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

[onetime]

Ran into Ian today at immigration. Didn't know who he was at first. Had a regular conversation, then it came to me. He said, 'Yeah on BBC'.

What a nice, balanced and smart man!

[dageurreotype]

This doesn't happen to everyone and there are good Thai women. Getting out of Thailand is a good idea though. I'm ten years in and all is good living in the U.S. My wife has learned many things about the value of money and work. She's also one of the most honest and honorable people I have ever known. We have many Thai-American couples as friends here and most are very normal and happy. Not a fat or bald guy among them! That's a myth perpetuated by western women so they don't need to face rejection head on.

[dageurreotype]

This doesn't happen to everyone and there are good Thai women. Getting out of Thailand is a good idea though. I'm ten years in and all is good living in the U.S. My wife has learned many things about the value of money and work. She's also one of the most honest and honorable people I have ever known. We have many Thai-American couples as friends here and most are very normal and happy. Not a fat or bald guy among them! That's a myth perpetuated by western women so they don't need to face rejection head on.

[dageurreotype]

Thailand is L.O.S. (land of scam)

Don't bring money to Thailand, keep them in a safe country far away from your Thai wife.

Don't buy any condo, house or property in your wife or company name.

Rental is the only option for expats if you want to live a long and healthy life here.

I keep reading this idiotic 'don't invest in Thailand what you can't afford to lose' when, after reading post Aafter (yawn) post it would be better to not invest in a Thai wife. Duh. Silly old men

[CaptainPeacock]

Would you trust Thailand and its people with your retirement savings i sure wouldnt.

What a GREAT statement from someone with such an appropriate username on the subject of moolah...

[taxin]

Would you trust Thailand and its people with your retirement savings i sure wouldnt.

What a GREAT statement from someone with such an appropriate username on the subject of moolah...

Maybe he meant to say I wouldnt "again" ! Haha !

[MAJIC]

criminal energy is not only in Thailand, happened around the world

It's pointless talking about other Countries, two wrongs don't make a riight !

[Heng]

Marrying someone, having kids with them, and living with them for years often isn't enough to change social programming and underlying nature. I have a 'case' before me of a debtor (40 something Thai woman) using a German fellow's paid for house as collateral on a loan. The dude played it smart and kept the house under company control for 11 years. The marriage itself is something around 15 years. In poor health, he transferred the building ownership out of company control into his wife's name so she wouldn't have to deal with the legal hassles of it if he happened to kick the bucket suddenly. After 15 years of marriage, 11 years of home ownership, it took her all of 5 months to take the chanote to take out a private loan to help out family and friends in the various problems working class people tend to have. And just 2.5 years from that point, the house is now owned by the money lender since of course the woman didn't know how to generate any kind of revenue other than the sale of existing assets. To their credit, they are still together and kind of a happy couple (it seems to be at least) living in the same house that they once owned and now renting it from the new owner.

[asean]

Little known clause in Thai defamation law that says. "Even if it was the truth, if that truth was of no benefit to the public then the criminal defamation charge still stands."

Pretty cool hey?

In my opinion that revelation of the truth was of great benefit to the public. DO not trust all Thai lawyers.

[mydee]

And in some states of Australia their defamation laws were almost the same, some time ago The defense against defamation was that it was the truth and in the public interest. There is some justification for this, particularly as the law and community views on ethics are not always in synchronicity so something might be trues and legal but be malicious and damage a person's reputation. In this case, under these laws, the person may well have been found to have been defamed notwithstanding the truth of the allegations.

Of course I am not defending the misuse of these provisions only pointing out that they are not always such a bad thing.

Little known clause in Thai defamation law that says. "Even if it was the truth, if that truth was of no benefit to the public then the criminal defamation charge still stands."

Pretty cool hey?

In my opinion that revelation of the truth was of great benefit to the public. DO not trust all Thai lawyers.

[lostinisaan]

I've just visited an older man in lower northeast who was a (Euro) millionaire, had a Bentley a Rolls\s Royce, Harley's, only flew first class, etc..

One day he met a beautiful woman from S. who was a cook at a restaurant in Bangkok. He fell in love, took her to Germany and the poor woman became part of the Hiso.

