Thailand Dating Scams Visa Schemes and Nightlife Disasters

I visited Phuket last October but never made it to Bangla Road as I had a broken leg and did not feel like walking that much. I fell in love with Thailand and plan on going back this October and spending some more time checking out a few different places.

I recently broke up with my girlfriend of 10 years who is 44, partly because I cannot keep up with her anymore and partly because I’m tired of being a sugar daddy. I told her I wanted more. She is not ready to settle down. I joined a Thai dating site and within 3 days had nearly 80 likes, but I chose to write to a young lady from the general listing. Her profile picture was of her standing in a field surrounded by sheep, and it was listed as Chiang Mai, a place I’m interested in seeing next time I visit. She was looking for a man and there was no age limit listed. So I thought, “What the heck?” and texted her, not really expecting anything back. I was really more interested in finding out about Chiang Mai.

It has been 2 weeks now, and the kid, 35 years old, texts me two or three times every day. We have exchanged pictures, and she complimented me on being a good-looking man. After watching your channel, I’m waiting for the con, or maybe she’s just a nice person. She texted me that she wanted to set up a video call, and I said okay, knowing that would probably be the last I would hear from her. She called to make sure that I was a real person, and since then we have been video chatting and texting. She calls me honey, darling, sweetheart, and lover.

I know the Asian culture is more accepting of age differences between couples, but this seems way outside normal. She is absolutely beautiful and has a glamorous lifestyle. She said she buys and sells real estate and has an interest in a bar in Bangkok, and she is into stocks and crypto trading. Being skeptical, I shared this information with my granddaughter, the detective of the family. She did an image search on the internet and tried to find out as much as she could about her in Thailand, but nothing came up. She said that the family name showed up in New York and they are heavily invested in real estate.

During my conversation with Pom, she said she had talked to her uncle in New York and was getting some advice about crypto. So, maybe she is what she says she is. I really do not see this going any place because I would never be able to keep up with her, but it makes me feel young at heart, and maybe I can keep her as a friend.

Story Two: The Thai student in Los Angeles, Looking for a Green Card

I met Fawn on a dating app back in 2019. She was 26 and had just arrived in Los Angeles from Thailand on a student visa. I was 42 and working as a mechanical engineer. She was very cute, soft-spoken, and spoke decent English. We messaged for a few days and then decided to meet for dinner. She showed up in a white dress with a big smile, and I was immediately smitten. We had a nice time, laughed a lot, and she told me about her dreams of living in America and working in the hospitality business. I walked her back to her apartment, and we ended the night with a hug.

Over the next few weeks, we started seeing each other regularly. She always made sure she looked great and was very affectionate. At first, everything was perfect. She would cook Thai food for me and tell me about her childhood in Isan. She came from a poor family and wanted to make a better life for herself. I admired that. She said her ex-boyfriend in Thailand was not supportive and treated her badly. I felt like I was the lucky one who got to give her a new start. But here’s what I didn’t know at the time: the first chance she had time off, she set up dates with different guys on Tinder and had aerobics with them to see which type of American guy she prefers for intimacy. I had no idea this was going on. She told me she was working part-time and going to school, so I believed her. I even helped her with the rent a couple of times when she said she was struggling.

A few months into our relationship, I noticed she started getting more distant. She stopped replying to messages quickly and always seemed busy. One day, I surprised her with flowers and found another guy in her apartment. She said he was just a friend from school. I wanted to believe her, but things started to unravel quickly after that. She began asking for money frequently. First, it was for school books, then for her phone bill, then for an emergency trip to San Francisco. I later found out she never left town. Around that time, I started hearing stories from other guys who had dated Thai women in LA and realized I might not be the only one she was seeing.

Eventually, I confronted her about everything. She denied it all and called me paranoid. We broke up shortly after. A few months later, I saw her profile again on the same dating app. She had updated her bio to say she was looking for “generous men who like to spoil their girlfriend.” That was the confirmation I needed. I felt stupid for falling for her and even worse for ignoring the signs. It took me a long time to trust women after that. Looking back, I think she was just doing what she needed to do to survive in a new country. But it still hurt. I hope she found what she was looking for. And I hope other guys are more careful than I was.

