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

[Makara]

10 minutes ago, Justfine said:

43 hours

Why are you counting down hours? 

[newatthis]

35 minutes ago, jackdd said:

I put some effort in trying to discover the truth about this story.

 

In short: NO SCAM

 

In longer:

I made my GF call the police to be sure i don't understand something wrong.

Everybody can stop saying it's a scam, if you don't believe my word and want to confirm it by yourself: Call the Tourist Police in Chiang Mai, they will confirm it.

The two girls were arrested when they tried to exchange the money which was counterfeit.

I have a phone number of a person who can maybe provide more details on this case, but nobody is answering this phone yet, if i should get more infos from there later i will of course share them with you.

Thank you for this. I now apologize for doubting the women's story.

[Justfine]

25 minutes ago, Makara said:

Why are you counting down hours? 

Waiting for evidence.

[jackdd]

Turns out the phone number that we got is not of a person but belongs to the police station where she was taken to after getting arrested.

They saw the missed call and called back. The person who called back couldn't give further details (and the person who is responsible for this case doesn't work on the weekend), but confirmed that they were taken to this police station and the case is currently "under investigation" (not sure how to translate it, but my GF explained it like this to me).

This is the police station: http://phuping.chiangmaipolice.go.th

Edited March 3, 2018 by jackdd

[soalbundy]

3 minutes ago, jackdd said:

Turns out the phone number that we got is not of a person but belongs to the police station where she was taken to after getting arrested.

They saw the missed call and called back. The person who called back couldn't give further details (and the person who is responsible for this case doesn't work on the weekend), but confirmed that they were taken to this police station and the case is currently "under investigation" (not sure how to translate it, but my GF explained it like this to me).

This is the police station: http://phuping.chiangmaipolice.go.th

so these self indulgent, cardboard cut out examples of people may do time after all, they could only benefit from it,they may become real people after their release.

[giddyup]

56 minutes ago, newatthis said:

Thank you for this. I now apologize for doubting the women's story.

Their story could still be BS, it's only their arrest that has been verified.

[jackdd]

5 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Their story could still be BS, it's only their arrest that has been verified.

But whatever the circumstances are exactly, at least we know now that it's not a scam

They got arrested and of course a lawyers costs money. If people want to help them (even if it's the women's own fault) they can of course do it (If they really need 10 thousand are more USD... who knows, i think nobody here can give a reliable judgement of this)

Edited March 3, 2018 by jackdd

[champers]

2 hours ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

 

Well, to be fair people are not going to be rushing donating money to someone who tried to pass counterfeit notes as real.

 

There are people in this country facing poverty and quite frankly dying of hunger, so expect a lot of scepticism here regarding 2 privileged Western ladies. 50k is not a lot of money. My poor Serbian family could come up with that if they pulled together without resorting to humiliation and pity of begging online. At the very last resort, loans are available.

 

Go public asking for money and expect public scrutiny and ridicule

 

And yeah.....I'm not giving a single baht and certainly won't feel bad even though it isn't a "scam". 

 

Good luck anyway.

 

 

Like you, I would feel humiliated; and ashamed; about asking for money online. For far too many, it is an acceptable social norm and for some it is an opportunity to profit financially. 

I don't know if these ladies are scammers or not, but they dug a very deep hole for themselves with some questionable; putting it politely; actions. 

The abusive nature of their "friend" Brandon has done a lot to turn people against them. I hope they get to leave Thailand soon, not too much out if pocket and a lot wiser than when they entered.

[rebo]

4 minutes ago, champers said:

I hope they get to leave Thailand soon, not too much out of pocket ...

I'm sure that also the judge next week will have detailled info about the current amount of money in their gofundme account ... ;-)

[KneeDeep]

5 hours ago, rebo said:

After a new campain was started last night https://www.change.org/p/donald-trump-release-misty-and-danniele it didn't take long until the president was taken out of the game.
20 people signed yet.

 

Something wrong with some of those people;

 

 

[rebo]

15 minutes ago, KneeDeep said:

 

Something wrong with some of those people;

 

 

It was Satan who led them into temptation ... ;-)

Edited March 3, 2018 by rebo

[Henrik Andersen]

2 hours ago, jackdd said:

I put some effort in trying to discover the truth about this story.

 

In short: NO SCAM

 

In longer:

I made my GF call the police to be sure i don't understand something wrong.

Everybody can stop saying it's a scam, if you don't believe my word and want to confirm it by yourself: Call the Tourist Police in Chiang Mai, they will confirm it.

The two girls were arrested when they tried to exchange the money which was counterfeit.

