French man 'scammed' of 276,000 Baht by Thai bride

[klauskunkel]

Advise to the French man: Use some of your salary and by yourself some common sense.

[FiestyFarang]

There are many "soft" Europeans and many Isarn ladies out to get their money. But seriously how can you marry someone after just speaking to them which the article states he had not even met her before he was doped to marriage and coming to Thailand. Going to the Police? What did she do wrong? Just changed her mind I think in France or any where else that is not an offence. Bad loser makes him even more of a sad case.

[Traveling Sailor]

"Recently, Udon Thani also received report concerning another alleged online dating scam. Ms. Ratri Bhodiraj, 39, visited the police on 20 June and told them she was scammed by an American individual she met in online dating site.

According to Ms. Ratri, an American with the name Mr. Jason Smith who lives in California told her he wanted to marry her but she had to wire him 90,200 baht for procedure fee, which she did. The wedding never took place, Ms. Ratri said."

This from the same article.

Congratulations Mr. Smith! After hearing of so many Thai girls scamming farangs, it is nice to see it happening the other way round.

It is amazing that after all the warnings, there are still people that fall for the "On-line dating" BS.

[KuhnPaen]

Wow. Most of the online dating services have big warning captions about "not sending money to people you never met".

This scam is just one of many--including the ever popular "sending the girl money for a plane ticket and visa fee"--and she never shows up at the airport.

Another gem is "send me money for internet bill or we can't correspond anymore."

Hopefully there is a special place in the 136 Buddhist hell realms for girls like her.

Poor, gullible bastard.

[lowushatin]

"Recently, Udon Thani also received report concerning another alleged online dating scam. Ms. Ratri Bhodiraj, 39, visited the police on 20 June and told them she was scammed by an American individual she met in online dating site.

According to Ms. Ratri, an American with the name Mr. Jason Smith who lives in California told her he wanted to marry her but she had to wire him 90,200 baht for procedure fee, which she did. The wedding never took place, Ms. Ratri said."

This from the same article.

Congratulations Mr. Smith! After hearing of so many Thai girls scamming farangs, it is nice to see it happening the other way round.

It is amazing that after all the warnings, there are still people that fall for the "On-line dating" BS.

Mr. Smith likely resides in Afrika instead of california. Try to explain this to thai police.

[HerbalEd]

I don't actually see how he was scammed. She promised to marry him, and she did. OK - only a country wedding, but a wedding and ceremony nonetheless. He promised to give her gifts and money, and he did.

Surely now it's purely a marital disagreement over sex (or lack thereof)?

Both parties fulfilled their obligations - he's even got wedding photos to prove it. Assuming she used her correct name and didn't hide behind a false identity, all seems fine to me. Just another dense Falang that was too eager to put his hand in his wallet without doing due diligence.

I don't actually see how he was scammed. She promised to marry him, and she did. OK - only a country wedding, but a wedding and ceremony nonetheless. He promised to give her gifts and money, and he did.

Surely now it's purely a marital disagreement over sex (or lack thereof)?

Both parties fulfilled their obligations - he's even got wedding photos to prove it. Assuming she used her correct name and didn't hide behind a false identity, all seems fine to me. Just another dense Falang that was too eager to put his hand in his wallet without doing due diligence.

No ... I think he wanted to put his hand ... and gland ... somewhere else. What a very old tale this one is. He got off relatively cheap, really.

[Hecate]

This is a scam by any definition. Posts like those from Gsxrnz and DreamRider are vacuous. There was clearly the intention to deceive and profit as most Farrangs living in Thailand are well aware. The fact that Thais are reluctance to close the legal "loopholes" that enable this unethical practice between Thai/non-Thai marriages only points to their tacit contempt for the men and morality of the west. Such behavior between Thai/Thai marriages would not be tolerated and result in shame and loss of face. And while "cool" farrangs like Gsxrnz and DreamRider pride themselves as "insiders", rationalizing what is clearly the intent to defraud is unequivocally reprehensible. This is another 'black-eye' for Thai culture and the Thai Visa is to be commended for reporting it. It's equally important to read the comments of those who have fallen into the black hole of immorality, as it adds new dimensions to the damage this practice engenders.

So you're assuming that the French guy told the truth about everything. Do you really have to be an insider to realize it just's plain stupid and arrogant to try to buy another person? Do you think that because he bought her lots of gifts that she should have to submit to whatever he dishes out? Maybe something happened in those two nights together. If she were planning a scam from the start, why would she involve everyone she knew in a wedding? Wouldn't she want cash up front instead?

[Wombat6]

I don't actually see how he was scammed. She promised to marry him, and she did. OK - only a country wedding, but a wedding and ceremony nonetheless. He promised to give her gifts and money, and he did.

Surely now it's purely a marital disagreement over sex (or lack thereof)?

Both parties fulfilled their obligations - he's even got wedding photos to prove it. Assuming she used her correct name and didn't hide behind a false identity, all seems fine to me. Just another dense Falang that was too eager to put his hand in his wallet without doing due diligence.

