Elderly Canadian Asking For Money

[Somtamnication]

I am fully aware of the farang to farang scams, claiming hunger or lost wallet and needs gas money to get home.

Well, never knew it would happen to me, but I fell for it.This guy drives a red motobi, white haired, very well dressed, clean shaven, etc etc.As I was leaving the double doors at BC, he approached me. Told me he forgot his wallet at home, ran out of gas and could he have 100 baht.I initially told him that I do not have it.

He promised to give it back the next day, etc etc. I studied him a bit and and fell for it.I gave him the 100 baht. Initially I told him to never mind. I wished him well and to take care. He actually stopped me from leaving and requested my number twice. So I gave it to him.

He called me to confirm that was my number and I went my merry way.My wife, who was in the car, told me that she speaks to him a lot at Villa 5 restaurant when she drops our son off at school and she eats at the restaurant. Always polite, very nice and engaging fella. He may be in his late 60s or early 70s.

Anyways, more than 24 hours have passed and no phone call. Yes, I have his number. But I just do not feel like asking for 100 baht back.I doubt that I will ever help a farang again, no matter how nice and clean they appear to be. Really pisses me off.

I lost my job in March and living precariously on savings that end next month. But this is something that surprised even me, ex cop, etc etc. I need my head examined. Next month I would wish I had that 100 baht to buy rice for my son. A$$hole!

Edited April 20, 2011 by Somtamnication

[terak69]

did the same at airport - helped a farang - never again !!

[Old Croc]

Not sure what to say about this complaint.

If you really need this 100 baht to feed your kid, ring the guy. He may be thinking it's no big deal and so hasn't bothered returning it.

If this is a big deal for you, and things are that tight, pm me and I'll help with whatever is needed to help get past this point.

[Somtamnication]

Old Croc, thanks. We are all ok. More pissed off at the principle of the thing, not so much the 100 baht. Tks again!

[BangTaoBoy]

I'm a bit confused here. You make it sound like this was a scam and that he does this repeatedly. Is that what you think is the case?

If not, you just leant someone 100Bt and didn't get it back, that's very different. I'm not excusing his behaviour, but I think you're over playing this a bit, If I decided to hand that money over, which given what you said, I may well have, I would be about 80% sure I would never see it again, and I would be giving him it, with that in mind.

I'm sorry, but if you're telling me that things are that tight for you, then you should have stuck by your guns and said no.

P.S Fair play to you 'Old Croc', very decent of you.

[Somtamnication]

The 100 baht is not the issue. I told him I did not want it back. He insisted. It ain´t difficult to understand where my anger is at. He insisted, he asked twice for my phone, AFTER I told him never mind.

I am always willing to help if I can. This was one instance where I simply cared for the guy, even though it was against what I was feeling could have been, a scam.

Anyways, the other side of the coin is, that perhaps he does not have the 100 to give back. That is ok too. Life goes on.

The reason for posting was to see if anyone else has seen this guy. He does own a house in Villa 5, apparently. <deleted> knows.

[BangTaoBoy]

It ain´t difficult to understand where my anger is at. He insisted, he asked twice for my phone, AFTER I told him never mind.

Sorry, still don't see, that because he insisted for your number, that it makes a great deal of difference to the situation. Maybe he did genuinly think he was going to pay you back, maybe he wanted you to think he was genuinly going to pay you back but knew he wasn't. Can't tell, and don't see the relevance myself. I am a man of principle, so I understand that it's not just the money, but 100bt is a 100bt. If I had decided to give him it, I would have just forgoton about the whole thing instantly, it would be gone from my memory.

To answer your question. I use Big C a fair bit, but have never seen him. But I do always go in and out the rear, underground car park. Was this at the front doors?

[BuckarooBanzai]

Not sure what to say about this complaint.

If you really need this 100 baht to feed your kid, ring the guy. He may be thinking it's no big deal and so hasn't bothered returning it.

If this is a big deal for you, and things are that tight, pm me and I'll help with whatever is needed to help get past this point.

After this reply perhaps it would be best to give a thumbs up to Old Croc and ask rip off questions on another thread. Just my opinion as I am humbled by the Croc and would hate to see the thread deteriorate as they usually do. Peace! :jap:

Edited April 20, 2011 by BuckarooBanzai

[seedy]

My hat is off to you Old Croc - nice one.

[notbritish]

someone in taiwan gave me about 600baht and a 300baht calling card when i was totally lost and ATM's were not working..

