The Real Curs Of Thailand

[Thongdum]

Last Saturday morning while I was sipping on my second cup of coffee on the balcony of my 4th floor room of the CenterCondotel at the bottom end of Pattaya South Rd. Pattaya, movement caught my eye to the left and on the ground floor on the same level as the car park.

The building itself is an L shape with one side adjoining the car park of the Wat next door and overlooking the beach, while the other side where I was sitting overlooking the car park of the actual condo building.

Like many such buildings, the ground floor is made up of assorted offices, shops and a couple of bars.

It was the movement at the front door of one of these shops/offices which caught my attention.

I saw a farang man of average height and build with a slight paunch and probably around his mid-sixties, walk out the door and proceed to walk in the direction of the foyer of the building.

Within a couple of seconds, I heard what could only be described as a bellow of rage emit from the same door from which the man had just exited, followed by an Asian man of undetermined origin and around 40 who ran up behind the farang and kicked him in the middle of the back.

The farung turned around toward the Asian man and with a look of utter bewilderment and disbelief started to question the Asian man who promptly proceed to throw more kicks at the farang’s ribs, most of which the farang was able to fend off.

Within a few seconds, a Thai motor bike taxi driver who frequents the area had come between the two men in an effort to break up the fracas.

However, as the farang turned to walk away again, the Asian man again attacked him from the rear with another kick, this time squarely aimed at the farang’s kidneys while his back was turned.

I was so angry at the cowardly way in which the Asian man kept attacking the farang from the back, I was almost on my way to the stairs or the elevator, when I saw that the farang was able to make distance between himself and the Asian man while the Thai taxi driver held the Asian man back.

So intrigued by what had just transpired, I made my way downstairs in the hope that I’d catch up to the farang but by the time I got there he’d obviously taken another elevator.

However, it wasn’t long before what had happened emerged through the grapevine which always grows around these buildings.

Apparently, many of the condos are privately owned by people who only use them occasionally and rent them out when not occupying them themselves.

The Asian man mentioned earlier, (who turned out to be Taiwanese) among other things, is a rental agent who acts on behalf of the owners, finding short term tenants for the unoccupied rooms on a commission basis.

However, he has a long standing reputation for dishonesty and shonky deals both with tenants and owners.

One of his favorites is to withhold security deposits claiming missing articles or damage to the rooms. Of course most tenants don’t have time to argue because they are on their way out and often have flights or buses to catch etc. and as a result, he’s been getting away with it for years. He’s done that to me personally and a number of my friends. However, the confiscated security deposit doesn’t go to the room owner, it goes in his pocket…tax free.

He also rips his owner/clients off in various ways, one of which is by charging the departing tenant a cleaning fee and also charging the room’s owner the same fee.

He also charges the owners for maintenance like changing light bulbs and fixing dripping taps etc. to which he adds his own percentage and is what started the ruckus in the car park.

Apparently the farang (A 64 year old physically disabled Australian ) had replaced all the halogen light bulbs and their transformers in the condo, in December last year before going back to Australia for 7 months at a cost of around 3000 baht.

He returned to Thailand in June where he stayed in his condo for another 3 months.

The day before he was due to depart was last Saturday (Sept 8th) and was “summoned” to the agent’s office where he was hit with a bill for 7200 baht for changing the light bulbs he had personally replaced himself a few months earlier.

It should be mentioned here that for the 7 months the Aussie was in Australia, the Taiwanese guy had only paid him a total of around 24000 baht for 7 months rent. The condo normally rented out at 15000 baht per month of which the Taiwanese took 10% commission.

The Aussie has friends who live in the adjacent wing of the building where they have a clear view of the Aussies room and balcony and reported whenever the room was occupied which in this seven month period had been around 70% of the time.

It should also be mentioned that every time the Aussie came back to occupy his room, over the past 3 years, that there were always numerous items missing.

These ranged from ashtrays to sheets and towels, clothing, shoes, cooking utensils, saucepans, frying pans, furniture, cleaning gear, electrical appliances and even ceramic pot plants from the balcony plus a heavy duty 20 liter vacuum cleaner.

The Taiwanese claimed that he could not be responsible because some people leave at 5 am.

I wonder what someone heading back to England or Australia or wherever, is going to do with all that gear.

Well, apparently the latest 7200 baht claim was the straw which broke the camel’s back and the Aussie dug his heels in and refused to pay after he’d recognized the work done as being his own. He’s an electrician.

Hence, the Taiwanese’s attack.

Of course I’m not going to mention names here but it’s people like him who are the real curs of Thailand… not the poor half-starved mutts you often see in the streets.

At least they belong there.

I always avoid that Taiwanese’s shop and will rent from honest crooks but can’t help suppress a wry grin when I think of one of the services he displays on his shop window which reads.

“Law Advisor”

Edited September 18, 2012 by Thongdum

[giddyup]

Why don't you act as his witness and report the matter to the police? Sounds like a serious assault took place.

[Thongdum]

Why don't you act as his witness and report the matter to the police? Sounds like a serious assault took place.

He had to leave the following day and the police only have a skeleton crew on weekends.

[Plucky]

What an absolute criminal. No doubt he'll do very well.

[Swiss1960]

Am I the only one who sees inconsistencies?

- followed by an Asian man of undetermined origin and around 40

- The Asian man mentioned earlier, (who turned out to be Taiwanese)...

- He’s done that to me personally and a number of my friends

sounds bit strange, as the whole story...

[robblok]

Am I the only one who sees inconsistencies?

- followed by an Asian man of undetermined origin and around 40

- The Asian man mentioned earlier, (who turned out to be Taiwanese)...