I have a phone number of a person who can maybe provide more details on this case, but nobody is answering this phone yet, if i should get more infos from there later i will of course share them with you.

It is still a scam they just get caught na and now they try scam people for money scam will always be a scam

[KneeDeep]

4 minutes ago, rebo said:

It was Satan who led them into temptation ...

 

It just illustrates the BS that is being fed to the community. That the girls were somehow framed. That someone dropped counterfeit notes in order to snare foreigners and extort them.

[rebo]

5 minutes ago, KneeDeep said:

 

It just illustrates the BS that is being fed to the community. That the girls were somehow framed. That someone dropped counterfeit notes in order to snare foreigners and extort them.

If you'ld know me a little bit longer you wouldn't take me too seriously ...

[KneeDeep]

1 minute ago, rebo said:

If you'ld know me a little bit longer you wouldn't take me too seriously ...

 

My reply was in reference to my previous post and not to yours. Though I quoted you as we were in conversation.  I understood your comment, fully.

[amykat]

2 hours ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

 

Well, to be fair people are not going to be rushing donating money to someone who tried to pass counterfeit notes as real.

 

There are people in this country facing poverty and quite frankly dying of hunger, so expect a lot of scepticism here regarding 2 privileged Western ladies. 50k is not a lot of money. My poor Serbian family could come up with that if they pulled together without resorting to humiliation and pity of begging online. At the very last resort, loans are available.

 

Go public asking for money and expect public scrutiny and ridicule

 

And yeah.....I'm not giving a single baht and certainly won't feel bad even though it isn't a "scam". 

 

Good luck anyway.

 

 

 

You realize don't you, that the funding campaign was not focusing on donations from Thailand?  Just because we are aware of it does not mean they expected money from anybody here.  In the US you are entitled to a defense attorney at no cost if you can't afford one.  People might feel they are helping to provide that. It is considered a right like some countries think about medical care ...you have heard about that I am sure??

 

Debating the issue on a forum is one thing.  Going out of your way to sabotage their funding efforts is quite something else, over and over again!!  All it took was a phone call. As I said on here many times, NOBODY did a damn thing to investigate, just sat on their ass and made wild allegations and stated EMPHATICALLY that the police do NOT know about this case, the courts don't know, the embassy doesn't know, which in fact was a lie. They personally did not know and that was the full extent of it.  Why would they be expected to know?

 

I know about other more serious crimes, where I saw the arrest happen with my own eyes, where I know the people involved, and it was never reported in any papers here.  The press can't report every single crime. The case went fully through the justice system.

 

I have seen several fund me attempts and I have never seen one bill presented or proof of what the money will be spent on or how it will be accounted for later. That seems to be how it works, it you want to give you just do it.  If you personally are thinking of giving and want some proof or have questions, I guess you can write to the organizer and ask? What they did was defamation was it not?  Why didn't they go to the press then and make their wild claims? Oh, because then they would have been forced to back it up, like call the police and check and then their little balloon would have popped and case closed!!

 

(I am not suggesting you did any of these things guyfromanotherforum.)

[marinediscoking]

This sounds like the airport scam my friend got caught up in a few years ago.

 

He was at swampy on his way home and just after checking in he found a "mobile phone" on a counter someone forgot. No one was around or anywhere near him.   He pick it up and after about 5 minutes he went to the restroom and decided to throw it away as maybe it could cause trouble for him and it wasn't a nice phone anyway. As he was coming out of the restroom 3 police approached him and asked for the phone and told him they saw him on CCTV take it even by this point he didn't have it. This is all within 10 minutes.

 

The supposed owner had already made a report and said he wanted him prosecuted. So after about 10 days in jail and a lawyer recommended by the French embassy he paid 200k to settle the case and was released. He thought it was all over but it was just the beginning. 

 

He realized he shouldn't have taken the phone as the law here is anyone in possession of lost property is considered stealing. I have know him for over 10 years and he owns a condo here, has a thai wife and daughter. So he was not a tourists.

 

He was not allowed to leave as he found out and the prosecutor set a court date for about a year later. He was told to plead guilty on the advice of his lawyer paid anther large fine, can't remember that amount and was told he would be able to come back to visit his family anytime.

 

This was not the case when he flew back months later he was told at swampy they could not let him in as he was black listed for 5 years. So for 5 years he had to fly to phnom phen and have his wife and daughter visit him there.

 

What is clear is the phone was bait as I believe the money these girls found on the street was too, they just followed them waiting for them to cash it.

[giddyup]

5 minutes ago, marinediscoking said:

 What is clear is the phone was bait as I believe the money these girls found on the street was too, they just followed them waiting for them to cash it.

