Five Thailand Stories About Scams Advice and Romance

Story 1 The Manila Card Scam in 2007

Back in 2007, I was in my early 30s and on a backpacking trip to the Philippines. The trip itself had been great. It was a beautiful country and I had a very chilled out time island hopping. My only negative experience up until this point was weeks earlier when I first arrived: some teenage gangster wannabe had approached me at a road crossing, showed me a gun tucked into his waistband, and suggested I go somewhere quiet.

Yeah, right. That’s not going to happen. Never leave the safety of a crowd. I laughed in his face and just walked straight into a shopping mall. In those days, they all had armed guards and metal detectors at all the entrances, so no way he could follow me in. I tell this part of the story only to show that I am a fairly streetwise and not easily intimidated person.

Anyway, I had just flown back into Manila from down south. I had thought it best to give myself a bit of leeway in my schedule in case of transport issues, so I had a few days to kill in Manila before my flight home to the UK. At this point in my life, I did not drink alcohol and was not interested in the nightlife, so my whole time was spent exploring the city just absorbing it, taking it all in.

People in Manila are, in the main, very friendly, from the scammers and hustlers on the Baywalk to the old guys trying to challenge me to chess matches in Rizal Park. Loads of people approach me, but it’s all low key and I never feel threatened.

I was in Rizal Park on my last day when the heavens opened and I had to run for cover. I found myself in a nearby shopping center called Robinson’s Place and that’s where the con began.

The Setup A Friendly Elderly Lady

I was hanging about in the shopping mall drying off when I was approached by an elderly lady who initiated a conversation by talking about my T-shirt. At the time, I was a member of a martial arts gym back home and I was wearing the club shirt you know, the usual tacky thing: gym name and a picture of boxing gloves.

She said she was in the mall to meet her niece and would I like to join them for a coffee. The niece apparently wanted to learn some martial arts moves, and any tips I could give would be greatly appreciated. This was the first warning sign I thought it was quite odd that an elderly lady would approach me but I thought I might as well go with the flow. It’s probably harmless enough, and travel is all about connecting with new people.

We sat down and had coffee, and the niece turned up. She was called Anna, was perhaps mid 20s, good looking, and modestly dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. We chatted for maybe 30 or 40 minutes all going really well. The aunt led the conversation, but Anna got more and more involved, and in the end, she was beginning to flirt with me.

I couldn’t really work out what was happening here. Was the aunt trying to give out her niece to me? Were they just being friendly?

Conversation turned to martial arts, which the aunt suggested I teach Anna some moves. Apparently they lived only 10 minutes away, and in return for my time, she would cook me some dinner. Again, this didn’t feel quite right but was I just being paranoid? I decided to go with the flow again, and I figured it was worth it to experience Filipino hospitality.

In the taxi, Anna sat next to me, making sure there was occasional physical contact between us. I had decided that if this was anything untoward, it was most likely to involve “pay for play” with Anna. However, I knew that wasn’t going to happen as I had about $10 on me and no bank cards. I know better than to go wandering with large quantities of cash.

The Uncle and the Card Game

We reached their house. It was more like 20 minutes rather than 10. I would say it was a middle-class home, a bit cluttered but clean. The second I arrived, I was greeted by the uncle and instantly knew I’d been set up. Uncle was a little man, maybe in his 50s. He had a few black teeth, smelled of alcohol, and generally had an air of arrogance. Immediately I started to plan my exit strategy. I was close enough to the door if I had to run for it. The only physical threat was the uncle I figured he was no real danger to me; I could easily get past him. There were plenty of items lying around that I could use as weapons if I needed to fight my way out. Even if they had a gun, there was no way they would risk using it in their own home.

So I decided that it would be best if I politely stayed for 10 minutes, made some excuses, and left. No harm, no loss of face, and no need for violence. Once I had done this mental risk assessment, I relaxed again. What happened next was like something out of a bad hustler movie. Uncle proceeded to weave a tale about how he was a VIP card dealer at one of the local casinos and how he had the skills and sleight of hand to manipulate the game as long as he had a partner player on the other side. His story was full of BS. The game was called something like “Poker something.” He offered to show me just how easy it was to win at this.

I told him I was not interested and never gambled I probably told him it was against my religious beliefs or similar.

