Those who follow the Thai news read it regularly: Western men who have been drugged and robbed by a bargirl or ladyboy. It mainly happens to those who are drunk or naive.
Every year hundreds of thousands of western men come to Thailand to enjoy what the country has to offer. Some men are looking for a girlfriend; others mainly want low-threshold access to cheap sex.
bar girls
Most men visit the nightlife in the prostitution areas and meet Thai bargirls (another word for prostitute). In many cases these tourists have a nice evening. It is not uncommon for this to be concluded with the lady companion for an hour or all night in one hotels. This generally works well without significant problems. Unfortunately, things sometimes go wrong.
Drugging and robbing of foreign men by bargirls and ladyboys is relatively common in Thailand. Especially in the entertainment areas in Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket. If you are coming to Thailand for the first time and you plan to go out in the prostitution areas, it is important to know what to look out for. In any case, avoid being drugged and robbed.
Practice
In practice this is usually the case. A man enters a bar alone and strikes up a conversation with a bargirl. She spends some time at his table, plays a game of pool with him and of course she is very friendly. The man consumes the necessary beers and gets a bit tipsy. When the man asks the barmaid to come with him to his hotel and prepares to leave the bar, the barmaid offers him another drink. This is usually the drink you are drugged with.
The man then leaves with the lady. Usually there are several bargirls involved in the plot. They leave in a taxi or Tuk-Tuk. The only thing the man remembers from this evening is waking up in his hotel room the next day with a splitting headache. His passport, credit cards, valuables and all his money are gone. The girl and her friends literally stripped him naked and left with the Noorderzon.
Robbery
When the girl has put the drugs in the man's glass, it is already too late. She gets into a taxi with him, while he is still conscious. Once the man is unconscious, she picks up some friends. These men help her bring the Westerner back to his hotel. They tell the hotel staff that the man has had too much to drink and is 'off the world'.
Many Western men are during a holiday sometimes drunk in Thailand. Therefore, the hotel staff and security will not immediately look for something behind it. They then allow the "man's friends" into the hotel. The better hotels will ask for an ID card and will not let the Thai enter without showing it. However, the cheaper hotels do not do this. Sometimes the night porter of the hotel is also in on the plot
Once in the hotel room, the unconscious man is thrown onto the bed. The team meanwhile goes looking for all the valuables in his hotel room. Cash, credit cards, jewelry, a passport, camera and laptop. Basically anything they can spend or sell. Within 10 to 15 minutes they have left the hotel. Usually they take the back exit or emergency exit.
When the man wakes up again, he has no leg to stand on. He has little evidence of what happened. He also often has no idea who the girl was. He was already unconscious when the men arrived. He hasn't seen it either. Going back to the bar doesn't do much either. The bargirl in question will disappear for a few days and her colleagues will not betray her.
Perpetrator unknown
Some men report this to the Thai police. Others don't because they are ashamed. The police can usually do no more than draw up an official report. There is rarely enough evidence. In addition, the perpetrators are difficult to trace. The man is therefore usually told that he was just unlucky.
How can you avoid being robbed by a bargirl?
That is actually quite simple. You just need to use your mind for it. Unfortunately, a number of Western men leave their common sense behind in their own country, but you can also just be unlucky. What can you do to minimize the risk of robbery?
- Do not go to a prostitution area (if you do want to do this, read on at point 2).
- If you meet a barmaid and want to take her to your hotel, don't accept drinks from her. Buy your own drinks. Keep a close eye on the fact that only alcohol or a mix goes into your glass. To be on the safe side, you can also only order bottles with the cap still on (in that case beer is the best choice).
- If you choose to have sex with a barmaid, don't take her to your own hotel. The ladies know all the 'short-time' hotels. You better go here. This will of course cost you a bit more. But still less than being robbed of all your possessions.
- Do not drink too much. Misjudgment usually comes from drinking too much. Have a few drinks and then switch to water or cola. It may not be as fun, but it is smarter.
