Posted 2009-11-20 09:04:23
 midasthailand, on 2009-11-18 16:44:34, said:
Sad as I am to say it, I believe you have a far greater chance of getting scammed by fellow farangs in Thailand than by Thais!!
I don't like generalisation of Thais or farang or any other group.
I will share that some years ago I was regularly losing things: watch, camera, phone, another camera, portable DVD player etc., then one day I discovered my so-called best farang friend was the thief. The friendship very quickly ended.
Certainly was a wake-up call to be more careful about trusting people, any people.
Posted 2009-11-20 19:48:23
I have mixed emotions about the topic. There are good people and bad people of all races and nationalities. But being a guest in this country whether on a long term extention or a short visa, we should protect ourselves. So for myself I do what most Thai's do, I just stand and look. ONLY if there are children involved in an accident will I put myself at risk by being scammed or being blamed for some injury that actually happened in the accident. Of course to each his own.
Posted 2009-11-20 22:33:58
No harm in pointing out the possibility of being scammed in such a fashion. 
Posted 2009-11-20 23:34:23
I havent read all the replies, but, all i know is that although i hope always not to be taken advantage of, i will always help if i can. If i saw that lady fall down next to me, you bet i would be at her side to find out if she is ok. If a scam was to happen, i would have to calmly explain to the Police and hope that it would go well. If it didnt go well, then of course i would be upset about it, but i would move on, and it still wouldnt stop me from helping another person in the same situation.
Witnessing a situation where people ignored a young well dressed woman fall down at the tube station in London was the last straw of disgust for me when i was living in London. The attendant I rushed to for help even seemed surprised that i went to get him. There is no way i would want to live my life like that. I also believe that what goes around comes around.
#55
IanForbes
Posted 2009-11-20 23:45:38
eek, on 2009-11-21 00:34:23, said: I havent read all the replies, but, all i know is that although i hope always not to be taken advantage of, i will always help if i can. If i saw that lady fall down next to me, you bet i would be at her side to find out if she is ok. If a scam was to happen, i would have to calmly explain to the Police and hope that it would go well. If it didnt go well, then of course i would be upset about it, but i would move on, and it still wouldnt stop me from helping another person in the same situation.
Witnessing a situation where people ignored a young well dressed woman fall down at the tube station in London was the last straw of disgust for me when i was living in London. The attendant I rushed to for help even seemed surprised that i went to get him. There is no way i would want to live my life like that. I also believe that what goes around comes around.
Knowing you from all your posts I would expect nothing less from you, eek. I also always help if I think it will do any good. I've been covered in blood and spent hours rescuing people while putting my own life at risk. It's just something a responsible person does. Life ALWAYS has its risks. you just have to deal with it. I was a first aid attendent at a logging camp and do have some experience with trauma injuries. If I can help someone in distress I WILL... no questions asked or worry about consequences. However, there ARE proper procedures to follow at any accident.
Posted 2009-11-21 03:10:57
Here is an example of what happened to me. I lived in Thailand for 7 years. I was driving my truck and getting ready to turn into the driveway of our estate. A Thai in a truck had passed up the entrance and was stopped. He was blocking the driveway just enough that I couldn't turn in. I stopped about 30 meters from him waiting for him to go. I saw him put the truck in reverse and started hitting my horn. He put it in gear and floored it and smashed into my truck. He jumps out and says that I ran into him. My wife went nuts and started screaming at him.
It was right in front of where we live so everyone knew us. When I starredblowing the horn everyone turned to look. There is a motorcycle stand there ,two security guards and the gardeners were all there and saw him slam into me. The motorcycle guys who were all our friends immediately surrounded him and the gardeners and security ran over and everybody said that they saw what happened. At that point he just folded his arms and scowled knowing he had been beat. I often thought about if it had happened somewhere else it would have been his word against ours.
LL
Posted 2009-11-21 07:19:32
IanForbes, on 2009-11-20 23:45:38, said: eek, on 2009-11-21 00:34:23, said: I havent read all the replies, but, all i know is that although i hope always not to be taken advantage of, i will always help if i can. If i saw that lady fall down next to me, you bet i would be at her side to find out if she is ok. If a scam was to happen, i would have to calmly explain to the Police and hope that it would go well. If it didnt go well, then of course i would be upset about it, but i would move on, and it still wouldnt stop me from helping another person in the same situation.
