Brits Flee Bangkok Boiler Room

[skorchio]

Theres loads going on in Bangkok.

Selling their morals for money and ruining peoples lives, cannot contemplate.

Do you have issues working for Goldman Sachs too?

haha, I like your brevity.

Personally I have no problem with boiler rooms or GSachs. If people are fool enough to get involved in a BR operation, they should lose their money. Lax regulation allows GSachs to trade as it does - they are just clever people. Morals? "holds sides laughing.."

[neverdie]

If the company is a sham, how are they managing to sponsor work visas for people.

I can't say too much, but i have a horrible feeling i know of such a place. What should i do if so?

Some Embassies have staff who watch out for these things. Unfortunately not the Brits at the moment. You could always tell me of course. Do not go to Thai police unless you personally know the officer concerned. People get arrested and disappear from the system. Some people may remember a house raides in Thonglor/Ekamai area at the beginning of this year. All arrested were released and went home with a golden handshake,. This particular boiler room, which people have referred to abover is VERY powerful here and in the Philippines and HK.

Surely your not surprised by any of this?

[wordchild]

Weren't a couple of the well known Irish pubs in BKK financed by the boiler room scams?

such is the rumour. ironicaly we believe my (now sadly descd) father-in-law was a victim of such a scam run from the upper floor of a well known Bangkok irish bar.

[nam-thip]

If the company is a sham, how are they managing to sponsor work visas for people.

I can't say too much, but i have a horrible feeling i know of such a place. What should i do if so?

Assuming it's a British manned operation here's some info and web contact that might answer your question.

Anyone who believes they have been a victim of a boiler room scam, should contact the FSA and the City of London Police. The police have a large task force, Operation Archway. You can also contact the City of London Police regarding boiler rooms at Operation Archway.

Consumers that have been targeted by a boiler room can report information via a form on the FSA website or by calling the FSA contact centre on 0845 606 1234.

For further information on boiler rooms visit the FSA's consumer guidelines pages at: http://www.fsa.gov.uk/

[buba]

If it sounds too good to be true , then it is not.

[andrewdrummond]

If the company is a sham, how are they managing to sponsor work visas for people.

I can't say too much, but i have a horrible feeling i know of such a place. What should i do if so?

Some Embassies have staff who watch out for these things. Unfortunately not the Brits at the moment. You could always tell me of course. Do not go to Thai police unless you personally know the officer concerned. People get arrested and disappear from the system. Some people may remember a house raides in Thonglor/Ekamai area at the beginning of this year. All arrested were released and went home with a golden handshake,. This particular boiler room, which people have referred to abover is VERY powerful here and in the Philippines and HK.

Surely your not surprised by any of this?

Nope. But some people may be so its better to be safe than sorry.

[andrewdrummond]

Theres loads going on in Bangkok.

Selling their morals for money and ruining peoples lives, cannot contemplate.

Do you have issues working for Goldman Sachs too?

haha, I like your brevity.

Personally I have no problem with boiler rooms or GSachs. If people are fool enough to get involved in a BR operation, they should lose their money. Lax regulation allows GSachs to trade as it does - they are just clever people. Morals? "holds sides laughing.."

Fine but there are very real victims here. With the awful rates offered by banks at the moment people are looking to put their savings in somewhere where they may eventually get a reasonable return. Many people are gullible. These guys prey on the them.

[Thai at Heart]

Theres loads going on in Bangkok.

Selling their morals for money and ruining peoples lives, cannot contemplate.

Do you have issues working for Goldman Sachs too?

haha, I like your brevity.

Personally I have no problem with boiler rooms or GSachs. If people are fool enough to get involved in a BR operation, they should lose their money. Lax regulation allows GSachs to trade as it does - they are just clever people. Morals? "holds sides laughing.."

I loved the fine that GS got for actively trading against their own debt instruments that their sales teams were hawking out to the market.

http://www.economist.com/node/15928346

This was essentially the biggest boiler room scandal of them all. Nothing clever about it at all, just an absolutely classic pump and dump. Anyway, as it goes, these boiler room boys are scummy operators, and they ruin people's lives. Good luck to the authorities to get rid of them.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-10656699

[SOMCHAISBROTHER]

They should take a leaf out of the local taxi drivers book or the many beach resort jet ski operator's and learn some darn morals!

[mrgreg]

I must be missing something. How come people be so naive (stupid) as to invest in shares they don't know anything about via investment companies that they don't know anything about? That's beyond me! Only Greed? If so, I guess these "victims" asked for it!

[gregb]

If the company is a sham, how are they managing to sponsor work visas for people.

Dude, that's either the best tongue-in-cheek joke I've heard in a while, or I wish it was.