Bait that he took and had to pay the consequences. Obviously he went to the restroom to check if the phone was good (expensive) enough to warrant his keeping it. Your friend was a thief. I doubt if the girls were followed to Thailand from Cambodia because of some spirit money (dollars clearly marked COPY) they picked up there.

Edited March 3, 2018 by giddyup

[theguyfromanotherforum]

3 minutes ago, amykat said:

 

You realize don't you, that the funding campaign was not focusing on donations from Thailand?  Just because we are aware of it does not mean they expected money from anybody here.  In the US you are entitled to a defense attorney at no cost if you can't afford one.  People might feel they are helping to provide that. It is considered a right like some countries think about medical care ...you have heard about that I am sure??

 

Debating the issue on a forum is one thing.  Going out of your way to sabotage their funding efforts is quite something else, over and over again!!  All it took was a phone call. As I said on here many times, NOBODY did a damn thing to investigate, just sat on their ass and made wild allegations and stated EMPHATICALLY that the police do NOT know about this case, the courts don't know, the embassy doesn't know, which in fact was a lie. They personally did not know and that was the full extent of it.  Why would they be expected to know?

 

I know about other more serious crimes, where I saw the arrest happen with my own eyes, where I know the people involved, and it was never reported in any papers here.  The press can't report every single crime. The case went fully through the justice system.

 

I have seen several fund me attempts and I have never seen one bill presented or proof of what the money will be spent on or how it will be accounted for later. That seems to be how it works, it you want to give you just do it.  If you personally are thinking of giving and want some proof or have questions, I guess you can write to the organizer and ask? What they did was defamation was it not?  Why didn't they go to the press then and make their wild claims? Oh, because then they would have been forced to back it up, like call the police and check and then their little balloon would have popped and case closed!!

 

(I am not suggesting you did any of these things guyfromanotherforum.)

 

I don't understand. Who's sabotaging?

 

The news was reported on Thai Visa and I am commenting on Thai Visa. This is my second post on this topic.

 

I don't understand what are you on about?

[Makara]

2 minutes ago, marinediscoking said:

This sounds like the airport scam my friend got caught up in a few years ago.

 

He was at swampy on his way home and just after checking in he found a "mobile phone" on a counter someone forgot. No one was around or anywhere near him.   He pick it up and after about 5 minutes he went to the restroom and decided to throw it away as maybe it could cause trouble for him and it wasn't a nice phone anyway. As he was coming out of the restroom 3 police approached him and asked for the phone and told him they saw him on CCTV take it even by this point he didn't have it. This is all within 10 minutes.

 

The supposed owner had already made a report and said he wanted him prosecuted. So after about 10 days in jail and a lawyer recommended by the French embassy he paid 200k to settle the case and was released. He thought it was all over but it was just the beginning. 

 

He realized he shouldn't have taken the phone as the law here is anyone in possession of lost property is considered stealing. I have know him for over 10 years and he owns a condo here, has a thai wife and daughter. So he was not a tourists.

 

He was not allowed to leave as he found out and the prosecutor set a court date for about a year later. He was told to plead guilty on the advice of his lawyer paid anther large fine, can't remember that amount and was told he would be able to come back to visit his family anytime.

 

This was not the case when he flew back months later he was told at swampy they could not let him in as he was black listed for 5 years. So for 5 years he had to fly to phnom phen and have his wife and daughter visit him there.

 

What is clear is the phone was bait as I believe the money these girls found on the street was too, they just followed them waiting for them to cash it.

That is the worst thing I have heard on this forum. All that over a phone... and a baited one? We live in an upside down world. 

[amykat]

1 hour ago, jackdd said:

Turns out the phone number that we got is not of a person but belongs to the police station where she was taken to after getting arrested.

They saw the missed call and called back. The person who called back couldn't give further details (and the person who is responsible for this case doesn't work on the weekend), but confirmed that they were taken to this police station and the case is currently "under investigation" (not sure how to translate it, but my GF explained it like this to me).

This is the police station: http://phuping.chiangmaipolice.go.th

What she means is this:

 

The Thai Judicial Process

Arrest: Police may hold you for questioning for up to 48 hours without judicial review. Then, police must either release you or take you before a judge for a “show cause” hearing. There, the judge will either order your release or decide that there are reasonable grounds to continue detention for 12 days while the alleged crime is investigated.

 

Investigative Detention: At this point, police will transfer you from their holding cell to a remand prison. (See “The Thai Penal System,” below.) Until the prosecutor files charges, a judge must reauthorize detention every 12 days. A judge may authorize a maximum of seven 12-day investigative detention periods (84 days total). For most offenses, there is the possibility of release on bail, but you must usually provide cash or assets located in Thailand as surety.