The skill of the aunt and Anna to lure me here was exceptional. Flattery, flirting, and friendliness all deployed to manipulate me into this situation. All very subtle, all low key. The uncle was the exact opposite a useless buffoon who charged in headfirst and couldn’t read the situation at all. Surely a good con man should be able to change a story or improvise when things start to unravel. Within a few minutes, he had gone from being a potential threat to being comedy gold.

The poor guy kept trying to show me the card game. I kept totally ignoring him and talking to the aunt, who in turn kept trying to persuade me to play cards. I knew if I engaged with him, it would be harder to get out of the situation and my goal was still to get out of this in a polite, civilized way.

Anna had vanished. Her part in the charade was completed. The aunt had sussed that I knew what was happening but had to keep pretending otherwise. Uncle blundered on. Obviously, this was beyond farcical.

Miss Lim and the Fake Cash

By now I knew the next part of this scam already, and a few minutes later it played out as I expected. On cue, a Miss Lim from Singapore turned up at the door. She was a tallish lady, maybe in her 40s, and she did actually look and sound Singaporean. Turns out she was a keen card player and was here to gamble. What a surprise. Come on would anybody really believe that a high roller from Singapore would choose to gamble in some suburban house rather than a legit casino? Miss Lim proceeded to flash an envelope stuffed with apparently 20K USD, although I could see it was one genuine $50 bill on top of a stack of some other currency. The different size of the banknotes was the giveaway.

I think the scam was supposed to work this way: Uncle would teach me how to play cards and show me I couldn’t lose. Miss Lim was the supposed mark flashing the cash to appeal to my greed. We would play together with Uncle as the crooked dealer. In some bizarre turn of events, she would win and I’d owe her a lot of money.

Miss Lim was playing her part pretty well, but she hadn’t realized that the scam had already fallen apart when I refused to even look at the cards or really speak with the uncle. I was really beginning to enjoy myself now. This was such an absurd situation to be in. I was tempted to stick around to watch Uncle and Miss Lim pretend to play cards for my amusement but no point in pushing my luck too far. No point in making people lose face and getting angry.

I spoke to the aunt and politely suggested that now would be a good time for me to go back to the mall where she found me. She knew it was a busted flush, as it were, so was only too happy to escort me out of the house and point me in the right direction of the main road.

Looking back on this 17 years later, I still like to trust people and have been invited into many homes all over the world and not had any negative experiences. It’s these meetings that make travel so rewarding, so I’m glad I didn’t let one bad event stop me from living this way. My scam radar is finely tuned these days, but maybe I am a touch too paranoid. I should have paid more attention to the early warning signs; instead, I allowed myself to get into this situation that could have turned nasty.

The aunt was the skilled operator, but she made the one big mistake in picking me as the mark I had no real money and no bank cards.

Story 2 A US Expat’s Observations from Jomtien

As a 60-something US native who works out and dresses relatively stylishly (despite the heat sporty T-shirts or tropical short-sleeved button shirts, stylish colored denim shorts, sharp trainers), my evolution from weekend millionaire to permanent resident could prove helpful for both newbies and old hands. My first couple of vacations to Thailand were mostly spent in Central Pattaya and Hua Hin. I didn’t really approach women in Bangkok, as most of the girls there are coming and going from work, appear to be of Chinese Thai ancestry not a bad thing, but my tastes lean towards the Isaan girls, and in my case tend to be mostly on the BTS or MRT.

In the beach cities, I didn’t use dating apps. Since Central Pattaya is teeming with pretty girls, I asked the ones I was attracted to for their LINE IDs, and 95% of the time, they gave them to me regardless of whether they were 22 or 42. Very unusual. Our second meetings were always in my hotel room. Though in Hua Hin maybe because the property was smaller and only had stairs, maybe because of the owner (a YouTuber has a more direct interaction with her guests) I never brought girls back with me there. I only had aerobics in the upstairs quarters of massage spots, as previously stated. Both women were probably in their early 40s but gorgeous, friendly, and tanned. One of the first things I noticed about Isaan women is their wit and humor.

Now that I live here, I don’t necessarily hit on every woman who appeals to me. One reason is I’m no longer in a hotel, so I’m careful about who comes to the condo. A few of the women I date I knew before I found my own place, so I vetted their temperaments, personalities, preferences, or talents. Where I live in Jomtien, exterior security staff keep guests’ IDs while they visit. I found that some girls I knew in Central Pattaya considered Jomtien too far to visit.