- Stay in three, four or five star hotels with good security. The cheaper hotels sometimes have security guards who are paid by the girls to turn a blind eye. The more expensive hotels almost never do this. They take their security and reputation seriously. They probably won't let two unknown Thai men take you to your room. They have their own staff for that.
- If you are on holiday with friends, ask if they keep an eye on things. Make sure they know where you are when you go out separately. Call each other regularly. If your comrade is drunk, do not leave him alone and accompany him to his hotel.
Ladyboys
A warning for men who want to take ladyboys with them, it often happens that a ladyboy smears a strong sedative on his/her nipples. Because of this, 'customers' are intoxicated and then also robbed. Be warned.
Thailand is a relatively safe country for tourists. Even for drunk westerners who only think about sex. Nevertheless, use common sense when visiting a bar on a regular basis. Be aware of what can happen when you go out and stay careful.
Have roamed around Pattaya for many years but never been robbed.
Always left my passport and money in the hotel safe. Not only the expensive hotels have a safe, but also the cheaper ones where I stayed. When I went out I never took much
money with me.
But yes, always stayed with the same girl, treated her well.
In any case, I think it is better to take a lady from one of the better bars, instead of a random lady from a disco on Walking Street or from the beach in Pattaya. Then you pay barfine, but the owner of a better bar is often not waiting for those kinds of stories, he prefers to see his customers come back the next day.
Also, don't drink too much. I never drink much myself and my girlfriend actually always goes with me when we go out. But I have some friends who sometimes come over to Pattaya and they are regularly so drunk that they don't remember anything the next day. Are Norwegians, and they suddenly find the drink so cheap that they also have to take advantage of it. The ladies think it's great because they are easy targets and they immediately sleep in their room. They also regularly wake up next to a completely unknown lady, even though they had good intentions to spend the evening without ladies. Or even in another part of the city (Hilarity at its best, I get a text message from one of the gentlemen in the morning, if I also knew how he ended up in Jomtien Soi 13 while his hotel was on Pattaya Beach road and he was on Walking Street was… Immediately got a vision of The Hangover 2 🙂 ) I have warned them many times that they will catch it that way but it has fallen on deaf ears…. But they are old and (un) wise enough.
Another way is to bring a famous lady. If you do let yourself get filled up, take a lady you know or from a well-known bar. Then she will look after you and you will not find the rest of the ladies interesting if you are already with someone else. If you are good friends with her it will cost you barfine and drinks, plus 500-1000 baht for a night out if necessary. You don't have to take them to your hotel if you don't want to, lady happy and you have a very sexy bodyguard 🙂
I have seen a few times at hotels, when a man takes a girl to his room that she has to give her ID. In the morning on departure, she only got it back after the receptionist called the room if everything was OK. I always book a room with a safe, because the safes behind the hotel counters are not always 100% safe. I once stayed in a cheap hotel in Bangkok where some safes behind the counter had been opened by strangers and money had disappeared. Luckily mine didn't but since then I always book a room with its own safe.
The safe behind the counter has a box inside that you can close with your own padlock. The same applies to the lock on the outside, another (own) padlock.
The safe in your own room is NOT safe. everyone knows the combinations and opens it with a toothpick. 🙂
Frank F
@ There is never 100% security. I also read that a hotel employee ran off with the contents of the safes at the reception.
You can give endless advice, but the only sensible advice is to use your common sense, then little will happen to you, unless you are incredibly unlucky.
The recurring stories in the Pattaya mail about people being robbed of tens of thousands of euros indicate that many people don't use their common sense and anyway why would you stay in a cheap hotel when you have so much money.
You can usually set your own PIN code for lockers in your room. The hotel does have a master key.
Hello people, most robberies take place by ladies who are self-employed or more independent without a bar and especially the ladies on the beach road are very well known for this. But often the farang himself is also guilty prefers not to pay bar money and goes looking for a zzb, there and is often already well in the oil the ladies often see the well-filled wallet at checkout many do not even trust the hotel and hide everything so often no safe in the room. When I used to go out I took what I thought I needed and the rest went in the safe and I always had good hotels.
