Mugged On Sukhumvit - Friendly Warning

[fantuzi]

My friend was robbed at the same area some time ago.It was "snatch" job,they caught him while crossing the street in early afternoon and they were bloody lucky with their spoil.

I was shocked - it did not happen in our Metropolis to often!?may be the same artists?We can organize sting trap in front of cigar club?.Any volunteers with blackberries?i-phones/i-pads would do as well..

May be RebellionClub will come with some manpower?

[mmh8]

There have been instances where victims have been beaten because they had no valuables.

Best option is to avoid walking around desolate areas in the middle of the night, or carry a weapon.

tsk and you think what? advising people to carry weapons I pulled out a knife so they pulled out a gun, or worse I pulled out a gun and used it? explain exactly how a falang is walking around with a gun to a judge then spend many years in the local nick

ok this person in particular should not be carrying a weapon as it will be removed from their person and used against them

[lonewolf99]

Walking with your laptop and gear at 3:30 in the morning. One would think that you had gone for a drinking session with friends after work and were on your way back home. At that hour even the blind would have deduced that you would have probably been drinking, and your senses would probably have been a little numb. You claim to not be drunk, but that does not mean you were not drinking.

Soi 28, at 3:30 am is not very lively and is mostly dark and deserted. The basic rule of thumb, avoid places that are dark & empty, or seedy Soi's with no foreigners. After 8 years, you probably should have learned that at that hour the best option was to grab a Taxi back. If you were just looking for some fresh air, then you were probably not as sober as thought you were.

All the above is correct.

The bottom line is..................DO NOT FLAUNT YOUR WEALTH.

And especially at 3 a.m. you were asking for trouble.

As stated before you are a lucky man not to have been seriously wounded. Just add up the total cost of the goods you lost and think of it two ways.

1) Total = How much does the average person in a 3rd world country earn compared to what I lost. (Hence a reason for them turning to crime)

2) Total = Cheap compared to my life.

and as your Mother would say.....DON'T DO THAT AGAIN........and get to bed at a reasonable time.

[ESB7]

To the OP, it must <SPAN lang=EN-GB>be a scary experience and luckily you were not hurt or more, dont think you are inferior or less of a man that this happened to you, just a case of 'wrong place wrong time'<BR></SPAN>

[asiawatcher]

The question was asked but not answered... did you report it! And if in Soi 28 would stand to reason they will be there again some time soon looking for the tourist with the goodies.

[asiawatcher]

Discretion was the better part of valour to be sure.

Edited August 30, 2010 by asiawatcher

[thedistillers]

The fact that some people are a bit careless in Bangkok does show that the city is overall safe. I don't know any person who would carelessly walk around with a BB and a laptop in Quito or Managua in DAY time, let alone night.

But considering a BB in Thailand is the luxury equivalent of a 3000$ Macbook Pro in the Western world (the only reason so many Thai have a BB is due to credit cards, no way so many people can afford it), there is no 1mil+ city in the world where you can safely walk at night with a 3000$ item visible.

Edited August 30, 2010 by thedistillers

[CarlBkk]

A Chinese guy got his laptop snatched on the same soi at 6pm a few months back.

Believe it or not, the Thonglor police have fairly good records on the local thieves and often have a good idea which "group" were involved. They're just lazy to keep in touch and you have to badger them for new info. They also (probably only if they feel inclined) have connections with the mobile operators so they can track your stolen mobile from the unique number when it's next used. Often from the new buyer of the mobile, who is then contacted to see which 2nd hand mobile shop it's bought from etc. 2nd hand phone shops know they could get in the &lt;deleted&gt; for knowingly purchasing stolen mobiles and so do often take ID copies of the sellers. So there is a way to find the thief. However, even if the mobile is recovered, you probably won't get it back. The purchaser will be refunded by the shop and only the selling price of the mobile will come back to you unless you take it to court personally. Frustrating.

[powderpuff]

They sell nung chuks just about everywhere.

[Travel2003]

They sell nung chuks just about everywhere.

If you see someone walking down that street with a black eye and bandaged head, its not a local thug, its only me coming from a training session.

[Kilgore Trout]

They sell nung chuks just about everywhere.

I think I'd hit myself in the nads if I tried to use them

But really, give the guy a break. Maybe he exercised bad judgement but apparently this is a crime hotspot, so give him some credit for letting us all know about it.

[Asthecrowflys]

:lol:.............i wont say it................

.........ok then........OP did you forget to mention those blokes on the bikes were the local Thong Lor Fuzz:whistling:

Seriously,good to hear you came to no harm....

