My Family Got Scammed For More Than 200000 Baht

[Valentine]

It looks like an MLM scheme & nearly everything I can find about the actual unit which treats the water shows agrees with the OP. There is a company in Phuket selling it & you can actually just buy the MRET water without having to buy the machine. I was given a 5 litre bottle to try & did feel good during the time I was drinking it which was everyday until finished. The feelgood may have come from the placebo effect. The cost of the machines is prohibtively high so 200,000 for 5 units is about right although I query the need to buy 5 & I personally would never buy one. If anyone is determined to try it just buy some of the water first & see if it helps.

Many websites say the water must be refrigerated for it to retain it's treated qualities but upon pointing this out to the people selling the product they claimed I was wrong.

[Bagwan]

The problem in Thailand is the huge amount of pseudo-science that is going around here and the general lack of education.

Beware the new medical toy for measuring blood pressure. I refuse to have my blood pressure measured by one of these contraptions on the basis that, in Pattaya at least, Thais can't even get the traffic lights to work with any degree of reliability. I insist on the use of a sphygmomanometer.

On one such occasion when my blood pressure showed a normal 120/80 I suggested to the nurse, who showed signs of disbelief and frustration at my preference, that she now use her wonder machine. The systolic pressure showed 200! I told the nurse that I didn't need to know the diastolic pressure.

My guess is that for the the machine to show accurate readings it needs to be calibrated at regular intervals - but that would cost money wouldn't it?

[h90]

No, it was not my money. My Thai family is much more rich than I.

They still believe the machines are working, even after I explained them there's nothing inside.

They went to some kind of big meeting with a bogus doctor and a group of pseudo-scientists.

My Thai family wanted to sell the water made by the machines.

I saw exactly the same back at home in Austria.....

And that is just the beginning.

Next thing is a device which neutralize the negative effect of mobile phones electromagnetic waves.

A device which filters out electric made with nuclear power.

And and and.....my ex-girlfriend had it all....

[doggie888888]

No, it was not my money. My Thai family is much more rich than I.

They still believe the machines are working, even after I explained them there's nothing inside.

They went to some kind of big meeting with a bogus doctor and a group of pseudo-scientists.

My Thai family wanted to sell the water made by the machines.

The bogus doctor and pseudo scientists probably had their white coats on

Most Thais seem to believe anyone with a white coat on, as if only REAL doctors and scientists are allowed to wear them and apparently the whiter the better and more qualified!!

[kloghead]

My Thai family wanted to sell the water made by the machines.

Well, are they selling the water or not? If yes, maybe they're not as dumb as you thought...

[kokesaat]

Any doubting Thomas hasn't been in Thailand long enough to know that Thais seem to be more prone to these kind of scams than other folks. Lack of education surely plays a role. The lack of verifying agencies also gives these companies the freedom to make exaggerated claims. From the rice farmers who are scammed by middlemen, the laborer who plucks down a plot of land as downpayment for a non-existent overseas job, to the folks who buy their lottery tickets because of some juju/voodoo/incense-smoking monk/fortune teller who predicts the right number.......there's a scam a minute in the LOS. If you've got a significant other who's Thai, you're fooling yourself if you think this couldn't happen to you.

[spidermike007]

Find the owner of the company, slap him up the side of the head, and then proceed to have a discussion with him. Try the

same with all of his sons, and all of his executives. If this happened to me, I would devote my lifetime to making his life

miserable. That simple. No crime goes unpunished. Make them pay for their crimes.

[stevehaigh]

My Thai family bought, when I was not at home, several MRET machines.

These machines claim to "activate" water.

Each machine costs more than 40000B.

I am an electronics engineer with more than 10 years experience.

The total value of electronics components in the machine doesn't exceed 20 baht.

The AC/DC adaptor has a value of around 50B.

There's another 50B in plastic in the machine.

Basically the machine does nothing except making a led blink.

Please warn your Thai family not to get cheated the same way.

Thai's have to be the easiest marks in the world for bogus shit. my wife will but anything from someone who looks 'hi-so' and talks up a good story. fortunately with my wife, its usually face cream and beauty products which aren't that expensive, but over a year probably add up to 20k or so!

[Hawk]

but if you are an electronics engineer why didn't your family consult you before spending so much money.

