'Defrauded by my wife and criminals in Thailand' - BBC special report

[2fishin2]

very strange indeed, I actually thought you married for love, I mean why marry someone you dont trust. I trust my wife implicitly, there are no worries about her stealing my money or anything else. Dont know how you lot that marry much younger women then not trust them live, must be frustrating as sh*t knowing you can never trust her with anything or buy her anything nice. Yes there are some bad ones around, as many as the men that are just as bad and are busy screwing anything they can behind her back to boost their ego's, pretty pathetic really. Occasionally someone is caught out but a lot of us arent and are in very happy marriages, feel sorry for those that are in theirs for the anything other than love, what a waste of a life, at least the poor bugger that was ripped off has enough sense to move on and still trust people, some of you lot must have bloody miserable lives with these untrustworthy females.

Thai women dont marry for love.

If they marry farangs..

Wrong they marry anybody first for support of their own family.

[JoopJoop]

I married my Thai wife for her money.

I have about 2 large back in Aus and I'm in my early 40's.

We don't touch that while living in BKK.

It cracks me up when dudes say "I've bought my wife stuff and she's right with me all the way...I couldn't ask for more", or "my ex back in the home country is a slapper; my now Thai wife is xx years younger and we love one another...but only I have control of the bank accounts only".

You lads could be Ian in a heartbeat. You're kidding yourselves, and honestly...you're full of shit.

Edited September 24, 2015 by JoopJoop

[puukao]

take care of your health, and that will take care of your wealth..

most guys with thai girls can't walk about 100 meters before collapsing....and weigh about 100 stones

no wonder they lose it all....they let themselves go..

ok, off on another 30 km run......uphill both ways....

then i check my overseas account and pay a few bills on a house never to see the shores of thailand...

[thaiturkey]

I'm very interested in reading more about property scams, less about the involvement of Thai wives./ women.

My problem is not my wife ( who is a westerner).

I will try to start a new forum topic, hoping to see posts about your ( or friends) experiences with recent developments in the application of regulations for

-apartment leases,

- the condo 49% rule being abused by developers

and so on.

I have a case in Supreme Court at the moment, appealing against a judgement which cancelled my entire lease and against a loan shark who seized land and building, under dubious circumstances.

As I am a relatively recent member, would appreciate knowing if there is such a forum already?

DO NOT EXPECT JUSTICE

You have already been shafted in the courts, possibly with the connivance of your own lawyer (named som sak by any chance?)

Loan sharks are influential and will grease the works. Some banks aren't much better. Some crooks at the "yellow bank" almost sabotaged my 30 year lease in PKK provincial court. After 20 years in Thailand, I have found that there are good and bad police, but good lawyers are rare indeed.

PM me for advice

[fish fingers]

A little off topic but I will say this. In my experience with Thai women and Thai culture I have seen many many Thai women stand by their man whilst they have become gravely ill, whether they have been rich or poor. They have stood by their side, nurtured them, cleaned them, prayed for them and did anything they could for them right to the end.They gave up their own life to be with their man right to the end. And I'm I talking women from all walks of life, from a cleaner, to a bar girl to a university educated woman. I give them full credit for this as I don't see it on such a scale in the west.

Hmmmmm. I wonder what sort of job you have. I have lived quite a long time in Thailand but I don't know of many farangs that ended up in that situation.

Me for one

My thai chinese girlfriend (now wife) stuck by me when things were really tough- I was hospitalised due to stress from losing my father and other stuff. We both knew things would get better and they did

[fish fingers]

can I add

noticed on more than one occasion complaints about western women - only to read another post by the same member moaning about thai women. My gut feeling is the problem may be closer to home

[slipperx]

I'm very interested in reading more about property scams, less about the involvement of Thai wives./ women.

My problem is not my wife ( who is a westerner).

I will try to start a new forum topic, hoping to see posts about your ( or friends) experiences with recent developments in the application of regulations for

-apartment leases,

- the condo 49% rule being abused by developers

and so on.

I have a case in Supreme Court at the moment, appealing against a judgement which cancelled my entire lease and against a loan shark who seized land and building, under dubious circumstances.

As I am a relatively recent member, would appreciate knowing if there is such a forum already?