Here are some things I’ve observed with both beneficial friends and repeat freelancers:

• When you first meet a Thai woman of 22 to 45, if you speak a little Thai or say something like “you live here,” it’s assumed you’ve had or you have a Thai girlfriend.
• Almost every girl has asked how much my studio rents for monthly.
• If my texts are brief, many Thai women say I’m either not interested or busy. Some even imply they are bothering me.
• When girls invite me on trips, they are always to islands Koh Lan or Koh Samet. Never assume a Thai girl you see working a job will be there for the entire vacation or stay.
• Girls I met during my first two visits sometimes went home to their villages or Northern Thailand towns to help family with sick or injured children or because Pattaya experienced low season. I can tell you they weren’t lying or still nearby from the photos they texted me and their absence from their jobs.
• Most Thai girls who work afternoon or evening sleep quite late. They also eat regardless of time of day or recency of previous meal, and are generous with compliments about male appearance.
• They don’t tend to have traveled outside of Thailand.
• Simple dates suffice: Thai food in a food court, mall trips without actual shopping, live music outdoors.
• The women I met are not only honest about having children (if they do), the children are often quite visible on their LINE profile pages or smartphones.
• Few questions are asked about your home country or previous relationships or in some cases, work. I’m mostly retired.
• Admissions of being a single male are generally regarded with disbelief.
• Photographic evidence or walking observation of me with other women is usually met with jealousy and exaggerated seriousness of the other relationship.
• Women who carry themselves in the street are often adventurous with foreign men I found this to be true of other Asian cultures.
• Aerobics reserved for privacy also very non US. Horses for courses, but if a guy plans to stay here for the duration (or at least test the long term waters), what works for me are an open mind, the fact that the girls know I neither drink nor go to the bars, an attitude that implies that pretty women are plentiful here without saying so, and a ton of LINE IDs.
• Because Thai girls have so few days off work, it’s interesting for a Yank to see how many girls I know here have their LINE ID photos filtered to make their complexions appear lighter.

On the whole, I find Thai girls to be generous, laid back, and very “in the moment.” Is this because the culture is Buddhist? That explains the motorbike bravado, super super clean showers (when they arrive, showers before they leave), hard work (though not frugal), charming, and often late without texting why. If an expat doesn’t speak strong Thai, it’s helpful to know a few Thai women even if you like them romantically as friends who can interpret your utility bills or other documents, ensure fair prices at markets, inform you about the culture, and invite you to parties and events.

Pro tip: This isn’t the West. More of the sales girls, hotel staff, and nurses are single than you think. Leave preconceived notions in your country of origin. Have respectful fun and don’t fall head over heels in love with the first person you meet when you get off the plane. Try not to get too serious about someone who wouldn’t get serious about you if she were in Western Europe, Canada, Australia, or the US. And be aware that with these women, a little attention to grooming goes a long way.

Story 3 Spending a Night in Thailand Without Paying for Company

I’m a 27-year-old man from Eastern Europe and I work a regular day job. I want to live and work from different places around the world, and Thailand seems like a great place for that. My friends and I found cheap tickets and decided to visit Thailand for the first time. My main goal was to see if I could live in Thailand in the future working from my laptop, and I also wanted to meet Thai women because I find them attractive. I set a personal challenge to spend a night with a Thai woman without paying for her company. Although I completed this challenge, things got a little complicated later. The women I met didn’t ask for money, but things didn’t end perfectly which I’ll talk about later. We arrived in Bangkok, and I love the hot weather, cheap food, 7-Eleven stores, rooftop pools, and the nightlife but not everything was great. On the first night, we saw a ping pong show. It was funny, but I didn’t really like it and I wouldn’t pay 300 baht to see another.

We only stayed in Bangkok for 3 days visiting places, shopping, and enjoying the nightlife. During this time, I paid a Thai woman for a massage and “everything that goes with it.” She asked for 2,000 baht, which was quite expensive, but I didn’t know that at the time. I also used a dating app to meet someone without involving money exchange. By the way, here are some tips I learned if you want to meet girls online in Thailand:

• Use good quality photos and dress well. Most tourists just wear ugly shorts and tank tops. Get a nice watch, jeans, shorts, and put a white shirt over your tank top and you’ll look 10 times better than before.
• Get a premium account on the dating app so you can talk to more women.
• Set your age preferences and like everyone at first; you can choose later from those who you like and you want to talk to them again.
• Start with a friendly message. I would say, “You’re the cutest girl I’ve matched with today” and have a heart emoji. Then ask if she’s a ladyboy or a freelancer and what her job is. If everything checks out, you can start planning the first date.
• Remember, it’s a numbers game. If you’re traveling to different cities, start looking for girls before you arrive and look for large amounts of girls. Some are trolling, some will not meet you, and some cancel plans. Have backup girls so you won’t end up without any.

