Gang Of Indian Pickpockets Working Sukhumvit Area

[kat]

so the OP wanted to warn us against groups of Indians who might be potential pick pockets? jeez that is helpful.

It actually is helpful. In this part of the world they are more likely to be gangs, and in the West they usually work alone or in pairs. Whitewashing everything as the same, however, is not only unhelpful and dishonest, but reeks of condescension as if the subject group at hand is too immature to handle the truth. We know there are nasty farangs here, and most likely of every other ethnicity available who have to resort to illegal activities to make money; surprise, surprise.

I was robbed by a pickpocket gang in Indonesia who resorted to force because they couldn't scam my wallet. If I wasn't travelling with someone else I don't know what would've happened to me.

[tracer5050]

Lets not forget about the cute little kids tripping you while the others pick your pocket . I have seen this 2 times on soi 7 at sukvhumvit.

[British]

My devoted Thai friend thanks for your story it sounds totally manmade and has jealousness as undercurrent.

First of all you cannot tell difference from a pakistani / indian/bangladeshi / and so many countruies of middle east as well as southern thai YALA SURATHANI etc provinces. They all look alike / same to a normal Thai person.

Second .... With the reputation women from Thailand enjoy worldover not to mention the high alert to tourist especially ladies visiting thailand as MUST not travel alone and not be in secluded area in dark because of rapes , murders , drugs etc....... is most common knowledge.

Its known fact that so many westerners who come to thailand are doped and duped by the woman here who think of them as POTENTIAL ATM cash dispensers.

Thirdly.... The success and reputation India and Indians enjoy in any country they go to is rather common. Mr Bobby Jindal is the Mayor of an American state, We have Indian MP's in British Parliament. The richest man in world and richest family are Indian. Indians are highly educated hardworking and a successful race world over.

Bill Gates has 40% of his workforce from India, Every country with some business sense and future vision for commerce is heading to india and to China....

If you take a good look and walk into a shopping mall you will see its Indians who are spending money contibuting to Thai economy be it Emporium . Gaysorn Plaza , Siam Paragon or Central. You go to resorts and hotels its Indians as number one race as customers, you go to the Tiffany show in Pattaya and you will see them doing a Indian song to woo teh cash rich Indians. If Indians stop coming to Thailand or the ones living here leave there may be a economy crash.

So please wake up and LOOK before making such sweeping statements you can find better things to write i am sure.

Best wishes and Luck

[jayceenik]

I mentioned earlier in this thread that this is a very REAL scam. It's been done many places in the world. Mostly it's done on escalators because the force of the moving walkway propels you into the sprawled scamster in front, whilst the 2nd bad guy pretends to help you up, but really helps himself to your pocket contents.

I haven't heard of this in Bangkok before though, but it pays to be aware of your surroundings on public walkways.

A few months ago I was holding onto my shopping cart on the moving up ramp at Carrefour Klong Toei when a young man ahead of me on the ramp lost his balance and fell down. At the same time a trio of men closed up behind me. The commotion gave me the impression that both the "falling" guy and I were going backward (of course not). Anyway, I immediately put my hand on my back pocket to protect my wallet as the guys behind me started crowding me (like it was me rolling back against them). Sure enough I brushed against a foreign hand. When we got to the top (parking level) these three plus one gang didn't go for their cars (if they had any!) but went down to the store level again using the lift. They had no carts or shopping bags. Though a bit shook up I didn't complain to Carrefour but other shoppers victim of this clever trick must have because shortly thereafter Carrefour placed a permanent guard at the top of that ramp. These four guys didn't look very Thai to me, maybe Philipinos.

[jackr]

My devoted Thai friend thanks for your story it sounds totally manmade and has jealousness as undercurrent.

First of all you cannot tell difference from a pakistani / indian/bangladeshi / and so many countruies of middle east as well as southern thai YALA SURATHANI etc provinces. They all look alike / same to a normal Thai person.

Second .... With the reputation women from Thailand enjoy worldover not to mention the high alert to tourist especially ladies visiting thailand as MUST not travel alone and not be in secluded area in dark because of rapes , murders , drugs etc....... is most common knowledge.

