-
Recently Browsing 0 members
- No registered users viewing this page.
-
Topics
-
-
-
Popular Contributors
-
1
-
2
-
3
.thumb.jpeg.d2d19a66404642fd9ff62d6262fd153e.jpeg)
-
4
-
5
-
-
-
Latest posts...
-
5,195
-
15
UK UK economy shrinks by the most since 2023
Labour seem to have plenty of money to give to the wind/solar farms, Ukraine, India and illegals. -
47
A New Era for the Homeless: Rayner Pledges End to Criminalising Rough Sleeping
Is the premise not a resolution? Does the premise not start with right after "resolved"? Resolved: Trump is a dictator that must be hung for treason. Then one team had made arguments for and the other team against. Maybe it's different in the UK, but that's what remember. -
130
Report Welshman Fights for Life in Pattaya Hospital After Vanishing from Bangkok Nightclub
I only came here to see if there was a GoFundMe link already in the article. I expected that would be the case and wasn't disappointed. That is literally the red flag that it's a scam. NOT reported in local news - that literally reports on ANY incident involving a foreigner. Whether it's an Indian having a gold chain snatched, a drunk Euro tearing up a shop, a drunk trying to scam out of paying his bar bill. Pretty much ANY vehicle accident involving a foreigner. Especially one that results in severe injuries to someone. If it has a foreigner involved it pretty much always ends up in the news. UNLESS it ONLY appears in a foreign tabloid media site and has a GoFundMe already linked to it for some strange reason. Then it never seems to appear in the local media. Odd how that happens, isn't it ? You'd think a foreigner that somehow mysteriously ends up in a Chonburi Hospital (not a Pattaya hospital) would be a major news story. Especially if they (the hospital) was supposedly claiming that he'd been the victim of a "violent attack". (The version that shows up in the Sun says it was a Bangkok hospital and then later says Chonburi. The ASEAN Now version says it's a Pattaya Hospital. Little disappointed as I would happily go to any of the Pattaya hospitals and bring the guy some flowers and - what goes good with scam story - some black "pudding" maybe ?). And it's the same thing with almost all of these stories. Lots of generalities and literally no specific details that can be checked. A generic photo that could be anyone. Judging from that photo, whoever it is is in a "general ward" of a gov't hospital. So this guy has the money to just up and "fly to Thailand on a whim". But doesn't buy travel insurance of course. Meets up "with friends" and goes out partying. Note the guy supposedly has epilepsy. And was out partying in "nightclubs". And ends up with a traumatic head injury. In a hospital nearly 90kms away. Sounds more like someone who was drinking and had a motorcycle accident while not weaing a helmet, doesn't it ? With no insurance. This is usually a "Phuket" kind of story. And here's another clue - the Wales News Service - Other similar tabloid outlets also offer cash for your "vacation horror stories" that they then "buff" and edit (to remove specific details) and they sell those stories to other outlets. Which is why you see this story suddenly appear in a dozen different little minor tabloid sites and then a day later suddenly it appears in a bunch more. And then the people running ASEAN Now/The Thaiger just copy/paste any of those stories that supposedly involve Thailand. And they almost all have the same basic details. A "mysterious" accident - that was never reported in the local news. Generic details - like a "Chonburi" hospital. Nothing about his friends, what hotel he was staying in, what nightclubs they supposedly visited. No police reports of course. And they are first reported in a UK tabloid "media" site - that pays for people's horror stories and resells them. And the articles already have GoFundMe links set up. This one was actually set up the day BEFORE the story was reported in the news. (It's critical to the scam that you set up the GoFundMe link before you sell your story to the media. Better exposure and the media site isn't likely to edit the article to include the GoFundMe after they've already published (and paid for) the story.) And I've run down a couple "Ashton Jones" profiles, including one that lives in Cwmbran, and not a single mention of travelling to Thailand. Got a blouse-lifting, window licking friend that's overly fond of sheep living about 50kms away from where this guy is. Asking him to give the guy a call. Would be funny if the guy answered the phone, wouldn't it ? It's almost hilarious how many people just automatically assume that - because the guy is from the UK - that automatically means it's on the "up and up" and there's no way it could be a scam. That reminds me, how is that guy who had the motorcycle accident (without a helmet) - the day after his insurance expired ? And what about the 2 different stories of 2 different people from the UK who both supposedly both went to India, then travelled to Thailand and ended up in the hospital - but their insurance only covered them while they were in India supposedly. And who can forget the elderly couple that travelled to Thailand for their anniversary and were robbed and beaten "at gunpoint" on their first night ? Their GoFundMe was cancelled when it turned out they'd been seen on CCTV trying to break into rooms at a different hotel and the guy was hurt while jumping off a 1st floor ledge. They skipped out of the hospital and got a flight to Dubai before the cops could catch them. Or the Australian girls who skipped out on their hotel bill and flew back to Oz and then went to the media (not the police of course) to claim that they did that because one of the girls had been