Scamming The Farangs

[bambob]

pedro wrote somewhere else that scamming farangs in Pattaya is a cottage industry , well its the same all over the place.

I was recently told by a thai teacher i know a story about one of her pupils mother.

One day the mother asked the teacher to translate a letter from thai into english to send to a Frenchman she had met through a dating agency . This woman is married with kids and has very bad gambling debts which she couldnt pay off. Her husband and her decided the only way to get rid of the debts was to find a farang sucker to pay them off.

So she signed up with an agency and met this French bloke ! The letter she translated was a pck of lies from beginning to end but the teacher couldnt refuse to translate it because she was afraid of friction with the mother of her pupil . It was the usuall hardluck story and was begging for a lot of cash for some urgent domestic crisis.

The teacher asked about 250 baht to translate the letter but soon realised it was a paltry amount compared with the money this woman would get off the Frenchman so she said she wouldnt translate any more letters for the woman . She didnt want to get involved in this nefarious enterprise as she is a honest woman but really was worried about repurcussions with the woman and her husband .

It appears that the woman and her husband had decided that she could get married to the Frenchman go and live with him for a few years and then when she had a pile of money she would return to thailand with debts payed off . He was just a means to an end unbeknown to him unfortunatly. His beloved wasnt a hooker and was still married to this thai man .

[DJ Pat]

Thats a new one

[ProfessorFart]

His beloved wasnt a hooker

That is a debatable point.

[Neeranam]

Unfortunately this is true for many Thai married women, I have heard a few such stories, one where the farang guy was married to the woman for 12 years and set up company and bought a house inThailand. One day he arrived home to find the locks changed and the husband there, he lost the house and his businness.

[jackr]

Don't think I'd take that on the chin, they'd all have to burn.

[Heng]

Common sense usually kicks in when one realizes that they are 10,000 miles away from home and that the best case scenario would likely be:

a ) getting to Don Muang as fast as possible for a last flight out, wearing a baseball hat and dark sunglasses.

and not...

b ) getting the last laugh, smoking a cigar like George Pappard in front of the smoldering remains of one's former house while lounging in a lawn chair

Edited April 10, 2005 by Heng

[Neeranam]

Don't think I'd take that on the chin, they'd all have to burn. 

I don't think many of us could.

[aqua4]

Saw something in that line play off 3 years ago in Pattaya. A German guy went through the same thing. At first I thought it funny, but when I sat down and thought about it in-depth, it was scarey.

They had been married for 3 years in Thailand. He went home for a few months and when he returned the guy who opened the door asked him what he wanted. He asked the guy who he was and was told "My house". His wife had a common law husband and children. After a scene the police was called and removed the German from the property.

I heard from a friend who has an internet cafe in Bkk that this is also playing off with non bargirls, where they are looking for cash cows.

Sad really.

[Smokin Joe]

His beloved wasnt a hooker

That is a debatable point.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Obviously she was, just with different marketing strategy.

[Boon Mee]

Sometimes the Farang gets "offed" as well.

Seems to happen down in Pattaya more so than anywhere else in the country but as Farangs migrate in increasing numbers to LOS - watch out!

[bossman]

I heard from a friend who has an internet cafe in Bkk that this is also playing off with non bargirls, where they are looking for cash cows.

Sad really.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Uni girls are starting to get in on this too. They will hook up with a farang under the guise of being a regular non hooking good girl and then slowly work in money/gift requests into the relationship. It's hard to differentiate real relationships with "work" relationships because of this. Not all girls are like this of course but Farangs are increasingly seen as whales (literally sometimes) in Thai society with lots of money, big egos, and little common sense.

Another favorite tactic is to string along many farang "boyfriends" with timeshare that support the TG's immediate family, her real thai boyfriend, and her nights out for sanuk. These girls aren't necessarily the stereotypical bargirls either. Just hang out at a internet cafe and watch some thai girl e-mails or get into confidence with one playing the game it's very enlightening .

Edited April 10, 2005 by bossman

[cdnvic]

Unfortunately this is true for many Thai married women, I have heard a few such stories, one where the farang guy was married to the woman for 12 years and set up company and bought a house inThailand. One day he arrived home to find the locks changed and the husband there, he lost the house and his businness.