Many farangs provoke it themselves, sitting behind the bar with large gold chains…! On Jomtien I warned a Norwegian that he should leave all that blingbling in his safe from now on, the next day he was robbed by a barmaid. I knew the owner; her ID was fake and had flown by now! This Norwegian enjoyed a very expensive short time. A beer should be possible, but just make sure your important stuff is in your safe and don't take more than 3000bth with you in one night. I have never been robbed in 20 years of Thailand.
Very good sir Jordan,
Just grab 5000 baht in your pocket, make a copy of your passport, because you have to have ID in your pocket and just put everything else in your safe, then you will only have a headache the next morning from the drugs and not that you lost anything and everything.
Greetings,
Louise
Here in my village there are quite a few bachelors who sometimes go to Antwerp. One of the men experienced the following; could go upstairs for next to nothing, but there was another person under the bed. This lady took all the money out of his pants. In our local cafe, he was advised to keep his socks on with his money in them during "the deed". Also a tip for Thailand? 😉
Anything lately? Hahahahaha don't make me laugh
When I first came to Thailand 27 years ago and coincidentally also to Pattaya, the Tourist Police made that clear to me. We sat at a small bar and he told us to watch out for the sexy girls. It often went that way back then.
You had known that girl for a few days…..drinking a lot…. and then the story. She: “The boss thinks you're such a great farang and that's why you can drink for free tonight”.
The farang cannot be told that twice. The moment she sees that you've had too much, she gives you a few more drinks containing (you guessed it) drugs. Then quickly to the hotel as far as it is still difficult. You lie on the bed and you really don't know what's going on around you anymore. A large portion of drugs and an awful lot of alcohol will give you a cardiac arrest. Your tierak has already searched everything and takes everything useful with it. Thus the story of a Tourist Police.
How serious?
The next morning I walked to a restaurant for my breakfast and passed a newsstand. A big headline in a German newspaper: Germans be warned, 80 deaths in Pattaya every year!
I don't know how it is now, but back then the US Fifth Fleet docked for about five days. I can still see it happening. A dead-drunk marine lay in the arms of such a cutie on the beach. His duffel bag next to it. He knew all about the map. I stood a few feet away and watched the scene. She took the wallet out of the soldier's pocket and took care of a large part of the contents. A boy of an estimated 6 years old saw that and wanted something too. Who made sure that the remaining money was managed 'safely' (hahahaha)
Robberies really don't have to happen in the hotel. How many times have I seen drunken farangs on the sidewalk saying ……..? They have certainly been checked many times.
This is really nothing new.
This was already known 30 years ago and has often happened ,
not only in Thailand but even worse in the Philippines .
Wound there from 86 to 89 and could write a book
about tourists , who were robbed there with the help of drugs .
That I don't drink alcohol myself and knew how it all can go,
it never happened to me.
Many people come to Thailand and often leave their brains at home!
Fortunately, you have a Thailand blog where you can get a lot of useful tips about these kinds of dangers.
Dear Chris, do you also have information about the Philippines in the present? 25 years ago is a difference just to say something! Coincidentally, I live there now. Came to Thailand for 20 years, occurs everywhere and not only in Asia.
Although I myself have nothing to do with sex tourism, I still want to give my humble opinion on this subject.
Terrible if this happens to you of course if everything has been stolen from you but those things are replaceable, the worst of all seems to me that strangers have just been in your room and you are lying there as a defenseless victim in that room, they can do anything with you you don't know what kind of toxin has ended up in your body.
I don't think this kind of incident happens to a chastened Thailand visitor or expat, I also have a retired friend who regularly goes to Pattaya to enjoy himself there, nothing wrong with that, he should know for himself, but he knows very well what he is dealing with is busy, he knows the dangers and knows what to look out for in order to prevent this as much as possible.
In this case, a condom as a contraceptive is not enough to protect you, it starts before you leave your hotel room, read all the good advice above, and take it to heart.