That was 20 years ago. The guy went through hell. His wife spent all his money, 10 million in a year only for gambling, plus all the land he had. The huge property already belonged to a rich Chinese guy and he had to buy it back for a lot of cash.

Mom got a house for more than a million, even having an okay one. Then she gambled more and more money away, her friends are/were criminals and the shop he bought for her the meeting pint for all sorts of criminals where they could plan their activities.

The woman's in jail now and he wants to give her a second chance. 20 Rai of land in a nice area near the main road are for sale.

She'll be out in four months and the land is on her name and the next stroke is just a matter of time.

It's quite foreseeable that the second chance won't change anything. His life became so lonely that he sees two dogs as his kids.

Nobody in the hood is even greeting him, that includes the mother who got a new house from him.

And the sad thing is that he's not the only one. Now he can look back what he had. One woman who didn't give a flying one, did that to him.

I wish he'd talk about it on TV to warn others, but he doesn't want that people know what happened to him.

Just another story to wake up.

[spidermike007]

if this happens to you, go after them with everything in your power. Do not use attorneys, as you are throwing your money away. Be creative. Use social media, use the grapevine, use any means possible, that is not over the top. But, don't let it go. Hound them for the rest of their lives. Never allow them to forget. Track them down, and apply as much pressure as possible. Letting it go is what they expect you to do. Out of fear, or just an inability to do anything about it.

Much money has been recovered by many, through perseverance and creativity. Never, ever let it go. Never.

[nontabury]

if this happens to you, go after them with everything in your power. Do not use attorneys, as you are throwing your money away. Be creative. Use social media, use the grapevine, use any means possible, that is not over the top. But, don't let it go. Hound them for the rest of their lives. Never allow them to forget. Track them down, and apply as much pressure as possible. Letting it go is what they expect you to do. Out of fear, or just an inability to do anything about it.

Much money has been recovered by many, through perseverance and creativity. Never, ever let it go. Never.

You could always do what a Thai would do in these circumstances. And if your quite elderly, what have you got to loose, maybe a year or two, while she may have decades to loose.

[lostinisaan]

if this happens to you, go after them with everything in your power. Do not use attorneys, as you are throwing your money away. Be creative. Use social media, use the grapevine, use any means possible, that is not over the top. But, don't let it go. Hound them for the rest of their lives. Never allow them to forget. Track them down, and apply as much pressure as possible. Letting it go is what they expect you to do. Out of fear, or just an inability to do anything about it.

Much money has been recovered by many, through perseverance and creativity. Never, ever let it go. Never.

Sounds great when you read it. But the reality is always different. Do you know what the "going rate" for unwanted people in lower northeast is?

15 K and somebody will kill you, bury a hole and your bones might be found 20 years later from a farmer, or a hungry dog?

Play with fire and you'll get burned.

There're plenty of guys willing to pull the trigger for a few baht. Some might come from Cambodia, do their job and leave immediately.

Two guys on a bike wearing Integral helmets walked to a loan shark's table at a restaurant in bright daylight in the middle of the city pulled a bigger gun, shot the guy twice in his head and left. His last Somtham in this life. Of course did nobody find the killers.

I sat right opposite of the restaurant where it happened at a private hospital,so no hearsay. O course did I not witness anything.

When you're dealing with highly criminals, then you gotta be very careful. They don't want to lose what they robbed from others.

Before they go to jail, they better let you go. Forget the lawyer please help me thingy, it doesn't work.

I had my warning a while ago and had to let it go. But the warning didn't come from an ordinary criminal. It was a guy what we call coppers, working for the guys who should help and protect foreigners.

When an elderly German guy passed, he ripped the relatives ( but me included, as I put 10 k to it ) off, said that he used his "copper credit" and paid 30 K to a hospital.Of course would you believe such a guy in uniform, especially when somebody you knew very well passed away and you're trying to get the body to his house for the ceremony.

When I found out what happened, the lady at the hospital wanted to call the guy and ask him where the money was, but I denied, talked to the lady and thought about it for a few minutes.We came to the same conclusion better not ringing the prick.

