Stolen Wallet and Phone In Pattaya

While I was working in Australia back in 2012, during breaks between harvest or seeding, I used to go to Thailand from Perth.

I was on a working holiday visa in Australia from Scotland and decided to visit Thailand as my friend from back in Scotland was living in Pattaya at the time.

Australia was an amazing country, but to have a month-long holiday there would cost me a fortune.

I knew my money would go much further in the land of smiles.

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Saving Money In Australia To Blow It All In Thailand

I can remember at work, I used to think that after 1 hour working, I could buy three beers or so in Thailand, or even two beers in a lady’s drink.

I didn’t go to pubs or restaurants much while at work, so it was a great way to save.

Knowing I could blow it all and let my hair down when I got to Thailand, and that’s exactly what I planned to do.

The time had come to leave my current place of work and head out to a Backpackers hostel in Perth City for a couple of days.

I hated staying in those places, and even at around $30 a night, it was eating into my spending money.

I know that’s a good price for accommodation, but sleeping on the top bunk and having people coming in and out of the room at all hours of the night eventually gives you a bad night’s sleep.

Plus, I was like a little kid, so excited to get on the aircraft to Thailand.

Heading Straight To Soi 7

Finally, the day arrived, and I boarded the aircraft direct to Bangkok, which I think took around 6 hours.

I can’t actually remember, to be fair.

Eventually, I landed and headed straight to Pattaya.

I found the hotel I usually stay in on Soi 7 and jumped in.

The lady who owned it was really nice, and even today, we remain good friends.

She has since sold the bar and lives with her husband in Sweden.

I was just doing the north from the first week or 10 days, drinking every day and eating far too much food, frequenting other bars and finding new ones, trying to find a lady who I could invite back to my hotel, and so on.

One or two weeks into a month-long stay, I was looking for a bar to watch a much-anticipated Scotland versus England football game.

I had been drinking all day and was excited to try and find a random new bar to watch the game, which was going to be kicked off around 10:00 or 11:00 p.m. Thai time.

Searching Where To Watch Football In Pattaya

I went to a couple of sports bars, and they weren’t showing it or were closing.

So I took a motorbike taxi to LK Metro and went to iOver bar, which people through the day had told me would be the best place to watch it.

I think I was like the only Scottish supporter in there, but I didn’t care.

I was there to have a good time, and hopefully, Scotland would win.

I still have no idea as to who won that day.

The game had finished, and it could have been around 12:00 or 1:00 a.m. Pattaya time.

I was absolutely drunk and should have gone home but decided to carry on the night in Walking Street.

I staggered from iRovers to Walking Street, and I can remember holding onto lamp posts, etc., to get my balance.

Boy, was I drunk.

Anyone who would have wanted to kidnap me probably could have very easily without my knowledge.

Every now and then, I had to sit down and take a breather, talking to random people and street sellers.

I was a friendly drunk and I liked to try to show this, not like many other idiot drunks we see in Pattaya these days.

Now I Am In A Drunken State

I walked, well staggered, into Walking Street, and I think I went to Rock and Roll bar.

Not quite sure of the name, but they always have live music on, and it’s a very big bar that sits on the left side.

I had another few rum and Cokes and listened to the music.

I was in no fit state for bedroom fun that night, so I wasn’t on the hunt for female companionship.

But looking back, I should have found someone to take care of me after what you’re about to hear.

Ladyboys Bodies Are Insanely Beautiful

I left the bar at around 2:00 a.m., saw some stunning ladyboys in the street with my beer goggles firmly glued to my face.

They had the best bodies and beautiful fitting dresses showing their figures.

I know I’m not gay in any way and have never experienced a ladyboy, nor would I have bedroom fun with one, but these girls or guys, whatever you want to call them, were stunning.

One asked if I wanted to go short time, but I refused.

I stood and talked to them for a bit, and we laughed and joked as they tried to get me to go with one of them.

After refusing and saying goodbye, I shouted out for a motorbike taxi and left to go back to the hotel.

