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

[Paul Catton]

To be fair with Amykat, it would appear she has been through quite a fair bit of crap through the last decade living in Thailand.

Her resolve of provision for her adopted daughter speaks volumes that many wouldn't undertake.

Defending gender by virtue of gender was perhaps instinctive but in hindsight naive on this forum.

Wish you all the best for seamless transition back to America.

 

[Kieran00001]

39 minutes ago, Paul Catton said:

When making generalization I do not hid behind anonymity.

i.am nether a bigot nor a card carrying member of the Patrichiacy, must have slept in when they were issued.

 

Your generalisations on feminism might amount to bigotry, actually.

[sanemax]

1 minute ago, Paul Catton said:

To be fair with Amykat, it would appear she has been through quite a fair bit of crap through the last decade living in Thailand.

Her resolve of provision for her adopted daughter speaks volumes that many wouldn't undertake.

 

That has nothing to do with this thread though .

She needs to keep her own personal life separate from the matter of the O.P.

They are two completely separate issues, which should not over lap

[scorecard]

4 minutes ago, sanemax said:

You cannot be bothered to read back through the highlights of this thread and you expect me to be bothered to write a summary for you to read !!!!!!!!!!

 

So:

 

- Has the case come up in court in Chiang Mai?

 

- Any result / - are they still out bail?

 

- Have they left Thailand?

 

 

 

[pistachios]

15 minutes ago, sanemax said:

You cannot be bothered to read back through the highlights of this thread and you expect me to be bothered to write a summary for you to read !!!!!!!!!!

Well, pretty much.

 Unless you can point me to the location of those highlights.

[sanemax]

6 minutes ago, scorecard said:

 

So:

- Has the case come up in court in Chiang Mai?

- Any result / - are they still out bail?

- Have they left Thailand?

There doesnt seem to have been any updated information at all , not even proof of being arrested, let alone any Court dates .

   Still no proof that they even tried to change the fake money in the first place and no proof that they ever got arrested .

   I have a feeling that there will soon be an update saying something like *We went to a private Court , got fined all the money raised and are now in Bali and signed a secrecy agreement  , thanks for your help everyone*

[HLover]

Probably all fake, to cash in on the Go Fund Me campaign.

[sanemax]

2 minutes ago, HLover said:

Probably all fake, to cash in on the Go Fund Me campaign.

That is what I believe .

They found the fake money in Cambodia and thought "this looks real"

We could take it to Thailand and change it into Baht there , they might not notice and if they do notice , they just wont change the money , if we get caught , we could start a gofundme page and they will pay all out costs .

    Hey, lets not even bother to try to change the money , lets just start a GFM page to get money instead , that way, we get money and theres no possibility of getting in trouble and no one will ever know .

[smx1313]

7 minutes ago, sanemax said:

That is what I believe .

They found the fake money in Cambodia and thought "this looks real"

We could take it to Thailand and change it into Baht there , they might not notice and if they do notice , they just wont change the money , if we get caught , we could start a gofundme page and they will pay all out costs .

    Hey, lets not even bother to try to change the money , lets just start a GFM page to get money instead , that way, we get money and theres no possibility of getting in trouble and no one will ever know .

I'm with you for about 1/2 of that.

Just based on their social media they remind me of a lot of people I grew up with.

Hippies with good intentions but sometimes ignorant about life outside of their world. Unfortunately, they sometimes get wrapped up in petty scams that they find ways to justify as harmless, mere mischief or Robin Hood like.

 

So heres my theory.

They came across the spirit money in Cambodia, maybe they even heard some backpacker stoner hippy bullshit about people exchanging the spirit money in other countries. Maybe they found it in the road and for a split second thought it was real.

That was the spark of the plan. That split second. 

They brought it to Thailand with the intention of exchanging it, thinking that Thai's wouldn't be able to see that it was fake.

If the money was rejected they would say "What? It's not real? How silly of me! I thought it was authentic! Oh well, swadi ka, namaste luv you bye!"

If it passed, well, they're just having a bit a mischievous fun, no harm no foul. The universe is rewarding them for the good energy created by their inner beauty, and meditation and stuff. 

 

It didn't pass.

Shit got real, real fast.

 

[sanemax]

27 minutes ago, smx1313 said:

It didn't pass.

Shit got real, real fast.