She was a dental assistant, so definitely not rich.. i lost her business card but anwyays she didnt want it back.. that's what gives you good karma.. sweating over 100baht is just crazy and bad for the karma.

<deleted> ill give you 100baht when you live in a gutter, i gave 10x more than that anytime i see a box for soi dog.. Charity in this world is important even if its for helping bad people, as long as you meant well you should stay happy.

[Panhandler007]

May I suggest you tell your wife to stop eating out and you may want to sell your truck! You;ll be able to buy two years worth of rice at the very least!

[surayu]

Caring for someone in need is an honorable thing, making sure you are not just being scammed is equally important.

Personally, if i see someone in need, i will try to do what i can to help and further investigate if it is something genuine or not, obviously not everyone might have the time or even the wish to find out more.

If that donation was so important for you, then i would suggest you to find out what's the story behind it, but remain neutral untill you really understand it, the guy can be either a scammer or a genuine person in need, right now we don't know...

[WarpSpeed]

Old Croc, thanks. We are all ok. More pissed off at the principle of the thing, not so much the 100 baht. Tks again!

Yes, but really how is that you don't know you really may have helped this guy get a meal for the day and his story was just his way of trying not to appear needy out of embarrassment? Look at it in a positive light as doing the right thing and don't let it get you that way nor make you so cynical and believe me I've been there and done that so I'm speaking from first hand experience and not out of ignorance and I feel good about myself and my choice to help if there is any guilt or misgivings it's on the other party not you...

Yes Croc, well done..

[kathukid]

What about the Franagn at the Temple near to the soccer field in Patong. There are always a farang or two there. They are as convincing as any dope out Haight Street beggar. Is there a University of Mendicantcy in Phuket

[schlog]

The 100 baht is not the issue. I told him I did not want it back. He insisted. It ain´t difficult to understand where my anger is at. He insisted, he asked twice for my phone, AFTER I told him never mind.

I am always willing to help if I can. This was one instance where I simply cared for the guy, even though it was against what I was feeling could have been, a scam.

Anyways, the other side of the coin is, that perhaps he does not have the 100 to give back. That is ok too. Life goes on.

The reason for posting was to see if anyone else has seen this guy. He does own a house in Villa 5, apparently. <deleted> knows.

Short pair, brown slippers, 170cm? Maybe it is the guy in my soi in villa 5, discription correct. If it is him, be patient, he will call you. He is a thaivisa member.

[Ping]

Not sure what to say about this complaint.

If you really need this 100 baht to feed your kid, ring the guy. He may be thinking it's no big deal and so hasn't bothered returning it.

If this is a big deal for you, and things are that tight, pm me and I'll help with whatever is needed to help get past this point.

Well done, Bags. Should silence some of your critics.

[keestha]

Roughly 1995, whilst leaving the premises of the Dutch embassy, I was accosted by an elderly Dutch guy. He told me all his money was stolen in the Nongkai-Bangkok train, and sadly at the embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands they refused to give him any help. Being a kind hearted Dutchman, I gave him 100 Baht, and advised him to go begging in the Lumpini park, just a few blocs away.I told him well heeled Thais relaxing there would certainly be more generous than me, after hearing his sob story.

He said he wanted to pay me back at all means. At the time I still didn't have a mobile phone, so I gave him the phone number and the address of the bar/guesthouse I was running in Hua Hin at the time. This action I was to regret deeply later on.

A few months later in Hua Hin when I came back from the market, the housekeeper informed me a guy travelling alone had rented a room in the guesthouse whilst I was away. Soon enough he came downstairs into the bar - it was he guy I met at the embassy. He looked, and smelled like he hadn't showered and changed clothes for at least a month. He also had a very bad cold.

That night he went on a tour to the other bars, don't know at what time he returned. Soon after I got up the following morning, one of the waitresses, who slept in a small staff room right under the room where the Dutch guy slept, came to me obviously distressed, and told me to come and have a look in her room right away.

I was ashamed to smell and see that urine had trickled into her room through the ceiling. Obviously my fellow Dutchman had simply relieved himself in the room, instead of going to the common bathroom 3 meters away.

A few hous later he came downstairs into the bar, informing me he had lost all his money in the bar street ,Hua Hin's equivalent of Soi Bangla.

Not surprisingly again he requested my financial assistance, he wanted to go to Hadyai where he had a friend. I ended up giving him 50 Baht, and wished him good luck. Total debt 150 Baht, not counting money still owed for the room, never mind.

