Filipino Con Artist On Sukumvit

[qualtrough]

(who I think are Filipinos)

I'm curious to know why you thought they were Filipinos?

I think you should be more certain about this before you make such assumptions. Filipinos, Malaysians, Thais, Laosans, Vietnamese, Cambodians and Indonesians (and others) all have a very similar look.

Was it their English ability that lead you to that assumption, or perhaps they spoke Tagalog?

It is a no brainer to recognize Filipinos when they speak English. Does not sound anything like the English spoken by any of the citizens from the countries you listed. They might as well be painted bright yellow, that is how easy they are to spot. Not dissing them, just pointing out that they generally sound very different, and are much more likely to speak the language fluently.

[chingching]

I'm curious to know why you thought they were Filipinos?

I think you should be more certain about this before you make such assumptions. Filipinos, Malaysians, Thais, Laosans, Vietnamese, Cambodians and Indonesians (and others) all have a very similar look.

I assume YOU are Filipino and so take offense. I'm Asian, I lived in the Philippines for 5 years, I'm also an American citizen. This concept was far too difficult for 98% of the Filipinos to understand. Most of them just called me a liar. I couldn't understand it as many of them had relatives living in the United States, so what was it that was so hard to comprehend.

[Soju]

It is a no brainer to recognize Filipinos when they speak English. Does not sound anything like the English spoken by any of the citizens from the countries you listed. They might as well be painted bright yellow, that is how easy they are to spot. Not dissing them, just pointing out that they generally sound very different, and are much more likely to speak the language fluently.

Agreed. Not only their accent, but also their peculiar vocabulary. Their use of terms like "for a while" and what not are terms I've only heard Filipinos use. Doesn't take long at all hearing a typical Filipino to know where they're from.

[Simmo]

I've seen the old "pigeon drop" scam going on in shopping malls in Pattaya, perpetrated by Thai's on Thais.

Usually works with a team "finding" a bag of jewellery and offering the mark a reward for helping. The scammer then tells them to hold the bag while they go get their reward money after getting a "deposit" from the mark and the other scammer in on it. Of course the bag is switched with worthless junk after some misdirection.

I guess country bumpkins fresh down from the NorthEast would fall for this pretty easily.

[GracelessFawn]

Over the years I have been stopped occasionally on Sukumvit by these guys (who I think are Filipinos) passing themselves off as Thais. They usually ask something like where did you get those nice shoes or something like that to get a conversation started. They all ask where are you from and when you tell them they always reply that they have a sister/cousin/brother there going to school. That's usually when I tell them to get lost. My question, has anyone ever actually hung around to find out what these guys are up to? I'm sure they are somehow trying to seperate you from your money but what exactly is the scam? Also has anyone ever actually gotten their fortune told by one of the Indian fortune tellers that prowl around Sukumvit?

Are you fuc***ing serious?????

This is a very heavy accusation. An ignorant accusation based on nothing but pure speculation! If you can't prove it and not even sure if the scammers you're referring to are Filipinos, I suggest that you stay quiet! Don't make a fool of yourself! Any logical person wouldn't conclude as you did! And, how do you know for sure that they are Filipinos?????!!!!!!????? Can you even speak Tagalog?

If what you say is true, by all means lay down the proofs, but if you can't then I suggest that you do more research which you can use for future reference the next time you bash and bad-mouth Filipinos!

[tropo]

I'm curious to know why you thought they were Filipinos?

I think you should be more certain about this before you make such assumptions. Filipinos, Malaysians, Thais, Laosans, Vietnamese, Cambodians and Indonesians (and others) all have a very similar look.

I assume YOU are Filipino and so take offense. I'm Asian, I lived in the Philippines for 5 years, I'm also an American citizen. This concept was far too difficult for 98% of the Filipinos to understand. Most of them just called me a liar. I couldn't understand it as many of them had relatives living in the United States, so what was it that was so hard to comprehend.

No Mr. Ching, I am not Filipino, I'm Australian and was asking a valid question.

