probably right. as an American. they have obviously seen alot of us currency over the years......so if the bills did say copy on them . i would assume they would have known they were fake. but seems a pretty stupid thing to do. the thais dont miss much. and they look at bills with a critical eye. the girls would have never gotten away with it.  so it was a stupid move. but still it was 1000 dollars.  cmon,  12 years in prison for 1000 dollars?  in the us that is 4 hours lawyers fees

 

They aren't going to get twelve years in prison.

They tell one story on GoFundMe to get money and probably quite another where they are.

The point is that we know that it wasn't an honest mistake. 

They are just lowlife.

If they initially thought it was real, they were taking money out of the pocket of someone from a relatively poor country. Once they found out it was fake, they tried to cash in anyway.

So no matter how they tell the story, they come out badly.

Of course assuming that their story is true in the first place.

[yogavnture]

4 minutes ago, KneeDeep said:

 

They aren't going to get twelve years in prison.

They tell one story on GoFundMe to get money and probably quite another where they are.

The point is that we know that it wasn't an honest mistake. 

They are just lowlife.

If they initially thought it was real, they were taking money out of the pocket of someone from a relatively poor country. Once they found out it was fake, they tried to cash in anyway.

So no matter how they tell the story, they come out badly.

Of course assuming that their story is true in the first place.

so it seems they were just stupid.  i wouldnt say low life. just stupid to think they would somehow get this by the thais. nothing gets by the thais.........i was recently on lomprayah ferry and they have a sign that says if you try to go to a destination on the ferry other than the paid destination.  lomprayah reserves the right to charge you 50 times more the ticket price. so in the end  , i guess the go fund me page is gonna be money to pay off the cops.......

[yogavnture]

 

i think josh misspelled some words . but yours is perfect English.  im still confused on how these girls thought they would pull the rug over the thais.  can we give fake money to their go fund me page?

Edited March 1, 2018 by yogavnture
spelling

[ericthai]

18 hours ago, lannarebirth said:

 

I think I have a pretty good idea of how the system works. If charges are not brought the police split the money to have made it go away. If charges are brought the prosecutor gets the money to make it go away.  They both live in homes much nicer than their paychecks would allow for.

To say either the police or a prosecutor gets the money to let you go free I dont think that is always the case, as for some reason the jails are overcrowded.   

 

I recall a certain PM had his lawyer meet with the prosecutor and gave him a donut box full of money.  The prosecutor refused the money and the lawyer said he didn't know what was in the box.  

[rebo]

4 minutes ago, ericthai said:

I dont think that is always the case, as for some reason the jails are overcrowded.

Of course, not always, but often. And the jails are overcrowded because most people here simply don't have the money demanded (and don't know about gofundme ...).

[Basil B]

Personally it would cost Thailand a lot to hold them, try them and then imprison them.

 

Just send them back to Uncle Sam with the dodgy cash, America does not take kindly to those counterfeiting it currency...

[Waterman1]

I am looking forward to the Netflix movie of this due out in August of 2032.  It is an ambitious goal to have it air within two months of their scheduled release date.  They have secured Ellen DeGeneres and Rosanne Barr to play the aging travelers. So far no word on any younger actresses willing to take a part that would make them appear so stupid. As one girl was heard to say “I would just hate to be typecast as an idiot for the rest of my career.”

[Calover]

5 hours ago, KneeDeep said:

The note at the bottom is Cambodian spirit money.

Could you miss the word "copy" on all of the notes?

See the copy or not..... There is no way it would feel like real usa money and it definitely would not have all the other counterfeit measures.

 

Guilty as sin.  They got it in Cambodia washed off the copy ink and tried to exchange in thailand thinking they would get away with it.  

[metisdead]

A post that contained profane content that was copy and pasted from the gofundme site has been removed:

 

8) You will not post disruptive or inflammatory messages, vulgarities, obscenities or profanities.

[BobbyL]

Just catching up on this story after yesterday's bank holiday.

 

 

 

 

[OldSiamHand]

23 hours ago, sanemax said:

No, the maximum time that the Thai Police can keep you held is 48 hours and they are held at a Police station whilst being investigated .

    After 48 hours , the Police either have to Charge you or free you .

If you get charged and taken to Court , you may then get remanded in prison to await your Court case OR given bail or sentenced there and then .

You do not get held in prison without the Court sending you there 

They can keep you for up to 84 days during an investigation and before bringing charges.  This is equal to 7 12-day periods, and each period after the initial 12 days has to be approved by a court, which it routinely is.

[scorecard]

14 hours ago, Prince77 said:

I commented on the FB page yesterday and Brandon was fast and furious with comments - wanted to kick-in my door... and equal nonsense. I advised him with his rude words and attitude he is a perfect candidate for a 25 years government sponsored stay in Thailand.  The whole story does not add up and jams on all corners and joints.

 

 

I wonder if the gofundme admin. staff ever monitor such activity (many negative comments quickly removed by brandon etc etc) and ask the likes of brandon to explain and if there is doubt then block and further donations being received?