But now, back to my story. So, my first days in Thailand were in Bangkok. I went on a date with a woman who worked at a hospital. We had drinks and played pool, but she didn’t want to go further than a kiss on the first date. I never met her again, since that was my last night in Bangkok. For the rest of the trip, I realized I should have started looking for dates before leaving my country, because now I am getting a lot of good matches in Bangkok. What a shame.

Anyway, we left from Bangkok to an island I don’t want to mention which one it was where we spent most of the vacation enjoying food, beaches, and the nightlife. The last few days of vacation we spent in Pattaya, which was even cheaper and had a great beach nightlife. In Pattaya, I met a girl in Soi 6 and planned to meet her the next day for some fun, since I learned that Thai bar girls provide an amazing service from my first experience in Bangkok. But then, before I could arrange a date with the Soi 6 bar girl, I matched with another girl on Tinder. She was not a freelancer and looked amazing though she had some obvious plastic surgery on her face and chest. She also had a full back tattoo and expensive clothes, which now I think were paid for by sugar daddies she met before meeting me. Jumping a little ahead, after talking with her for a few weeks after the end of my vacation, I got the feeling that she was a former bar girl who found enough rich sugar daddies to allow her to buy expensive stuff and still have time to travel all over Thailand. Or maybe she’s visiting them who knows? But she constantly goes to another city and posts it on Instagram.

Back to meeting her for the first time: we met for drinks, played pool, and ended up spending the night together at her hotel. She never asked for money not even in the morning after the night spent in a hotel room. I heard sometimes the girls do this. The only thing she wanted in the morning was to have some more aerobics with me. The next day, I hung out with my friends and met her again in the evening. We had a drink, then went to her hotel. I paid for our drinks, which was about 1,000 baht in total for both nights. She didn’t ask, but I didn’t mind as what she returned in the bedroom was excellent. After I returned home, we kept in touch. She asked me not to see other women, and I agreed as long as she didn’t see other men. For the first one to two weeks, everything went well. But later she became distant and went to parties often. I got suspicious and made a fake Tinder account only to find her active there. We broke up after that.

Despite the ups and downs, I love Thailand and plan to return. My advice: don’t forget about basic stuff like not leaving your drink unattended or not asking for a taxi price before getting in. Just because the Thai people look nicer, don’t forget the basic safety rules you know from your country and you will be fine. But as a first-time traveler, I probably am not qualified to give a lot of advice. There are far more experienced guys in the stories.

Story 4 An Afternoon with Two Ladies in Pattaya

I spent the day with my friend and his Thai girlfriend at the fish market in Pattaya, which is a great place to visit and eat. You can pick your own seafood and they’ll prepare it for you. When I returned to the hotel, I went for a swim in the pool, then to my room to check out my ThaiFriendly account. One lady quickly messaged me saying she could arrive in 30 minutes. I negotiated 1,300 baht with her. I went downstairs to the lobby and waited for her arrival. It was now early evening, and there were plenty of foreigners hanging out drinking beers as well as the hotel staff hanging around and working.

My girl showed up with another lady in tow. Both were in their early 30s, and I rated each a 7 out of 10. My girl introduced herself (I’ll call her Girl One) as well as her friend (Girl Two). She asked if her friend could come upstairs for an extra 1,000 baht. I agreed without hesitation. Girl One put my arm around her and Girl Two grabbed my hand as we walked across the lobby to the elevator, where every foreign eye was on us as well as the staff’s. I guess it’s something they don’t see every day.

Anyway, once in the room, we undressed and I got busy with Girl Two while Girl One gently rubbed her hand up and down my back. After a while, I switched and got busy with Girl One while Girl Two would caress me. Girl Two was more sensuous than Girl One. After about 40 minutes of going back and forth, we finished and I discovered I was totally soaked in sweat. The ladies went to the shower, and I grabbed a cold beer from the fridge. I asked if they wanted a beer, and they said they wanted to drink downstairs in the lobby. I said great grabbed some shrimp I’d bought earlier as well as a few cold beers.