DO NOT EXPECT JUSTICE

You have already been shafted in the courts, possibly with the connivance of your own lawyer (named som sak by any chance?)

Loan sharks are influential and will grease the works. Some banks aren't much better. Some crooks at the "yellow bank" almost sabotaged my 30 year lease in PKK provincial court. After 20 years in Thailand, I have found that there are good and bad police, but good lawyers are rare indeed.

PM me for advice

PM me too. I have a wealth of experience of what not to do and a little on what to do. The courts are racist and certainly do not give foreigners a fair crack of the whip despite their significant disadvantage through language.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited September 24, 2015 by slipperx

[VIPinthailand]

so what you can do in Thailand and what you can not do?

I came here years ago, always rent.

some guys I know, bought house and now are broke despite the fact that they have been warned many times that it s illegal to own land.

but these smart pants think they are smarter than Mr "follow the rules" , they think laws are for stupid and soon they will reside in a nice and beautiful house with swimming pool while the other farangs will still be in his shit condo.

after 2 years, these mister smarty pants are eating noodle soup and rice in a shit room,totally broke and banging their head against wall realising they will never get their money back. , while Mr "follow the rules" is having a great life in his 100 sqm Condo with swimming pool on roof.

Edited September 24, 2015 by VIPinthailand

[gk10002000]

So his wife is in prison and got 4 years, but then he goes on to say he doesn't think she made much money selling everything off ! then he wonders how he got in this mess, the average thai bird from a bar isn't going to have the knowledge to pull of a scam like this,

I don't think these people who helped her just one day knocked on her door and said do you want to sell all your assets to us for next to nothing, she had to be up to no good maybe a Thai b/f or gambling debts.

Then after all this losing his life savings he gets another Thai girl and knocks out another kid !

Agree that the average Thai Bird does not have the brains or experience or connections to do all this. Sadly, even if the girl started out on the straight and narrow, it doesn't take long or much for the bad guys to put a gun to her head, or to her families head or otherwise threaten her to head down the path. There is absolutely no doubt that there are criminals around, and of course corruptions exists everywhere to some degree in the world. But in countries such as Thailand, a foreigner is an easy target. The laws there, if there really are any, are not administered by any sort of civilian court or police. Foreigners can be locked up quickly and with poor if any legal recourse to any normal Western standard of justice or process. No lawyer, limited outside contact, little legal standing at all since you are not a Thai citizen. So the confluence of things is very bad

[mary wang]

Don't blame the Thai women ,I would give more credit to them for being a better wife than those in the west.

[nontabury]

so what you can do in Thailand and what you can not do?

I came here years ago, always rent.

some guys I know, bought house and now are broke despite the fact that they have been warned many times that it s illegal to own land.

but these smart pants think they are smarter than Mr "follow the rules" , they think laws are for stupid and soon they will reside in a nice and beautiful house with swimming pool while the other farangs will still be in his shit condo.

after 2 years, these mister smarty pants are eating noodle soup and rice in a shit room,totally broke and banging their head against wall realising they will never get their money back. , while Mr "follow the rules" is having a great life in his 100 sqm Condo with swimming pool on roof.

Get your facts right,please. While it is true that a Farang cannot own the land,there are legal ways for him to lease etc. However a Farang is allowed to own the actual house. That is why some farangs who get shafted, resort to destroying the house rather than allowing their other half to gain possession of the actual house.

Regarding condo ownership,"yes" you can legal posses the chanot, although there have been instances when again farangs have been cheated, usually by fraud with the involvement of the land office and the so-called legal profession .

[Robert24]

My experience is that this problem is district related.

Girls from Udon Thani, Buriram, Roi Et & Surin; and others seem to be the ones operating the scams.

these are provinces, not districts.

[gk10002000]

This is what you need to remember when you come here to live which is nothing like vacationing here. This culture is 180 opposite to yours. Here family comes first and I mean first. What you think is love is really just respect of your ability to provide for her and her family. You will have her respect as long as you remember this. If you fail or even if she perceives that your not willing to do this then there is no such thing as forgiveness only revenge and compensation. And she will initiate a rather elaborate scheme to defraud you of your assets. She will do this to insure she can continue to live in the manner she has grown accustomed to. When she decides to leave you there will be no indicators. When she is ready to leave you will be blindsided. Take a look at some of the so called happily married foreigners who have that passive subdued demeanor. That is the face of a man that is at the mercy of a woman that can take everything he has and that which is signed in her name. You can't win for the police, the laws and a nation of Thais stand against you. Keep your head and a stash..