You on the other hand have responded with such babbling B*llsh*t, it's hard to know what you're on about. I doubt you've ever lived in the Philippines, but it's irrelevant whether you have or not.

Just to help you, I asked the OP why he thought the scammers were Filipinos.

[Soju]

Are you fuc***ing serious?????

This is a very heavy accusation. An ignorant accusation based on nothing but pure speculation! If you can't prove it and not even sure if the scammers you're referring to are Filipinos, I suggest that you stay quiet! Don't make a fool of yourself! Any logical person wouldn't conclude as you did! And, how do you know for sure that they are Filipinos?????!!!!!!????? Can you even speak Tagalog?

If what you say is true, by all means lay down the proofs, but if you can't then I suggest that you do more research which you can use for future reference the next time you bash and bad-mouth Filipinos!

Wow, take it easy! He said "who I think are Filipinos". He didn't say they definitely were. Anyone who's ever been to the Philippines knows that there's an abundance of these scammers walking around the malls and tourists areas that use this exact same M.O. It's a well-known / well-publicized scam that is prevalent in the Philippines. Nothing bad-mouthing Filipinos about it. There are scammers in every country. It's not a reflection on Filipinos to point this out. If you post something about American scammers, do you expect me to get all excited about it and tell you to stop bad-mouthing Americans? Of course not! Because I know there are scammers from each and every society.

[GracelessFawn]

I had a filipino come up to me some years back near the Mah Boon Krong center while I was waiting for a bus. Asked me where I was from, and then quickly used that info to tell me how he was a big fan of the home team, his Mom went to school there, etc. He must have thought I was really stupid because he tried to tell me he was Thai. I gave him the bum's rush as I knew he was up to no good. I recall reading later that the scam was to get you into a bogus card game, which jibes with what others have been saying here.

How do you know that he was a Filipino?

Did you judge him as one - just because he spoke English!

[tropo]

(who I think are Filipinos)

I'm curious to know why you thought they were Filipinos?

I think you should be more certain about this before you make such assumptions. Filipinos, Malaysians, Thais, Laosans, Vietnamese, Cambodians and Indonesians (and others) all have a very similar look.

Was it their English ability that lead you to that assumption, or perhaps they spoke Tagalog?

It is a no brainer to recognize Filipinos when they speak English. Does not sound anything like the English spoken by any of the citizens from the countries you listed. They might as well be painted bright yellow, that is how easy they are to spot. Not dissing them, just pointing out that they generally sound very different, and are much more likely to speak the language fluently.

I think you are the "no brainer", and that's putting it mildly.

From the comments you made, I'll have to assume you have a considerable prejudice against Filipinos.

You might like to consider that to travel from the Philippines to Thailand, one must travel by air and one must have a valid passport. It's very unlikely that any Filipino that has the funds to travel to Thailand is running low-life scams on Sukhumvit Road, a road you cannot even spell.

Edited November 1, 2006 by tropo

[GracelessFawn]

(who I think are Filipinos)

I'm curious to know why you thought they were Filipinos?

I think you should be more certain about this before you make such assumptions. Filipinos, Malaysians, Thais, Laosans, Vietnamese, Cambodians and Indonesians (and others) all have a very similar look.

Was it their English ability that lead you to that assumption, or perhaps they spoke Tagalog?

Well, said Tropo!

[bkkmadness]

Scams typically work because the mark is greedy. Even the card game scam involves the mark being taken into confidence with a couple of other people who then tell the 'mark' that they are going to scam 'someone else'. The 'someone else' is of course part of the scam and the 'mark' who's trying to do a bit of scamming himself gets scammed. You've gotta be pretty stupid to fall for one of these scams.

[tropo]

Are you fuc***ing serious?????

This is a very heavy accusation. An ignorant accusation based on nothing but pure speculation! If you can't prove it and not even sure if the scammers you're referring to are Filipinos, I suggest that you stay quiet! Don't make a fool of yourself! Any logical person wouldn't conclude as you did! And, how do you know for sure that they are Filipinos?????!!!!!!????? Can you even speak Tagalog?