- He’s done that to me personally and a number of my friends

sounds bit strange, as the whole story...

Nice for picking that up, but maybe he could not see at first who it was and later in the story he knew. But it sounds a bit fishy.

[Thongdum]

Am I the only one who sees inconsistencies?

- followed by an Asian man of undetermined origin and around 40

- The Asian man mentioned earlier, (who turned out to be Taiwanese)...

- He’s done that to me personally and a number of my friends

sounds bit strange, as the whole story...

Nice for picking that up, but maybe he could not see at first who it was and later in the story he knew. But it sounds a bit fishy.

That's exactly what did happen.

As mentioned I was on the 4th floor looking down and east from the other end of the building. Because it was morning the rising sun was throwing a shadow over the participants from the over hanging awning outside the shop and it was difficult to see their heads which is why I mentioned the word undetermined.

I recognized the farang as he turned toward the Taiwanese guy as someone I'd seen in one of the bars and it wasn't until later I realized the Taiwanese guy was the same one I'd rented a room from a couple of years earlier.

It was only because the topic has been floating around the 2 downstairs bars over the past few days that I was able to glean more info after speaking to several people who'd also had run ins with this guy before. These were the friends I referred too.

I thought it was worth writing up as an example of what can transpire but whether people want to doubt what I say is completely up to them.

There were at least 3 other witnesses to what happened that I'm aware of but unfortunately 2 of them were Thai motor bike taxi drivers and the other one owns one of the other shops. All are Thai and would not bear witness as they have to operate within the same complex.

The farang is well known among the bar patrons and is well liked as an affable and friendly guy. Apparently he's lived in the building on and off for around 4 years.

There's nothing in this for me as although I've seen him around, I've never met him personally other than to say hello but I just didn't like what I saw.

[topt]

What I don't understand is if so many people know it is a problem, its been going on for a while and this Aussie guy has friends there why he carries on letting the guy rent it? If he only ends up with 24k baht for 7 months rental and stuff ends up disappearing I would have thought he'd chamge the locks and either find another agent or not bother.

I hope he has done something this time otherwise it sounds like he is liable to come back and find his condo trashed after that incident.

edit for typo

Edited September 18, 2012 by topt

[LennyW]

If he is Taiwanese i am sure he would not have a work permit for acting as a rental agent - hint hint

[Thongdum]

What I don't understand is if so many people know it is a problem, its been going on for a while and this Aussie guy has friends there why he carries on letting the guy rent it? If he only ends up with 24k baht for 7 months rental and stuff ends up disappearing I would have thought he'd chamge the locks and either find another agent or not bother.

I hope he has done something this time otherwise it sounds like he is liable to come back and find his condo trashed after that incident.

edit for typo

Apparently, this guy had decided to finish his dealings with the Taiwanese guy over a year ago but had decided to keep him on because he'd promised to mend his ways.

Why the farang believed him after all he'd done is beyond me but I'm also informed that the farang had told the Taiwanese guy that he'd no longer need his services a couple of months ago.

It's even more bizarre that the Taiwanese guy had left it until the day before the Aussie's departure, to tell him he owed him money.

The farang had thought himself squared up particularly in light of the fact that he hadn't received rent for 5 months.

From what I can gather he was willing to just forget the whole thing and not rent the condo out again at all. He didn't expect a bill any more than he expected to be assaulted.

I'm also told that he did indeed change the locks on the door and has also arranged with a friend to check the room periodicly and has given the friend the keys.

[damo]

What sort of pond scum attacks a sixty year old man? absolute maggot.

[likewise]

What sort of pond scum attacks a sixty year old man? absolute maggot.

Exactly my thoughts

[rics21]

What sort of pond scum attacks a sixty year old man? absolute maggot.

dam_n I hate the Taiwanese

Sent from my XT910 using Thaivisa Connect App

[barky]

What sort of pond scum attacks a sixty year old man? absolute maggot.

Exactly my thoughts

Asian attacks on old expats here is fairly common place...many examples every year, sometimes leading to death of expat/tourist...you/we/everybody knows that.

What I also dont understand is how has this asian a**hole has got away with it for so long. Isn't there anybody down in Pattaya got the guts to sort him out? If he's Tiwanese he's not a protected species, he's just as vulnerable as the rest of us aliens and can be "got".

[Thongdum]

What sort of pond scum attacks a sixty year old man? absolute maggot.

Exactly my thoughts

Asian attacks on old expats here is fairly common place...many examples every year, sometimes leading to death of expat/tourist...you/we/everybody knows that.

What I also dont understand is how has this asian a**hole has got away with it for so long. Isn't there anybody down in Pattaya got the guts to sort him out? If he's Tiwanese he's not a protected species, he's just as vulnerable as the rest of us aliens and can be "got".

Well at least someone has now stood up to him albeit an old man.

The more people who read this account, the more chance there will be of more action.

If you know anyone in Pattaya, send them the link to this thread and let's try to get a/holes like him out of business.

Posting the link to other forums people know of and subscribe to would also help.

[jacktrip]

easy to slander these types that rely on a single building for income. put notices on the condo board, use email lists or any other way of telling owners whats up. if you already have a good gossip vine going it should be pretty easy. you can also take vids with most phones and post on youtube and then give out the channel address.

dont put your name on anything and he cant sue.

[SimonD]

Taiwanese?

Taiwan and Thailand are commonly confused by some people...

Is the OP not being deliberately obtuse?

[Thongdum]

The guy is definately from Taiwan not Thailand and apparently has been living in Thailand for some 20 years but still does his visa run down to Malasia when required.