 

Filing Charges: No later than 91 days after your arrest (84 days of investigation, plus 7 days for prosecutorial review), the prosecutor must file formal charges. If the judge agrees with the charges, the case enters the pre-trial period. Your attorney, the prosecutor and the court will negotiate a trial date based on their schedules and availability.

Pre-Trial: This period can last a few weeks or a few months depending on the court’s caseload and the negotiated trial date. There is no discovery process in the Thai court system, so you will not have access to evidence before the trial. In general, there is little you can do to affect the way your case is presented. Most Thai attorneys make these decisions with little consultation with their clients.

 

This is from US Embassy website ...there is more if you want to look it up.  I posted this before in the thread.

 

 

[giddyup]

1 minute ago, Makara said:

That is the worst thing I have heard on this forum. All that over a phone... and a baited one? We live in an upside down world. 

Why, because he got sprung stealing a phone, a bait or not?

[amykat]

2 minutes ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

 

I don't understand. Who's sabotaging?

 

The news was reported on Thai Visa and I am commenting on Thai Visa. This is my second post on this topic.

 

I don't understand what are you on about?

 

I am just summing up what many people did on this thread and some of them went on to their FB pages and wrote things, and on to the funding sites or other people in Thailand did such things. They also put a link to this thread in those places so that people could come here and read all this garbage.  If you were not following thread, than you wouldn't be aware ...I just wrote my thoughts here, not to you specifically.

[theguyfromanotherforum]

Just now, amykat said:

 

I am just summing up what many people did on this thread and some of them went on to their FB pages and wrote things, and on to the funding sites or other people in Thailand did such things. They also put a link to this thread in those places so that people could come here and read all this garbage.  If you were not following thread, than you wouldn't be aware ...I just wrote my thoughts here, not to you specifically.

 

Ah, ok I get it.

 

 

 

 

[Makara]

2 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Why, because he got sprung stealing a phone, a bait or not?

 

2 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Why, because he got sprung stealing a phone, a bait or not?

Honestly baiting a phone, thief or not is crazy to me. I don't really see that kind of stuff over here--not with cell phones for certain. Baiting with cellphones, that is--no words.

[scorecard]

56 minutes ago, rebo said:

It was Satan who led them into temptation ... ;-)

 

But they were on a meditation trip...

[Henrik Andersen]

35 minutes ago, marinediscoking said:

This sounds like the airport scam my friend got caught up in a few years ago.

 

He was at swampy on his way home and just after checking in he found a "mobile phone" on a counter someone forgot. No one was around or anywhere near him.   He pick it up and after about 5 minutes he went to the restroom and decided to throw it away as maybe it could cause trouble for him and it wasn't a nice phone anyway. As he was coming out of the restroom 3 police approached him and asked for the phone and told him they saw him on CCTV take it even by this point he didn't have it. This is all within 10 minutes.

 

The supposed owner had already made a report and said he wanted him prosecuted. So after about 10 days in jail and a lawyer recommended by the French embassy he paid 200k to settle the case and was released. He thought it was all over but it was just the beginning. 

 

He realized he shouldn't have taken the phone as the law here is anyone in possession of lost property is considered stealing. I have know him for over 10 years and he owns a condo here, has a thai wife and daughter. So he was not a tourists.

 

He was not allowed to leave as he found out and the prosecutor set a court date for about a year later. He was told to plead guilty on the advice of his lawyer paid anther large fine, can't remember that amount and was told he would be able to come back to visit his family anytime.

 

This was not the case when he flew back months later he was told at swampy they could not let him in as he was black listed for 5 years. So for 5 years he had to fly to phnom phen and have his wife and daughter visit him there.

 

What is clear is the phone was bait as I believe the money these girls found on the street was too, they just followed them waiting for them to cash it.

Follow them from Cambodia to Thailand come on man

 

[rebo]

32 minutes ago, scorecard said:

 

But they were on a meditation trip...

This may be the reason why Satan chose just them ...

[marinediscoking]

27 minutes ago, Henrik Andersen said:

Follow them from Cambodia to Thailand come on man

 

Haven't followed all of the 51 pages, initially I had read they found the money on the street in CM. If it has been established they found the money in Cambodia then it is an entirely different situation and not a set up.

 

The Mods should edit the original news article that started this with the new facts.

Edited March 3, 2018 by marinediscoking

[Justfine]

41 minutes ago, scorecard said:

 

But they were on a meditation trip...

Ok fair enough