I Got A Disturbing Call From Thailand Today

[tropo]

If this is the way it works here,I feel for you both.After a 5 year relationship,the feeling is that you are both working for a common goal and hopefully this is not a scam instigated by your tilac.

I doubt in Thai/Farang relationships they're ever working for common goals. The Thai women's goal is to get as much money in as possible. What does the Farang get? Companionship?

The longer the relationship, the more trust the Farang has, making it even easier it is to pull off a big scam.

Edited September 28, 2009 by tropo

[madjbs]

Not everyone lives in Bangkok.

Only several million!

And millions more in other urban areas. In fact, 35% of the population live in urban areas.

Are you now going to claim that Bangkok isn't the "real" Thailand?

[tropo]

For kitcsh22,....I still dont believe, ! .hands up all those that have a thai wife with half a mill of her own in the bank !,AND that is stupid enough to fall for this scam,A thai woman smart enough to accumulate 500k of her own would be reluctant to give it up i feel, im actually defending MOST thais, not knocking them,

Well, it is obvious that you will not believe me, but my wife has at least three bank accounts in her own name where the current balance is more than 500,000 Baht (or sterling equivalent).

And although I do not believe for one minute that she would have fallen for the scam which entrapped the OP's partner, she too can be fooled. There was an occasion a while back when I asked her to take one of her Krugerrands to the local market town to see what offers she could get from the gold shops there. She returned and proudly put a small wad of notes (10,000 Baht) in my hand and then burst into tears when I told her that she had sold the thing for less than half of what it was worth. She was foolish but she most certainly was not dishonest. But if you run true to your blinkered form, you will say that you believe that she was she was.

Although my wife would not have the greater part of her money if it were not for her connection with me, that does not mean that it is not hers.

I wouldn't believe your wife has 3 bank accounts with more than 500k each unless you told me you put it in there for her or you had a good story to explain how she came across that much cash. Perhaps she was a master scammer before she met you. Where did she get her Krugerrands? She must have been gifted them as she didn't have a clue of their worth. An ounce of gold has been over US$900 for a long while already.

[tropo]

It was her money in her account, she was suppose to buy some land next month for this money. And the house is in a company name without her name on any documents, so yes i asked her to take care of a potential buyer if he comes along, so she did not try to sell the house herself.

She had to to the bank to get the money, and like somebody said " it's not easy to withdraw that amount of money" yes it is!!

She is very distressed about this, a huge loss of money for her. For the satisfaction of some repliers i did not loose a single satang.

I will call later and check if they found anything on the video tapes

Please ignore my recent replies as I hadn't read this updated information you offered later in the thread.

Is it possible that your girl has bought the land she wanted with the 500K and she's making an excuse that it was "stolen", knowing you'll replace it? Perhaps she's feeling insecure that you're selling the house and wants to ensure she's set up in her own right.

Of course she has to be distressed about this, but that's easy to pull off.

In another Asian land my girl at the time pulled off a kidnapping while I was absent to explain the disappearance of a similar amount of cash. It was quite an elaborate undertaking and a lot more believable than your lady's rather feeble story. In the end it was impossible to get to the bottom of what really happened because the whole family appeared to be in on it.

Edited September 28, 2009 by tropo

[rgs2001uk]

If this is the way it works here,I feel for you both.After a 5 year relationship,the feeling is that you are both working for a common goal and hopefully this is not a scam instigated by your tilac.

I doubt in Thai/Farang relationships they're ever working for common goals. The Thai women's goal is to get as much money in as possible. What does the Farang get? Companionship?

The longer the relationship, the more trust the Farang has, making it even easier it is to pull off a big scam.

I can only assume the time you spend in Pattaya, or the company you keep has led to you having such a high opinion of Thai woman.

Racist sexist crap.

[Kitsch22]

For kitcsh22,....I still dont believe, ! .hands up all those that have a thai wife with half a mill of her own in the bank !,AND that is stupid enough to fall for this scam,A thai woman smart enough to accumulate 500k of her own would be reluctant to give it up i feel, im actually defending MOST thais, not knocking them,

Well, it is obvious that you will not believe me, but my wife has at least three bank accounts in her own name where the current balance is more than 500,000 Baht (or sterling equivalent).