Story Three: Karma on Soi 6, A Ladyboy Disaster on the Last Night

“I have been to Thailand twice since I last emailed you. I won a horse racing bet for £4,500 on the day of the Euros final from a £10 bet, which helped me fund the second trip.” Nothing different from normal on my second trip. Just good times. Nothing worth talking about. But on my third and last trip, I decided to stay for 2 months from January to March since they updated the visa-free entry to 60 days. During that time, I had a great time. Met a few of my regular girls in Bangkok and in Pattaya. All good fun. I’m a young man, I turn 32 next week, and I’m in decent shape. I am surprised how a lot of these Thai girls are so full of themselves now, especially the younger ones. Some of them remind me of being back home. This is why I go for girls more in their late 20s to late 30s. But all in all, Thailand is still the best place in the world to be right now, and I love it there.

The Girl Who Wouldn’t Leave

I ended up going down Soi 6 quite a lot as my hotel was not far from there. One of the girls I bar fined a few times ended up staying with me after we walked back to my hotel and stopped off at 7-Eleven for some food because she was having trouble in the bar with some of the other girls. Business as usual. I wake up, I pay her, and she leaves. Then about an hour later, I keep getting phone calls and messages from her saying she was downstairs in the lobby with her things. I thought, “Oh no, I only had about 10 days left, and I did not want to be stuck with a girl. I like my freedom and to go out and have fun.”

Well, anyway, I ignored it for about 15 minutes, thinking how to get out of this. But then she knocked on my door, and I just answered it, and there she was with two big suitcases. I was too hung over from this. I just let her in with her things, and that was that. I ended up spending the last 10 days with her. But what I did on the last five nights was pay for another room on the floor above and would message other girls on dating apps and get them to meet me in the other room for some aerobics. Luckily, the hotel was only cheap at 600 baht per night, so I was paying 1,200. Some of the staff knew what I was up to and used to smirk and smile at me. Well, I guess my karma did come.

The Ladyboy Disaster

On my last night, I got me and my Thai girlfriend from Soi 6 a pizza and we watched a movie. She always fell asleep, and she was a heavy sleeper. I already had another girl lined up to meet me in the other room at around 11:00. Well, the girl in my room was still wide awake, and the other girl was on her way. So, I said to the girl in my room, “Wait here. I’m going to nip to 7-Eleven. I won’t be long.” I asked if she wanted anything, and she said a strawberry milkshake. I said, “Okay, won’t be long, my love.” I went to the other room and waited for the other girl. She took a long time, which was not good, as the girl in my room was now messaging me, asking where I was, and she kept video calling me. It was bad.

Then eventually the other girl turned up, and guess what? It was a ladyboy, and she was twice the size of me. I am 5’9. She was big-built and looked nothing like the photos. It annoyed me because I did ask if she was a ladyboy before we arranged the meet. She said she was not, but obviously she was. Well, anyway, I asked her to leave. She said, “Give me 1,000 baht as she had to pay for a taxi and other things.” I said, “You can have 500. Just go.” She would not leave. After arguing back and forth for around 20 minutes, I gave in. She gave me the 500 back, and I gave the 1,000. But then she still would not leave. This was my last night as well, and I was gutted. It ruined my last night, and I felt so bad because of the girl in my room waiting so long. And this ladyboy would not leave even after I gave 1,000.

In the end, I pretended to leave. There was nothing in that room anyway, but she followed me and was on the phone making threats to me. She followed me all the way downstairs to reception and pretended to be on the phone to the police when she was not. The receptionist was not much help to be honest. She just told the ladyboy to stop shouting when she got loud. We sat in the lobby for about another 20 minutes with people coming in and out. It was embarrassing, to say the least. In the end, I asked the receptionist, “What is the number for the police?” She told me, and I rang the police. This scared the ladyboy. The police did say to me there was nothing they could do, that it was a civil matter between me and her. No crime had been committed. Luckily, the ladyboy did not hear this as I did not have it on speaker. But the ladyboy said, “Give me 300 more and I will go.” I said, “You said that about 1,000 baht.” She said, “Give me 300 and I will go.” I gave her another 300, and off she went. I could not believe it. After all the good times, on my very last night, I got that. Maybe it is karma, and I deserved it.

Story Four: Running into Peter on Sukhumvit, A Retiree’s Dream

“You are an inspiration to men of our generation. Thank you. You became single, followed your dream, and created a community. Well done, sir.” Not everyone is cut out to be a successful YouTuber. So, I wonder how others keep themselves busy and productive. I would be interested to learn more about that from your friends. Well, anyway, last year I submitted a story that did not make the cut, but suffice it to say that I met a lovely girl on Soi Cowboy called Palm, and she was my first experience since my first visit to Thailand back in 2003. It was a weird experience because it was my first night there. I was exhausted and could barely perform. I felt a bit humiliated, but she did not seem to care and spent the rest of the time on her phone before she took off.