If I'd have done that, I'm very use that somebody would have "planted" some drugs where I used to live, or maybe a witness would have said that I molested a child? Would anybody believe a foreigner in prison who molested a child or was dealing drugs?

Of course could I've fallen of a balcony, or anything similar. The guy has got a very high rank and i preferred to pay the money out of my pocket to stay alive and to be sure that nothing would happen to my family.

And if a bunch of criminals see their income floating away, they'll do all and i mean all to keep their income.

Whatever they have to do, they''ll do it. I wish it would be easier, but....................

[taxin]

if this happens to you, go after them with everything in your power. Do not use attorneys, as you are throwing your money away. Be creative. Use social media, use the grapevine, use any means possible, that is not over the top. But, don't let it go. Hound them for the rest of their lives. Never allow them to forget. Track them down, and apply as much pressure as possible. Letting it go is what they expect you to do. Out of fear, or just an inability to do anything about it.

Much money has been recovered by many, through perseverance and creativity. Never, ever let it go. Never.

Although I agree with not laying down and letting them get away with it so easy, I do believe that doing this for the purpose of recovering your money will be a waste of time, especially if your wife has spent it on gambling or sold your (or in most cases her) property to a loan shark. Unfortunately in Thai culture when the money is spent its spent, never to be seen again.

I cant say I have ever heard of any success stories where a foreigner has managed otherwise ? I only hear about journalists getting nicked for defamation from covering the initial story.

[spidermike007]

if this happens to you, go after them with everything in your power. Do not use attorneys, as you are throwing your money away. Be creative. Use social media, use the grapevine, use any means possible, that is not over the top. But, don't let it go. Hound them for the rest of their lives. Never allow them to forget. Track them down, and apply as much pressure as possible. Letting it go is what they expect you to do. Out of fear, or just an inability to do anything about it.

Much money has been recovered by many, through perseverance and creativity. Never, ever let it go. Never.

Although I agree with not laying down and letting them get away with it so easy, I do believe that doing this for the purpose of recovering your money will be a waste of time, especially if your wife has spent it on gambling or sold your (or in most cases her) property to a loan shark. Unfortunately in Thai culture when the money is spent its spent, never to be seen again.

I cant say I have ever heard of any success stories where a foreigner has managed otherwise ? I only hear about journalists getting nicked for defamation from covering the initial story.

The success I have had with collecting bad debt from scammers has been in the US. So, not sure how it would apply here. I put so much pressure on them, for such a long time, finally they gave in, and paid me in full. One of them told me that I was such a pain in the butt, that he was going to scam someone else, to get my money back to me, as he could not lead a normal life, with the constant interference I was throwing at him. I am sure there are ways to apply that kind of pressure here. Everyone talks about the threat, and the danger. But, that fear and intimidation is exactly what the cockroach population is hoping for. In the case of gambling, surely there is no hope of recovery. And in the case of loan sharks, well that is another terrible choice the wife made, and one probably needs to live with that. But, in the case of many other scams, such as real estate, business investments, etc, much of the money could be recovered, if you engaged in a massively annoying and embarrassing (to the criminals) campaign, and did not stop until you were made whole. After all, one cannot live ones life cowering in a corner, licking their wounds. Of course, I realize one must be selective with this approach, but there are certainly some instances where it might work.

Having said all that, the best way to prevent this kind of nonsense, is for all of us to do a better job vetting the women we get involved with. Take a long time to get to know them. Always push back. They are always going to push the time window. You must push back. Time is your ally, not hers. Hey, I do not know you that well. We have only been together for a year. I am not even in love with you yet. I like you but that is about it, for now. I know you have been telling me you love me since two weeks into the relationship, but that is what Thai women say. You gals do not know the definition of I like you, or I like you alot. It is always I love you. Not so with me. The love could happen, but first I have to find out who you are, what you are made of, where you come from, and if you are worthy. That is going to take some time. If you are in such a big hurry, perhaps it is best for you to walk. If not, wait, and be patient. If you do not have that level of patience in you, maybe you are the wrong choice anyway. Or maybe your agenda is less than righteous. Either way, it will not work for me.

So many Western men are so beat down emotionally, when they arrive here, that they make alot of bad choices, especially in the selection of women. The gals know what we want to hear, and they are very clever in the use of it. So, recognize the emotional vulnerability, and guard against making dumb choices and decisions.