Its known fact that so many westerners who come to thailand are doped and duped by the woman here who think of them as POTENTIAL ATM cash dispensers.

Thirdly.... The success and reputation India and Indians enjoy in any country they go to is rather common. Mr Bobby Jindal is the Mayor of an American state, We have Indian MP's in British Parliament. The richest man in world and richest family are Indian. Indians are highly educated hardworking and a successful race world over.

Bill Gates has 40% of his workforce from India, Every country with some business sense and future vision for commerce is heading to india and to China....

If you take a good look and walk into a shopping mall you will see its Indians who are spending money contibuting to Thai economy be it Emporium . Gaysorn Plaza , Siam Paragon or Central. You go to resorts and hotels its Indians as number one race as customers, you go to the Tiffany show in Pattaya and you will see them doing a Indian song to woo teh cash rich Indians. If Indians stop coming to Thailand or the ones living here leave there may be a economy crash.

So please wake up and LOOK before making such sweeping statements you can find better things to write i am sure.

Best wishes and Luck

What ever are you on about! How about offering the OP some sympathy before getting all PC and going way off topic? And <deleted> has a Mr Bobby Jindal and an Indian Bill Gates got to do with someone being pick-pocketed by a bunch of low-lives?

You make it sound as though there are no scamsters in India. Granted, a significant percentage are relatively successful, but there are also a lot who aren't and like to rip people off (as with any race) and many of them are here in Muang Thai.

Please remove head from bottom before posting

Best wishes and good luck

[toptuan]

Anyone who travels in a third-world/developing country without putting their money in a money belt, or at the very least, the pocket of a pair of cargo pants (with a zipper and velcro fastener over that), deserves to be relieved of their ill-protected wealth.

[Etrigan]

Is TV now some site for primary school children?

Since when did racial profiling 101 become a mandatory TV subject?

I never realised until today just how many <deleted> there are posting in TV.

[threelegcowboy]

Once had a situation on Sucumspit in BKK. Like always I had a money clip of small bills in my shirt pocket. Along comes a ladyboy and gets in my face talking crap. The ladyboy then steps back and hands me my money clip. LB stated "You might need this". Later I figured the LB thought it was not worth the risk for a small amount.

I had a few beers and walked back down the same way. There were the police loading up the same LB in the monkey cage truck. Guess he found a larger money clip

[B Fuddled]

<br />Anyone who travels in a third-world/developing country without putting their money in a money belt, or at the very least, the pocket of a pair of cargo pants (with a zipper and velcro fastener over that), deserves to be relieved of their ill-protected wealth. <img src="style_emoticons/default/neus.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="neus.gif" /><br />

<br /><br /><br />

Excellent post. After all, it wouldn't be a third world country if you didn't blame the victim every time.

[t.s]

This is the same group that has been at it before. Don’t be afraid to break their fingers, others have. I doubt they will get sympathy from anyone. That tends to keep them away for a while until they heal.

The ones with the flowers are the worst ones, two of them rush up to you and get well within your comfort envelop. Watch the one that is not talking to you.

Give them the evil eye and walk towards them like you know they hit you, they will run like crazy. I frequently eat on soi Nana and now when they see me coming they run in the other direction. The power of suggestion is marvelous in this case.

"Mister, Mister.........you buy flowers from me" (as the little fingers are deftly removing your mobile from its holder).

Yes, been there, seen that and lost my phone to the little 10 yr old scamp straight out of Oliver Twist.

wow, velcro pockets, stylish bumbags and money belts and now mobile phone holders on belts. TV you are a stylish bunch.

i am not denying that pickpockets exist, and a frend of mine (tourist) was robbed by katoey (his own fault though, he was curious and could have just kept walking, but no). but the question is, could it be the way that you present yourselves screams out at these people that you are a mark? it was certainly a factor in his case.

there are certain identifying factors.

Edited November 19, 2007 by t.s

[t.s]

Lets not forget about the cute little kids tripping you while the others pick your pocket . I have seen this 2 times on soi 7 at sukvhumvit.

how do you know they were children?

[HarryHacker]

Thanks to the OP, never any harm for a gentle reminder that we should keep our wits about us.