I wouldn't put that one down to Thai women though. It's the laws restricting ownership that does it. I dare say there'd be alot of western spouses doing the same thing to their other halves in the west if they had ridiculous laws to back them up.

cv

[cobra]

pedro wrote somewhere else that scamming farangs in Pattaya is a cottage industry , well its the same all over the place ....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Your right, unfortunetly if most plugged in their Common Sense Filter it wouldn't be much of an issue,

Nothing removes cash form a wallet faster than being an absent landlord or sending money overseas, a good litmus test is if the correspondence stops after you decline to send $$ for sick buffalos, relatives, that should tell you something.

[lampard10]

pedro wrote somewhere else that scamming farangs in Pattaya is a cottage industry , well its the same all over the place.

No,it's the same all over the world,it's just we're called falangs here,tourists in other places.

[kreon]

Uni girls are starting to get in on this too. They will hook up with a farang under the guise of being a regular non hooking good girl and then slowly work in money/gift requests into the relationship.

yes, they see us as sugar daddy's, nothing wrong with that

just watch that trap, but over the years have had many girls for the price of a bottle of whisky and snacks at a disco

[Kerryd]

I think it was in the book "Money Number One", where the author repeated the story of an English fella, met and married a Thai girl, moved her to England, got her all settled in for a life of bliss.

5 (?) years later, he comes home one day to find her packing. Asks what she is doing, she replies "husband have moto accident, go home now"

All that time, she had been married to a Thai guy, stashing money away. When her real (or 1st) husband has an accident, boom she's gone.

Now that's a dedicated pro ! He probably got off lucky. After that long together, she probably could have taken him to the cleaners in a divorce as well !

[toddy]

People do what they've got to do I guess. If my Mother had huge gambling debts probably to somebody who was dangerous, then I'd go all out in whatever way available to me to pay them off (and then explain to her the error of her ways). In UK doing a bit of overtime and moonlighting might pay it off. In a Thai village, labouring at 100baht a day would get me nowhere towards ensuring her safety. We do what we've got to do.

[bambob]

Sometimes the Farang gets "offed" as well.

Seems to happen down in Pattaya more so than anywhere else in the country but as Farangs migrate in increasing numbers to LOS - watch out!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

obviously we all know that the double dealing going on in Pattaya is alarming .

speak to anyone in the hash house harriers and they will enlighten you with dozens of stories about farangs being bilked robbed cleaned out , over properties and beauty salons and various other businesses they lost.

there is a girl called Nam who hangs out in soi4 nana ,bangkok who is married to a thai bloke and is also married to 2 english guys who send her money every month !

i dont think they (brits)know whats happening yet

but the thai guy is quite happy about the situation .

[JSixpack]

yes, they see us as sugar daddy's, nothing wrong with that

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes there is something wrong with that. What's wrong is that they pretend otherwise. Too many stupid farang then fall in love and lose their wallets, their homes, and possibly their lives. Laws or lack thereof protect the fraudsters; there's no recourse for the victim.

Edited April 12, 2005 by JSixpack

[Oleg_Rus]

Yes there is something wrong with that. What's wrong is that they pretend otherwise. Too many stupid farang then fall in love and lose their wallets, their homes, and possibly their lives.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

surely, pitty for them, but as long as "lover-boy" clearly understands that there's nothing special between him and his mistress - nothing bad will happen.

Those who open companies, buy houses with their TG/GF - are playing dangerous games with their lives.

I think even the most "smart-ass" TG still dumber average Joe... All tricks are old and very well known.

[JSixpack]

as long as "lover-boy" clearly understands that there's nothing special between him and his mistress - nothing bad will happen.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wrong. Unfortunately bad things happen regardless of how smart and hip "lover-boy" thinks he is. You see, all lover-boys have to sleep. The classsic example is the former owner of Las Vegas go-go. If anybody knew the score, HE did. Kept his valuables locked up in a safe where his current live-in couldn't get to them, he did. But then thieves mysteriously acquired a copy of the key to his gate, let themselves in, marched him to his safe and forced him to open it. Made off w/ a couple of million. He thought it was bad.

[kreon]

yes, they see us as sugar daddy's, nothing wrong with that

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes there is something wrong with that. What's wrong is that they pretend otherwise. Too many stupid farang then fall in love and lose their wallets, their homes, and possibly their lives. Laws or lack thereof protect the fraudsters; there's no recourse for the victim.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

its obvious that there are a lot of suckers about, its always the same, if its too good to be true, then walk away

i always take the view that they all have some emotional garbage somewhere, so i act accordenly, they either accept my terms or they can walk the highway

[chico]

Why should we pity guys getting ripped off by girls?

Anyone has pity for someone who loses a fortun on gambling or by playing on the stock exchanges?