And although I do not believe for one minute that she would have fallen for the scam which entrapped the OP's partner, she too can be fooled. There was an occasion a while back when I asked her to take one of her Krugerrands to the local market town to see what offers she could get from the gold shops there. She returned and proudly put a small wad of notes (10,000 Baht) in my hand and then burst into tears when I told her that she had sold the thing for less than half of what it was worth. She was foolish but she most certainly was not dishonest. But if you run true to your blinkered form, you will say that you believe that she was she was.

Although my wife would not have the greater part of her money if it were not for her connection with me, that does not mean that it is not hers.

I wouldn't believe your wife has 3 bank accounts with more than 500k each unless you told me you put it in there for her or you had a good story to explain how she came across that much cash. Perhaps she was a master scammer before she met you. Where did she get her Krugerrands? She must have been gifted them as she didn't have a clue of their worth. An ounce of gold has been over US$900 for a long while already.

Most of her money represents her retained profits from a string of property deals in UK. I lent her the money for the first one; the subsequent deals were all financed by her own accumulated profits/capital gains. She has long since paid me back in full my original loan. I introduced her to every one of the property deals but the money in her bank accounts today is hers and I have no claim on it whatsoever. 500,000 Baht would now represent only a relatively modest slice of her net worth.

The Krugerrands in England are mine. The Krugerrands in Thailand are hers because I have given them to as presents over the years. She can never remember that they come from South Africa even though I have told her a hundred times. When she made her ill-advised sale a Krugerrand was worth approximately £400 sterling. The current price is approximately £220 more than that but if you were to ask her she would (I think) probably still quote you a figure of 20,000 Baht. But now she would not sell without asking me first.

She will probably be okay as long as I am alive. My two great worries arise upon my death. Firstly how to minimise her loss by way of the Chancellor's Inheritance Tax take from my estate. Secondly how (in a jurisdiction where there are no trusts) to create a mechanism to make sure that she does not get taken to the cleaners by some other thief.

[stevoo]

The replys by the op seem to be smoke and mirrors, her property deals in the uk, what was this, tax avoidance. Your krugerands, no hers, actually gifts. you end up flaunting your wealth and trying to avoid british tax laws.

is all this look at me bs

If you have genuinely lost this money perhaps you were flaunting your cash to the wrong people you might learn to keep your personel business to yourself. Also to offset tax liability dont forget charitable donations.

Edited September 28, 2009 by stevoo

[pjclark1]

Not everyone lives in Bangkok.

Only several million!

And millions more in other urban areas. In fact, 35% of the population live in urban areas.

Are you now going to claim that Bangkok isn't the "real" Thailand?

I live in the second biggest Thai urban area, ChiangMai, but also know Nakon Ratchisema quite well. Very few Thais make more than 12k a year in either.

(apart from the scammers of course)

I just don't believe the story is true.

The ability of the Thai lady to lie is beyond most peoples imagination.

I always wonder how many western guys get scammed with such regularity, I guess some of us are just gullible.

Som naam na

Edited September 29, 2009 by pjclark1

[Kitsch22]

The replys by the op seem to be smoke and mirrors, her property deals in the uk, what was this, tax avoidance. Your krugerands, no hers, actually gifts. you end up flaunting your wealth and trying to avoid british tax laws.

is all this look at me bs

If you have genuinely lost this money perhaps you were flaunting your cash to the wrong people you might learn to keep your personel business to yourself. Also to offset tax liability dont forget charitable donations.

You need to take more water with it. You might achieve some coherence in your observations. I have lost nothing. My wife has paid (to 07/08) all her UK tax (as have I)

We are not particularly wealthy, though we did quite well in the UK property boom while it lasted.

You on the other hand are evidently a member of the racist faction which simply cannot accept that a Thai from humble origins can achieve a decent standard of living by honest means and are consumed by bitter envy when confronted by one who has done just that.