 

I do believe that if they had been arrested , a newstory of that caliber would have at last made the local newspaper , more probably , it would have made the National newspapers/media with a photo of them , surrounded the the RTP all pointing at the money.

   All they would have had to have done is to show a copy of their charge sheet, bail sheet or anything official  , with any info which they wanted to be kept secret, hidden .

[jenny2017]

On 3/2/2018 at 8:42 PM, Scott said:

Counterfeit money is handled by the Secret Service.   Usually, people from their home country can tell a fake bank note more easily than a foreigner.   They tend to feel differently.  

 

In the past, both North Korea and Syria were involved in making fake $100 bills.   The cost of producing a good fake was really expensive, though.  

 

I once worked for a US gov't program in Thailand and we had a training session with Secret Service  and they passed around fake notes.   The US citizens almost always could tell the fakes, but the non US citizens had trouble.   Those were all good fakes.  

 

 

       The GoFundMe and You Caring pages are still live and I'd like to know who Brendon Berlanga, Emergencies....from California is. Somebody who doesn't really exist?

 

Brandon Berlanga 

  Emergencies  CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA

[britishrepublican]

I'm sure the Thai authorities will see through this pack of lies. They got caught trying to pass off counterfeit dollars, I hope the Thai authorities throw the book at them.

 

They belong in jail.

[jenny2017]

26 minutes ago, britishrepublican said:

I'm sure the Thai authorities will see through this pack of lies. They got caught trying to pass off counterfeit dollars, I hope the Thai authorities throw the book at them.

 

They belong in jail.

I didn't see any proof that they really got caught passing on fake notes, did you?

[sanemax]

2 hours ago, jenny2017 said:

 

       The GoFundMe and You Caring pages are still live and I'd like to know who Brendon Berlanga, Emergencies....from California is. Somebody who doesn't really exist?

 

Brandon Berlanga 

  Emergencies  CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA

He is one of the girls boyfriend, hes in the USA .

He was the one who posted about Cambodian ATM machines giving out fake US $ bills

[jenny2017]

22 minutes ago, sanemax said:

He is one of the girls boyfriend, hes in the USA .

He was the one who posted about Cambodian ATM machines giving out fake US $ bills

He's also "promoting" another "GoFundMe victim". I had a good laugh when I saw his title:  "Emergencies". A great way to make good money and to finance a new car, holidays, etc...

 

   I do not think that the money came from an ATM, if so they'd have gotten the money back, ATM's have a camera...even in Cambodia.

 

  BTW, since when do ATM's in Cambodia give out American bucks???????????????????????????????????      Cambodian Riel would be more real. 

 

   It's sad that the real victims won't get much attention after such fraudsters. And I'm calling him a fraudster, one of them. 

 

  Perhaps time to write a report to the online cops of Citrus heights...

Edited March 16, 2018 by jenny2017

[ChouDoufu]

unless it's changed in the past couple years, most

atm's that accept foreign cards dispense usd.  was pretty rare to find one that would spit out riel.

Edited March 16, 2018 by ChouDoufu

[jenny2017]

5 minutes ago, ChouDoufu said:

unless it's changed in the past couple years, most

atm's that accept foreign cards dispense usd.  was pretty rare to find one that would spit out riel.

I never withdrew money from an Cambodian ATM, it seems that some of them spit out Riel, some dollars. 

[britishrepublican]

3 hours ago, jenny2017 said:

I didn't see any proof that they really got caught passing on fake notes, did you?

Ok ... luv.

 

Let's see what the authorities say. I think I would sooner believe them than two criminals caught passing dodgy USD.

 

They found them... ha ha. I can picture the judges face when they tell him that. He'll throw the book at them.

 

Do you know how severe they punish these kinds of offences here in thailand? They'll be 3 years waiting to get to court. Slap it up them!

[ericthai]

3 minutes ago, britishrepublican said:

Ok ... luv.

 

Let's see what the authorities say. I think I would sooner believe them than two criminals caught passing dodgy USD.

 

They found them... ha ha. I can picture the judges face when they tell him that. He'll throw the book at them.

 

Do you know how severe they punish these kinds of offences here in thailand? They'll be 3 years waiting to get to court. Slap it up them!