A lot of Thai people believe they are superior to farangs, they probably are wondering why the farang engineer is no praising them.

Yes this is exactly what the problem is. Even when you tell some Thais that the 'jade bed", or the "magnetic bed" or the "magic water maker" or the "Buddha magical amulet" is a fake they just won't listen. Many Thais hate a foreigner telling them that they are wrong, they believe in some of the biggest nonsense imaginable and these are the educated Thais. Thais as a whole will not seek a foreigners advice because they think they are smarter than us aliens. Anyway trying to explain to Thais is like talking to a brick wall, a waste of time.

[saintofsilence]

The just reading about this machine sends off signals to me there is water rolling out my eyes

[doggie888888]

Lots of Thai people do stooped things. My neighbor across the street just quit a long term good paying job to sell milk. Scammers like to scam Thai people as well as Foreigners. I know one Foreigner in Pattaya that bought this thing that plugs in the wall that suppose to save 33% on your electric bill. He paid 2,000 Baht for this useless item.

Barry

SOrry, unrelated topic, but...

I hear that device being advertised on the local English language radio in Pattaya. The voice was a farang (my assumption as he sounds like a native speaker) and my first reaction was "farang trying to scam other farangs". The device is called eco-something. The guy on the ad was relating his experience about how wonderful the device is and it even works in your own country (or words to that effect implying it's well used and tested overseas).

Back to the water issue...so many filtration and water treatment thingys in the market ranging from cheap to exhorbitant. Does anyone know where we can actually test the water that comes out of whatever water system we have bought & installed?

[kokesaat]

Anybody want to bet someone will fall for the latest in scams floating around Thailand?

Hydrogen-fueled cars:

http://www.thaiwaterpower.com/

I don't know what the price is, but given the high price of gas/diesel, no doubt some folks will fall for this. Oh yeah, it includes a blinking L.E.D. light, so it must work well!!!

[hazz]

I have seen these hydrogen/water systems before. Amazingly they electrolyze the water using electricity from alternator, feeding the hydrogen into the manifold; thus creating a hybrid perpetual motion car!!!!!

The problem in convincing people that these systems are BS is that along with the hydrogen they are putting a fine water mist into manifold. water injection into internal combustion engines does have a long history and a noticeable boost to the car, at the cost of shorter engine life.

[hhgz]

" He even took a USA patent on his invention."

What's the patent number? I'd love to check out what was patented (probably the "look", rather than the "function", of the machine).

[Harcourt]

I have seen these hydrogen/water systems before. Amazingly they electrolyze the water using electricity from alternator, feeding the hydrogen into the manifold; thus creating a hybrid perpetual motion car!!!!!

The problem in convincing people that these systems are BS is that along with the hydrogen they are putting a fine water mist into manifold. water injection into internal combustion engines does have a long history and a noticeable boost to the car, at the cost of shorter engine life.

The laws of thermodynamics prohibit perpetual motion. It's burning a fuel, it's not perpetual motion.

Nonetheless...... I've seen a car modified like this on telly, (Cambell Live). The odd thing is we never hear any follow-up story. If the concept was eventually debunked, I would expect to see reports of the fallacy.

If the concept proved to be true, I would very much expect to see the technology being sponsored by big money and proliferating.

(To clarify, this is hydrogen cars, not hydrogen fuel cells powering cars.)

Conspiracy theory time!

If the theory and working prototypes do actually work, it is only OPEC and oil companies that have an interest in supressing or delaying the full-scale production of these cars.

OPEC and the oil companies, especially in collusion, have the money to lobby politicians and media, and to purchase the intelectual property.

Edited August 17, 2009 by Harcourt

[orosee]

OP, I feel with you! What a terrible waste of money, however, if they still have money to burn, there is a Swiss company (only good things come from Switzerland) that sells a doodad whcih, when installed in the power lines in your house, will not only remove all "electrosmog" but also save up to 30% electricity. It does that by reversing the electron spin from clockwise to counter-clockwise (or the other way around, whatever) thus removing negativity from the electric current and turning it into a positive life force (plants will also grow greener, I am sure).

Inside you will find to your delight an array of 4 fluorescent tubes... more if you buy a larger model.

Christmas is coming, a gift idea perhaps?

Nobody ever listens to the experts

[Bobr]

No, it was not my money. My Thai family is much more rich than I.