 

Further, I wonder if gofundme have the mechanisms to return donations if it's clearly proven it's a scam? 

 

Further, I wonder whether the donations are quickly passed to the organizer (brandon) or is there a waiting period?

 

 

[scorecard]

27 minutes ago, OldSiamHand said:

They can keep you for up to 84 days during an investigation and before bringing charges.  This is equal to 7 12-day periods, and each period after the initial 12 days has to be approved by a court, which it routinely is.

 

Anybody know where the two girls are now?

 

 

[sanemax]

1 hour ago, OldSiamHand said:

They can keep you for up to 84 days during an investigation and before bringing charges.  This is equal to 7 12-day periods, and each period after the initial 12 days has to be approved by a court, which it routinely is.

That is what I said :

   The Police can arrest you and keep you for 48 hours , then they have to put you in Court and they decide your fate

[Makara]

Well I gotta say I am quite saddened to see some of this conversation, and in the same breath I understand some of the concerns and why there’s such broad speculation happening.

 

Let me clear a few things up, and reiterate that I too have a lot of legitimate questions, some unanswered as of now, and some answered.

 

Let’s start with the clearing up that his is not a scam. I can see why so many people think so. To be honest I was so concerned by the discrepancies from one article to another, from one update to the next, from one fb post (statement) to the next post, from one group funding to the next, and I was starting to fear in the beginning stages that they were kidnapped. Luckily my worst nightmare was not the case, at least 95% sure now.

 

These women are real people.

 

What happened really happened.

 

Their significant others are real people and not trying to scam the public. With that being said a lot of this was done (such as gofundme pages) out of emotional response of their young significant others, and how the ladies may be in danger/trouble, as well as what was being told to them as far as how much money they were going to need for everything. There is no plan to take peoples money. And most of the donors are friends, know them, family, or friends of friends. The last thing people are going to do so publicly, is rip people off. I mean do you even understand what would happen to them if this was a scam? This story is extremely public (on our end--US) and they would be in a lot of trouble if this was a scam. So please understand this is not a scam. Put that thought to rest.

 

The Citrus Heights incident in California and their incident are completely separate issues, and have absolutely no connection. Very strange, seems somewhat coincidental, yeah? I know. But it isn't connected.

 

These two women have no criminal background whatsoever. None. Zelch.

 

Were they extremely naive and wrong? Yes. Did they know it was counterfeit--I would hope the f*** not, but only they know, and as it stands I feel like they did not. Would that’ve been how I would have handled the situation? No. Which leads me to the next point  clear up...

 

They did not find the money in a bag, in an envelope, on the side of a street, or took it out of graves. They found the money in a small town in Cambodia, in a remote area where no other people were, in a mud puddle and the money was strewn out down a back road. They assumed it had flew out of someone's pocket that was on a bike. One thing's for certain it was a really dumb move to keep the money, and they did not take the right steps at all in returning the money; I agree with this. I cannot speak for them on the why they did what they did. I can only focus on the now. It is purely up to them to place their defense in Thailand and speak their truth and hope for the best. Are they lowlifes? Seriously!? One can be so judgemental to consider them lowlifes. That’s so incredibly sad that people would truly wish the worse on someone, when this is in no way any type of caliber to murder, or assault, or other horrific crimes on this planet.

 

It’s not up to us to weigh out the morality of their decisions. It is up to us to find out facts. Again, I am not in agreement to what they did and I would have done it differently if I found $1000 USD. But I am not heartless.

 

Reality is, it was fake money, most likely dropped there on purpose (speculation) to stoop someone. I personally wonder if it was spirit money or really good counterfeit money. That question is still unanswered.

 

Before you cast so much hatred and spread so much speculation, perhaps open your heart a little. We are not speaking of a heinous crime involving hurting someone physically. They have to live with this mistake and possible prison time in a country they are not from and do not live in; isn't that enough for the people spitting so much volatile comments.

 

I truly have concerns, I have questions. Some things aren't adding up on how this is being handle on EVERY angle; but instead of going to the worse, saying it is a scam, and claiming they have no moral standards, casting judgement on them, wanting to throw the book at them, maybe we should remember that no matter how undeniably dumb it all sounds, people make mistakes.

 

The people in their corner are not scamming thousands of people in the states. Let that rest.

 

There is a lot to say after all I have seen on this thread, but I will leave at that for now.

[sanemax]

10 hours ago, yogavnture said:

i would assume they would have known they were fake. but seems a pretty stupid thing to do. the thais dont miss much. and they look at bills with a critical eye. the girls would have never gotten away with it.  so it was a stupid move. but still it was 1000 dollars.

They may have though that Thais are simplistic and wouldnt have noticed fake money. And they proabably thought that the money changer would just refuse to change the money and nothing more would come of it

   And they probably thought that they could just say "We found it and didnt know that it was fake" and that would be the end of it .