German tourists robbed on Bangkok to Chiang Mai bus

[Thaidream]

This type of thing haas been going on for more than 40 years. The police know who they are and they can stop it if they really want. Since the Company has no registration to run a bus service they can be closed down. If they do have a valid registration- the police can pressure them to stop the theft or else!! I wonder why it continues to exist? We all know that answer.

[off road pat]

4 hours ago, monkey4u said:

It amazes me the way some people look after their money

Keeping it in a bag at the back of a bus or just leaving it on the seat of a taxi

How do these people manage to dress themselves each morning

Yeah,...one of the first things you learn by traveling is to keep your valuables (Money, passport), on your body, were you can feel them....now they have learned there first lesson !!!

[Sooo Upto Me]

6 hours ago, catman20 said:

why would you keep your money in a bag ? i always keep my money on MY PERSON in a front pocket in a crowed , market bus ect.

 

Well we all can't be as intelligent as u.

An remember they r German. ???

[off road pat]

I remember in my early backpacking years, in Indonesia, In some famous tourist busses, they had a kid hidden away in the baggage compartment, !

The kid would go thru all the luggage and collect the most valuable items and bring it to in a bag that was just mingled with the tourists luggage...on arrival, the driver would put all the luggage on the floor were everybody could take there bags. nobody realized at that point that they were robbed...

[kiwikeith]

6 hours ago, lostinisaan said:

 

The tourists had bought the tickets cheap at Khao Sarn Road. Police said they had travelled on an unregistered service that was set up to rip them off, reported Thairath.

 

So, they basically know all the black sheep, but let them operate? Wasn't an Anti corruption thingy going on? Oh, not really?

 And not having an eye on your money is a huge mistake.

 

      Willkommen in Thailand. 

 

       

 

The definition of insanity is , Doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result.

This practice has been going on for years, I posted about it a few days ago.

Buy a cheap Charlie ticket from a cheap guest house get transported to a service station then picked up by a Bus to wherever your going.

Usually a double decker bus where the bags are below and the passengers crammed in up top.

When you arrive at your destination you wont even know your bags have been rifled unless you check them when you get off the bus.

I went on one of these a few years back and this happened to everyone , bags had been rifled, except mine as I kept it with me as I was tipped off after I bought the ticket.

Why these backpackers don't use government busses which are reliable and buy these tickets from doss house guest houses is unbelievable.

 

Having said that I helped a young German at the Burmese border to get back to Kanchanaburi, he was to mean to pay the ten seater that ferries to the border $5 US and did not want to pay, I said to him if you don't pay him you will be standing in this shanty town all day.

Then when we got to the other side he saw we had a truck and asked for a lift to Kanchanaburi.

He was nice enough and well educated, we could tell he was not short but to mean to pay to get out of Burma, by the only van available.

This it what drives the rip off busses and doss houses survival. Backpackers to mean and stupid enough to take the advice of the cheap guest houses and tour operators.

Lonely Planet get read these days?

Then of course the Police turning a blind eye to these gangs and the shaky bus companies.

Its all part of the game .

[thaibeachlovers]

7 hours ago, KittenKong said:

This used to happen here 40 years ago. Apparently little has changed.

Really? I used to post on Lonely Planet a lot less years ago than that, and thefts from bags were a common complaint.

As mentioned already, keep all money, passports etc on one's person.

 

It always boggles me when I read about tourists leaving their bag on a seat in an airport, and it vanishes with money, passport, tickets etc.

[dotpoom]

9 hours ago, Truscott said:

If you go swimming in the Amazon, expect to get nibbled by Piranhas.

 

Must remember that the next time I buy a bus ticket to travel somewhere???

[Redline]

Jeez, just pay a few more baht.  How much can you save (or lose).  Really, just fly~much quicker and much safer!