Witnessing a situation where people ignored a young well dressed woman fall down at the tube station in London was the last straw of disgust for me when i was living in London. The attendant I rushed to for help even seemed surprised that i went to get him. There is no way i would want to live my life like that. I also believe that what goes around comes around.
Knowing you from all your posts I would expect nothing less from you, eek. I also always help if I think it will do any good. I've been covered in blood and spent hours rescuing people while putting my own life at risk. It's just something a responsible person does. Life ALWAYS has its risks. you just have to deal with it. I was a first aid attendent at a logging camp and do have some experience with trauma injuries. If I can help someone in distress I WILL... no questions asked or worry about consequences. However, there ARE proper procedures to follow at any accident.
I agree Ian but experiences in Thailand is what is being discussed. Thais have a different attitude from most westerners when it comes to being a good samaritan. The best summary in the thread so far is as eek said
" explain to the police...if it did not go well.... move on" This is exactly what some Thais do too but they are also cautious in ensuring they have witnesses or phone to get some.
As foreigners we can also sometimes - not always - be seen as in the wrong and the source of funds merely because of Thai perceptions.
Posted 2009-11-21 08:56:21
Jesus was an Asian preaching to Asians about Asians. I'll bet the Buddha would have preached about a good Thai helping a Burmese.
Posted 2009-11-21 16:09:31
Loosecannon if I am ever laying on the street in need of help. I hope you come by, and not most of these other selfish xxxxxx who use rumors as an excuse not to help. Lucky I don't know who you xxxxxx are, because unfortunately I will certainly stop to help
Posted 2009-11-21 16:23:12
Nobody thus far has said they wouldn't help and nobody is suggesting you shouldn't help - all that is being said is, be careful and be aware.
Posted 2009-11-21 20:32:03
Not a ‘stopping to assist’ story, but one showing the attitude when a farang is involved in an accident.
My husband and I were involved in a car accident and our car was hit so hard it was turned over on its side and pushed along the road (it was written off - although not much damage to the other car). No point going into the details, but the accident was not our fault.
Fortunately nobody was hurt, but we were told at the police station (by a v nice and sympathetic policeman) that unless we signed our insurers forms telling them to pay for the other car’s damage we would have to fight them through the courts.
To add insult to injury, the man who was now purporting to be the driver of the other car was actually a passenger (!) – presumably the driver was drunk (it would certainly explain the accident). The occupants of the other car were smiling and incredibly friendly to us at the police station – wonder why!
Posted 2009-11-21 20:33:44
A couple of months ago I had a woman in our soi ring our door bell to say that I had damaged her motobike when I drove out of the soi and wanted me to pay her 3000 baht and after looking at the bike it was a old mess with scratches anyway . my wife told me to go back in the house as it was a scam and then started to scream at the woman and made treats to have her taken away ... she left and then came back asking for forgivness after the locals had told her she picked the wrong people to scam .
be careful not to get involved with any accidents as a farang, as the police will hold you for hours to get a statement and most likely try to envolve you as well as what happened to a friend of mine where I ended up having to pay for his kindness so he could leave.
Posted 2009-11-21 21:38:50
This is a true story. But only involved Thais. A old guy on a scooter runs into a friend of mine (Thai). They are "upcountry". The old guy was 100% at fault, but asks for 200K Baht. They know each other, but this ens up going to court. A year later, and many dollars, he ended up paying 30,000 baht just to get this over with...and to help the old guy save face.
I also have another friend who was sitting at a red light. Got hit by a couple on a scooter. They immediately asked for 100K Baht. He has a Thai wife. She told the couple on the scooter to bugger off. They negotiated for 40k just to get it over with as they knew they would not win with police now on the scene.
Both true stories from close friends of mine. I am 100% a good samaritan...but have to be very careful in Thailand...especially involving auto accidents.
Posted 2009-11-21 21:46:11
Great fodder but the subject is, "stop and assist" and all that entails.
Posted 2009-11-21 23:25:22
PeaceBlondie, on 2009-11-21 08:56:21, said: Jesus was an Asian preaching to Asians about Asians. I'll bet the Buddha would have preached about a good Thai helping a Burmese.
Buddha was not thai but your point is still valid
Posted 2009-11-22 05:12:22
I would like to think that most people would stop & help another person, whether a child bleeding to death on the road or just an old lady who has slipped over. To me it seems that this is a natural reaction, part of being 'human'. It seems inconceivable that somebody could walk past a person obviously injured or in distress & totally ignore them - I know it happens, but I wonder how they justify it to themselves or rationalize their action.