I agree...everyone seems to have assumed it has been a scam....maybe after 2 nights with him in a Hotel was enough to realise she couldn't live with him. Most of the money involved would have been spent on the ceremony ( about half of one months income for him ).. She really hasn't taken much from him at all.

[jaapfries]

The only descriptive word I can think of for the bloke is.......muppet.

Edit: I forgot he was French - I think it translates as Muppette

Muppette; wauw; ypu make him sound like a moped . . . . .

[atyclb]

Interesting how "dating site" ads appear on this page. Hopefully he enjoyed the food and festivities at the wedding.

If you think about it there may be a Rolling Stones song that fits much of the antics about relationships here. "Wild horses/buffaloes"

Childhood living is easy to do
The things you wanted I bought them for you
Graceless lady you know who I am
You know I can't let you slide through my hands
Wild buffaloes couldn't drag me away
Wild, wild buffaloes, couldn't drag me away
I watched you suffer a dull aching pain
Now you decided to show me the same
No sweeping exits or offstage lines
Could make me feel bitter or treat you unkind
Wild buffaloes couldn't drag me away
Wild, wild buffaloes, couldn't drag me away
I know I dreamed you a sin and a lie

[bangkokstick]

Why cheated ? IF you are retarded enough to GIVE your money why calling cheat ? You are certainly stupid since you are born and will be until you die, so you exactly deserve what happens to you !

[jacko45k]

20,000 baht for a plane ticket to France....economy class one way?

She probably started scheming about then on.

[oldsailor35]

Earning that kind of money, i should have thought he could afford an expensive night out now and again, and thats what he got. So why the complaints.

[blazes]

276,000 bt is not a lot comparedt to his 400,000 bt a month salary. Hard to believe the French getting 400,000 a month at the time of EU recessions. If i was getting 400,000 bt a month, i would be cutting the loss and move on to something anew. "Short time only for me" .. The safest way to save money and stress.

Got to agree on this one. The French economy is on its last legs (with Marine Le Pen and her party on the way to take over soon). Hard to imagine that anyone earning this much money in France is still IN France. Has the guy never heard of Gerard Depardieu.?

[Mr Yim]

Its not all a one way street. There are plenty of guys who dupe girls into believing they are in love with them. Meeting them at the airport for one or two weeks free sex on the pretence that there they have a deep and meaningful relationship. Then at the end of the holiday, the guy says goodbye to the girl, moving on to the next on his list, never to contact her again.

There are as many bad farang here as there are bad girls!

[Fatherfluffybottom]

LOL

[Commander Tamson]

With an income of 400,000B/mth it will only take him about 3 weeks to recoup that money. He got off lightly. Better to remain silent and be thought a fool (to a few) than to speak out (all over the media) and remove all doubt.

He was obviuosly very surprised and fell for her straight away when she said she "prefers foreign men, especially French men"

COME-ON! No one likes the French!

[kocheedogyi]

The guy got what he paid for. Can’t see how it was a scam. Now he can pay for a ticket home. He got beat. If only marriage were so simple and easy. Sucker.

[SSSlongtime]

been there ,got away cheap ,still you do learn ,learning can be fun ,better than school

[Commander Tamson]

This is a scam by any definition. Posts like those from Gsxrnz and DreamRider are vacuous. There was clearly the intention to deceive and profit as most Farrangs living in Thailand are well aware. The fact that Thais are reluctance to close the legal "loopholes" that enable this unethical practice between Thai/non-Thai marriages only points to their tacit contempt for the men and morality of the west. Such behavior between Thai/Thai marriages would not be tolerated and result in shame and loss of face. And while "cool" farrangs like Gsxrnz and DreamRider pride themselves as "insiders", rationalizing what is clearly the intent to defraud is unequivocally reprehensible. This is another 'black-eye' for Thai culture and the Thai Visa is to be commended for reporting it. It's equally important to read the comments of those who have fallen into the black hole of immorality, as it adds new dimensions to the damage this practice engenders.

So you're assuming that the French guy told the truth about everything. Do you really have to be an insider to realize it just's plain stupid and arrogant to try to buy another person? Do you think that because he bought her lots of gifts that she should have to submit to whatever he dishes out? Maybe something happened in those two nights together. If she were planning a scam from the start, why would she involve everyone she knew in a wedding? Wouldn't she want cash up front instead?

When he came across to Thailand for the wedding, was this the first time that they had actually met? If so - then what a stupid way [by both parties] to start a marital relationship. There's a good chance that she just realised, as another poster said, that after two days [and assumedly nights] with him, she had made a big mistake.

Let's hear [not that we will] her side of the story before making generalised comments about the Thai culture.