Do not invest any money or allow them any control for years, during which time you can get to know them, and see what they are made of, and get to know their families, before trusting them with money, or investments. Who are their people? How solid are they? What is their agenda? How dirt poor are they? How desperate? Most of these horror stories seem to be from guys that were in a big rush to settle down with a woman, who often times turns out to be the shark we were being careful to avoid.

[taxin]

if this happens to you, go after them with everything in your power. Do not use attorneys, as you are throwing your money away. Be creative. Use social media, use the grapevine, use any means possible, that is not over the top. But, don't let it go. Hound them for the rest of their lives. Never allow them to forget. Track them down, and apply as much pressure as possible. Letting it go is what they expect you to do. Out of fear, or just an inability to do anything about it.

Much money has been recovered by many, through perseverance and creativity. Never, ever let it go. Never.

Although I agree with not laying down and letting them get away with it so easy, I do believe that doing this for the purpose of recovering your money will be a waste of time, especially if your wife has spent it on gambling or sold your (or in most cases her) property to a loan shark. Unfortunately in Thai culture when the money is spent its spent, never to be seen again.

I cant say I have ever heard of any success stories where a foreigner has managed otherwise ? I only hear about journalists getting nicked for defamation from covering the initial story.

The success I have had with collecting bad debt from scammers has been in the US. So, not sure how it would apply here. I put so much pressure on them, for such a long time, finally they gave in, and paid me in full. One of them told me that I was such a pain in the butt, that he was going to scam someone else, to get my money back to me, as he could not lead a normal life, with the constant interference I was throwing at him. I am sure there are ways to apply that kind of pressure here. Everyone talks about the threat, and the danger. But, that fear and intimidation is exactly what the cockroach population is hoping for. In the case of gambling, surely there is no hope of recovery. And in the case of loan sharks, well that is another terrible choice the wife made, and one probably needs to live with that. But, in the case of many other scams, such as real estate, business investments, etc, much of the money could be recovered, if you engaged in a massively annoying and embarrassing (to the criminals) campaign, and did not stop until you were made whole. After all, one cannot live ones life cowering in a corner, licking their wounds. Of course, I realize one must be selective with this approach, but there are certainly some instances where it might work.

Having said all that, the best way to prevent this kind of nonsense, is for all of us to do a better job vetting the women we get involved with. Take a long time to get to know them. Always push back. They are always going to push the time window. You must push back. Time is your ally, not hers. Hey, I do not know you that well. We have only been together for a year. I am not even in love with you yet. I like you but that is about it, for now. I know you have been telling me you love me since two weeks into the relationship, but that is what Thai women say. You gals do not know the definition of I like you, or I like you alot. It is always I love you. Not so with me. The love could happen, but first I have to find out who you are, what you are made of, where you come from, and if you are worthy. That is going to take some time. If you are in such a big hurry, perhaps it is best for you to walk. If not, wait, and be patient. If you do not have that level of patience in you, maybe you are the wrong choice anyway. Or maybe your agenda is less than righteous. Either way, it will not work for me.

So many Western men are so beat down emotionally, when they arrive here, that they make alot of bad choices, especially in the selection of women. The gals know what we want to hear, and they are very clever in the use of it. So, recognize the emotional vulnerability, and guard against making dumb choices and decisions.

Do not invest any money or allow them any control for years, during which time you can get to know them, and see what they are made of, and get to know their families, before trusting them with money, or investments. Who are their people? How solid are they? What is their agenda? How dirt poor are they? How desperate? Most of these horror stories seem to be from guys that were in a big rush to settle down with a woman, who often times turns out to be the shark we were being careful to avoid.

But you have never been directly involved in or heard of any such success stories in Thailand, only in the US ?

You do know this thread is about Thais defrauding foreigners, its a little different than a case of an American scamming another American, there is no Judge Judy here in Thailand my friend !

[spidermike007]

if this happens to you, go after them with everything in your power. Do not use attorneys, as you are throwing your money away. Be creative. Use social media, use the grapevine, use any means possible, that is not over the top. But, don't let it go. Hound them for the rest of their lives. Never allow them to forget. Track them down, and apply as much pressure as possible. Letting it go is what they expect you to do. Out of fear, or just an inability to do anything about it.