They still believe the machines are working, even after I explained them there's nothing inside.

They went to some kind of big meeting with a bogus doctor and a group of pseudo-scientists.

My Thai family wanted to sell the water made by the machines.

That kind of nonsense really puts a strain on relationships and can cause you to lose respect for the people you love. I get really tired of paying for "whitening cream" special soap for her genitals, elastic stomach bands that are supposed to make fat "burn away" and getting yelled at every time I put 91 gas into my car instead of 95 because what I'm buying will "ruin" the engine. (Apparently Toyota does not know what they are doing when they say to use 91.) The real disaster is probably the frustration you are feeling at what appears to be very stupid behavior by your family. I'm not cheap, I hate being cheated because of the stupidity of those I allow into my life.

Edited August 17, 2009 by Bobr

[borovik]

You all make fun here of duped PO's family.I do not understand why?

I know well very nice lady in Europe,with degree,who makes her living selling matteraces used for sleeping.They are made in USA.

They call then "magnetic"beds.She firmly believes,that she has genuine,good product,not BS!Her beds contain in fact many polarized magnets,which form magnetic field.About - one thousand bucks per single bed.

Anybody remember the cult group in Japan which gassed subway in Tokyo?I forgot its name already,but I did not forget the BS device,which they used to keep on their heads.It looked very scientific and serious,but it was something very simple,similar to my friend's magnets:

it was electric network of button cells connected somehow,forming sort of hat.Unbelievable!!!

Intelligent,educated people are made to believe such a nonsense??We should come back on trees and start it all over again...

[doubleJ]

Frankly speaking I thought I am being a penny pincher by simply boiling water on the express kettle and drinking plain ol' boiled water instead of ordering bottled mineral water.

I didn't expect to see such generous folks here.

[garyh]

Frankly speaking I thought I am being a penny pincher by simply boiling water on the express kettle and drinking plain ol' boiled water instead of ordering bottled mineral water.

I didn't expect to see such generous folks here.

It has been proven people are healthier and live longer if they drink water that has a lower surface tension. There are natural sources for this however the same can be achieved by adding a small amount of lemon juice. Perhaps I could market this water in Thailand and make a fortune

[pnustedt]

This thread reminds me of a situation that occurred at a printing company in the UK. They were convinced that their printing machines would run better using de-ionized water and installed a machine which does that. Low and behold printing quality improved and waste levels fell, people came from all over the world to witness this new wonder.

A few months later, however, it was discovered that the installers had connected it to the wrong pipes and it was de-ionizing the water in the central heating system!

Sorry to go off topic, but it's not just in Thailand that such things occur.

[AleG]

If one morning I wake up finding that my sense of ethics and morality has slipped away I could make a fortune doing stuff like this. I have enough LEDs, semiconductors and wires at home to stock up a small store.

[garyh]

If one morning I wake up finding that my sense of ethics and morality has slipped away I could make a fortune doing stuff like this. I have enough LEDs, semiconductors and wires at home to stock up a small store.

You could quadruple your earnings if you can speak in a deep voice like the Thai tv ads.

[AleG]

If one morning I wake up finding that my sense of ethics and morality has slipped away I could make a fortune doing stuff like this. I have enough LEDs, semiconductors and wires at home to stock up a small store.

You could quadruple your earnings if you can speak in a deep voice like the Thai tv ads.

Well, I do have a cough at the moment and it gives a deep, low voice that would make James Earl Jones tremble in his boots. But I'll have to practice my Thai a bit more.

[mogoso]

Is this the device where the seller shows two pot plants: one watered with "activated water" and one watered with distilled water. The distilled water watered plant is sickly and straggly, while the other plant is healthy?

That reminds me of the 12 year old girl who for a science experiment took two similar small plants She then boiled tap water on a stove and let it cool. and also took tap water and boiled it in a microwave.

She took daily photos and day by day the stove boiled waters plant grew normally. But the microwaves plant died fairly quickly.

[topben]

your money?

heard of tamboon? in thai, it means, returning to where the whatever first came from.......in this case this money did not belong to whosoever parted ways with it in the first place...... good golly, did you check on your relatives background first? if the money was not yours? mai pen rai,ya ?chai yen yen, na.they sound terribly loaded ? also, a background check service is available somewhere here in this forum. go for it before you get lost too by them along the way.....