Almost one year....and still nothing.

[Piotr70]

I have been reading thaivisa for years and thanks to the comments and answers I read, all of you have helped me more than once to resolve situations involving immigration or other. This time I wanted to write to get your opinion on what happened to me and is still happening to me: On May 16, 2022, with all the documents proving what happened, I went to the police station to fill a complain about a fraud of THB 157,000. Till today, I still haven't gotten anything: the competent authorities, if asked, always tell me that they are following the case, etc.etc. Would like to ask: is it normal to be like this, should I just wait and hope? It's not a large amount, but it's not a small amount either. Or are things only fast when it comes to millions of THB?

Sorry if my English is not perfect and thank you for your comments.

[Xanthe]

44 minutes ago, Piotr70 said:

I went to the police station to fill a complain about a fraud of THB 157,000.

What was the fraud? Funds missing from banks?

[Piotr70]

19 minutes ago, Xanthe said:

What was the fraud? Funds missing from banks?

I ordered items that never be delivered 

[Xanthe]

3 minutes ago, Piotr70 said:

I ordered items that never be delivered 

157,000 baht worth of items. That is a hefty amount for online orders. 

Edited February 16, 2023 by Xanthe

[Piotr70]

33 minutes ago, Xanthe said:

157,000 baht worth of items. That is a hefty amount for online orders. 

The problem is: why nothing happened in the past 7-8 months?

 

[Liverpool Lou]

46 minutes ago, Xanthe said:

157,000 baht worth of items. That is a hefty amount for online orders. 

Maybe for you, but, so what, how does that help him?  Plenty of people buy expensive items, watches, for example, through online sellers, it's not a lot.

[timendres]

45 minutes ago, Piotr70 said:

The problem is: why nothing happened in the past 7-8 months?

 

I knew a Thai guy whose grandfather was murdered. The police knew his family had a good bit of money. When asked why the case had not moved forward, the reply was "100,000 baht would ensure prompt action". I believe you are mistaking a business operation for a public service.

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, Piotr70 said:

The problem is: why nothing happened in the past 7-8 months?

Maybe something happened.

How do you communicate with the police?

Per email in English? Do you go to the police station?

I think your best chance is to have a lawyer. And your second-best chance is to have a senior Thai person try to find out.

Thais understand Thais. Maybe someone expects a payment. Maybe you should have filled out form xyz, maybe you accuse the "wrong" person or company. Most farangs won't be able to "understand" what most Thais would understand instantly. 

[Piotr70]

12 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Maybe something happened.

How do you communicate with the police?

Per email in English? Do you go to the police station?

I think your best chance is to have a lawyer. And your second-best chance is to have a senior Thai person try to find out.

Thais understand Thais. Maybe someone expects a payment. Maybe you should have filled out form xyz, maybe you accuse the "wrong" person or company. Most farangs won't be able to "understand" what most Thais would understand instantly. 

I understand, speak and write Thai and walk in every two months at the police station where I filled the complain and always the same answer: we are following the case.i did not point the finger on the wrong person: I always spoke with him and only with him and they have all the printed screenshots of all the conversations between us plus all the bank transfer slip I have done to him. 

 

[Xanthe]

2 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Maybe for you, but, so what, how does that help him?  Plenty of people buy expensive items, watches, for example, through online sellers, it's not a lot.

I cannot remember buying anything online for $5,000. Max I remember was $1,000. But I use credit cards and I can give one call to cc company and they will sort it out for me in hours and also CC companies provide fraud protections. Remember my uncle buying a car online (not Tesla. It was 10 years ago). 

Edited February 16, 2023 by Xanthe

[ericthai]

43 minutes ago, Piotr70 said:

I understand, speak and write Thai and walk in every two months at the police station where I filled the complain and always the same answer: we are following the case.i did not point the finger on the wrong person: I always spoke with him and only with him and they have all the printed screenshots of all the conversations between us plus all the bank transfer slip I have done to him. 

 

looks like you're new to Thailand, so I'll give you some advise, just move on. 

 

You can keep going back and hope you get something, but most likely it's a dead issue for them.

It's even possible they met with the scammer and the scammer paid them to make it go away and they will wait for you to give up. 

 

When I fist moved to Thailand this happened. My girlfriend's sister got into a fight with a neighbor and she was taken to jail, Later that night we got a call from the police that 30K THB and they will let her out of jail and make things go away. We paid she go out that night and that was the end of it. 

 

I've seen this happen a few times over the year. I'm not saying all the cops are bad, but they are very corrupt and most of the time if there is no money for them, then nothing is going to happen. 

[1FinickyOne]

Sometimes I would think that online fraud is near impossible to track down - when the money is gone so is the criminal and there is no way to trace it. 

 

Sorry for your loss - but I think there is probably no way to recover the funds - - I assume they are no longer in business. 

[OneMoreFarang]

2 hours ago, Piotr70 said:

I understand, speak and write Thai and walk in every two months at the police station where I filled the complain and always the same answer: we are following the case.i did not point the finger on the wrong person: I always spoke with him and only with him and they have all the printed screenshots of all the conversations between us plus all the bank transfer slip I have done to him. 

 

Ok. But with such good knowledge of Thai, I wonder why you ask about this matter in a farang forum. Do you really think we know more about this than Thais on a Thai forum (would) know?

 

And about the "wrong" person. There is a reason why I wrote it like that. Maybe the person you accuse is someone important. And maybe the police just won't touch a case or drag their feet about it. It seems the news in Thailand is full of those cases where crimes of the rich and influential are ignored.

 

I wrote my original post not to criticize you. The idea was and is to help you to understand better what is going on. 