[imaneggspurt]

The replys by the op seem to be smoke and mirrors, her property deals in the uk, what was this, tax avoidance. Your krugerands, no hers, actually gifts. you end up flaunting your wealth and trying to avoid british tax laws.

is all this look at me bs

If you have genuinely lost this money perhaps you were flaunting your cash to the wrong people you might learn to keep your personel business to yourself. Also to offset tax liability dont forget charitable donations.

The guy you have directed this reply to is not the op stevoo,,but i see where you are coming from,......

[Kitsch22]

I live in the second biggest Thai urban area, ChiangMai, but also know Nakon Ratchisema quite well. Very few Thais make more than 12k a year in either.

(apart from the scammers of course)

"Very few Thais make more than 12k a year"? What currency are you using? Alternatively, what planet are you *really* on?

[tigerbalm]

My girlfriend called me today saying that she had been scammed by somebody that where suppose to be a potential buyer for my house.

This started a couple of days ago, she called and said that a woman went to the house saying her sister was interrested in buying the house, and she would come to the house a few days later.

"her sister" which turned out to be 5 guys in a Toyota Fortuner showed up yesterday, all dressed up/hi-so looking, as she said... somehow she was lured to hand over money to them for god knows what?? and they where suppose to show up later with a deposit for the house.

All in all she handed over about 500k baht... The first thing on my mind was gambling-debt,,, but i am not to sure about it.. I called later today and then she was at the police station, they told her that this was a profesional gang, that have been reported before, and the car was most probarly a rented one with fake plates. Tommorow they are going to Lotus on Sukhumvit to go trouhgt the cctv cameras, and see if they can recognise the car/plates (they didn't go in with her to the bank).

So what you think guys/ladies, is this just another rather advanced excuse for a loss of money, or have somebody heard anything about this? We have been together for about 5 years, and this is not a common thing...

I would be interested to know what you the original OP thinks now you have heard some of the other posters views, do you think she was part of a elaborate scam that many posters seem to imply and is not an uncommon practice, or do you think you were part of an elaborate scam as many posters equally seem to imply.

[loong]

The replys by the op seem to be smoke and mirrors, her property deals in the uk, what was this, tax avoidance. Your krugerands, no hers, actually gifts. you end up flaunting your wealth and trying to avoid british tax laws.

is all this look at me bs

If you have genuinely lost this money perhaps you were flaunting your cash to the wrong people you might learn to keep your personel business to yourself. Also to offset tax liability dont forget charitable donations.

The guy you have directed this reply to is not the op stevoo,,but i see where you are coming from,......

I must admit that this thread has confused me as well. Now I will have to read it again as it seems that Kubota opened this thread and somehow along the way morphed into Kitsch22. Are they the same person????

[imaneggspurt]

I live in the second biggest Thai urban area, ChiangMai, but also know Nakon Ratchisema quite well. Very few Thais make more than 12k a year in either.

(apart from the scammers of course)

"Very few Thais make more than 12k a year"? What currency are you using? Alternatively, what planet are you *really* on?

Ill agree with you here, what planet indeed,.my friend is a saleman at ford and makes 50-80k a month, thailand is not all rice picking peasants, .

[madjbs]

I live in the second biggest Thai urban area, ChiangMai, but also know Nakon Ratchisema quite well. Very few Thais make more than 12k a year in either.

(apart from the scammers of course)

I just don't believe the story is true.

The ability of the Thai lady to lie is beyond most peoples imagination.

I always wonder how many western guys get scammed with such regularity, I guess some of us are just gullible.

Som naam na

Like I said before, I bet you are one of those guys who screams SCAM at everything when it isn't, but doesn't have the faintest clue when you are actually being scammed.

As for your salary theories, you are just plain wrong!

An avid stickman reader is my guess.

[pjclark1]

Sorry I, of course, meant to type 12k A MONTH

I clearly know nothing about anything, I freely admit it ...... but then again ....... those who get scammed most easily always seem to have convince themselves "their lady is different"

PS

I don't believe I am racist as I wouldn't trust any woman (guess that makes me sexist), Thai, English, American, with my money or house. At least it's easier out here to stop a woman taking your house (cos you can't own one in the first place.

