Bangkok taxi driver robs tourist of millions - police suspect he is part of a big gang

[Ctkong]

Wealthy Chinese businessmen are different in attire and wealth display compared to westerners. Different culture. 

A Chinese businessman would feel embarrassed if no visible display of wealth among friends. Just their level of comfort level. 

A wealthy Caucasian would be more low key and discrete instead. 

Different culture displays different wealth indicators. 

Thai businessman with his ubiquitous latest model of BMW or Mercedes Benz is one instance of his display of presumed wealth.

[BigBadGeordie]

Thong Lor Police will sort this out in an instant. They clearly are the most responsive and honest members of the RTP in the Kingdom.

Edited March 6, 2020 by BigBadGeordie
Typo

[Isaanbiker]

After they fell asleep in the back of his cab he would strip them then dump them

 

I don't believe one word. This guy is an honest guy. He wears a T-shirt saying "USA Playboy". 

 

That must have been a mistake, it's an honest Thai.

 

Thais don't do such things. 

[shy coconut]

11 hours ago, Baerboxer said:

 

And even dumber to then get so rat-arsed drunk that you pass out in the back of a taxi!

I doubt anyone could get so drunk that they wouldn't notice a strip a couple of rings off

their fingers.

 

That London cabbie, Warboys, would drug and rape his victims, he only got convicted

for a couple of attacks, I believe, but there are estimated to be dozens more victims

who may not realise that they had been assaulted.

 

Off topic I know, but it is possible that the Chinese guy was drugged.

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

14 hours ago, webfact said:

a bigger gang preying on the public and tourists over the last 5 - 6 years

another proof that thailand became more dangerous in the past few years.

a friend of mine who lives in bangkok for years told me that he was robbed near the airport,

by a taxi driver. he took the taxi when he came from a flight, and after

a short drive the taxi stopped, another man got it, and they took all

his luggage at knife point.

i told him: " but this is an old trick, i did not hear such a story in years "...now

i believe him.

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

13 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Who on earth wears and carries "millions" when traveling around?

it is common in asia, especially when going out to pick up . this way they

feel "celebrated" and more attractive .

 

when i heard the original story i thougth it is an insurance scam, but now that

the taxi confested, i guess it is true, and the police investigated the case so efficiently

because the chinese paid them to do so.

[daveAustin]

14 hours ago, Farangwithaplan said:

Entertaining a couple of clients who like a drink can easily burn though 30000 baht in less than a night.

Indeed, depends on your poison I guess. I've gone out with a grand in me sky rocket, but don't make a habit of it and wouldn't go blinging jewels / jumping in taxis at that. That dude was asking for it.

Perspective, one can head to Siem Reap and chill in a decent pub/club with ten beers for $5-$10 and still have a blast.

[Airalee]

14 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

He was not coming from the airport. Sounds like he was out for a night on the town. Who needs to carry more than 20 or 30 thousand baht? And why wear expensive jewelry? You just make yourself a mark. As I said before, dumb and dumber.

I thought you like fine wines.  A few bottles here would easily surpass a thousand bucks.  And a simple Patek, without any complications (for some people a Patek, VC or AP is just a watch) like the one pictured below will push 2 million baht and it’s not even a blingy watch.  The cabby probably had no idea of the value of what he had taken.

 

  
 

 

[Damrongsak]

15 hours ago, Jane Dough said:

Loads of people do....i think they refer to them as chronometers.

 

Personally I prefer Swatch and am unlikely to be robbed.

 

Rooster

How much for this Casio?

[spidermike007]

13 hours ago, Airalee said:

I thought you like fine wines.  A few bottles here would easily surpass a thousand bucks.  And a simple Patek, without any complications (for some people a Patek, VC or AP is just a watch) like the one pictured below will push 2 million baht and it’s not even a blingy watch.  The cabby probably had no idea of the value of what he had taken.

 

  
 

 

This post is about security and preventing theft. I do like fine wine. However I do not brink fine wine here, because I will not pay $200 for a bottle I can get for $50 in the US. This is about self preservation. If you do not wear a million baht watch walking around the streets of Bangkok, you are less of a mark, right? 

[Traubert]

On 3/6/2020 at 1:00 PM, curious297 said:

Had it not been a Chinese person, would they have investigated so hard and fast?

Yes.

[Traubert]

On 3/6/2020 at 2:27 PM, spidermike007 said:

That is going under the presumption that he does not have a bank card to use, which was the supposition I was replying to. He could be a heavy hitter. I know guys who blow $500 to $1000 on a night out. Not that unusual. My point was why bring more than that, and why wear really expensive jewelry, when you know there is a good chance you are going to get inebriated. Know thyself, right?

Because where he comes from no-one uses bank cards, it's all done on the phone with your fingerprint and he wouldn't have to even think about someone taking all his bling. It just wouldn't happen. However it's often not possible to use phone payment in Thailand, hence cash.

 

It doesn't make him dim, it just makes him too secure in his surroundings.

[Airalee]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

This post is about security and preventing theft. I do like fine wine. However I do not brink fine wine here, because I will not pay $200 for a bottle I can get for $50 in the US. This is about self preservation. If you do not wear a million baht watch walking around the streets of Bangkok, you are less of a mark, right? 

You would probably be more of a mark wearing a 500 baht fake gold Rolex Daytona (or even a real seiko) than that Patek above, right?  
 

He would have been robbed no matter the value of the goods he had or how much money was in his pocket (the cabbie wouldn’t know how much he was carrying).  Impossible to “self preserve”.  When your number is up, your number is up.  
 