I'm hoping you meant it as a joke.

If not, then you remind me of myself a few years ago and I won't hold it against you, it's a fair question in an honest world.

Think of it like this: if the company's a sham, then it follows they've got sham work visas too.

Also, sham or not, there's got to be money in it or they wouldn't do it, and they're obviously making enough money to sponsor roundtrip tickets. So it's a good racket.

Scary. It's like someone else said about trading morals for money and ruining people's lives. I wish they'd gotten the bugger's face.

Nobody said they got these guys work *permits*. They said visas. As in 90 day non-B immigrant visas. Those things are given out like toilet paper.

As long as you have company documents, you can get a non-B from an overseas Thai embassy. No questions asked. No research done. Heck, even just a letter from a lawyer saying you wish to start a company qualifies for a non-B visa.

The term "work visa" sounds impressive, but it is terribly misleading. They mean simple non-B's which a monkey could get.

[QED]

Another good reason to limit the working practices and impose strict enforcements of the prohibited professions laws on foreigners in Thailand.

I find anyone seeking employment here have to be desperate people. Am I wrong? They don't pay a decent wage. They pay you in peanuts.

Yes you are wrong.

I work for a relatively small Thai company and earn more than anyone I know in the UK, and many multiples of the average UK salary.

This is however peanuts compared to some of my friends in BKK on expat packages with multinationals, several of those are on up to 1m baht per month.

Don't assume that because you only know bar owners and real estate agents in some tourist destination, that there is not a real economy going on behind the scenes.

[dekbahnnok]

Weren't a couple of the well known Irish pubs in BKK financed by the boiler room scams?

And fuelled by Columbian caffeine substitute.....

most boiler rooms operate out of condos.....the police milk them for all they worth.....

[HardenedSoul]

Yes you are wrong.

I work for a relatively small Thai company and earn more than anyone I know in the UK, and many multiples of the average UK salary.

This is however peanuts compared to some of my friends in BKK on expat packages with multinationals, several of those are on up to 1m baht per month.

Don't assume that because you only know bar owners and real estate agents in some tourist destination, that there is not a real economy going on behind the scenes.

He's not completely wrong. I'd imagine these boiler rooms do pay peanuts in terms of basic salaries - maybe THB30,000 - but as it's clearly a sales role, there'll be commission and/or bonuses on top of that. Having said that, it is a bit daft for him/her to say that foreign nationals looking to work here are desperate.

[MrSpike]

Weren't a couple of the well known Irish pubs in BKK financed by the boiler room scams?

And fuelled by Columbian caffeine substitute.....

most boiler rooms operate out of condos.....the police milk them for all they worth.....

Not all out of condo's, I know of at least two, one on Thonglor and the other in Exchange Tower at Asoke

[asiawatcher]

Weren't a couple of the well known Irish pubs in BKK financed by the boiler room scams?

Financed yes, and still owned by....

[evanson]

I thought these sort of scams were a thing of the past. - Desperado!

get those scumbags and ...

And what? Tough Guy, miaow ... LOL! This sht's been going on for years and years and ...

Have to say all the boiler rooms were infested with Australians last time I was down Sua Plu this year.

[Buchholz]

I must be missing something. How come people be so naive (stupid) as to invest in shares they don't know anything about via investment companies that they don't know anything about? That's beyond me! Only Greed? If so, I guess these "victims" asked for it!

Many are senior citizens who are easily confused about financial matters and manipulated by these crooks until their life savings are swindled out of them.

[evanson]

I must be missing something. How come people be so naive (stupid) as to invest in shares they don't know anything about via investment companies that they don't know anything about? That's beyond me! Only Greed? If so, I guess these "victims" asked for it!

You seen the movie Boiler Room? There's an education for ya! And sounds like you need one. 'How can people be so naive as to believe they've just won a huge amount of money on some lottery (via email), they never entered/deposit large sums of money into African bank accounts to 'release deceased's relative's inhetitance' etc ... blah blah. FYI There are a lot of incredibly stupid people around ...

[ginjag]

"Bangkok is still regarded as the world capital of these infamous share scammers."

BKK, the "hub" for boiler rooms.

Someone mentioned chickens-----------theyre from BROILER rooms

[MrSpike]

I must be missing something. How come people be so naive (stupid) as to invest in shares they don't know anything about via investment companies that they don't know anything about? That's beyond me! Only Greed? If so, I guess these "victims" asked for it!

You seen the movie Boiler Room? There's an education for ya! And sounds like you need one. 'How can people be so naive as to believe they've just won a huge amount of money on some lottery (via email), they never entered/deposit large sums of money into African bank accounts to 'release deceased's relative's inhetitance' etc ... blah blah. FYI There are a lot of incredibly stupid people around ...