That trip involved the standard sights of Bangkok, a guided walking tour, a flight to Phuket (which I was not impressed with), then over to Pattaya. It was glorious. All the videos I had been watching over the years made me feel like I had been there a dozen times already. So this past holiday season, I arrived for round two. This time I gave myself a chance to rest up. I explored some other areas of the city, including the Erawan Shrine, which truly floored me. I also got to go to a few sky bars, including Tribe on top of the Mahanakhon with new friends, a couple of real professional women I had met on Instagram. It was refreshing to meet and hang out with women who are not in the entertainment industry. They were super friendly, and we got to know each other quite well over food and drinks. One was in the middle of a divorce with an English guy, and the other was married to a young Australian and they had a toddler son. We spoke a lot about understanding Western men and the difference in philosophy in raising children. It kind of felt like a therapy session for them.

Back to Soi Cowboy

After a couple of days exploring, eating, and visiting out-of-the-way jazz clubs, I felt ready to hit Soi Cowboy. I like to wear a hat, it’s a good idea in the Thai sun. I favor the Outback hats. It makes me pretty recognizable. I approached the same club as last year. And who do you think was standing outside? I approached Palm, and she took a double take. She said, “Soi Cowboy, I know you.” I said, “Yes, from last year. You have an excellent memory.” We went inside, had a few drinks, I watched her dance a couple of times, and a good time was had by all. I think she was kind of the big sister to a lot of the girls because we got a lot of attention. It seemed that the girls with better English were taking shifts translating for us.

Eventually, the bar fine was paid, and we headed back. This time, the tables were turned. Apparently, she had a bit too much to drink, and by the time we got back to my room, she was moving around like a sack of potatoes. Eventually, I got bored of this and renegotiated her fee to half of what it was. She happily took it and was gone. There went my fantasy night out of the window. I had one more day and night before I was to make my way down to Koh Samui. So after a day of exploring Khlong Toei and a terrific jazz bar in North Phong, I decided to end my night again on Soi Cowboy. I enjoyed a great band at the Penny Black with Guinness while fighting off the freelancers. I then walked down to my favorite go-go. I was immediately swarmed by four or five girls saying, “You’re here last night. You went with Palm. I know your hat. Palm no work today.” Well, I was dragged in and given the corner seat. At times, I had three lovely ladies sitting with me. No bar fines this evening, I made that clear with them. So we all had a good night.

Meeting Peter

The next couple of weeks included New Year’s Eve in Koh Samui, a scuba diving trip to Koh Lanta (where I came down with the flu), and another few days in Pattaya. I will tell you, getting to Pattaya from Koh Lanta was a slog. But let’s pick up on my last night back in Bangkok before my flight home. After getting off the bus at Ekkamai Station, I explored the area a bit, found a great Khao Soi noodle place, and ate very well. I found my hotel in Asok and walked around Benjakitti Park for sunset. That’s when I ran into you and the two guys you were with, Peter.

That evening, I had an amazing sushi dinner, more rock and roll on Soi Cowboy, and although I was not expecting to go into the go-go bar, I just decided to walk by. Well, Palm was working and immediately latched on to me, and in we went. After two drinks, she started insisting that I bar fine her. I tried to explain through her friends that I had an early flight tomorrow and wanted to rest. She was not happy. I asked her friends why she was so insistent, and they explained that she had a lot of debt to pay off and there were not a lot of customers. After a while, she understood that I was going to be a stick in the mud and started to relax, and we just enjoyed our drinks and the music. Her little sisters came to hang out, and I found it to be a very satisfying last night. When I left, I gave her my leftover paper money, and she was very grateful. I think about Thailand every day. I dream about retiring there, especially nowadays given all the political nonsense happening in the USA. I may not make it back this year given some family obligations and having to use some vacation time for emergency eye surgery. Getting old sucks. But when I’m able, I will certainly return and be sure to bump into you again. Best wishes from Santa Barbara.

Story Five: The Waitress, Hong Kong, and the Pregnancy Scam (1990s Style)

I was on a business trip to Bangkok, my first time there. My colleagues who visited before took me to a couple of the rougher entertainment venues in Patpong 2. Never sit in the front row, if you know what I mean. We were working through, and there was no overnight action. There might have been the odd lady drink. It was the early 1990s, and the BTS construction sites meant a 90-minute taxi ride to the office, at least 2 hours to Don Mueang airport. Happy days. My alarm was set for 5:30 a.m. every weekday for breakfast at 6:30. This wasn’t an easy job. It was three weeks of very challenging work.