If what you say is true, by all means lay down the proofs, but if you can't then I suggest that you do more research which you can use for future reference the next time you bash and bad-mouth Filipinos!

Wow, take it easy! He said "who I think are Filipinos". He didn't say they definitely were. Anyone who's ever been to the Philippines knows that there's an abundance of these scammers walking around the malls and tourists areas that use this exact same M.O. It's a well-known / well-publicized scam that is prevalent in the Philippines. Nothing bad-mouthing Filipinos about it. There are scammers in every country. It's not a reflection on Filipinos to point this out. If you post something about American scammers, do you expect me to get all excited about it and tell you to stop bad-mouthing Americans? Of course not! Because I know there are scammers from each and every society.

Soju, you need to get a clue.

The off-handed "I think they are Filipinos" followed by his "it's a no brainer" comment are very obviously prejudiced opinions not founded in fact. He has bad mouthed Filipinos in the worst possible way in that he stated they are Filipinos with absolutely no evidence and your analogy that similar scams are perpetrated in the Philippines means what? Thais are not capable of similar scams?

These scams you claim Filipinos to be masters of in Philippine malls are in fact very rare. They have been blown out of proportion to reality by scare mongers with bad attitudes towards Filipinos.

Edited November 1, 2006 by tropo

[Soju]

You might like to consider that to travel from the Philippines to Thailand, one must travel by air and one must have a valid passport. It's very unlikely that any Filipino that has the funds to travel to Thailand is running low-life scams on Sukhumvit Road, a road you cannot even spell.

I take it then that you've never met any of these scammers in the Philippines. The one's I've seen are well-dressed, well-educated and one would never guess off-hand that they are a scammer unless you've had experience with them before. They look like an upper-middle class Filipino. They obviously have much more money than the average Filipino based on years of making a very good living off of the scams. To be able to get a passport and travel to the Philippines would be absolutely no problem for them.

[Soju]

Soju, you need to get a clue.

The off-handed "I think they are Filipinos" followed by his "it's a no brainer" comment are very obviously prejudiced opinions not founded in fact. He has bad mouthed Filipinos in the worst possible way in that he stated they are Filipinos with absolutely no evidence and your analogy that similar scams are perpetrated in the Philippines mean what? Thais don't do it?

Sorry, you need the clue. The OP was Spaniel that made the comment that he thought they were Filipinos. It was Qualtrough who made the "no brainer" comment.

Certainly there are Thais who are scamming people. No questions about it. But their typical M.O. is different than Filipino scammers. What's so hard to understand about that?

[GracelessFawn]

It is a no brainer to recognize Filipinos when they speak English. Does not sound anything like the English spoken by any of the citizens from the countries you listed. They might as well be painted bright yellow, that is how easy they are to spot. Not dissing them, just pointing out that they generally sound very different, and are much more likely to speak the language fluently.

Agreed. Not only their accent, but also their peculiar vocabulary. Their use of terms like "for a while" and what not are terms I've only heard Filipinos use. Doesn't take long at all hearing a typical Filipino to know where they're from.

Alright Genius, thanks for the generalization!

You seem to know a thing or two! Well done! We have a little problem though...... I don't think you have any proof or facts about what you are talking about.

Now, let me ask you this.....

Since when did you become an expert in Filipino matters? And how can you write things as facts or make generalizations when in fact we both know that your knowledge regarding these matter is limited! (Probably, picked-up from bar conversations here and there!)

[tropo]

You might like to consider that to travel from the Philippines to Thailand, one must travel by air and one must have a valid passport. It's very unlikely that any Filipino that has the funds to travel to Thailand is running low-life scams on Sukhumvit Road, a road you cannot even spell.