raped at the hotel. Except that the police reviewed the CCTV footage and it showed her bringing 2 guys back to her room and then a couple hours later standing at the door in a towel waving goodbye to them. And then the three of them snuck out of the hotel, got in a cab, went to the airport and flew home, leaving a large unpaid bill behind. Or the two Irish guys who claimed they'd been drugged and raped and their insurance wouldn't pay for HIV tests ? Turns out they'd been partying and having unprotected sex with some Thai boys and tried to get their insurance to pay for HIV tests and when they were turned down, they returned to the UK and made up a story about being drugged and raped so they could get tested - for free. And what about the girl (a self-proclaimed "model") who set up a GoFundMe because her "friend" had a motorcycle accident (in Phuket of course) and she needed money to fly there and help her friend get home. And then posts pics of the hotel she stayed at and the beaches she went to - but none of her friend she was supposedly there to help. The friend she cared so much about, but had no photos of on her Facebook and never mentioned in any of her posts - until suddenly she needed to publicize the GoFundMe - to finance her vacation apparently. And then there was guy who claimed he'd been "kidnapped by people dressed like police who were demanding a ransom to let him go". His friends set up a GoFundMe (of course) and then went to a local media outlet to cry about how their poor friend was in such desperate need. Turns out the guy had flown to Thailand and 3 days (!!!) later was caught trying to sell drugs to an undercover cop - in a section of Bangkok notorious for "African" drug dealers. He'd been taken to a Police station (not some "basement" like his friends claimed) and told how much his BAIL would be (not a "ransom"). But the truth wouldn't generate any sympathy, would it ? Yeah, his GoFundMe was cancelled as well when it turned out he was a low level drug dealer trying to raise money to buy his way out of jail. I had TOLD the reporter at the Edmonton Sun what was really going on - but she didn't want to believe me. Until she found out from Foreign Affairs that yes, a Canadian had been arrested in Bangkok on "that" date. She tried to do a follow up with the "friends" that set up the GoFundMe and told her the story - but they wouldn't answer her calls for some reason. And ALL of those stories had the same basic elements. NEVER reported in any local media. ALL had GoFundMe's set up before the story appeared in a tabloid media site "back home". No specifics (i.e. no names of Hotels, bars or restaurants that could be checked, vague dates like "last fall" or "in September"). Generic photos that could be of literally anyone with no distinguishing marks of course. And the GoFundMe scams are always set up by "a friend". Literally never by an actual, named relative. Because those names could be checked. But a random "friend" doing that out of the "goodness of their heart" ? How are you going to ask a comatose patient in an unknown Thai hospital if "Jane Doe" is really his bestest friend - especially when she isn't in his friend's list, he has no photos of her or any posts that include her in his profile. And if Jane Doe just collects the money and disappears - who's going to do anything about it anyways, right ? It's not like GoFundMe vets the people who set up the scams or checks that they are who they say they are, or that they've actually given the money to the people they claim they were raising it for. You can get an "appeal" cancelled if you can prove it's fraudulent and GoFundMe will refund the money back to whoever donated it. But it's kind of hard to prove an appeal is fraudulent when you only have a few, generic details to work with (and the "victims" always seem to be halfway across the country from you so you can't just "drop in" to wherever they are and say hi and wish them well. Would be kind of embarrassing if someone stopped into the Chonburi Hospital to drop off flowers for Mr Ashton here and found out they've never heard of him and don't have any foreign patients at the hospital. I had my hopes up when I saw "Pattaya" hospital in the ASEAN Now cut and paste hack job. Oh well. I can wait until they scan the Brit tabloids and find another "vacation horror story" that was never reported in the local media and has a GoFundMe already set up. Maybe one day it will be something that happened in Pattaya. Kind of glad I don't live in Phuket. Seems every other week another person from the UK is in a life-threatening accident tht doesn't make the local news and ends up in a "hospital" without any insurance. I wonder if all the Indians who claim they were "robbed by ladyboys" set up GoFundMe scams and sell their stories to Indian tabloid sites the same way the Brits do ? -
73
BREAKING NEWS Israel says it has launched strikes on Iran's 'nuclear programme
Rubio’s “unilateral” claim is already falling apart. Israeli official to 'Jerusalem Post': 'There was full and complete coordination with the Americans' 'A senior U.S. intelligence official says the U.S. provided real-time reconnaissance support to Israel before, during, and after the ongoing strikes—using secure channels to coordinate every step'. @AvivaKlompas. You help plan the heist, supply the getaway car, and provide the map—and you’re only a bystander? https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-857590 https://x.com/AvivaKlompas/status/1933362023523324396 -
20
Report Fake Rolex Misadventures Highlight the Value of Authentic Quality
Fake anything. Branded anything in which the brand is displayed
-
-
Popular in The Pub
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now