If you play the stock exchange, you try to learn the rules first, same for gambling! You still lose, only one to blame, is you!

Same goes for investing (too) much money into a girl!

Wise rule is, never invest more than you can afford to lose!!!, in a relationship in europe or the US you can get burned much harder anyway!

[JSixpack]

chico,2005-04-12 12:18:46:

> Why should we pity guys getting ripped off by girls?

Depends on how much of a heart you have, I suppose. Would it make any

difference to you if it were your brother, your father, your son? Your

best friend?

And if YOU were the old Brit whose ex-bar girl wife lured into the

jungle and starved in cage while she collected his pension checks,

would you have accepted pity from the Christian missionary who found

you, or would you have said, No, leave me here, I don't need no pity?

Fortunately the missionary, being what he was, did have sufficient

pity and the fool survived a thankful and wiser man.

> Anyone has pity for someone who loses a fortun on gambling or by

> playing on the stock exchanges? If you play the stock exchange, you

> try to learn the rules first, same for gambling! You still lose,

> only one to blame, is you!

But, you see, that's true only because there ARE rules, and those

rules are enforced by the relevant authorities. It's not from the

beginning all just a fraud, so that the punter does indeed know what

he's doing. If fraud and theft ARE involved, then there is recourse,

and sometimes the punitive damage award can be quite substantial.

> Same goes for investing (too) much money

> into a girl!

Not at all, for the reason just explained.

> Wise rule is, never invest more than you can afford to

> lose!!!, in a relationship in europe or the US you can get burned

> much harder anyway!

It's much less likely because laws are enforced against fraud, theft, and

extortion (not to mention murder of course); police and judges are not

so corrupt; and even foreigners are equal to locals in the eyes of the

law. The playing field is level, so to speak.

Edited April 12, 2005 by JSixpack

[bannork]

It always surprises me how some Thai guys are so willing to let their wives go whoring at night to earn a living. Years ago I lived on Phetburi Dtat Mai road and there were families with young children, at night the wives would be off to Nana Plaza leaving the boyfriends literally holding the baby. Sometimes mum was down helping out too. So depressing.

[gburns57au]

I think it was in the book "Money Number One", where the author repeated the story of an English fella, met and married a Thai girl, moved her to England, got her all settled in for a life of bliss.

5 (?) years later, he comes home one day to find her packing. Asks what she is doing, she replies "husband have moto accident, go home now"

All that time, she had been married to a Thai guy, stashing money away. When her real (or 1st) husband has an accident, boom she's gone.

Now that's a dedicated pro ! He probably got off lucky. After that long together, she probably could have taken him to the cleaners in a divorce as well !

And you believe this.....

I met the author when he was pushing this book the day after the initial run off, I know where the ancedotes come from.

[JSixpack]

they either accept my terms or they can walk the highway

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sounds cool, but actually it may be you who walks the highway if you make it that far. You've blithely assumed things like equality before the law for farangs, non-corrupt police, benign judges, non-avenging relatives and boyfriends, no mafias, and a rational woman unconcerned about face and the upset of her plans. A common scenario is a bit of knife play, a screed of threats, and then a visit from the police, at which time you'll need to cough up however much cash as can be gotten out of you to avoid various charges. For example a former owner of well-known computer shop in Pattaya once discovered from the police that he had to pay B125,000 before his live-in walked the highway.

[Kerryd]

And you believe this.....

I met the author when he was pushing this book the day after the initial run off, I know where the ancedotes come from.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Like most stories, it has to be taken with a grain of salt I suppose. Without stories like that (real or false), the book probably wouldn't sell as well !

That was the first time I had heard that particular story, but over the years I have heard stories that are similar, or run along the same theme.

Methinks I'll be a single (unmarried) guy for a long time, regardless of the stories !

[gburns57au]

And you believe this.....

I met the author when he was pushing this book the day after the initial run off, I know where the ancedotes come from.

Like most stories, it has to be taken with a grain of salt I suppose. Without stories like that (real or false), the book probably wouldn't sell as well !

That was the first time I had heard that particular story, but over the years I have heard stories that are similar, or run along the same theme.

Methinks I'll be a single (unmarried) guy for a long time, regardless of the stories !

Thats what it is a book of stories.....Taken from guys sitting in bars in Thailand...but as the Author said....it was not meant to be serious just a light hearted look at things. He actually seemed bemused in the idea that anyone would take it seriously when I brought this up with him.

[aqua4]

Oddly enough, he married a Thai women after the book was published. Go figure.