I take it then that you've never met any of these scammers in the Philippines. The one's I've seen are well-dressed, well-educated and one would never guess off-hand that they are a scammer unless you've had experience with them before. They look like an upper-middle class Filipino. They obviously have much more money than the average Filipino based on years of making a very good living off of the scams. To be able to get a passport and travel to the Philippines would be absolutely no problem for them.

You just don't stop with your cr*p. You've "seen" them? You can recognise them by sight? They showed you their passport so you knew they were Filipino?

That's bs and you know it.

If you have credible evidence that Sukhumvit scammers are Filipino, show it. Off handed comments that maybe they are Filipino doesn't serve any purpose at all and obviously will upset certain members who may be Filipino, or like Filipinos.

Edited November 1, 2006 by tropo

[Noel]

Shouldn't this thread be moved to either of the yet to be created: 'My wife is a Filipina so back off!' or the: 'I got royally shafted by a Filipina so I hate them all!' forums?

Phew, why such passionate defence/attack...?

[bkkmadness]

Well I'll tell you a story, just yesterday I was walking down to Bangkok Bank on Suk 8 from Asoke. I was called out to by two guys and they also remarked 'nice shoes' (just reread the OP and he said the same thing). The guys were standing near the Westin hotel there (I think thats the one), anyways just near washington square.

I was in a hurry to get to the bank but they called out for me to come over and I would say they had Filipino accents. I do realise that the majority of the time this scam is perpetrated by the Thais in Thailand but they didnt sound very Thai to me. Since I had to walk back that way I went on my way and was going to chat more to them on my way back but unfortunately they had left their spot when I walked back so I couldn't confirm.

I wonder if it was the same guys as the OP met? I'll check it out more if I see them again, but so sorry, they sounded Filipino and you don't need to be an expert to tell where someone is from by their accent.

You might like to consider that to travel from the Philippines to Thailand, one must travel by air and one must have a valid passport. It's very unlikely that any Filipino that has the funds to travel to Thailand is running low-life scams on Sukhumvit Road, a road you cannot even spell.

Going by that theory I'm guessing there are no farang or Nigerian con artists in Thailand either. Is that what you are saying, that if you have to travel to Thailand by air then you have the money in the bank to never need to scam someone?

[GracelessFawn]

Well I'll tell you a story, just yesterday I was walking down to Bangkok Bank on Suk 8 from Asoke. I was called out to by two guys and they also remarked 'nice shoes' (just reread the OP and he said the same thing). The guys were standing near the Westin hotel there (I think thats the one), anyways just near washington square.

I was in a hurry to get to the bank but they called out for me to come over and I would say they had Filipino accents. I do realise that the majority of the time this scam is perpetrated by the Thais in Thailand but they didnt sound very Thai to me. Since I had to walk back that way I went on my way and was going to chat more to them on my way back but unfortunately they had left their spot when I walked back so I couldn't confirm.

I wonder if it was the same guys as the OP met? I'll check it out more if I see them again, but so sorry, they sounded Filipino and you don't need to be an expert to tell where someone is from by their accent.

You might like to consider that to travel from the Philippines to Thailand, one must travel by air and one must have a valid passport. It's very unlikely that any Filipino that has the funds to travel to Thailand is running low-life scams on Sukhumvit Road, a road you cannot even spell.

Going by that theory I'm guessing there are no farang or Nigerian con artists in Thailand either. Is that what you are saying, that if you have to travel to Thailand by air then you have the money in the bank to never need to scam someone?

They sounded Filipino????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????????

Assumptions, presumptions, undue judgement, undue accusations!

Where's your proof? Filipino Accent? Define it, then call me!

[bkkmadness]

Obviously they wasn't speaking the Filipino language but they spoke English with what sounded like a Filipino accent. As I said, I only spoke to them briefly and couldn't confirm.

Surely you understand that people from different countries can speak the same language but with different accents G.Fawn?

Does an Irish, Scottish, American and English accent sound the same to you?

Do you think you could make an accurate judgement of where a Scottish person was from without having to see their passport or being an expert on Scotland? Could you make that judement just on their accent? I think you probably could and if you have Scottish friends most definately could.

