Khao San Road con: Foreign tourist who finds wallet ends up paying for handing it in

[webfact]

 

Siam Rath reported on a con being performed on unsuspecting foreign tourists in the Khao San Road area of Bangkok.

 

They were contacted by a man they called "Mr Dam" who told them that after the pubs and bars were shut and he was on his way back to his room he found a wallet by a lamppost.

 

It contained 1,000 baht. With it being late he decided to hold onto the purse and hand it in in the morning. 

 

But when he did and the woman who owned it showed up she said that the purse had contained 6-7,000 baht.

 

Chana Songkram police advised the tourist that he would have to pay the 6,000 baht difference to the woman to avoid being prosecuted for theft.

 

He called a Thai friend but was unable to get out of the scam. He said he had had no help from the police at all who saw the woman's side.

 

Traders in the area confirmed to Siam Rath that this was a con that was going on in the street to rip off foreign tourists.

 

Mr Dam said that he had no intention of stealing money - he had simply been conned. 

 

The media called on RTP chief Gen Suwat Chaengyodsuk and met chief Lt-Gen Samran Nuanma to act to avoid Thailand's tourism image being tarnished.

 

They said that this comes as tourism is yet to fully recover from the pandemic and is both damaging to Khao San Road's image and that of Thailand in general, being responsible for keeping tourists away from Thailand. 

 

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[Boomer6969]

Avoid this place.. Question you motivations, sex, drugs? If you are still stupid enough to come during the beautiful Northern summer, just bite the bullet.

[2baht]

7 minutes ago, webfact said:

damaging to Khao San Road's image and that of Thailand in general

Just can't help themselves, can they!

[darksidedog]

12 minutes ago, webfact said:

Traders in the area confirmed to Siam Rath that this was a con that was going on in the street to rip off foreign tourists.

If the traders know about the con, it is hard to believe the local cops don't.

[phetphet]

Seems like honesty isn't always the best policy.

Either put it back where found, or have a spend up.

[EVENKEEL]

Brilliant.

[worgeordie]

8 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

If the traders know about the con, it is hard to believe the local cops don't.

They do, seem to be part of it, saying the finder had to pay 6K Baht.

regards worgeordie

[metisdead]

A racist troll post has been removed.

[pokerface1]

He was dammed if he did and dammed if he didn't hand it in. The lesson in this case is don't touch things that don't belong to you. 

[plus7]

Such an old and dull trick.

Another scenario: a guy that walks near-by shout: "hey, mate, there is a purse on a road! Lets share because we both found it!". After then, he is a witness that purse was loaded with money.

In some other countries,  policemen are also actors.

[Hamus Yaigh]

30 minutes ago, webfact said:

Chana Songkram police advised the tourist that he would have to pay the 6,000 baht difference to the woman to avoid being prosecuted for theft.

What are the police smoking? Where is the proof? However much was in the wallet was lost anyway?

[OneMoreFarang]

18 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

If the traders know about the con, it is hard to believe the local cops don't.

And what do we conclude from this?

No more questions your honor. 

[ezzra]

She can claim she had the crown jewels in there so what? do you have proof you had them in there at the time of the loss? of course not...

[lopburi3]

Even when not a con most people would avoid return to police in this area of the world - recall in Angeles City PI had bar girls give me a military wallet they found on side of road for return - no way could they give to police as they were sure to be charged/or made to pay (easy money for officials).  No money in wallet but it did contain his ID card.  Very unfortunate that no good deed goes unpunished is the mantra.

[Gecko123]

I think I would have told the police that I wasn't going to pay and that they should go ahead and file a police report. If the case was ever actually referred to the prosecutor's office, I doubt they would ever take it to court because of lack of evidence and the chain of custody of the wallet could never be established.

 

Yeah, I know, big talk, and you could theoretically end up being put in leg irons trying to board your flight back home, but I would take the chance that the case would never make it to a judge as all three (the wallet owner, the police, and the prosecutor's office) would know there's insufficient evidence to prosecute.