We took a table in the lobby and sat around chitchatting. Girl One was peeling the shrimp for us, and Girl Two got some salad from a food cart. We drank beer and snacked and just sort of hung out for an hour or so. A friend of theirs stopped by on her scooter and joined us at the table. Her face was average, but she had a knockout hourglass body. She and I chatted for a bit, and I thought she was kind of checking me out. Girl One then suggested we all go to the beach. The scooter girl would meet us there while we walked the two blocks.

Girl Two held my hand while Girl One walked alongside us. At the beach, we rented a blanket and sat there talking. It was a peaceful, pleasant setting. The scooter girl, however, called saying she couldn’t find a parking space nearby and wouldn’t be showing up. After a while, we left the sand and the ladies said they’d spend the night in my room for 1,000 baht each. I said I could do 500 baht each as I wasn’t really bothered. They walked with me towards my hotel but spotted another fellow that Girl One said she knew. Those two chatted a bit while Girl Two was looking at some clothes for sale. I started to walk back by myself, and Girl One said they were going to visit with her friend so we called it a night and settled up.

The next morning, Girl One called wanting to meet again. She also said she could bring a third lady whom I guess was the scooter girl. I explained to her that I was leaving for Bangkok at 12:00 noon, so couldn’t meet. She was rather insistent, but I already had my Bangkok plans in place. Since leaving Thailand, I haven’t heard back from them and don’t know what they’ve been up to. I enjoyed meeting those two ladies they made it a satisfying experience, one that I think about often, and one of many in Thailand, the Land of Smiles.

Story 5 A Rare Love Story with a Go Go Dancer

I am a 34-year-old software engineer from San Francisco. I have always been fascinated by the allure of Thailand. I had heard countless stories about the vibrant culture, delicious food, and of course, the infamous nightlife of Bangkok. After years of saving and planning, I finally booked a trip to explore the Land of Smiles for myself. Upon arriving in Bangkok, I was overwhelmed by the city’s energy. The bustling streets, the street food, and the neon lights of Sukhumvit Road all blew me away. On my second night, curious about the famous nightlife, I wanted to go into a go go bar in Nana Plaza. The atmosphere was electric with loud music, flashing lights, and dancers on stage. One dancer in particular caught my eye. Her name was Mot. Unlike the others, she seemed to have outstanding natural beauty.

She noticed me too, and during her break came over to me. We started chatting. I bought her a lady’s drink, and I was surprised by her excellent English and genuine interest in my life. I learned that she was 28 years old, originally from a small village in Isaan, and had come to Bangkok to support her family. Over the next few days, I found myself returning to the bar not for the nightlife, but to see Mot. We began spending time outside the bar exploring the city, sharing meals, and learning about each other’s cultures and lives. I admired Mot‘s resilience and dedication to her family. As the days turned into weeks, our relationship grew stronger. I extended my trip, and we started discussing the future. Mot was upfront about her work and I respected her honesty. Plus, she was fun to be with. I could see beyond her work in the bar and recognized her intelligence, warmth, and strengths.

When it was time for me to return to San Francisco, I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Mot behind. I proposed to her and she tearfully accepted. We decided to take our time to make sure that the relationship would work. I visited Thailand frequently over the next year. We faced challenges, especially with the cultural differences and the stigma surrounding Mot‘s past job, but we communicated openly, supporting each other through every hurdle.

Mot‘s family saw me as a stable and supportive partner for her. I’m not sure if they knew she was a dancer in a go go bar or not. After a year of long-distance and multiple visits, we decided to marry. I eventually managed to get Mot a visa, and we went back to Bangkok to bring Mot back to San Francisco.

Although adjusting to a new life was difficult, Mot thrived with my support. Although her English was pretty good, she enrolled in English classes which I gladly paid for as she wanted to speak perfect English. I continued working in software development. Mot made friends with several Thai girls who were also married to foreigners and living in the San Francisco Bay Area. We had two children and frequently visited Thailand to maintain our connection with Mot‘s family. My family really liked Mot they thought she was a real nice girl, and my mother treated her like a daughter. She would often help my mom clean the house or do other chores.

Mot‘s story wasn’t a fairy tale. It was filled with real-life challenges, cultural adjustments, and personal growth. But our love, respect, and commitment to each other made our relationship work. We built a life together proving that love could indeed conquer all, even in the most unlikely of circumstances. I will end this story by saying yes, I’m not naive I was very, very lucky. We’ve heard so many of these stories where guys meet bar girls, get ripped off, or get played with other guys. I wouldn’t recommend looking for love in a go go bar. But again, as I said, I think I was extremely lucky it could have gone the other way.