[ezzra]

6 hours ago, Piotr70 said:

I ordered items that never be delivered 

Is it possible that the police have looked at the vendor and didn't find a way to get your money back from? there are many people who sells stuff on line out there now days who are a fly-by-night operation and are very hard to track or find or has nothing to their name to take from.

[HighPriority]

Was it an international or Thai purchase ?

If international I doubt the local plod can/will be able to help you.

[scubascuba3]

4 hours ago, Piotr70 said:

I understand, speak and write Thai and walk in every two months at the police station where I filled the complain and always the same answer: we are following the case.i did not point the finger on the wrong person: I always spoke with him and only with him and they have all the printed screenshots of all the conversations between us plus all the bank transfer slip I have done to him. 

 

You need to get a lawyer, you can't rely on police to do their job. I hear about fraud cases from my lawyer friend every week

[VinnieK]

Story and style of writing seems troll-ish.

For starters, how many farangs can read and write Thai? ????‍????????‍????

[Piotr70]

24 minutes ago, HighPriority said:

Was it an international or Thai purchase ?

If international I doubt the local plod can/will be able to help you.

Many wrote about online purchase: it was not nothing to do like Shoppe or Lazada. Just find what I was looking for on internet, speak and chat with the guy he sold what I need.

It was a local guy

[Piotr70]

3 minutes ago, VinnieK said:

Story and style of writing seems troll-ish.

For starters, how many farangs can read and write Thai? ????‍????????‍????

1) Can you explain me point one?

2) Read, write and speak Thai makes me a troll?

[Piotr70]

2 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Ok. But with such good knowledge of Thai, I wonder why you ask about this matter in a farang forum. Do you really think we know more about this than Thais on a Thai forum (would) know?

 

And about the "wrong" person. There is a reason why I wrote it like that. Maybe the person you accuse is someone important. And maybe the police just won't touch a case or drag their feet about it. It seems the news in Thailand is full of those cases where crimes of the rich and influential are ignored.

 

I wrote my original post not to criticize you. The idea was and is to help you to understand better what is going on. 

I know you try to help me to understand and that's what I asking. I just answer your doubts.

I asked here, just to know if it's normal to wait such long time to know something (and still don't know anything), cause it's the first time in my "Thai life" I am in a situation like this.

[SuperSilverHaze]

Suck it up. You'll never see the money if for no other reason the issue long past. Horses long since bolted from the barn. Let alone issues others have mentioned.

 

Your naivitae spending so much online.

Edited February 16, 2023 by SuperSilverHaze

[Freddy42OZ]

8 hours ago, VinnieK said:

Story and style of writing seems troll-ish.

For starters, how many farangs can read and write Thai? ????‍????????‍????

Obviously a lot more Farangs than you can imagine.  It is recommended that anyone learning Thai should learn to read and write it first, that is the way all my friends have been learning. 
 

[recom273]

This is for the custom made Rattan furniture? Am I correct.

 

I think you could link to the previous post.

 

I didn't read the comments above, have you tried greasing the wheels?

[Thingamabob]

During the financial crash of 1997/8 I was defrauded of 5 million baht by a Thai business partner. After years of legal action I have recovered nothing, and will now never do so because my former partner has died. 

[Stevemercer]

It is usual for these things to take time (12 months). The police probably know the guilty parties (assuming they are local). They are waiting to see what develops. Maybe the situation will turn to their advantage, particularly if their are other complaints against the party.

 

The police may need a 'bribe' to finalise an investigation. However, even with good Thai, it is not a good idea for you (as a farang) to discuss with the police. The police may think you have plenty of money and misunderstandings may arise.

 

Almost certainly the guilty party has conned other people. The police may want to wait for other people to come forward. The police may have already approached the guilty party and he has paid them off.

 

Can you find a Thai person of good repute to ask questions on your behalf? They might be told more, particularly if police want money before taking action. Alternatively, the police may not want to proceed with your complaint for whatever reason. At the very least, the Thai person can find out from the police whether or not it is worthwhile pursuing your complaint.

 

As others have said, it is unlikely you will recover your money. The most likely outcome would be a negotiated outcome where the guilty party will repay a certain percentage. The police would act as mediators for a pre-agreed fee.

[BananaStrong]

Don't worry!!!!  It's only been one year.

 

Expect some news in 2038, maybe around September.

 

I've done many 20,000 baht online purchases, but never over 50,000.   This dude would not enjoy my 20 baht noodle shop.  lol

 

157k could be a vehicle, sure.   

 

do it yourself.  bank, local police, follow the money trail.    

[Tropposurfer]

16 hours ago, Piotr70 said:

I understand, speak and write Thai and walk in every two months at the police station where I filled the complain and always the same answer: we are following the case.i did not point the finger on the wrong person: I always spoke with him and only with him and they have all the printed screenshots of all the conversations between us plus all the bank transfer slip I have done to him. 

 

Get a good lawyer.

[warrima]

15 hours ago, ericthai said:

You can keep going back and hope you get something, but most likely it's a dead issue for them.

It's even possible they met with the scammer and the scammer paid them to make it go away and they will wait for you to give up. 

I would say its exactly this. Who pays the most coffee money carries the most favor.

[bradiston]

If you think the police are at fault for not pursuing this, try your local government ombudsman. ผู้ตรวจการแผ่นดินของรัฐบาลท้องถิ่น (although I knew it by another name). They deal with problems with public servants. And if you can read, write and speak Thai, you're way ahead of the game.

 

Or, take your complaint higher up the RTP hierarchy. There are intelligent helpful cops who care about the reputation of the RTP. Believe it or not, I don't care. It's been my experience. Cue the laughing icons if you will. And stay away from lawyers! Unless you know one you can trust!

[zzaa09]

Remember the good old days when we actually purchased something from a brick and mortar with cash...?? 

????