Kind of funny but here in San Diego, CA, I visit the Wat Thai in Escondido. I was chatting with an older fellow that has a Thai wife. He is a retired military guy, gets social security and some modest investments. She is about 20 years younger than him. He says, yeah, every month he just gives her his social security money, the whole lot. Of course he has the house, car payments and all that. Just a point of reference on the expectations that might be out there. His wife of course has no sort of regular job, no American kids at home to care of. So basically, every day all she is going to be doing is spending money, being a big shot at the Wat Thai, etc.

[catman20]

Had the same thing happen to me. Two children.married 15 years. Trumped up some charges. Got me arrested and put in prison for nothing. Couldn't bail out because lawyers kept stealing the bail money. While she and her family stole and sold everything I owned. That's highly illegal in any country. But no arrests yet....

don't tell me since this has happened to you that you have also re married, you cant trust these people or many people where money is concerned for that matter.

[eldragon]

This is what you need to remember when you come here to live which is nothing like vacationing here. This culture is 180 opposite to yours. Here family comes first and I mean first. What you think is love is really just respect of your ability to provide for her and her family. You will have her respect as long as you remember this. If you fail or even if she perceives that your not willing to do this then there is no such thing as forgiveness only revenge and compensation. And she will initiate a rather elaborate scheme to defraud you of your assets. She will do this to insure she can continue to live in the manner she has grown accustomed to. When she decides to leave you there will be no indicators. When she is ready to leave you will be blindsided. Take a look at some of the so called happily married foreigners who have that passive subdued demeanor. That is the face of a man that is at the mercy of a woman that can take everything he has and that which is signed in her name. You can't win for the police, the laws and a nation of Thais stand against you. Keep your head and a stash..

Jesus. Cannot disagree with any of that. Probably why so many people tell me the best Thai gf are the ones that hate their families.

[fang37]

Even better? A wife with no family.

[Toknarok]

The BBC are not letting this go, this article appeared this morning....http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34346620

[JoopJoop]

I married my Thai wife for her money.

I have about 2 large back in Aus and I'm in my early 40's.

We don't touch that while living in BKK.

It cracks me up when dudes say "I've bought my wife stuff and she's right with me all the way...I couldn't ask for more", or "my ex back in the home country is a slapper; my now Thai wife is xx years younger and we love one another...but only I have control of the bank accounts only".

You lads could be Ian in a heartbeat. You're kidding yourselves, and honestly...you're full of shit.

I say again, you're a sad lot.

Western guys marry down (just), and give their women money.

Some would say this happens in the west also but, there is more equality across the board in the west.

Here, so many partner with younger lo-so and then pay to "keep" her.

I don't get it. Don't tell me it's love, or some mutual understanding bs, or we have a bond like no other.

Why does white man marry a significantly younger women he can't speak and truly communicate with.

I know...coz he couldn't get a better shag in the west, and she's hit jackpot because he's paying. She don't care...I love you long time.

Yeah...right. Spin me another one.

[Farang99]

The Phuket Property Nightmare - BBC report

www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34346620

[eldragon]

The BBC are not letting this go, this article appeared this morning....http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34346620

This is just a print version of the video. Not sure why they're suggesting this guy owned any of the property, or that other foreigners can own property here. No mention of Thai laws regarding this issue. Seems a little misleading.

[huawei]

very strange indeed, I actually thought you married for love, I mean why marry someone you dont trust. I trust my wife implicitly, there are no worries about her stealing my money or anything else. Dont know how you lot that marry much younger women then not trust them live, must be frustrating as sh*t knowing you can never trust her with anything or buy her anything nice. Yes there are some bad ones around, as many as the men that are just as bad and are busy screwing anything they can behind her back to boost their ego's, pretty pathetic really. Occasionally someone is caught out but a lot of us arent and are in very happy marriages, feel sorry for those that are in theirs for the anything other than love, what a waste of a life, at least the poor bugger that was ripped off has enough sense to move on and still trust people, some of you lot must have bloody miserable lives with these untrustworthy females.