Because I think it is often the inexperienced tourists that this happens to, I am regularly surprised that without being well informed or having read up, people leave for Thailand on the full tip, that can just be very dangerous.
I therefore think it is very good that this blog is regularly reported here, I know incidents such as these will never be completely preventable, but one can try to keep them to a minimum.
Where is the Mai Lu Si bar in Pattaya. Sounds great. My experience is that I drink 1 beer in a bar. Then water. Not fun, but smart. Empty glass or bottle.
Order yourself and not order a beer when you go to the toilet and leave it on the bar. You never.
You're doing well.
Jan
With Charlie.
In the back of Soi LK Metro. If you enter it from Soi Diana it is on your left, almost at the back. If you go in along Soi Buakhao it's at the end and you walk straight onto it.
http://mailusi.com/indexBE.htm
Has now moved to a dead end side street of soi Buakhao, on the corner is a motorbike / repair shop, easy to find right opposite the Pattaya City Hospital.
Knock, Charlie is sitting there now.
April was the opening party if I'm not mistaken.
A little further you also have Andre or Dre's place.
Dear reader
If you come to a bar more often and become a kind of regular, nothing will happen to you.
Or go to a bar with a European owner, for example the Mai Lu Si Bar in Pattaya and nothing will happen to you.
Even if a girl works in the bar and not (freelance) you see her working more often, there is nothing to worry about.
Merry Hug Holiday
Peter Yai
Denis,
Every person on a dating site is not a barmaid, but I suspect that every barmaid can be found on a dating site.
Of course this can also happen to you on a dating site. Picking up the person upon arrival at the airport is actually the best time. Most likely to have valuables with him/her. (cash, bank cards, jewelry, etc).
So if you don't know the person, don't meet there.
As an aside – taxi drivers also know that this is the best time to investigate tourists (and Thai returning from abroad, usually with cash, not to mention), in a side street…. So use the official taxi places in the airport (you can't exclude anything, but it still gives you something of a guarantee)
In any case, it is good that TB regularly draws attention to such warnings.
I started sailing in 1975 and then we also received similar warnings before going ashore in a foreign port.
Not that it always had much effect I must say.
As with many warnings, it is often quickly ignored.
Many think that this is mainly intended for "others" and that it does not happen to them.
The next morning they usually find out that they are the "other".
Dear,
in Thailand you really don't have to be drunk or take a girl to your room to get robbed and speak from a personal experience. Took the bus to Morchit in Bangkok Once arrived they ask for the tickets from your luggage, take my wallet and hand them the tickets, stupidly enough I put my wallet in my back pocket, you can guess the rest I think.
Lost 10.000 baht as well as visa, bank card, ID card, driver's license and many other papers, luckily my passport was in a different place and I still had it.
Result:
1) Inquire if anyone has found it, surely no one knows about anything or has found anything.
2) Report to the police, useless but must.
3) missed next booking with the hotel and minibus.
4) Go to the embassy they will tell you good luck as I have my passport.
5) Send money through Western Union. by family
6) Book a new hotel for a night.
General conclusion, spread your money and credit cards over several people and places if possible, never put your wallet in your back pocket is in the front, your pocket in the front is much safer.
Grts, Dirk
I often take ladies from soi 6 with me, no pain. They officially work in the bar and are registered. If you take a lady from the beach, I think you ask for it.
Stay sober, and chances are slim that anything will happen.
Keep money in a safe. In the absence of a safe, a friend had the following tip: put your money on top of a cupboard while the lady is in the shower.
Good tip Stephen
It's a pity that many hotel rooms don't have closets.
Hi dear reader , to this day I have never been robbed .
My first time in Pattaya December 2007 I had a safe in my bedroom ,
but in my opinion it didn't work very well. Since then when I take a girl to my room , she first takes a shower and meanwhile I put my money and everything in my Suitcase with three Numbers .
Then I crawl into the shower with her . December I will go to Thailand for the 10th time and hope that everything will continue as well.
Best regards…. Roland .