A couple of days before we left, we were eating in a restaurant on Khao San Road, and our waitress named Win started talking to me. Not “you handsome man” or anything like that. Her English was very good, and it seemed that her uncle was Australian, and she’d spent a couple of years in Melbourne. She knew those suburbs well, so she couldn’t have been lying. She was extremely good-looking. I asked her if she’d like to go to dinner after she finished work, as she couldn’t stop or talk for long because she was a real waitress and was working. She agreed to meet up for dinner. We went to the Intercontinental where there was a band and a floor show. There was no funny business that night. I gave her a couple of hundred baht so she could take a taxi back to Thonburi and not a bus at that time of night. After all, I was the one who’d kept her out so late. This was my idea, not hers. I went back to her restaurant on the night before I flew home, and we agreed to stay in touch. It transpired that Win worked in an office during the day and at the restaurant at night. The office job was legitimate because she had a business card, and I usually called her on that landline number going through reception. It was a large company. We also communicated through faxes. It was therefore quite unlikely that she was a bargirl, unless she juggled three jobs.

Hong Kong

My next business trip was to Hong Kong a few weeks later. And I had an idea. Why not fly her over? She could stay in my hotel and go sightseeing, sit by the pool, use the spa, and do anything else that took her fancy. My business expenses would look after food, transport, and incidentals. And I should point out that I was in a long and strong relationship at the time at home. But let’s just say that my girlfriend couldn’t keep up with me. We were both 28, and I was pretty athletic. That said, I didn’t have any intentions of that nature with Win. It was probably the seven-year itch. So, I asked Win if she would like to come to Hong Kong for a holiday, and she was very excited. I booked and paid for her flights and her visa. I picked Win up from Kai Tak airport and took her to the hotel. She wanted to catch up for lost time from night one and made me feel 18 again, and 80 afterwards. She was slim but had stretch marks. I had only ever encountered them once before, and this surprised me as she’d not mentioned any children. She also tried to hide them from me. Fair enough.

She stayed for almost a week. I gave her about $7 a day because Hong Kong can be expensive, and I wanted her to enjoy herself while I was at the office. Considering that I was living it up for free anyway, this was no problem. She only had to buy lunch, breakfast and dinner were catered for. I was able to show her around Hong Kong when I finished work each day. She didn’t ask for extra money to go shopping and pointed out that clothes were less expensive back in Thailand. Anyway, her time came to an end, and I took her to the airport. She was very emotional and promised to remain in touch. I was flying for work a great deal at the time and didn’t have another trip to Bangkok planned for another 6 months. I could not fly up there for a holiday because of my girlfriend in Melbourne. She might be crazy, but she’s not stupid.

The Bombshell

A month later, Win told me that her mother was ill. You never saw that coming, did you? She needed the equivalent of $350. That is not an extraordinary amount, given that I knew her financial situation working two jobs. After all, she’d just taken a week off work for the Hong Kong trip. I didn’t quibble and simply sent it. She was very grateful, and I hope that her mother was too. Another month later, and then the bombshell. She is pregnant. If you have been following this story so far, you’ll see the problem here. It certainly wasn’t me, and for two good reasons. I’m confident that you can guess both of them. I didn’t want to bring back any unwanted “duty-free” from that Hong Kong trip to give to my girlfriend.

I had been very careful not to give Win my home number. After I blocked her office number from my work phone and fax, that was it. Thank God for the days of no social media and mobile phones. This is something I bear in mind were I to play around out there in the future. Create new accounts completely divorced from your real identity. Perhaps even use an old Nokia for her, not a smartphone. If she’d been more plausible with her second request for funds, I might have kept supporting her. Having a mistress back in Melbourne would have been far more dangerous and expensive than getting up to mischief abroad. I could have afforded to keep her on the boil, as it were, until I returned. But the pregnancy story had destroyed my trust in her. I’ve never visited that restaurant again. Ignoring Win made me feel quite guilty for a while. She definitely wasn’t into the bar work, at least when I knew her, and might have had legitimate reasons for asking for a bit of help. Perhaps she thought that I would ditch my girlfriend for her. It’s complicated to explain, but this would have been awkward. My family would have been horrified. Perhaps she had several farangs as patrons. I wish her well. I would have a much worse conscience had it not been for the attempted pregnancy scam. Hearing the stories from other men, I got off lightly. It was fun and worth every penny. I never played away from home after that.