I Lost My Wallet, Or Had It Been Stollen By The Ladyboys?

This is where it gets interesting.

I was heading up the hill on the way to Jomtien, and I realized I couldn’t feel my wallet squashed into the motorbike seat, which I normally could as it was where I kept my Thai baht coins.

Also, I felt around a bit in my pockets for a while whilst the driver took me to the hotel.

We arrived at the hotel, and I checked every single pocket, and my wallet had definitely gone.

I was not sure exactly how much money I had in it, but all my ID and bank cards were in there.

Also, luckily I had money in my front pockets.

It was only about 300 baht, but it was enough to pay the taxi man.

Confronting The Ladyboys, Not The Brightest Move

After panicking for a while, I decided to go back to Walking Street to confront these ladyboys who I was talking to before I left.

I got a taxi back and saw them.

They obviously played dumb, and there was nothing I could prove.

I didn’t want to kick off with any of them.

I asked in the bar if, by closing time, if anybody had handed in the wallet, and they told me to come back in the morning.

So now I’m without a wallet, bank cards, and ID, etc., and I’ve got about 10 baht left in my pocket.

I bit the bullet and decided to get home, not knowing about the 10 baht bus that took people at the corner of Second Road to Jomtien.

I started to walk back to the hotel as there is a Bangkok Bank ATM and branch near it.

I walked in my drunken state, somewhat sobering up by now, and walked alone.

I had no idea where I was going and looked for the go-karting place I knew because once I saw that, I knew the way home—Easy Cart, I think it’s called now.

Now Someone Had Stolen My Phone As Well… This Night Is A Disaster!

Get this, I wanted to call the woman at the hotel who was a great friend of mine.

You couldn’t make this stuff up; someone had actually stolen my phone during my trip back to find my wallet.

And as if the night couldn’t get any worse, my phone and wallet were now missing.

Eventually, I made it back to the hotel after going down some dark streets and being drunk.

I was so silly; I would stop to ask people for directions.

Some people didn’t speak English, but I managed to get by with my broken Thai and a little of their broken English.

There were still some people around, nice older Thai people who wondered what I was doing but were not aggressive towards me.

They helped me and pointed me in the right direction.

Cancelling My Cards After Calling The Banks

So I went into the 7-Eleven that was near my hotel and asked the staff if they had a number to call Bangkok Bank in emergencies.

A nice Thai man who was just a customer in the shop buying stuff also had a Bangkok Bank card.

He took it out and showed me a number to call on the back of his card.

I thanked him and took off to my hotel to get some money from my room.

I went to the 24-hour internet cafe to call my bank in Scotland on Skype.

I explained what had happened, and they canceled my card.

I couldn’t get any help to call Bangkok Bank, so I decided to go to the main bank in the morning once it opened.

The day after, I reflected on my antics and what had happened the night before.

I arranged a meeting at Bangkok Bank in Jomtien.

I explained to them that I had my wallet stolen; they checked my bank account, and it was empty. They told me to contact the police, and I had to go to Soi 9.

The police weren’t interested and gave me a letter just to show the bank I had been to see them and what my story was.

I explained to the bank that my card had my signature on the back, and how could anyone use it by copying my signature.

They investigated and pulled up a receipt from where and when my card had been used.

The till receipt had a Thai signature on it, and there were two transactions for 14,000 baht.

They Used My Card Even Though I Had My Signature On It

I thought I would never see this money again and was annoyed that even though I signed my card, how can someone else use it and sign it with a different signature, and everything is just fine?

The person working in the shop should have looked at the signature and seen that something isn’t right, surely.

But no, I’m sure they were quite happy to take my money for whatever this person bought.

In the end, I didn’t get any money back, which I half expected anyway, and had to borrow money from my Thai friend who owned the bar/hotel I stayed in.

She gave me 4,000 baht, and as I was leaving soon to return to Australia for work, I had to exchange the money at the airport to Australian dollars just to get a roof over my head for a couple of nights while I sorted out work.