 

[Thailand]

54 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

If the traders know about the con, it is hard to believe the local cops don't.

Not only know of it but they would have to be in on it as mentioned earlier.

[SooKee]

Should have left it for an honest Thai taxi driver to find and hand it in ????

[Reposed]

There is no other law enforcement agency in the world more professional, proven, and incorruptible, than the Thai police.

 

I would not call them to get my cat out of a tree. They'd probably shoot it, then demand a littering fine.

 

And, yes, they are in on the scam, but will never be held accountable by General SoWhat.

 

.

[OneMoreFarang]

29 minutes ago, ezzra said:

She can claim she had the crown jewels in there so what? do you have proof you had them in there at the time of the loss? of course not...

I think the point is that most of us don't want trouble with the police.

Let's assume I would be in that situation and I would be sure that is a scam. Then what?

Tell the police to f$#% off? Or call a lawyer - if we are lucky enough to know one?

Or maybe just pay 6,000B and learn from that experience?

Personally I wouldn't want to pay 6,000B for nothing and I would try to get out of this without paying. But if they would start to arrest me I would pay just to walk away.

[Reposed]

5 minutes ago, SooKee said:

Should have left it for an honest Thai taxi driver to find and hand it in ????

Which one? There are two....

[Reposed]

4 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Tell the police to f$#% off? Or call a lawyer - if we are lucky enough to know one?

Find a Thai criminal lawyer (yes, I know that is likely redundant) and go to his office. Tell him your name and address, give him a few thousand baht as a retainer, take a handful of cards....

 

If this kind of thing happens you are good to go. Thai poor-lice won't push the matter once they see you have his card in your wallet and you ask to make a phone call.

 

Like any con, they prefer easy pickings. 

[Henryford]

Would anyone take 6000 from a lost purse and hand in the remaining 1000? Impossible. Any thief would just take the 7,000. The Police are obviously in on it.

[carvets]

If you were a dishonest type and found a wallet and it contained 6-7k Baht , why wouldn't you just take the lot and throw the wallet away !!?  Going to the trouble of returning the wallet to the police station with 1k in it just doesn't make sense ,......well to a rational and logically minded individual . How many times can you run this scam in the same area and not have it picked up by the local police ?

[DezLez]

20 minutes ago, Reposed said:

I would not call them to get my cat out of a tree. They'd probably shoot it, then demand a littering fine.

The police here would give you a cat littering fine even if it was a Tom Cat!

????

[KhunLA]

Now knowing the scam, I'd do the same as I would in USA if finding a wallet.  Drop it in a post box, and enjoy the few pints they paid me for returning as a reward ????

[Pouatchee]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

And what do we conclude from this?

Keep the damned wallet and shut the heck up.

[Dmaxdan]

The sad reality of this sort of scam is it will stop honest people from handing in genuinely lost wallets.

[FriendlyFarang]

1 hour ago, darksidedog said:

If the traders know about the con, it is hard to believe the local cops don't.

The cops obviously get their share, probably even most of the 6k Baht.

[Bangkok Barry]

28 minutes ago, Henryford said:

Would anyone take 6000 from a lost purse and hand in the remaining 1000? Impossible. Any thief would just take the 7,000. The Police are obviously in on it.

I had something similar happen to me in Indonesia, although in a hotel. I had a few $100 bills in my wallet and in the hotel safe. When I took the wallet out I found that the $100 bills were gone and just a few smaller bills left. I reported it to the hotel, who denied all responsibility and said a member of staff couldn't possibly have taken the money as they would draw attention if they had such large bills. I insisted the police were called and got the same answer. Were they in it together? Who knows.

[Mr Meeseeks]

1 hour ago, darksidedog said:

If the traders know about the con, it is hard to believe the local cops don't.

Local cops are on the take and get paid by the perps.