I based my assumptions on the fact that when they spoke english it sounded just like the english spoken to me from Filipino people. Same accent, I'm guessing same country.

[GracelessFawn]

Obviously they wasn't speaking the Filipino language but they spoke English with what sounded like a Filipino accent. As I said, I only spoke to them briefly and couldn't confirm.

Surely you understand that people from different countries can speak the same language but with different accents G.Fawn?

Does an Irish, Scottish, American and English accent sound the same to you?

Do you think you could make an accurate judgement of where a Scottish person was from without having to see their passport or being an expert on Scotland? Could you make that judement just on their accent? I think you probably could and if you have Scottish friends most definately could.

I based my assumptions on the fact that when they spoke english it sounded just like the english spoken to me from Filipino people. Same accent, I'm guessing same country.

What???? Are you serious???

Once again, you are generalizing!

Call me now if you want and then, tell me if what you really heard was Filipino accent!

PS - are you a linguist by any chance?

Edited November 1, 2006 by GracelessFawn

[bkkmadness]

Do I need to be a linguist to assume where someone is from based on their accent?

If a Filipino talks to you in English and you notice a Filipino accent would you consider it generalizing to assume they are from the Phillipines? Or would you also think they could be from India or Scotland and until you had that accent verified by a linguist you couldn't possibly dare to assume?

Stop asking me to call you unless you send me your number and even then I don't see much point.

Obviously some Filipino speak English so perfectly that there is no accent and it would be impossible to tell, but shock horror some Filipino people speak with a Fillipino accent and it's a lot easier.

I'm not sure how much more basic I can explain this to you GracelessFawn so I hope you get the point this time.

Just a recap. Sometimes when you hear someone speak English you can guess where they are from by their accent. Don't you agree?

[thedude]

its dead easy to spot a philipino accent. you don't need to be an expert linguist.

they curl their 'r's like americans, but the majority of pinoys can't pronounce 'f', replacing it with a 'p' instead. that's the accent in a nut shell.

no other south east asian nationality speaks english in the same way.

Edited November 1, 2006 by thedude

[libya 115]

How do you know that he was a Filipino?

Did you judge him as one - just because he spoke English!

There are plenty of Filipino scammers, cheats and thieves in Pattaya also, both male and female, especially as visa entry rules have been relaxed recently. See link below:

Filipino Gangs in Pattaya

[davidjtayler]

This has turned into a Filipino bashing thread and thats not right ...!

[bkkmadness]

This has turned into a Filipino bashing thread and thats not right ...!

This has not turned into a Filipino bashing thread at all. It is a Filipino scammers bashing thread though. Please don't play the racist card thinking you are being PC.

[bkkmadness]

And I should say say before anyone starts crying too much, that until passport details of the scammers are checked and validated that we are not even sure they are Filipino scammers, they may be Thai's, albeit ones that give off an impression of being from the Phillipines with their Filipino accents.

Please note that accent cannot be confirmed either until we have an expert linguist brought in to make a full report.

Edited November 1, 2006 by bkkmadness

[davidjtayler]

This has turned into a Filipino bashing thread and thats not right ...!

This has not turned into a Filipino bashing thread at all. It is a Filipino scammers bashing thread though. Please don't play the racist card thinking you are being PC.

Not PC at all BKK but its seems the MOOD of the thread is turning rather personal against Filipinos ... whether intended or not ...

Edited November 1, 2006 by davidjtayler

[libya 115]

This has turned into a Filipino bashing thread and thats not right ...!

This has not turned into a Filipino bashing thread at all. It is a Filipino scammers bashing thread though. Please don't play the racist card thinking you are being PC.

Quite right: thieves of any nationality should be named and shamed: The prime ministers wife was a victim; see Thai visa link below:

Filipina steals handbag from Khunying Potjaman Shinawatra

[SamuiJens]

PLEASE CAN'T WE ALL GET ALONG?