There seems to be a lot of talk from Thais about the need to be wary about getting involved at an accident, but it seems that their words are at odds with their actions, because at all the accident scenes that I have seen there has never been any shortage of good samaritans. I doubt very much that they are thinking about the victim stiffing them for compensation.
Thai people have exactly the same capacity for empathy & level of compassion as another group of people on this planet, & also exactly the same capacity to show gratitude & appreciation.
Posted 2009-11-22 05:46:05
chiang mai, on 2009-11-21 21:46:11, said: Great fodder but the subject is, "stop and assist" and all that entails.
Don't agree, any similar story is worth reading and learning from.
Keep the anecdotes coming. 
Posted 2009-11-22 06:41:53
 I think that Invariably the stakes go up whenever a Farang is involved in any of these scenarios. That is just the harsh reality of it. I'm sure many have heard the tale of the Farang is at fault regardless because if he had never come to Thailand it wouldn't have happened. Sort of a Karmic view. I was never scammed or cheated by Thai's on a large scale,but was aware that it is not a level playing field.
LL
Posted 2009-11-22 07:22:18
I have to laugh at the reactions here. Why does it have to be all one way or the other? I'm sure these scams have happened. I'm also sure that people help other people all the time with no scam involved. I do say, read and learn, and then use your best judgment.
Posted 2009-11-22 08:34:01
LooseCannon, on 2009-11-22 05:12:22, said: I would like to think that most people would stop & help another person, whether a child bleeding to death on the road or just an old lady who has slipped over. To me it seems that this is a natural reaction, part of being 'human'. It seems inconceivable that somebody could walk past a person obviously injured or in distress & totally ignore them - I know it happens, but I wonder how they justify it to themselves or rationalize their action.
There seems to be a lot of talk from Thais about the need to be wary about getting involved at an accident, but it seems that their words are at odds with their actions, because at all the accident scenes that I have seen there has never been any shortage of good samaritans. I doubt very much that they are thinking about the victim stiffing them for compensation.
Thai people have exactly the same capacity for empathy & level of compassion as another group of people on this planet, & also exactly the same capacity to show gratitude & appreciation.
" but I wonder how they justify it" that's been covered , they fear the scams.
" never been a shortage of good samaritans" you've answered your own question. there were many people there that could act as witnesses. different if no-one around again covered above.
"compensation" it's more than that , it could be a request for money whether liable or not. again covered above.
Posted 2009-11-22 08:38:13
phetaroi, on 2009-11-22 07:22:18, said: I have to laugh at the reactions here. Why does it have to be all one way or the other? I'm sure these scams have happened. I'm also sure that people help other people all the time with no scam involved. I do say, read and learn, and then use your best judgment.
It is not one way or the other. It depends on the circumstances. Thais particularly weigh up the likelihood of a scam. And then act accordingly, often getting more people involved
Posted 2009-11-22 08:47:11
LooseCannon, on 2009-11-18 18:20:09, said: So how many Thai Visa posters have actually been a 'victim' of this scam?
Come on people - step up & be counted.
All the details - how much did it cost you & how did these 'black-hearted Thais' convince you to pay up?
Not sure if my post will show , but it did happend to me.
Date june 2002.
Location : U turn front of Asia Uninversity (the raod to Pol Pet).
2 motorcycles where crashed by a truck at the Uturn (the driver simply did not see them and run over them). I made the gf stop the car, runned there, and provided first help/ It took a long time to have someone call emergency. When thecop arrived, then people started to shout at me. The gf was connected to the police (father + uncle aregenerals in the said police) , so things stopped quite easily. Thought she never told me exactly what it was about those people were shouting to the policemen.
So yes, better to be careful, but on the other hand how can you call your self a man if yo upass and turn head if one of your fellow is dying on the road?
Posted 2009-11-22 09:25:18
Perception and reality are brothers.
Posted 2009-11-27 04:38:16
Ive been a victim of this type of nonsense. But then I actually go outside and play in the real world where real things happen rather than in make believe land where I get to decide what happens for myself based on how I think it ought to be.
Posted 2009-11-27 08:43:21
OxfordWill, on 2009-11-27 04:38:16, said: Ive been a victim of this type of nonsense. But then I actually go outside and play in the real world where real things happen rather than in make believe land where I get to decide what happens for myself based on how I think it ought to be.
I know its 4 in the morning and a new day is dawning; but can we all have a translation of your post please.
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