Lesson learned: I would still help down and out westerners, but I would never again give them my contact details.

No reason to feel superior to these people though, in life anything can happen, and anybody could end up in a situation where he needs financial help.

Edited April 21, 2011 by keestha

[Somtamnication]

May I suggest you tell your wife to stop eating out and you may want to sell your truck! You;ll be able to buy two years worth of rice at the very least!

Please don´t tell me how to treat my wife. ´nuff said.

[Old Croc]

I'd like to put a bit of perspective into my offer to help a fellow TV member in this thread.

While not rich, I'm reasonably comfortable in my retirement here. I haven't always been so organised, many years ago I found myself living in a difficult country (SAF) with no job nor money. I nearly starved to death before I received some help to get going again.

Offering to help someone who is temporarily struggling is no big deal just perhaps returning favours from my past.

And to help someone here is not a huge thing, I recently found myself paying for the yearly rice intake, for a number of people I've never met, in the north of the country. I was surprised at how little the cost was.

As I say, to put some perspective into things, Somtamnication gave a stranger a sum of money, very little to most of us, that put his fragile budget in jeopardy. A much larger act of generousity than mine.

[Old Croc]

Not sure what to say about this complaint.

If you really need this 100 baht to feed your kid, ring the guy. He may be thinking it's no big deal and so hasn't bothered returning it.

If this is a big deal for you, and things are that tight, pm me and I'll help with whatever is needed to help get past this point.

Well done, Bags. Should silence some of your critics.

Who are all these people Ping? Name them and tell me what they say!

Edited April 21, 2011 by Old Croc

[MegaRanter]

Pray you dont wanna be the one doing the asking. Its a hell lot easier to give than to ask. excluding junkies and drunks.

It will soon be Easter, helping the less fortunate counts.

[inmysights]

someone in taiwan gave me about 600baht and a 300baht calling card when i was totally lost and ATM's were not working..

She was a dental assistant, so definitely not rich.. i lost her business card but anwyays she didnt want it back.. that's what gives you good karma.. sweating over 100baht is just crazy and bad for the karma.

<deleted> ill give you 100baht when you live in a gutter, i gave 10x more than that anytime i see a box for soi dog.. Charity in this world is important even if its for helping bad people, as long as you meant well you should stay happy.

The first time I came here many years ago, I'd applied for and was given a 3 month visa. No one told me I'd have to trip up to Immigration after 2 months to extend the 30 days. So when it came time for me to return home, Bangkok Imm pulled me over for a 3k overstay, which I didn't have. A ground staff member put her hand in her pocket and paid it for me (she was of course Thai by the way). I overheard one of the male imm staff saying 'jai dee'. I took her address and sent the money back to her.

I've had similar (but fortunately infrequent) experiences across the world. Kindness of strangers and all that.

[Fookhaht]

someone in taiwan gave me about 600baht and a 300baht calling card when i was totally lost and ATM's were not working..

She was a dental assistant, so definitely not rich.. i lost her business card but anwyays she didnt want it back.. that's what gives you good karma.. sweating over 100baht is just crazy and bad for the karma.

<deleted> ill give you 100baht when you live in a gutter, i gave 10x more than that anytime i see a box for soi dog.. Charity in this world is important even if its for helping bad people, as long as you meant well you should stay happy.

The first time I came here many years ago, I'd applied for and was given a 3 month visa. No one told me I'd have to trip up to Immigration after 2 months to extend the 30 days. So when it came time for me to return home, Bangkok Imm pulled me over for a 3k overstay, which I didn't have. A ground staff member put her hand in her pocket and paid it for me (she was of course Thai by the way). I overheard one of the male imm staff saying 'jai dee'. I took her address and sent the money back to her.

I've had similar (but fortunately infrequent) experiences across the world. Kindness of strangers and all that.

What a great story. On my first trip to Thailand I misplaced a small leather pouch which had all my travel funds, credit cards, Palm Pilot and passport at Wat Pra Kaew in Bangkok. A couple hours later I realized what happened, and went back to the temple. There, a security guard was holding it for me--a pouch which probably contained more money than a year of his salary. Not a baht/dollar missing. Wouldn't take a "reward" from me. Among all the scams tourists face, it's important to relate these experiences to remind ourselves of the selfless Thais out there who really have "jai dee's".

[BangTaoBoy]

No reason to feel superior to these people though, in life anything can happen, and anybody could end up in a situation where he needs financial help.