[toptuan]

<br />Anyone who travels in a third-world/developing country without putting their money in a money belt, or at the very least, the pocket of a pair of cargo pants (with a zipper and velcro fastener over that), deserves to be relieved of their ill-protected wealth. <img src="style_emoticons/default/neus.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="neus.gif" /><br />

<br /><br /><br />

Excellent post. After all, it wouldn't be a third world country if you didn't blame the victim every time.

I would concede that it takes Two to Tango, Bfuddled. Just don't be the other, unwitting, careless partner. Or, you'll end up like your nick.

[jstumbo]

The richest man in world and richest family are Indian

Actually the richest man in the world is from Mexico. He just passed Bill Gates, now the second richest man.

Maybe the guy should have said, a gang of South Asian pickpockets instead. The basic thing is that he is describing them, and that may be the quickest thing to describe them. If it was a bunch of falang, wouldn't you say a gang of falang pickpockets? Other people say that there are gangs of children that are pickpockets, should they not defame children by using that as part of the description of the pickpocket gang? I guess we should not describe a criminal as being a man or woman because that would be defaming men and women. So the next time you have to describe someone to the police, just say it was a human being. Nothing else, because you do not want to defame an entire group of people by stating the race, ethnicity, gender, or age.

[DamianMavis]

Lets not forget about the cute little kids tripping you while the others pick your pocket . I have seen this 2 times on soi 7 at sukvhumvit.

how do you know they were children?

Yes, good question... you could easily have been mistaken considering the notorious Cambodian midget ninja clan known to be working in that area.

The richest man in world and richest family are Indian

Actually the richest man in the world is from Mexico. He just passed Bill Gates, now the second richest man.

Maybe the guy should have said, a gang of South Asian pickpockets instead. The basic thing is that he is describing them, and that may be the quickest thing to describe them. If it was a bunch of falang, wouldn't you say a gang of falang pickpockets? Other people say that there are gangs of children that are pickpockets, should they not defame children by using that as part of the description of the pickpocket gang? I guess we should not describe a criminal as being a man or woman because that would be defaming men and women. So the next time you have to describe someone to the police, just say it was a human being. Nothing else, because you do not want to defame an entire group of people by stating the race, ethnicity, gender, or age.

YES EXACTLY, lets all be so politically correct that we become completely incompetent and unable to report anything properly.

Damian

[blizzard]

phillipinos are poor mans thai............lol. so mny dark skin thais look same same as philopinos.

how you know escalator episode was caused by phills?

Edited November 19, 2007 by blizzard

[B Fuddled]

<br />Anyone who travels in a third-world/developing country without putting their money in a money belt, or at the very least, the pocket of a pair of cargo pants (with a zipper and velcro fastener over that), deserves to be relieved of their ill-protected wealth. <img src="style_emoticons/default/neus.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="neus.gif" /><br />

<br /><br /><br />

Excellent post. After all, it wouldn't be a third world country if you didn't blame the victim every time.

I would concede that it takes Two to Tango, Bfuddled. Just don't be the other, unwitting, careless partner. Or, you'll end up like your nick.

I agree 100%. Nobody DESERVES to be robbed, but third world and developing countries will never share our degree of civilization as long as they believe that the victim is fair prey. So, we should always be careful and never let our guards down.

[Payboy]

Given the risks involved with living in Thailand which have been reported on in this typical ThaiVisa week - rogue taxi-drivers, army tanks on the street, bandits at ATM machines, an airport that is likely to fall over tomorrow, extra-judiciary policemen, the economy only growing 4-5 percent per year, a depleting ozone layer and now this latest outrage perpetrated by nasty Indian fellas - it's a wonder us poor farang dare set foot outside our insulated condos.

Still, having said that ........... I'm off out for a beer. Anyone fancy one?

given the risks involved i stay at home and get a beer from the fridge. of course with great caution and checking left and right whether some indian thieves are in the vicinity who might grab my beer.

yes, but dont forget gunga din sometimes hides in your fridge...

[chinthee]

so the OP wanted to warn us against groups of Indians who might be potential pick pockets? jeez that is helpful.