PPS

I understand that the Thai government may confiscate any property that a foreigner buys in his wife's name but is really foreign owned by a foreign husband. If you think you own a house in Thailand please print your name and address, so that I may report you and claim my reward. (purely in the interests of justice you understand). I wonder if the Thai authorities have thought of IP tracking to identify those who confess to breaking Thai laws on public forums!

Edited September 29, 2009 by pjclark1

[LennyW]

pjclark1, you are clearly right about "knowing nothing about anything", suggest you do some research about "house" ownership and "land" ownership as you are clearly confused.

Houses can be owned by foreigners, the land it sits on cannot.

[madjbs]

Completely clueless

That is the problem with forums, you get self professed "experts" giving everyone their dodgy advice.

[madjbs]

. those who get scammed most easily always seem to have convince themselves "their lady is different"

PS

I don't believe I am racist as I wouldn't trust any woman (guess that makes me sexist)

Thats the kind of attitude people get after hanging around the wrong type of girls here and "paying for it", for years on end.

Dregs of society....

[Kitsch22]

I must admit that this thread has confused me as well. Now I will have to read it again as it seems that Kubota opened this thread and somehow along the way morphed into Kitsch22. Are they the same person????

Kubota has been with his partner for 5 years; I have been with mine for 22 years. When somebody posts to the effect that all Thai women are crooks and that any partner who allows them to have assets of their own is an idiot, I take that as a defamation of both her and me.

Of course their are gold-giggers and thieves out there, but the blanket condemnation so common in TV is wholly unjustified.

[tigerbalm]

Yes it is like the old saying you can ask 10 people a question and you get ten different answers.

I don't know what has happened here but like a lot of threads it slowly detract from the OPs original question/s in to a slanging match between a few.

what started out about a possible scam has now become a debate on land ownership...mmmmm

[loong]

I must admit that this thread has confused me as well. Now I will have to read it again as it seems that Kubota opened this thread and somehow along the way morphed into Kitsch22. Are they the same person????

Kubota has been with his partner for 5 years; I have been with mine for 22 years. When somebody posts to the effect that all Thai women are crooks and that any partner who allows them to have assets of their own is an idiot, I take that as a defamation of both her and me.

Of course their are gold-giggers and thieves out there, but the blanket condemnation so common in TV is wholly unjustified.

Yes, I read the thread again. Now i see that you are 2 different people, I think that the thread went a bit astray and I got confused.

As for your wife and your concerns about her being fleeced when you are no longer around. I can only think to suggest that you discuss reports similar to the story in this thread and try to make her aware as possible, that it is not in her best interests to trust anyone when it comes to money.

I have to say that most Thai people that I know are actually pretty intelligent. I don't know if it is my imagination but Thais do seem to be lacking common sense compared to other Nationalities and the ones that I have known are certainly more gullible.

My girlfriend is not stupid, she's very clever, but her common sense and mine just do not mesh a lot of the time. She is duped time and time again by different people selling pills, coffee, drugs or whatever that are guaranteed to make you lose weight. They're all expensive, none of them work, but the next person that comes along selling the miracle weight loss xyz, she will believe.

Although I find the 500,000 Baht a bit hard to swallow, I can see how people can be conned, especially if the conman appeals to their greed.

[tropo]

I can only assume the time you spend in Pattaya, or the company you keep has led to you having such a high opinion of Thai woman.

Racist sexist crap.

It's actually a bit lower, but I didn't want to upset people like you too much.

Edited September 29, 2009 by tropo

[webfact]

1 post deleted. Please keep it civil and do not flame other members!

[thaihome]

Sorry I, of course, meant to type 12k A MONTH

I clearly know nothing about anything, I freely admit it ...... but then again ....... those who get scammed most easily always seem to have convince themselves "their lady is different"

PS

I don't believe I am racist as I wouldn't trust any woman (guess that makes me sexist), Thai, English, American, with my money or house. At least it's easier out here to stop a woman taking your house (cos you can't own one in the first place.