[genecat]

This is a scam by any definition. Posts like those from Gsxrnz and DreamRider are vacuous. There was clearly the intention to deceive and profit as most Farrangs living in Thailand are well aware. The fact that Thais are reluctance to close the legal "loopholes" that enable this unethical practice between Thai/non-Thai marriages only points to their tacit contempt for the men and morality of the west. Such behavior between Thai/Thai marriages would not be tolerated and result in shame and loss of face. And while "cool" farrangs like Gsxrnz and DreamRider pride themselves as "insiders", rationalizing what is clearly the intent to defraud is unequivocally reprehensible. This is another 'black-eye' for Thai culture and the Thai Visa is to be commended for reporting it. It's equally important to read the comments of those who have fallen into the black hole of immorality, as it adds new dimensions to the damage this practice engenders.

So you're assuming that the French guy told the truth about everything. Do you really have to be an insider to realize it just's plain stupid and arrogant to try to buy another person? Do you think that because he bought her lots of gifts that she should have to submit to whatever he dishes out? Maybe something happened in those two nights together. If she were planning a scam from the start, why would she involve everyone she knew in a wedding? Wouldn't she want cash up front instead?

This is a chronic problem in Thailand today between Thai/Foreigner marriages if you are still unaware. The marriage "dowry's" use and function are of doubtful value today with modern and national and laws regarding marital rights and asset ownership laws. In a foreigner/Thai context there is a clear and well-document pattern of abuse. And that is the point. There will always be exceptions but the fact is there is sufficient fraud to advocate change and escalate the issue up the political chain of command. Thais currently just turn the other way when the victim is a middle-aged european or american male. If you are a male falang it's hard to believe that you could still be naive to the deceptions Thai women are notoriously famous for, and with good reason as this story alludes. You can play the 'devils advocate', but that's a rather foolish choice as your wallet is likely their next target.

[eifel36]

According to Ms. Ratri, an American with the name Mr. Jason Smith who lives in California told her he wanted to marry her but she had to wire him 90,200 baht for procedure fee, which she did. The wedding never took place, Ms. Ratri said.

WELL, there was a smart farang :-) rarely happens this way around

[paulyd2k]

ha,ha I`m thinking along the lines of many reading this, scammed,lol, he got away lightly, I am sure many would have liked to get off this lightly, sum num nah,,

[mickjn]

Miss looks more like a Mr....

Agree in toto

[Globeman]

I don't actually see how he was scammed. She promised to marry him, and she did. OK - only a country wedding, but a wedding and ceremony nonetheless. He promised to give her gifts and money, and he did.

Surely now it's purely a marital disagreement over sex (or lack thereof)?

Both parties fulfilled their obligations - he's even got wedding photos to prove it. Assuming she used her correct name and didn't hide behind a false identity, all seems fine to me. Just another dense Falang that was too eager to put his hand in his wallet without doing due diligence.

Ummm... because a marriage is about more than just a ceremony... and he was told to piss off by the girl's family?

[watcharacters]

He earns 400.000 a month, so that's about 3 weeks wage for him. That's a very small price for such an important lesson in life. You're not quite right in your head if you think you fall in love with someone over the internet and propose to her in just a few months.

Get over it and spare yourself the embarrassment of all of us laughing at you. No sympathy from me...

.

Small sum to pay for an early awareness of the scam.

He looks like a guy who would cry all the way back to the house of his mother.

I wonder if he ever leaves a tip?

[redutedog1]

she should have waited for the new house, car, motorbike and 200K of gold then left him

[redutedog1]

"Recently, Udon Thani also received report concerning another alleged online dating scam. Ms. Ratri Bhodiraj, 39, visited the police on 20 June and told them she was scammed by an American individual she met in online dating site.

According to Ms. Ratri, an American with the name Mr. Jason Smith who lives in California told her he wanted to marry her but she had to wire him 90,200 baht for procedure fee, which she did. The wedding never took place, Ms. Ratri said."

This from the same article.

Congratulations Mr. Smith! After hearing of so many Thai girls scamming farangs, it is nice to see it happening the other way round.

It is amazing that after all the warnings, there are still people that fall for the "On-line dating" BS.

maybe not an American but a nigerian con

[stephenwestbkk]

C'mon Folks, this is NO NEWS !!! This happens everywhere in the world, not only in LOS.
But someone wrote here, how thai girls spell love: M.O.N.E.Y., that was funny...

And the amount of lousy 276.000. THB is so low, he should really be happy to get a nice ceremony (probably no wedding ceremony, it was something else ceremony, maybe a engagement, which is quite similar to the wedding ceremonies), a pretty nice Girl for 2 nights with him in the province hotel for honeymoon, and yes, who knows, maybe he is a weirdo and she didn't wanted to wear the latex dress, he brought for his sick sex games, and then she just ran off. I can understand that...

At the other hand, I'm having a friend, he fell in love with his 40'ies and she used him and took everything from him, he paid her the education, opened her a clinic and she then told him " I don't need you anymore" and kicked him out of her life and house. Now she is earning 300-400 k's a month and he has even not enough cash to get back home. He stray's around in Thailand...
Now that is a scam, imo, not this worthless story about a cheap charly from france..

[Andre0720]

^{Falling in love.}

^{Getting married.}

^{Getting a divorce.}

^{Everything in the right order. So what would be the problem.}

And how fast it went makes him save money on the long run...

Edited July 2, 2013 by Andre0720