[free123]

I usually take Nakhon Chai Air, or similair....how something like this can happen is an utter myth to me ...pls.explain...keep cash or cards always on the body , laptop smartphones business papers in a small daypack always near me with alittle lock also a seat lock....and the bag with the other stuff they securly lock it below the bus u have a ticket with number and at destination they hand it only over to you...the other travellers ( 99% of thai people average middle class ) get internet on bus TV food  ... costs slightly more than other companys, long reclyning seats I sleep like a baby arrive fresh and happy....been travelling also on buses minibuses cheaper buses boats and and and...never been robbed sometimes a delay always been treatet very well and with a smile...such things robbing drugging etc. happened 30 y. ago but now I thought that time has passed...sorry for them hope they have travel insurance...

 

[geisha]

I'm quite sure that these scams etc are published in all the tourist guides and on the net.There are also warnings against these small  " pop up" companies. Any traveller should know to use reputable tour companies and transport. If you don't know, find out, or ask ! 

[gemguy]

If they really wanted to bust them then have 2 foreigners as decoys book a trip with the illegal company and also have an under cover Thai police officer on board the van from hell and nab them in the act and arrest them all.

You know  ...they call it a sting operation...and have the media descend upon them and publicize their rat bag faces and the shame the owners and have a good old time prosecuting them while the police share the apprehended proceeds as their reward for a job well done.

It would be fun...lol

[The Deerhunter]

10 hours ago, arithai12 said:

A 550 Euro lesson, hopefully learned.

 

So, what's the fine for operating a non-registered service? Let me guess...

 

500 THB??????

[George FmplesdaCosteedback]

Khao San backpackers,  more quality tourists, but at 26 they shouldn't be so wet behind the ears.

 

[Jonathan Swift]

16 hours ago, Truscott said:

If you go swimming in the Amazon, expect to get nibbled by Piranhas.

things that you learn when young/inexperienced. I think they know now. Also, when swimming in the Amazon, don't have pockets filled with cash that you don't need to carry. Also, make sure you have copy (not the original) of your passport. Also, well, rewind all the way, and READ THESE THAIVISA STORIES BEFORE YOU SET FOOT IN THAILAND!!!  Duh. But come on, what did any of us know when we were 26? 

[Xircal]

15 hours ago, catman20 said:

why would you keep your money in a bag ? i always keep my money on MY PERSON in a front pocket in a crowed , market bus ect.

 

Or in a money belt which you can tuck inside your trousers.

[Xircal]

15 hours ago, catman20 said:

why would you keep your money in a bag ? i always keep my money on MY PERSON in a front pocket in a crowed , market bus ect.

 

Or in a money belt which you can tuck inside your trousers.

[pepi2005]

Happened to me about 8 years ago as well.

 

You enter a travel bureau on Khao San, buy tickets, think you're super-smart hiding cash deep down in the backpack - "it's stored down there in the bus close to the driver anyway" - go to sleep, next morning when leaving the bus, you open the backpack, find it messed up and obviously scanned for 'goods', all money's gone.

 

I've made a police report, of course with ZERO consequences or ever hearing of them ever again.

 

Turns out the whole staff on the bus had cooperated, the driver had tanked his bus and bought a digital camera paying with my credit card while I was sleeping!

Today I can just shake my head about my stupidity and naivety, but now I know that behind a friendly smile and a seemingly well-organized 'VIP bus operation' gangsters may be waiting.

 

Basically it's the same thing with those countless jetski scams, tuk-tuk-/jewelry shop/tailor shop scams, Wat Phra Kaeo scams, K.O. pill scams etc. etc. - tourists take the superficial 'friendly smiles', friendly voice and polite service attitude for real ... they open themselves up and behave more trustful than they should be.

 

What I find really disgusting is how the victims are treated by the police afterwards. Actually nothing happens and I always had my suspicions that at least in my case, police had cooperated with the travel agency. Because I identified them and the burden of proof was very clear, but nothing had happened. Months later, this agency was still in operation, selling bus tickets to unsuspecting travelers!

And as seen above, now these poor fellas will even have their photos all over the Internet for the rest of their lives for a cheap photo-op of the policemen in charge. Not even criminals have to show their faces on press photos anymore, but farang crime victims seemingly still have... I guess no one asked them before whether they agree to have their photos published.