PPS

I understand that the Thai government may confiscate any property that a foreigner buys in his wife's name but is really foreign owned by a foreign husband. If you think you own a house in Thailand please print your name and address, so that I may report you and claim my reward. (purely in the interests of justice you understand). I wonder if the Thai authorities have thought of IP tracking to identify those who confess to breaking Thai laws on public forums!

No you are not a sexist, you are clearly a misogynist.

Also you will never be able to document a single case of property, house, or condo being confiscated when the wife of a foreigner bought it in her name because the Thai government thinks it is controlled by the foreign husband.

Your entire perspective of Thailand is so skewed by the localities and people you associate you are indeed living on another planet.

TH

[rgs2001uk]

I can only assume the time you spend in Pattaya, or the company you keep has led to you having such a high opinion of Thai woman.

Racist sexist crap.

It's actually a bit lower, but I didn't want to upset people like you too much.

Doesnt upset me in the least, in fact I would like to thank you for confirming what I had already suspected.

[pjclark1]

No you are not a sexist, you are clearly a misogynist.

Also you will never be able to document a single case of property, house, or condo being confiscated when the wife of a foreigner bought it in her name because the Thai government thinks it is controlled by the foreign husband.

Your entire perspective of Thailand is so skewed by the localities and people you associate you are indeed living on another planet.

TH

Misogynist - person who hates women.

No I don't hate women (not even my ex-wife), I just don't trust them.

Is there a label for men who don't trust women? I don't know it, but it definitely isn't misogynist.

But just to point out the localities I hang out are mainly schools as I am both a student and a teacher. The people I associate with are other foreign students, restaurant owners and teachers (I suppose I should call them sponsors not owners) as well as associated retired people, and the Thais I hang out with (mainly the gfs family) are various teachers, 1 shrimp farmer, 1 park ranger, a nurse, a hotel receptionist (my gf) and assorted cooks. Most of the gfs Thai family and the gf own their own houses and some run their own businesses. The teachers are the highest wage owners I know (at less than 20k per month each). I am the first white person joining the family (they generally seem to have been lucky and avoided relationships with foreigners).

I'm sorry I don't mix with the higher members of Thai society (like car salesmen )

But my gfs sister has had her photo taken socially with Tamsin, if that counts for anything)

I'm sorry if you consider those people the dregs of society but not everyone can get a job as a car salesman !

Edited September 30, 2009 by pjclark1

[dsfbrit]

I must admit that this thread has confused me as well. Now I will have to read it again as it seems that Kubota opened this thread and somehow along the way morphed into Kitsch22. Are they the same person????

Kubota has been with his partner for 5 years; I have been with mine for 22 years. When somebody posts to the effect that all Thai women are crooks and that any partner who allows them to have assets of their own is an idiot, I take that as a defamation of both her and me.

Of course their are gold-giggers and thieves out there, but the blanket condemnation so common in TV is wholly unjustified.

This thread is wandering off topic - as many do - still as I have posted a couple of useful comments 'on topic' then I would like to add I have been with my Thai wife for 7 years and am happy enough thanks. People who have problems with 'dodgy' Thai women, probably have problems with women in general - as they are attracted to 'dodgy' women. I have no proof of this whatsoever, other than I have watched male friends of mine get involved with British women that the rest of the male group have identified as 'gold diggers' or worse, but they just cannot see it?. The divorce rate in the UK is around 50 percent by the way - so its not just in LOS that relationships fail for one reason or another.

[david96]

It should be them paying her for the house not her paying them !!

Unless, they have drugged her somehow, I have heard of this before, a Lady in Big C, talking to two Ladies, and then next thing, she handed them her thick Gold chain, afterwards she could not remember anything.

Scary !!!!

Yes I have heard of that one many years ago in Thailand.

If you are drugged you would not be capable to use an ATM or carry out a bank transaction.

These drugs are used in Western countries but are used for "date rape" purposes not for obtaining money

in large amounts. The victim is rendered unconcious and wakes up later. In Thailand it may happen at a hotel

by a guest the victim returned with. see "ladyboys" they then steal his passport,money valuables and credit cards. It is not the same as being drunk and spending your money foolishly and then not remembering what you did.

Edited October 1, 2009 by david96