Much money has been recovered by many, through perseverance and creativity. Never, ever let it go. Never.

Although I agree with not laying down and letting them get away with it so easy, I do believe that doing this for the purpose of recovering your money will be a waste of time, especially if your wife has spent it on gambling or sold your (or in most cases her) property to a loan shark. Unfortunately in Thai culture when the money is spent its spent, never to be seen again.

I cant say I have ever heard of any success stories where a foreigner has managed otherwise ? I only hear about journalists getting nicked for defamation from covering the initial story.

The success I have had with collecting bad debt from scammers has been in the US. So, not sure how it would apply here. I put so much pressure on them, for such a long time, finally they gave in, and paid me in full. One of them told me that I was such a pain in the butt, that he was going to scam someone else, to get my money back to me, as he could not lead a normal life, with the constant interference I was throwing at him. I am sure there are ways to apply that kind of pressure here. Everyone talks about the threat, and the danger. But, that fear and intimidation is exactly what the cockroach population is hoping for. In the case of gambling, surely there is no hope of recovery. And in the case of loan sharks, well that is another terrible choice the wife made, and one probably needs to live with that. But, in the case of many other scams, such as real estate, business investments, etc, much of the money could be recovered, if you engaged in a massively annoying and embarrassing (to the criminals) campaign, and did not stop until you were made whole. After all, one cannot live ones life cowering in a corner, licking their wounds. Of course, I realize one must be selective with this approach, but there are certainly some instances where it might work.

Having said all that, the best way to prevent this kind of nonsense, is for all of us to do a better job vetting the women we get involved with. Take a long time to get to know them. Always push back. They are always going to push the time window. You must push back. Time is your ally, not hers. Hey, I do not know you that well. We have only been together for a year. I am not even in love with you yet. I like you but that is about it, for now. I know you have been telling me you love me since two weeks into the relationship, but that is what Thai women say. You gals do not know the definition of I like you, or I like you alot. It is always I love you. Not so with me. The love could happen, but first I have to find out who you are, what you are made of, where you come from, and if you are worthy. That is going to take some time. If you are in such a big hurry, perhaps it is best for you to walk. If not, wait, and be patient. If you do not have that level of patience in you, maybe you are the wrong choice anyway. Or maybe your agenda is less than righteous. Either way, it will not work for me.

So many Western men are so beat down emotionally, when they arrive here, that they make alot of bad choices, especially in the selection of women. The gals know what we want to hear, and they are very clever in the use of it. So, recognize the emotional vulnerability, and guard against making dumb choices and decisions.

Do not invest any money or allow them any control for years, during which time you can get to know them, and see what they are made of, and get to know their families, before trusting them with money, or investments. Who are their people? How solid are they? What is their agenda? How dirt poor are they? How desperate? Most of these horror stories seem to be from guys that were in a big rush to settle down with a woman, who often times turns out to be the shark we were being careful to avoid.

But you have never been directly involved in or heard of any such success stories in Thailand, only in the US ?

You do know this thread is about Thais defrauding foreigners, its a little different than a case of an American scamming another American, there is no Judge Judy here in Thailand my friend !

I understand that. But, I never used Judge Judy, nor the court system to recover any of this debt. It was through sheer creative juice, perseverance, the willingness to call these people out in public, shame them, embarrass them, contact their friends, family, associates, etc, that the money was finally recovered in full. I disrupted their lives. I put a crimp into their style. I interrupted the flow of their additional fraud activity. It might work here. Thais are so obsessed with saving face, and appearances, that it just might work. Never use the courts for something like this. Especially here.

[nontabury]

if this happens to you, go after them with everything in your power. Do not use attorneys, as you are throwing your money away. Be creative. Use social media, use the grapevine, use any means possible, that is not over the top. But, don't let it go. Hound them for the rest of their lives. Never allow them to forget. Track them down, and apply as much pressure as possible. Letting it go is what they expect you to do. Out of fear, or just an inability to do anything about it.