I remember getting mugged walking to the 7-11 as a kid in LA with $20 in my pocket.  Would there have been less of a chance of being mugged if I was only carrying $5?

[Woolsgibb60]

On 3/6/2020 at 6:37 AM, colinneil said:

Well thats a slightly different taxi driver story.

A dishonest taxi driver..... Come on, almost daily we are hearing how honest taxi drivers are returned very large amounts of cash to very forgetful passengers.

Should have shared it with all the hard up taxi drive 

[StayinThailand2much]

On 3/6/2020 at 11:33 AM, webfact said:

Bangkok taxi driver robs tourist of millions - police suspect he is part of a big gang

 

Picture: Daily News

Naw, that's clearly a translation error! Shouldn't it read: "Happy tourist receives back millions lost in Bangkok taxi from big gang of smiling taxi drivers"?

 

Millions? How will they counter that in coming days? Perhaps: "Honest Thai taxi driver returns wallet with 150 million dollars in it, in addition to 500 gold bars, 250 valuable paintings, and the British crown jewels, which the tourist forgot in his taxi"...

Edited March 8, 2020 by StayinThailand2much

[Just Weird]

On 3/6/2020 at 11:52 AM, spidermike007 said:

Who on earth wears and carries "millions" when traveling around? And why? A spectacular degree of insecurity? Recklessness? Ignorance? Just dumb and dumber?

He wasn't carrying millions in cash.

[Just Weird]

On 3/6/2020 at 12:00 PM, curious297 said:

Had it not been a Chinese person, would they have investigated so hard and fast?

Why would you suggest that they wouldn't?

[Just Weird]

On 3/6/2020 at 12:19 PM, spidermike007 said:

And why wear expensive jewelry? You just make yourself a mark. As I said before, dumb and dumber.

He's dumb because he doesn't make the same decisions as you?

[Just Weird]

On 3/6/2020 at 12:31 PM, Nong Khai Man said:

On 3/6/2020 at 12:19 PM, spidermike007 said:

He was not coming from the airport. Sounds like he was out for a night on the town. Who needs to carry more than 20 or 30 thousand baht? And why wear expensive jewelry? You just make yourself a mark. As I said before, dumb and dumber.

Who even NEEDS to carry 20 or 30,000 Baht on A Night Out ??

Who said that he was carrying B20-30k cash?

[Just Weird]

On 3/7/2020 at 1:31 AM, shy coconut said:

Off topic I know, but it is possible that the Chinese guy was drugged.

It's likely that if that had been a possibility it would have been mentioned.

[Just Weird]

On 3/7/2020 at 1:51 AM, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

another proof that thailand became more dangerous in the past few years.

a friend of mine who lives in bangkok for years told me that he was robbed near the airport,

by a taxi driver. he took the taxi when he came from a flight, and after

a short drive the taxi stopped, another man got it, and they took all

his luggage at knife point.

i told him: " but this is an old trick, i did not hear such a story in years "...now

i believe him.

So "your friend" was able to have the driver identified by the ticket he got at the airport queue and the CCTV that is all over that area, yes?

 

"another proof that thailand became more dangerous in the past few years".

It's not proof of that but it is proof that these days it is much easier to hear about incidents like this than was possible in the past as a result of modern media .  Perhaps you're trying to claim that there have not been robberies in the past in Thailand?

[Vigilante]

On 3/6/2020 at 12:19 PM, spidermike007 said:

He was not coming from the airport. Sounds like he was out for a night on the town. Who needs to carry more than 20 or 30 thousand baht? And why wear expensive jewelry? You just make yourself a mark. As I said before, dumb and dumber.

If he's not going to wear the jewellery, what's the purpose of buying it in the first place?

...wearing it to impress prostitutes though, is another thing altogether.

I suspect the cabbie was in cahoots with ladies of the night from a certain bar/club.

They would have good info on items being carried

 

[spidermike007]

18 hours ago, Vigilante said:

If he's not going to wear the jewellery, what's the purpose of buying it in the first place?

...wearing it to impress prostitutes though, is another thing altogether.

I suspect the cabbie was in cahoots with ladies of the night from a certain bar/club.

They would have good info on items being carried

 

You wear expensive jewelry when you are in a controlled environment. Not when you are bar hopping and getting loaded. That is beyond inane. Beyond reckless. Totally careless. 

[observer90210]

A fool and his valuables are soon parted.

 

Only a stupid individual, perhaps as stupid as his own big ego, will sport around in 3rd world countries with a watch that is worth a lifetime's earnings for many.

 

And even in western nations,  it's dangerous nowdays to flaunt wealth.

 

Sad,  but unfortunately some only learn the hard way.

 

 

[Cereal]

I took a look and the cheapest Philippe Patek watch I saw was $5000, and you just know the Chinese guy wasn't wearing the cheapest one or a used one. Chinese folks are much like Koreans, it's all about show. Whether you can afford it or not, or it's a sensible purchase is meaningless. I've lived in both places.

 

Like Thais and Lao's. I know many that live in festering dumps, no proper bathroom, getting up before the sun to light the charcoal to boil the water to steam the rice, no kitchen or furniture.....but a brand new Prado or Fortuner in the yard.

[steven100]

I just find this story so hard to believe.  Bangkok taxi drivers are the most honest in the world.

[pattayadude]

On 3/6/2020 at 12:33 PM, webfact said:

He has admitted to two cases in the capital but police dismiss this as nonsense

Cab driver: Officer... why don't you believe me!... I did rob two customers recently!

Cop: Get the fok outta heeee! its nonsense! You couldn't have!

Edited March 11, 2020 by pattayadude