[ukrules]

Always take a taxi and you will mostly avoid incidents like this.

[Portlandstone]

Wondering what kind of appearance did these four guys have? Young in teens, or higher? Did they look middle-class punks that want more, or destititue, or even lower like construction workers?

[osten]

Been about 1.5 years since this incident happened to me, and figured an update would be interesting.

As it turns out, the police actually caught three of the four perps. Even more impressive is they recovered my laptop and blackberry (not the wedding ring, but can't complain). This was thanks to some tracking software i had installed on my phone, which showed via gps exactly where the thieves moved to. Cops were impressed with the technology.

A month later, i had to go to court to testify...an inetersting experience. As far as i know, the three of them cconfessed and are in jail. Still, i must watch my back a bit, though they were apparently just local thugs, not part of a "real" gang.

If nothing else, it was a huge learning experience that taught me to never let one's situational awareness levels down.

+1 for the Thai police, despite the obvious myriad of incompetency jokes.

Posted with Thaivisa App http://apps.thaivisa.com

[smokie36]

Glad to hear you got some of your stuff back and a bit of justice for these thugs as well.

A lesson for all of us to be vigilant and careful in the early hours out and about in BKK.

[waza]

Thanks for the update

[meand]

What did the guys look/dress like?

My take on this is they probably knew you had the laptop etc on you. Where did you take it out, in the cigar place? Did you have any more of your gear out while in there? I'm just curious.

When I was younger I would purposefully walk down the street at 4am after having spent every last dime in bars in Mexico. I'd walk in the middle of the road so I could see people coming and scream "no tengo nada". Nothing even happened, it's like they know if you have stuff or not. Haha, glad I made it through those days. Anyway, forgive the tangent.

Edited May 5, 2012 by meand

[phuturatica]

I'm sorry to hear what happened to you. I got mugged at knife point on Songkran so I can sympathize that it is quite a scary experience. At least it was just your material possessions they took and you weren't physically harmed.

But yeah, like everyone else has said - Flashing your expensive possessions is a bad idea at any time of the day these days.

[grumpyoldman]

".... in hindsight, I think I was very lucky to have escaped physically unharmed."

That's one way of looking at it.

How do you walk arounf Sukhumvit ar 3 AM with all those valuables on you?

Took the words right out of my mouth, although I would say "why are you walking around with all that stuff at 3AM".

Any big city I go out at night (and I'm talking 8 O'clock-?) I have my ID, ATM card, Insurance card, cash, that's it.

[meand]

This thread reminds me of the scene in "Full Metal Jacket". Anybody know what i'm talking about

It is sad nowadays. In my home country, it was not uncommon for people to be held up at knife point for 40 bucks. That is the type of thing that is just so scary, the fact that you don't even have to have very much nowadays. Even the mentioned carrying of an ATM card... that could put you in more hot water than cash if you got unlucky -- you could be asked for the code, or even flat out swooped up. I prefer small amounts of cash and a cheap cell

[surayu]

i must watch my back a bit, though they were apparently just local thugs, not part of a "real" gang

This quote reminds me of when i first moved to my new neighbourhood, there was a discussion between the many people of the area, boosting up about how this place was free from thiefs and any of the past thefts was possibly being made by some of those random street walkers with no fix abode....

By living in the area and seeing the real facts by myself i was able to find out that the thiefs are ALWAYS the people living just around you, that watch all your movements and wait for the right moment to strike, the police with on front of them the self confessed and proud thief will just try to frame the foreigner instead and asking you questions like "do you have any other valuables or moneys in your house? can you tell me where do you keep them?" no jokes here!

Thanks for the update, i just wish i could give out some similar ones but i guess your bibs just sort it by mistakes or there was a way for them to have an economic gain from somewhere in taking action

[FritsSikkink]

".... in hindsight, I think I was very lucky to have escaped physically unharmed."

That's one way of looking at it.

How do you walk arounf Sukhumvit ar 3 AM with all those valuables on you?

Took the words right out of my mouth, although I would say "why are you walking around with all that stuff at 3AM".

Any big city I go out at night (and I'm talking 8 O'clock-?) I have my ID, ATM card, Insurance card, cash, that's it.

He took the words out of your mouth almost 2 years ago

[HardenedSoul]

Reading half these responses, anyone would think it's just not safe to go out with more than 100 baht in your pocket and that just isn't true.

As the OP said, wrong place, wrong time. Could've happened anywhere.

Personally, there's no f***ing way I'd've given up my shit like that but I can understand why an older guy might've been inclined to do so.