It actually is helpful. In this part of the world they are more likely to be gangs, and in the West they usually work alone or in pairs. Whitewashing everything as the same, however, is not only unhelpful and dishonest, but reeks of condescension as if the subject group at hand is too immature to handle the truth. We know there are nasty farangs here, and most likely of every other ethnicity available who have to resort to illegal activities to make money; surprise, surprise.

I was robbed by a pickpocket gang in Indonesia who resorted to force because they couldn't scam my wallet. If I wasn't travelling with someone else I don't know what would've happened to me.

Kat, I was stung by this very scam in the subway in Caraccas, Venezuela about 20 years ago. It was a Colombian gang. I was told at the time I was lucky they didn't just use a knife to cut open my trousers which results in some people either having their major femoral artery cut or their genitals.

Ok, we can lighten up, but these pickpocket scams are real all around the globe. Not sure about Indians though. I somehow doubt it. More likely Poor Nepalis?

[DamianMavis]

I'm sorry, please correct my ignorance. I was under the impression, from what travellers have told me, that India makes Thailand look like a rich paradise due to the massive amount of severely poverty stricken people there? Yes they have super rich people but the majority of the population is much more poor than poor Thais? No? Someone tell me the real deal then, because alot of people are acting like an Indian pickpocket is extremely hard to believe and I dont see why, especially when there are plenty of falang pick pockets in the world.

Damian

[chinthee]

I'm sorry, please correct my ignorance. I was under the impression, from what travellers have told me, that India makes Thailand look like a rich paradise due to the massive amount of severely poverty stricken people there? Yes they have super rich people but the majority of the population is much more poor than poor Thais? No? Someone tell me the real deal then, because alot of people are acting like an Indian pickpocket is extremely hard to believe and I dont see why, especially when there are plenty of falang pick pockets in the world.

Damian

I don't see many dodgy Indians in Thailand (ok, Tailors excepted. ). The Indians who are in Thailand seem to be mostly multi-generation Thai citizens. I find it unlikely that some rogue Indian gangs have flown in from Mumbai to ply their trade.

[blizzard]

it would have helped if op dindt refer to them as a gang. the word gang is just not a nice word.

[howtoescape]

I was speaking to a guy in Golden Bar opposite Nana a few weeks ago, when a young flower seller pinched 500USD from his pocket when i was staring straight at him, she was Indian about 10-12 years old, apparantly her and her friends are renowned for it.

[blizzard]

i see those young gurls selling stuff and pickpocketing on the side. dam_n , they dont look indian to me.

on another site a guy posted a photoa of a black gurl, everyone except him could tell it was a mexican.

Edited November 19, 2007 by blizzard

[Payboy]

I was speaking to a guy in Golden Bar opposite Nana a few weeks ago, when a young flower seller pinched 500USD from his pocket when i was staring straight at him, she was Indian about 10-12 years old, apparantly her and her friends are renowned for it.

so the khmers have outsourced their flower selling operation......all those foreign gangs are only giving thailand a bad name...

[blizzard]

mr boy

wot does the rest of th e world say that is kind to thailand?

[SoCal]

Chinthee, how do you know it was a Columbian gang? Did you get their id?

Blizzard, gang is harsh. How about a group of businessmen taking renumeration without compensation?

So much PC in this thread. I almost miss home.

[Payboy]

mr boy

wot does the rest of th e world say that is kind to thailand?

i dont know, but my tgf told me that thais are honest and incorruptible....

Edited November 19, 2007 by Payboy

[chinthee]

Chinthee, how do you know it was a Columbian gang? Did you get their id?

Blizzard, gang is harsh. How about a group of businessmen taking renumeration without compensation?

So much PC in this thread. I almost miss home.

Glad to answer this. I showed up to my meeting in Caracas in a suit and disheveled because I didn't take kindly to being pick pocketed and dished out some vengeance of my own. But they still got away with my wallet.

My partner then proceeded to tell me about the Colombian gangs that do this and I took his word at face value. Next time, I'll ask for ID to be sure.

Edited November 19, 2007 by chinthee

[MrSquigle]

Hope it was not Mr Lucky, he is a nice guy and always gives me good fortune