Visa Run To Perth Non-o Multi - Kl Warning

[whiterussian]

Just back from a visa run to Perth. dam_n what a fine city. Got non O M on basis of girlfriend here in CM. please DYOR.

Word of warning about Kuala Lumpur... (apart from the price of alcohol)

Spent a day sightseeing - up the towers, etc... some Malaysian bloke got chatting to me - he had two 'sisters' who he said had just gone up the tower (the one with the circular viewing deck), anyway... he invited me to go for some Malaysian food nearby...

great i thought, how friendly... I jump in the car.. we head straight out of the city onto a highway at high speeds.

oops, i thought.

What can you do at 80 kph on a highway if you are not Bruce willis?

Get to a small townhouse out in the suburbs by the hills. They do as promised at first, serve me decent food, chatting away.

Then the 'brother' arrives. Big chap, says he is a dealer in the Casino.. gets chatting, and keeps chatting... on and on about gambling... I start to think all is not right. Ive seen enough dodgy salesmen in my time to spot sales patter. Eventually he gets to the point.. He shows me a tiny windowless room with a small felt covered table and two chairs, rather like a broom cupboard.

He wants to show me the secrets of the dealer... how to win at cards.

yeah right.

The con man who managed to get me into the car can see i have figured out whats up, and asks if i'd like to leave. I nod.

We leave. fast. They drop me back in the city.

I tell a few strangers about this one the bus back to airport. Apparently every week in the paper there are stories of 'naive' (thats me ) people being pressured into a high stake game with mafia folk. I assume had i gone into the room and started playing, i would have lost or been cheated out of cash and held against my will, which is what often happens.

Im a big bloke - 35 yrs old. 6'2" 98kg and a broken nose, but it seems the rules my mother taught me..."dont get into cars with strangers" still applies....

Ive been spoilt in Chiang Mai, and to get back into the Thai way of things, decided to hitchhike from the airport to my home.

Easy. Two scooter lifts, and one lift in a car with two teachers from lampoon...

back home at last.

Not signing on to see replies, but hope this warning gets through to any tourists in KL. Trust no-one. (apart from Air Asia stewardesses )

[Sel]

Same thing happened to a Japanese female friend in Bangkok a couple years ago. The scammers seemed to be Filipinos. Invited for food with several girls and guys in the house, played cards and ended up loosing about US$500+, she maxed out her atm card as she was too scared to leave. They took her to the atm after she ran up a debt.

[noserious]

A similar incident happened to a Canadian guy I know here in Bangkok. He was chatted up by some lass, persuaded to go to her "uncle's" house and some people taught him how to cheat at a card game. After he lost his wagers, instead of going to the ATM they took him to a gold shop and he bought gold on his credit card. He was taken for around US$9,000. After realizing what had happened he called the credit card company and claimed that his card was stolen. (even though his passport was photocopied at the gold shop). He says that it took months but the credit card company finally absolved his debt, but he received a nasty letter from the bank warning him against future charges. So the story goes.

[tijnebijn]

Its like the gemstone scams in BKK .

When a naiive person , stick to your gameplan not to believe or go with anybody ,

good thing OP to warn other members for this , could be handy for some .....

and guess lucky for you , could have been much worse if I have to believe all the stories .

One thing I was thinking of is why the Op didn't get the multiple in KL ?

Second thought probably cause you're not married right and Perth is much easier ?

How much you paid altogether CM - Perth if I may ask you ...

[007]

Word of warning about Kuala Lumpur... (apart from the price of alcohol)

Spent a day sightseeing - up the towers, etc... some Malaysian bloke got chatting to me - he had two 'sisters' who he said had just gone up the tower (the one with the circular viewing deck), anyway... he invited me to go for some Malaysian food nearby...

great i thought, how friendly... I jump in the car.. we head straight out of the city onto a highway at high speeds.

oops, i thought.

What can you do at 80 kph on a highway if you are not Bruce willis?

Get to a small townhouse out in the suburbs by the hills. They do as promised at first, serve me decent food, chatting away.

Then the 'brother' arrives. Big chap, says he is a dealer in the Casino.. gets chatting, and keeps chatting... on and on about gambling... I start to think all is not right. Ive seen enough dodgy salesmen in my time to spot sales patter. Eventually he gets to the point.. He shows me a tiny windowless room with a small felt covered table and two chairs, rather like a broom cupboard.

He wants to show me the secrets of the dealer... how to win at cards.

yeah right.

The con man who managed to get me into the car can see i have figured out whats up, and asks if i'd like to leave. I nod.

We leave. fast. They drop me back in the city.

Had to chuckle, cause this is almost the same scenario that happened to me in KL back in 1999(!) Having been to Thailand before that thrice, I was, however, aware of those guys trying to scam me, asking me out about my credit cards, etc. The "rich card player from Brunei" had a long beard, but I guess this old scam has a much longer one!

[Tolley]

The card scam was tried on me in 1980 in Bangkok.

Rule of thumb ignore any strangers who try to engage in conversation, they are invvariably scammers.

[whiterussian]

One thing I was thinking of is why the Op didn't get the multiple in KL ?

Second thought probably cause you're not married right and Perth is much easier ?

How much you paid altogether CM - Perth if I may ask you ...

8,235 THB chiang mai --> KL return

10,283 THB KL ---> Perth return

got Non-O in Perth about 200 AUD

-------------------

At least the food while i was kidnapped was good! I thought they sounded like a Portuguese mix, could be Fillipino.

Many other folk I met in KL were very polite, and more importantly, the air asia stewardesses are very easy to talk to

[rikki]

Happened to me too, <2 years ago, in BB plaza.

She spoke good english, says "I'm sure I've met you before", buys me cofffee

When I was at the house, they taught me to play blackjack and win everytime, but I sussed what was happening, wouldn't play, got a lift back to the train, and found my wallet/credit cards had gone.

However the cards weren't working and little cash, so I knew she/they couldn't get much.

But I heard so many similar stories, Like they wouldn't give your bags/passport etc back until they had your money