[robblok]

Reading half these responses, anyone would think it's just not safe to go out with more than 100 baht in your pocket and that just isn't true.

As the OP said, wrong place, wrong time. Could've happened anywhere.

Personally, there's no f***ing way I'd've given up my shit like that but I can understand why an older guy might've been inclined to do so.

Just dont forget the demographics here most guys are old and out of shape. But i am in shape and younger... but i wont argue much against someone with a knife.

[RudieTheFoodie]

It depends how seasoned you are. The first time you see a knife (aimed at you) it's terrifying.

I remember someone I know describing how when someone puts a gun in your face it seems much bigger than it is.

If the anger and adrenalin kicks in - have a pop (why not)

If your stuck to the spot - cough up and be on your way.

While obviously you should keep yourself safe - allowing them to mug you encourages them, while a punch up the bracket might make them think twice before trying again.

All this said, Bangkok is the safest city i've ever been to (unless obviously you start the fight - in which case the locals will finish it.)

Edited May 6, 2012 by RudieTheFoodie

[coco88]

I was mugged today on Sukhumvit.

I was walking from Sukhumvit 22 soi 2, trying to get to Sukhumvit 16 (as the two are connected by side streets) at 6.10am, when I motorcycle cam up behind me and the guy ripped my cross-body bag from me. It was daylight, I was wearing tatty-looking clothes and shoes (my shirt even has a hole in the arm), no jewellery or accessories or anything valuable on display. The bag was small and cheap-looking. I chased him down the street shouting as loud as I could and several people nearby followed him on their motorbikes, but couldn't catch him.

I ran back to my hotel and they phoned the police. After an hour and a half of waiting for the police to turn up, they called again and this time the police said I had to go to the police station. I took a taxi to Thong Lo police station (luckily I still had some money in my hotel room, as nobody was helping me). The police didn't seem like they were expecting me or anything. I tried to explain what happened to one police officer. He wanted me to name the soi I was on - I explained I didn't know the name (I had never been in the area before and it was a network of sois) but that I could point to it on a map or show them exactly where it happened in real life. I said this several times while I was there and kept asking for a map, trying to mime a map but they weren't interested. I tried to sketch a map of the area as best I could. I also explained that there were a lot of witnesses, some of whom chased the guy, and could provide a description of him and of the bike, perhaps even the licence plate, and where he went. Again they weren't interested.

They sent me to another police officer who hadn't even been in the room when I explained what happened. This one wrote for a while in a book and then pushed the book towards me for me to sign. I had no idea what the statement said and none of them could tell me. They just ignored me when I explained this and went back to doing other things. Eventually I persuaded one of them to call the tourist police (the '1155' number doesn't work from my mobile or from a payphone) who told me to just sign it. When I showed it to the manager of my hotel later, she told me it said that I didn't know the type of motorcycle or the colour - they never even asked me about the motorcycle, or any questions about the man at all.

I asked the tourist police to convey to a police officer that I could show them on a map where it happened, that there were witnesses and that the same thing had happened to a Thai woman in the same area last week (my hotel manager told me this). The police officer took me to another building where he spoke to a detective for a few seconds but the detective seemed annoyed and sent him away. I was then taken to another room where another conversation happened in Thai and both police officers laughed together for a while. I have no idea what they were saying. I gave them my phone number and address - they told me to wait at my hotel and someone would call me. No-one has.

I need to contact the tourist police but the '1155' number doesn't work from a payphone or mobile, the hotel cannot get me an outside line for some reason, and all the other numbers I have found on the internet for contacting them are 'incorrect' when I call them.

I think the experience with the police was probably more stressful and traumatic than the robbery itself. I called them straight away when it happened and with all the witnesses and the CCTV footage from the hotels and condos which make up the area they had a decent chance of catching him. They couldn't have been less interested in what happened, sitting around in the overstaffed, otherwise empty police station, drinking coffee, smoking and laughing at me.

[robblok]

Don't expect the police anywhere to be overly interested in this. Especially not here.

[coco88]

What is the point of having a police force at all then, if they're just going to let people commit crimes against others with zero investigation? Why not just save money and disband the police?

[HardenedSoul]

What is the point of having a police force at all then, if they're just going to let people commit crimes against others with zero investigation? Why not just save money and disband the police?

Put it this way; they wouldn't go out of their way to catch this guy for an ordinary local without an "incentive" so why on earth would they bother for you ?

You just have to accept it; you got rolled and the chances are that whatever you lost is gone for good.

At least some locals gave enough of a shit to go after him on their bikes.