Much money has been recovered by many, through perseverance and creativity. Never, ever let it go. Never.

Although I agree with not laying down and letting them get away with it so easy, I do believe that doing this for the purpose of recovering your money will be a waste of time, especially if your wife has spent it on gambling or sold your (or in most cases her) property to a loan shark. Unfortunately in Thai culture when the money is spent its spent, never to be seen again.

I cant say I have ever heard of any success stories where a foreigner has managed otherwise ? I only hear about journalists getting nicked for defamation from covering the initial story.

The success I have had with collecting bad debt from scammers has been in the US. So, not sure how it would apply here. I put so much pressure on them, for such a long time, finally they gave in, and paid me in full. One of them told me that I was such a pain in the butt, that he was going to scam someone else, to get my money back to me, as he could not lead a normal life, with the constant interference I was throwing at him. I am sure there are ways to apply that kind of pressure here. Everyone talks about the threat, and the danger. But, that fear and intimidation is exactly what the cockroach population is hoping for. In the case of gambling, surely there is no hope of recovery. And in the case of loan sharks, well that is another terrible choice the wife made, and one probably needs to live with that. But, in the case of many other scams, such as real estate, business investments, etc, much of the money could be recovered, if you engaged in a massively annoying and embarrassing (to the criminals) campaign, and did not stop until you were made whole. After all, one cannot live ones life cowering in a corner, licking their wounds. Of course, I realize one must be selective with this approach, but there are certainly some instances where it might work.

Having said all that, the best way to prevent this kind of nonsense, is for all of us to do a better job vetting the women we get involved with. Take a long time to get to know them. Always push back. They are always going to push the time window. You must push back. Time is your ally, not hers. Hey, I do not know you that well. We have only been together for a year. I am not even in love with you yet. I like you but that is about it, for now. I know you have been telling me you love me since two weeks into the relationship, but that is what Thai women say. You gals do not know the definition of I like you, or I like you alot. It is always I love you. Not so with me. The love could happen, but first I have to find out who you are, what you are made of, where you come from, and if you are worthy. That is going to take some time. If you are in such a big hurry, perhaps it is best for you to walk. If not, wait, and be patient. If you do not have that level of patience in you, maybe you are the wrong choice anyway. Or maybe your agenda is less than righteous. Either way, it will not work for me.

So many Western men are so beat down emotionally, when they arrive here, that they make alot of bad choices, especially in the selection of women. The gals know what we want to hear, and they are very clever in the use of it. So, recognize the emotional vulnerability, and guard against making dumb choices and decisions.

Do not invest any money or allow them any control for years, during which time you can get to know them, and see what they are made of, and get to know their families, before trusting them with money, or investments. Who are their people? How solid are they? What is their agenda? How dirt poor are they? How desperate? Most of these horror stories seem to be from guys that were in a big rush to settle down with a woman, who often times turns out to be the shark we were being careful to avoid.

But you have never been directly involved in or heard of any such success stories in Thailand, only in the US ?

You do know this thread is about Thais defrauding foreigners, its a little different than a case of an American scamming another American, there is no Judge Judy here in Thailand my friend !

I understand that. But, I never used Judge Judy, nor the court system to recover any of this debt. It was through sheer creative juice, perseverance, the willingness to call these people out in public, shame them, embarrass them, contact their friends, family, associates, etc, that the money was finally recovered in full. I disrupted their lives. I put a crimp into their style. I interrupted the flow of their additional fraud activity. It might work here. Thais are so obsessed with saving face, and appearances, that it just might work. Never use the courts for something like this. Especially here.

I have done exactly the same in the UK,with no help from the courts.

However you cannot compare the system/culture in the USA or UK with what you can do here. While the UK courts are of no help, in Thailand the law will be used against you,even if the other party resorts to violence etc.this goes for Thais as well as farangs.In other words it's a completely different ball game

[bigt3116]

Good piece by the BBC in covering this kind of corruption in Thailand.

It is very clear there is no law in this country.

Our dear PM should watch this - he might finally take some action on all this corruption he promise dot get rid off.

Are you Thai ?

[nev]

If you end up being defrauded in Thailand you can blame no one else but yourself, this country is renowned for ripping off falang and just by taking a few hours out o.f your time and reading up on what can happen here will save you a lot of heartache in the long run.