Thai women dont marry for love.

If they marry farangs..

Wrong they marry anybody first for support of their own family.

The assumption is that these girls come from poor families.

Secondly if there are multiple girls in the family which one is supporting the family?

What about those of mixed heritage?

[nithisa78]

you can't cheat an honest man. Not even if he's stupid.

[fey]

I wonder why they feel they must purchase property and invest rather then just bank the money.

I think the thai partners end up convincing them to purchase things.

I suspect here that after 9 years she possibly may have become jealous or seen him ogling younger women and decided to secure her future before things turned sour.

A pre-emptive strike of sorts.

It appears he's out nearly 2 million usd so far including legal fees. Crazy amount.

Edited September 25, 2015 by fey

[villagefarang]

Maybe it is just me, but if I were worried about my ability to provide for the future of my three children as stated in the video, the first thing I would do is begin an entirely new family to see if I could double my responsibilities and expenses. In addition I would spend any remaining money I had on fighting a court battle I couldn’t possibly win. Then when I am completely broke I can spread my story over the internet where everyone will feel sorry for me and offer financial support or better yet purchase the rights to my story and make a movie about it. But as I said, maybe that is just me.

[srchino]

Wow, I nearly invested in some property in Thailand, and at the last minute had a gut instinct not to. After reading this nightmare of a story I'm glad I didn't, and absolutely never, ever will invest a dime in LoS. I'll happily keep spending a few bucks here and there for fun, temporary experiences though.

Love how the authorities leave this guy high and dry while they focus their efforts and collaborate with Thai Immigration on solving a 2 year old 1500bht restaurant bill. What a joke of a criminal justice system!

[huawei]

I think " invest" is the wrong word. If you have children just buy the house in the wife's name and be done with it.

[fang37]

I think " invest" is the wrong word. If you have children just buy the house in the wife's name and be done with it.

A smarter strategy - buy 2 expensive houses. More thrills to the $$$.

[eldragon]

Maybe it is just me, but if I were worried about my ability to provide for the future of my three children as stated in the video, the first thing I would do is begin an entirely new family to see if I could double my responsibilities and expenses. In addition I would spend any remaining money I had on fighting a court battle I couldn’t possibly win. Then when I am completely broke I can spread my story over the internet where everyone will feel sorry for me and offer financial support or better yet purchase the rights to my story and make a movie about it. But as I said, maybe that is just me.

Lol. You win. At least they were nice enough to spare the guy's life, huh?

[eldragon]

very strange indeed, I actually thought you married for love, I mean why marry someone you dont trust. I trust my wife implicitly, there are no worries about her stealing my money or anything else. Dont know how you lot that marry much younger women then not trust them live, must be frustrating as sh*t knowing you can never trust her with anything or buy her anything nice. Yes there are some bad ones around, as many as the men that are just as bad and are busy screwing anything they can behind her back to boost their ego's, pretty pathetic really. Occasionally someone is caught out but a lot of us arent and are in very happy marriages, feel sorry for those that are in theirs for the anything other than love, what a waste of a life, at least the poor bugger that was ripped off has enough sense to move on and still trust people, some of you lot must have bloody miserable lives with these untrustworthy females.

Thai women dont marry for love.

If they marry farangs..

Wrong they marry anybody first for support of their own family.

The assumption is that these girls come from poor families.

Secondly if there are multiple girls in the family which one is supporting the family?

What about those of mixed heritage?

Who's making that assumption? I've met plenty of upper middle-class girls here that were playing the same game. Wealthy guy- Thai or foreigner- buys the family a house, but they don't love him and play around on the side, or worse, try something like this.

[eldragon]

I wonder why they feel they must purchase property and invest rather then just bank the money.

I think the thai partners end up convincing them to purchase things.

I suspect here that after 9 years she possibly may have become jealous or seen him ogling younger women and decided to secure her future before things turned sour.

A pre-emptive strike of sorts.

It appears he's out nearly 2 million usd so far including legal fees. Crazy amount.

Was thinking the same thing. Why invest? And why marry for that matter? Not that hard to live here without either of those things weighing you down. Easy enough to rent a house and... hire a gf.