I dont see them getting the book thrown at them, this is Thailand!  People get released on bail for murder and sentences are halved if the plead guilty.  Seen people do allot worse than this and they get a slap on the wrist.  These girls will get something like 2-3 years suspended sentence and have to pay a 3000-5000THB fine. 

[scorecard]

4 minutes ago, ericthai said:

I dont see them getting the book thrown at them, this is Thailand!  People get released on bail for murder and sentences are halved if the plead guilty.  Seen people do allot worse than this and they get a slap on the wrist.  These girls will get something like 2-3 years suspended sentence and have to pay a 3000-5000THB fine. 

 

But is there any actual legal process in motion?

 

[sanemax]

They have all gone quiet in the last 7-10 days , even on their GFM page , their appeal to Trump has also been taken down .

    I wonder if theres something going on behind the scenes and they have all gone into hiding ?

[lannarebirth]

Hasn't the date of their court appearance come and gone already? I thought it was the 13th.  5,000 Baht fine and a blacklisting would be my guess on this case's disposal.

[sanemax]

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/09/world/asia/cambodia-qingming-festival-ghosts-prefer-dollars.html

[Henrik Andersen]

1 hour ago, britishrepublican said:

Let's see what the authorities say

They not saying anything because all this story is fake why can't people not get it no media had report anything and police too this is a scam to raise money on fundraising site's 

[smx1313]

Recent Facebook post..

[Makara]

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.

[Makara]

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

[KneeDeep]

11 hours ago, Makara said:

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

 

Weak.

No need to lump everyone together. The fact is that you have contributed nothing positive to the discussion. Nothing at all.

You asked, on the open board, about reputable journalists that you could contact, but appear to have done nothing at all.

You've quoted non existent Bangkok Post articles as proof of local reporting, but no retraction when proved false. Slunk away is an apt description.

Does anyone connected to the sorry saga have any moral fortitude at all?

You shame yourself. Reprehensible.

 

 

Edited March 17, 2018 by KneeDeep

[smx1313]

1 hour ago, KneeDeep said:

You shame yourself. Reprehensible.

Whoa! Ease up cowboy. 

There's no need for such a personal attack or harsh judgement.

 

Makara came here simply to try and offer a possible defense for someone they have a good opinion of.

The response? A Grand Inquisition by total strangers from all over the world. People DEMANDING information, proof, evidence as if judges in a court of law.

We saw Makara trying diligently to respond to the onslaught, provide answers to heated questioning from all sides, 24 hours a day for weeks.

So after the intense onslaught from an angry mob, 77 pages of posts, you find *gasp* that there are, OMG, inaccurate statements?

Legal documents that they have no access to where not delivered? 

But most damning of all, Makara dared to get frustrated with the mindless slings and arrows!

 

So now you, High And Mighty Lord Inquisitor, pronounce the judgement to be SHAME.

 

Maybe it might be best to take a deep breath, unwind a little. This is a legal issue that doesn't involve any of us no matter how fun it is to play armchair detective.

 

If I tried to answer nearly 100 pages of scrutiny in a situation like this I would probably have some inconsistent answers.

Maybe you would not, who knows? You are still not in a position to pronounce judgement.

 

 

 

[KneeDeep]

35 minutes ago, smx1313 said:

Whoa! Ease up cowboy. 

There's no need for such a personal attack or harsh judgement.

 

Makara came here simply to try and offer a possible defense for someone they have a good opinion of.

The response? A Grand Inquisition by total strangers from all over the world. People DEMANDING information, proof, evidence as if judges in a court of law.

We saw Makara trying diligently to respond to the onslaught, provide answers to heated questioning from all sides, 24 hours a day for weeks.

So after the intense onslaught from an angry mob, 77 pages of posts, you find *gasp* that there are, OMG, inaccurate statements?

Legal documents that they have no access to where not delivered? 

But most damning of all, Makara dared to get frustrated with the mindless slings and arrows!

 

So now you, High And Mighty Lord Inquisitor, pronounce the judgement to be SHAME.

 

Maybe it might be best to take a deep breath, unwind a little. This is a legal issue that doesn't involve any of us no matter how fun it is to play armchair detective.

 

If I tried to answer nearly 100 pages of scrutiny in a situation like this I would probably have some inconsistent answers.

Maybe you would not, who knows? You are still not in a position to pronounce judgement.

 

 

 

 

Perhaps I know at least a little more than you.