Thaivisa is a excellent source of information about the pitfalls of living in Thailand.

[thaibeachlovers]

I've just visited an older man in lower northeast who was a (Euro) millionaire, had a Bentley a Rolls\s Royce, Harley's, only flew first class, etc..

One day he met a beautiful woman from S. who was a cook at a restaurant in Bangkok. He fell in love, took her to Germany and the poor woman became part of the Hiso.

That was 20 years ago. The guy went through hell. His wife spent all his money, 10 million in a year only for gambling, plus all the land he had. The huge property already belonged to a rich Chinese guy and he had to buy it back for a lot of cash.

Mom got a house for more than a million, even having an okay one. Then she gambled more and more money away, her friends are/were criminals and the shop he bought for her the meeting pint for all sorts of criminals where they could plan their activities.

The woman's in jail now and he wants to give her a second chance. 20 Rai of land in a nice area near the main road are for sale.

She'll be out in four months and the land is on her name and the next stroke is just a matter of time.

It's quite foreseeable that the second chance won't change anything. His life became so lonely that he sees two dogs as his kids.

Nobody in the hood is even greeting him, that includes the mother who got a new house from him.

And the sad thing is that he's not the only one. Now he can look back what he had. One woman who didn't give a flying one, did that to him.

I wish he'd talk about it on TV to warn others, but he doesn't want that people know what happened to him.

Just another story to wake up.

Only goes to show that having money doesn't make one smart. Why have sympathy for him- he could have stopped it anytime he chose by cutting off the money supply.

Mind you, speaking from experience, women make men do mad things- it has been so since the first man met the first woman, apples and snakes and all that.

[thaibeachlovers]

if this happens to you, go after them with everything in your power. Do not use attorneys, as you are throwing your money away. Be creative. Use social media, use the grapevine, use any means possible, that is not over the top. But, don't let it go. Hound them for the rest of their lives. Never allow them to forget. Track them down, and apply as much pressure as possible. Letting it go is what they expect you to do. Out of fear, or just an inability to do anything about it.

Much money has been recovered by many, through perseverance and creativity. Never, ever let it go. Never.

Although I agree with not laying down and letting them get away with it so easy, I do believe that doing this for the purpose of recovering your money will be a waste of time, especially if your wife has spent it on gambling or sold your (or in most cases her) property to a loan shark. Unfortunately in Thai culture when the money is spent its spent, never to be seen again.

I cant say I have ever heard of any success stories where a foreigner has managed otherwise ? I only hear about journalists getting nicked for defamation from covering the initial story.

The success I have had with collecting bad debt from scammers has been in the US. So, not sure how it would apply here. I put so much pressure on them, for such a long time, finally they gave in, and paid me in full. One of them told me that I was such a pain in the butt, that he was going to scam someone else, to get my money back to me, as he could not lead a normal life, with the constant interference I was throwing at him. I am sure there are ways to apply that kind of pressure here. Everyone talks about the threat, and the danger. But, that fear and intimidation is exactly what the cockroach population is hoping for. In the case of gambling, surely there is no hope of recovery. And in the case of loan sharks, well that is another terrible choice the wife made, and one probably needs to live with that. But, in the case of many other scams, such as real estate, business investments, etc, much of the money could be recovered, if you engaged in a massively annoying and embarrassing (to the criminals) campaign, and did not stop until you were made whole. After all, one cannot live ones life cowering in a corner, licking their wounds. Of course, I realize one must be selective with this approach, but there are certainly some instances where it might work.

Having said all that, the best way to prevent this kind of nonsense, is for all of us to do a better job vetting the women we get involved with. Take a long time to get to know them. Always push back. They are always going to push the time window. You must push back. Time is your ally, not hers. Hey, I do not know you that well. We have only been together for a year. I am not even in love with you yet. I like you but that is about it, for now. I know you have been telling me you love me since two weeks into the relationship, but that is what Thai women say. You gals do not know the definition of I like you, or I like you alot. It is always I love you. Not so with me. The love could happen, but first I have to find out who you are, what you are made of, where you come from, and if you are worthy. That is going to take some time. If you are in such a big hurry, perhaps it is best for you to walk. If not, wait, and be patient. If you do not have that level of patience in you, maybe you are the wrong choice anyway. Or maybe your agenda is less than righteous. Either way, it will not work for me.

