Wallet lost, police consulted - anything else to do?

[henrik2000]

Hello, i lost my wallet this morning on Jomtien Beach, nicely almost next to the police box. I believe it disappeared when i rummaged through my beach bag and also checked the content of the wallet. This is quite clearly not a theft.

About 3 hours later – after discovering the loss – i went into the police box. The officer there was a foreigner without uniform. He showed me 3 lost-and-found wallets that weren't mine (but nicely swollen) and sent me off. He didn't want any details like name, exact circumstances, content of wallet. The atmosphere was very rushed, and i thought he feared a sob story from me. (A local Thai business person actually advised to say "Oh, now i have no money, please help to find the wallet quick".) I said i'll ask again some hours later.

I am not in a financial or legal drama now, just sad. Is there anything you advice me to do, except being less careless in the future?

 

-- part 2 --

 

This was in the lost wallet:

Good money, copies of documents that reveal my name and my Thai phone number, the key card to my resort's backgarden door (key card to room not lost, original documents not lost).

The key card to the resort's backgarden door has no print on it, it's blank with smeared illegible scribbling. So far i didn't tell the resort about the lost key card. I wonder if it will be a bigger problem? I am ready to pay for a damage. It was for a less used backgarden door that opens to the public area..

 

Thanks!

[Celsius]

At least you didn't lose your passport. Literally the worst thing to lose in Thailand.

[swm59nj]

So you have no credit or debit cards I’m guessing.  And it depends what kind of documents they are.  If you feel they can be used fraudulently with your name.  Then you need to take care of that 

Just like if you lost your wallet in any other or your own country 

[henrik2000]

Thanks, there were no credit cards or somesuch in the wallet. I never put them in there. Also the passport was not lost, but a photocopy.

[ThailandRyan]

Make an actual report of the list wallet and any other items which could possibly cause you grief. You will get a copy of the report, yet it will be in Thai. You can show this to the hotel to help mitigate the lost keycard. If all you lost was money and copies of documents I would be more worried of someone using this info on-line to create fake profiles or accounts. 

 

If your from the west and have accounts there, you can protect yourself by contacting the 3 credit bureaus by email or go online and link your personal information so if someone tries to.obtain a credit card, loan etc.. with your info they can not.

[rwill]

You say it not a theft but if someone leaves something out in the open and you take it that is a theft.

[steven100]

You should have said that fat wallet he showed you was yours  ....    haha ...

 

No,  seriously .... you lost no credit cards or anything of value,  you only lost a couple of copies, one was a copy of your passport and what ever the other copies were.  It's a waste of time and energy making a police report .... what good will that do ?   nobody can do anything with your copies .

Just be extra careful next time with your new wallet. 

[henrik2000]

28 minutes ago, steven100 said:

You should have said that fat wallet he showed you was yours

And when he asked me about the contents? The name on the American express gold card?

 

That police box inside had the claustrophobic atmosphere of a Calcutta train station ticket counter en miniature. It's difficult to imagine how you could do any serious paperwork there, especially in foreign languages.

When I went there a second time to ask again, there was no anglophone tourist assistant police, only one Thai officer who spoke very little English, and when he heard that I spoke a few words ofThai, he switched completely to Thai, and I understood nothing.

 

I believe they had even one more lost and found wallet when I showed up for the second time about 5 hours after my first visit. It was still not mine.

[redwood1]

Never carry a full-on wallet in Thailand EVER.......Its a very bad idea..

 

If you must carry a wallet strip down to just a few things inside..

[Henryford]

What did you lose? a few thousand baht. Just write it off as a valuable lesson.

[henrik2000]

For the record, for the lost key card the hotel charged me 300 Baht. I got a new key card immediately, but only this time I also had to pay a key deposit of 300 Baht, that had not been necessary before.

They treated the loss like some personal, awkward failure, like, I don't know, wetting myself in the lobby or something. Though I am sure that other tourists had even bigger problems and caused more difficult circumstances. Now somebody may have found my wallet including that key card and has a key to the back garden door, but this doesn't seem to worry the hotel.

I am sure the hotel also worried that now I am without money and would embarrass them all with tearful pleas for help, even though I assured them all the time that I was still cashed enough without a problem and that also no important original documents or credit cards were lost. Anyway there was no compassion, only fear.

--

I visited the police box a third time to ask for my lost wallet yet again, and this time they put the found wallets into my hand. Swollen as they were, they weren't mine, unfortunately.

Edited January 17, 2023 by henrik2000

[mrwebb8825]

OP - I gave up carrying a wallet in Thailand all together as it's just too easy for pickpockets to steal it, not to mention the chance that you'll get caught out in the rain at some point.

I keep my ID on my phone (in pictures) and my cards in a small ziplock bag and my money in my front pocket.

That being said (small compensation now, I know) you may as well write it off with a mai pen rai and just check back at the box from time to time if it has some sentimental value.

IF it does show up there, thank them graciously for a job well done (if it's a Thai policeman). Might help you later in another sticky spot as they'll remember the "gracious tourist".

ETA: Example: was swept up in a month-end motorcycle stop and fleece checkpoint and an officer I had treated well and thanked for helping saw me, took me to 1 side, let the others get fleeced then sent me on my way with a friendly smile.

Edited January 24, 2023 by mrwebb8825

[henrik2000]

10 minutes ago, mrwebb8825 said:

I keep my ID on my phone (in pictures) and my cards in a small ziplock bag and my money in my front pocket.

That would be totally impractical for me. Besides, the money in your pocket could also get caught in the rain, a danger that you see with wallets. But on my next tourist trip, I definitely must learn to pay "by scan", as they do a lot upcountry, if not in Bangkok or Pattaya.

I keep my wallet well tucked away and compared to about any other country, I found Thailand exceptionally safe. All the time people bring me cameras and actually wallets that I forgot somewhere, including on Sukhumvit road, Bangkok.

 

10 minutes ago, mrwebb8825 said:

just check back at the box from time to time if it has some sentimental value.

I checked there four times in about 4 days. The last time I was in the police box I was totally alone. No policeman, no visitor except myself. The found wallets were sitting in their tiny box just behind the counter's glass. Mine was still not there. I could have taken all of the other, swell wallets away, or maybe not.

 

10 minutes ago, mrwebb8825 said:

IF it does show up there, thank them graciously for a job well done (if it's a Thai policeman). Might help you later in another sticky spot as they'll remember the "gracious tourist".

Are you suggesting a friendly smile and nice words in Thai? Or are you suggesting money, whisky or something?

While I did pay policemen in Cambodia and Gambia, with good effect for me, I'd never dare to even hint at payments in Thailand or Vietnam. Don't know about Philippines, police were so polite and accommodating there that I never felt I need to get out of a tricky situation.

[henrik2000]

29 minutes ago, mrwebb8825 said:

an officer I had treated well and thanked for helping saw me, took me to 1 side, let the others get fleeced then sent me on my way with a friendly smile.

That sounds nice at first, but I'd also feel shy, getting preferential treatment ahead of all the Thais. What might they think about this foreigner and this policeman?

[mrwebb8825]

23 hours ago, henrik2000 said:

That sounds nice at first, but I'd also feel shy, getting preferential treatment ahead of all the Thais. What might they think about this foreigner and this policeman?

Just a wai and a thank you is all - I didn't care what others may or not think. my money was going home with me. ????

[StayinThailand2much]

You could offer a reward to make it more interesting for the cops 'to find it'. - You might be very lucky to get everything back, if 'the right person' finds it and turns it in. But with a reward, at least, you might have a better chance to get the document copies and key card back.

Edited January 25, 2023 by StayinThailand2much