Pray you dont wanna be the one doing the asking. Its a hell lot easier to give than to ask. excluding junkies and drunks.

It will soon be Easter, helping the less fortunate counts.

That's all well and good you saying all that, and I fully agree to a point.

I think you need to get your numbers right though. What percentage of people that will ask you for money are genuine. And what percent of them would you be happy to give money/help to if you were privy to their full story.

I think the amount of people that would be deserving of charity would be tiny, in comparison to the flakey ass, waist of spaces that frequent every street corner (In the UK especially)

You get that equation wrong, and your just a soft touch and a mug, allowing yourself to be taken advantage of, and blatently screwed over. If a few genuine cases need to be ignored to protect yourself from the masses of frauds, then that is unfortunate, but sadly is just a sign of the times.

[bartender100]

Maybe he has Alzheimer's, that's why he forgot his wallet, put gas in his bike, and forgot to call you back.

[Somtamnication]

Not to put more salt on my wound, lol. What about the farang deaf-mutes (I assume they are) going around putting little trinkets on the table and hoping to find cash when returning to the table.

A few years ago I was at Swensens at Tesco. This farang couple came by and did that. I did not give them any money.

As I am getting into my car, I see both of them under a shade, by their bikes.................................. talking.

[BangTaoBoy]

Not to put more salt on my wound, lol. What about the farang deaf-mutes (I assume they are) going around putting little trinkets on the table and hoping to find cash when returning to the table.

A few years ago I was at Swensens at Tesco. This farang couple came by and did that. I did not give them any money.

As I am getting into my car, I see both of them under a shade, by their bikes.................................. talking.

I'm not sure I would be able to stop myself from shoving a few of their trinkets down their throat, if I'd seen that.

There's always the theory, that if in doubt, you don't give cash, but offer assistance. For example buying a homeless person a sandwich, or drink, instead of giving him any money, which he would most likely spend on grog. You're still going to be going out of your way, more often than not, for people who don't deserve your kindness.

I guess if you follow that theory, you could have offered him a lift home, instead of giving him the money. If he was blagging, he would soon make his excuses, as he wouldn't really want to leave Big C until he had more money.

[Valentine]

Not to put more salt on my wound, lol. What about the farang deaf-mutes (I assume they are) going around putting little trinkets on the table and hoping to find cash when returning to the table.

A few years ago I was at Swensens at Tesco. This farang couple came by and did that. I did not give them any money.

As I am getting into my car, I see both of them under a shade, by their bikes.................................. talking.

On occasion I have the so called Thai "deaf mutes" actually sit down at the table whilst eating. This act of rudeness immediately makes me turn them away. Have not seen any around lately, maybe they are trying a new scam. I also have my doubts about the "blind" singers.

[keestha]

Not to put more salt on my wound, lol. What about the farang deaf-mutes (I assume they are) going around putting little trinkets on the table and hoping to find cash when returning to the table.

A few years ago I was at Swensens at Tesco. This farang couple came by and did that. I did not give them any money.

As I am getting into my car, I see both of them under a shade, by their bikes.................................. talking.

Sure, those people should be ashamed of themselves. As far as giving money is concerned, I would be willing to help out somebody who's in a pinch, but I wouldn't give to someone who is doing it for a living.

In Lumpini park/Bangkok I saw a farang sitting next to a chalk drawing on the concrete path, bowl with coins next to him. Why doesn't he do it in Amsterdam or Sidney, instead of in a country where children in schools close to the Cambodian border eat rice with fish sauce for lunch, and where plenty of people still live in corrugated iron shacks.

Edited April 22, 2011 by keestha

[snamos]

Not to put more salt on my wound, lol. What about the farang deaf-mutes (I assume they are) going around putting little trinkets on the table and hoping to find cash when returning to the table.

A few years ago I was at Swensens at Tesco. This farang couple came by and did that. I did not give them any money.

As I am getting into my car, I see both of them under a shade, by their bikes.................................. talking.

On occasion I have the so called Thai "deaf mutes" actually sit down at the table whilst eating. This act of rudeness immediately makes me turn them away. Have not seen any around lately, maybe they are trying a new scam. I also have my doubts about the "blind" singers.

Those blind singers get told to <deleted> OFF when Im around...if i had a restaurant or something similar I would make it clear to these extortionists that their wailing is not appreciated in my business. They prey on people wanting a peacefull meal with their screaching. I hate them as much as tuk tuk drivers and jet ski scammers.