So many Western men are so beat down emotionally, when they arrive here, that they make alot of bad choices, especially in the selection of women. The gals know what we want to hear, and they are very clever in the use of it. So, recognize the emotional vulnerability, and guard against making dumb choices and decisions.

Do not invest any money or allow them any control for years, during which time you can get to know them, and see what they are made of, and get to know their families, before trusting them with money, or investments. Who are their people? How solid are they? What is their agenda? How dirt poor are they? How desperate? Most of these horror stories seem to be from guys that were in a big rush to settle down with a woman, who often times turns out to be the shark we were being careful to avoid.

But you have never been directly involved in or heard of any such success stories in Thailand, only in the US ?

You do know this thread is about Thais defrauding foreigners, its a little different than a case of an American scamming another American, there is no Judge Judy here in Thailand my friend !

I understand that. But, I never used Judge Judy, nor the court system to recover any of this debt. It was through sheer creative juice, perseverance, the willingness to call these people out in public, shame them, embarrass them, contact their friends, family, associates, etc, that the money was finally recovered in full. I disrupted their lives. I put a crimp into their style. I interrupted the flow of their additional fraud activity. It might work here. Thais are so obsessed with saving face, and appearances, that it just might work. Never use the courts for something like this. Especially here.

I have done exactly the same in the UK,with no help from the courts.

However you cannot compare the system/culture in the USA or UK with what you can do here. While the UK courts are of no help, in Thailand the law will be used against you,even if the other party resorts to violence etc.this goes for Thais as well as farangs.In other words it's a completely different ball game

So many Western men are so beat down emotionally, when they arrive here, that they make alot of bad choices, especially in the selection of women.

That's the sad truth. Many western men are so emotionally ruined now, that when they meet a cute Thai woman that makes them feel like someone special they become putty in their hands. So sad. I do speak from experience having been in that situation, but luckily never had enough money to get taken for much.

[MaeJoMTB]

It's been a while now ........

Did the chap get anything back?

[thaibeachlovers]

It's been a while now ........

Did the chap get anything back?

Google is not our friend. Can't find anything recent.

[garyk]

Amazing after 30+ years of articles about this it still happens daily.

Just spend as much as you can afford to loose here. Best advice ever written or given.

[VIPinthailand]

I know a guy who build a house. his friends told him he can not own land. he didn't care, he was not listening , he said he know how to do it (Grey area of the law)and a lady was taking care of everything. To me, it sounded strange. I asked him why he didn't buy a condo instead. he said he wanted a big house to invite his farang friends and retire in his house.

2 years later I see him, and he said "I have been scammed "

you think he would have learned? he told me recently that there is a way to own land in Thailand and if he had the money he would buy a house....again...!

[MaeJoMTB]

I know a guy who build a house. his friends told him he can not own land. he didn't care, he was not listening , he said he know how to do it (Grey area of the law)and a lady was taking care of everything. To me, it sounded strange. I asked him why he didn't buy a condo instead. he said he wanted a big house to invite his farang friends and retire in his house.

2 years later I see him, and he said "I have been scammed "

you think he would have learned? he told me recently that there is a way to own land in Thailand and if he had the money he would buy a house....again...!

The problem being stupid people don't know they are stupid, and you can't tell them either.

[kunnatee]

It's been a while now ........

Did the chap get anything back?

Mr Vard might be in jail

https://www.facebook.com/JusticeForJessieThailand/?fref=ts

[icare999]

All this nonsense he broke the law use nominee to try and get over law that no orang can own land so made his own grave It could happen to made but difference is I freely gave it all to my This wife in her name and 30+ years later she has not yet thrown me on rubbish. For 30+ years I've heard friends say I'm stupid and my reply is if you cant trust your wife dont marry. Happens west all time as well so stop moaning. So many posts bitter men who had no brain except one between their legs. Pathetic people IMO. And yes if you dont like it here please leave we wont need or want you.