Apart from the movie you quoted, everything else you mentioned has nothing to do with boiler rooms. Who's the naive one? What you're talking about is for another topic.

[robenroute]

If it sounds too good to be true , then it is not.

Trying to throw us all a colourful herring?

[Cuban]

Send in Vin Deisel to sort those boys out.

In the film of the same name Vin was NOT one of the good guys !

[OzMick]

I must be missing something. How come people be so naive (stupid) as to invest in shares they don't know anything about via investment companies that they don't know anything about? That's beyond me! Only Greed? If so, I guess these "victims" asked for it!

You seen the movie Boiler Room? There's an education for ya! And sounds like you need one. 'How can people be so naive as to believe they've just won a huge amount of money on some lottery (via email), they never entered/deposit large sums of money into African bank accounts to 'release deceased's relative's inhetitance' etc ... blah blah. FYI There are a lot of incredibly stupid people around ...

Apart from the movie you quoted, everything else you mentioned has nothing to do with boiler rooms. Who's the naive one? What you're talking about is for another topic.

The post was pointing out that people are gullible, which is directly related to boiler rooms. When did you become a moderator?

[Beetlejuice]

Another good reason to limit the working practices and impose strict enforcements of the prohibited professions laws on foreigners in Thailand.

I find anyone seeking employment here have to be desperate people. Am I wrong? They don't pay a decent wage. They pay you in peanuts.

Yes you are wrong.

I work for a relatively small Thai company and earn more than anyone I know in the UK, and many multiples of the average UK salary.

This is however peanuts compared to some of my friends in BKK on expat packages with multinationals, several of those are on up to 1m baht per month.

Don't assume that because you only know bar owners and real estate agents in some tourist destination, that there is not a real economy going on behind the scenes.

I work for a foreign based Spanish company and work with Thai and other South East Asian companies on contract. So in fact I am earning EEC scale wages in Thailand and Indochina.

There is an article in the UK Daily Mail newspaper today about a 22 year old English guy who recently passed his test as a driving instructor in the UK, fell in love with a Thai girl and moved to Thailand. A few days ago he was involved in a motorbike accident in Thailand and now the family are trying to raise £60000 for medical treatment and to bring him back to the UK. There seems to be many of these sorts of cases lately.

But the article fails to quote what career he had in Thailand and how he was making a living here. So it`s questionable whether these people are above board or not and how they manage to survive in Thailand and keep a family.

I have no doubts that what you say about yourself, QED, is accurate but with some the reasons why they are in Thailand and what they do here is questionable and makes one wonder?

Edited December 2, 2010 by Beetlejuice

[spatz]

Another good reason to limit the working practices and impose strict enforcements of the prohibited professions laws on foreigners in Thailand.

I find anyone seeking employment here have to be desperate people. Am I wrong? They don't pay a decent wage. They pay you in peanuts.

Obviously you work in the wrong industry or profession, there are plenty of high paying expat work out there.

[manarak]

hmm...

<deleted> employing morons to syphon money out of idiots.

That business cannot fail!

[sydneyjed]

Easiest way to legitimately make money and a solid return in Thailand would have been the Thai baht of course over the last year or so...Do frequent a bar now and then around town that I know has a few (lets' describe politely) as a few 'colourful' characters propping up the bar on a Friday afternoon!The reason I know this is one of them recently dropped his guard after one too many sherberts and tried to convince me to invest my hard earned in the Pakistani share market with him!!!A new toll way through the Kyber Pass maybe..'Once before and never to be repeated!'!! Terry and Arthur eat your heart out!

Edited December 2, 2010 by sydneyjed

[NEP]

At last, common sense, can't remember the last time I was conned out of hard earned cash by some unknown over the telephone, can you? Fool and his money soon parted! Wake up! In this day and age!

If the company is a sham, how are they managing to sponsor work visas for people.

I can't say too much, but i have a horrible feeling i know of such a place. What should i do if so?

Assuming it's a British manned operation here's some info and web contact that might answer your question.

Anyone who believes they have been a victim of a boiler room scam, should contact the FSA and the City of London Police. The police have a large task force, Operation Archway. You can also contact the City of London Police regarding boiler rooms at Operation Archway.

Consumers that have been targeted by a boiler room can report information via a form on the FSA website or by calling the FSA contact centre on 0845 606 1234.

For further information on boiler rooms visit the FSA's consumer guidelines pages at: http://www.fsa.gov.uk/

[vicco]

Fifty nine posts and everybody has completely missed the point. These people were British. At least one was a "card carrying" member of

the British Labour party. They were expected to WORK. Now if that does not cause a huge backlash and uproar, I don't know what would..