The problem with freelancers is… well… you just don’t know who they are.
Last night I had a long night drinking that started at 4 p.m. and didn’t end until after two in the morning. I drank slowly but steadily. By two I wasn’t drunk so much as I was tired.
I picked up a freelancer on the way home.
In the room she said that she wanted to watch TV, so I handed her the remote, and I laid down on the bed for a moment.
Or so I thought. Within five minutes I was asleep.
I woke up a few minutes ago because I was busting for a piss. I was wondering why the TV was on, and then I remembered the girl.
It didn’t take me long to realize she was gone, but then I wondered why she would leave without asking me for some cash.
Then the answer occurred to me. She emptied my wallet.
This I could live with. I only had 1,500 baht in there, so it wasn’t tragic.
But then I thought about looking around. Both of my mobile phones are gone along with my digital camera. Thankfully it wasn’t possible for her to nick my laptop without waking me.
I’ve had a quick look around and I don’t see anything else missing except that she also took the phone charger. I don’t have much else that’s valuable and portable, but she could have taken my ATM cards or credit cards. She didn’t. I may still discover something else missing, but my place isn’t that big, so I think it was just the cash, the phones, the charger and the camera.
I’ve got no clue who the girl was, so I’ll never be able to do anything about it.
I have to say that I’ve never had a Thai girl steal from me before, and many of them have had the opportunity. Literally dozens of girls could have stolen from me in the past, but none of them ever has.
Most Thai girls are extremely honest, but the best policy is to careful — especially with freelancers who are basically anonymous strangers in your room. It’s best not to fall asleep while they are with you.
As for me? Well, shit happens. I’m not gonna worry too much. Now I have an excuse to go shopping.
July 13, 2008 at 9:48 am |
In a way it’s a kind of work related expense…
If you open a Pay Pal account some readers might want to help. I shall.
July 13, 2008 at 9:49 am |
I have had the exact thing happen to me. That is while I have a big safe bolted to the wall. Two guys had to bring the thing in. Everything is in the safe while a girl is here.
July 13, 2008 at 9:55 am |
BTW, this is your 9th entry in the past 48 hours !
July 13, 2008 at 12:11 pm |
That sucks, are you going to get your old number back? I had nothing but great luck with freelancers, and 90% including Nan were non-employees of bars and gogo’s, although I never fell asleep before they did. And you have to admit you sleep like a dead man, so if she didn’t set fire to your room or emptied her bowels on your face I think in the big picture she was being reasonable. Hell if you run into her on the street you may even get your stuff back and a freebie! Do you remember where she was when you met her? I have many connections in that scene now and most of the girls are fairly territorial and know each other, let me man!
Cheers WW
July 13, 2008 at 12:19 pm |
how did she leave the building? the keycard is required to swipe out the exit door.
July 13, 2008 at 12:26 pm |
Yeah, I’ll get my old number back. I go through phones like disposable razors, so they know me down at DTAC. I’ll go buy a new phone and pick up a replacement SIM either this afternoon or tomorrow.
I know exactly where the girl was, and you’re right… they typically hang in the same places regularly. I’d considered the idea that if I saw her again I might just try to take it out in trade. I also considered that Nan might be able to help me figure out who the girl was, but I don’t think it’s worth the trouble for the simple stuff she took.
If you’re talking to Nan though, the one thing she might do to help me out is call Spotlight and get Por’s phone number for me… I’m sure she’d remember Nan. The only place I had the number saved was in the phone.
July 13, 2008 at 12:27 pm |
anon: I’m sure the guard let her out. I’ll have a word with him later.
July 13, 2008 at 12:55 pm |
Just when you think you have this place all figured out, reality hits you dead in the face and you realize that you really don’t know too much after all.
July 13, 2008 at 1:02 pm |
Consider it done!
July 13, 2008 at 1:43 pm |
That sucks huge ass
I had that happen to me a few times, usually because I was pissed as an arsehole and passed out.
DId she not hand in her ID at reception or anything? Supposing its an apartment and not a hotel, they dont offer that service?
If i see her on the street (impossible) ill kick her in the cunt and tell her thats from WW
July 13, 2008 at 5:04 pm |
That sucks.
I try to only pick up freelancers that I have seen around a few times. But principles have to be adjusted every now and then…
Oftentimes I end up drinking at one of the late night places between Sukhumvit soi 5 and soi 7. The girls working there are great: if a girl joins me who has a bad reputation (stealing, yabba habit, etc.), they always warn me.
July 14, 2008 at 4:49 am |
YP: The rule at my building is that everyone who enters has to show ID to the security guys. I told the security guys at the beginning that we weren’t gonna do that cause I didn’t want a record of all the girl coming in and out of my place. IN that respect it’s my fault; they’re doing what I say instead of the boss.
The one thing I did do was talk to the night shift guys to say TO NEVER let a girl out… that I would always come down and swipe her out. The problem last night was that the daytime security guard was working night shift .
I talked to him today . The same thing won’t happen again, but it’s a little like bolting the barn door after the horse has bolted.
Ron: I got a printout of numbers called from DTAC so I already have Por’s number figured out. Thanks though.
Cheers,
WW
July 14, 2008 at 5:57 am |
Sorry that happened to you WW.
July 14, 2008 at 12:29 pm |
WW,
Really sorry to hear of your bad luck. I suppose if you get 100 freelancers then the chances are that 2% will rip you off given the opportunity. I’ve been lucky in that respect but I’m sure my day will come !!
My friend had a similar situation but he got completely rinsed for 15K baht, his mobile, laptop and camera. All in all came to 100K baht so look on the positive side and think 1.5K baht and a mbile (or two) is not too painful to lose.
Good luck with tracking her down. …………….
July 14, 2008 at 12:42 pm |
yeah, as thievery goes it was pretty mild. Total value of the loss was only around 12 or 13K baht. I can’t say that I’m too put out by it all. I think it’s good for tourists to be aware that it can happen though, and to take a few sensible precautions when having girls in the room.
I will stress that over the years I’ve let freelancers and dancers alike sleep in my room when I’ve gone to work, I given them my wallet to pay for things, and trusted them in other ways that make no rational sense. In three years, no girl (before now) has ever taken advantage of me, or stolen even ten baht from me. I find that in general, TGs are very trustworthy. This incident doesn’t particularly change my opinion.
But punters should take care — be sensible. Basically, it’s a stranger in your room, so put your things in a safe place, especially if you are going to sleep while she’s in the room.
And I’m not particularly intent on tracking her down. Even if I find her, what am I gonna do? Like I said, I might just offer to take it out in trade.
July 14, 2008 at 5:36 pm |
I’ve never had anything taken, but I attibute that to being careful and preparing in advance.
If you’re a tourist, make sure you stay in a hotel with an in-room safe. I won’t stay anywhere that doesn’t have a safe. I also have a pacsafe travelsafe http://www.pacsafe.com/www/index.php?_room=3&_action=detail&id=18 which I use if the room doesn’t have an adequate safe. Knife proof and tough, this thing should defeat all but the most determined. Best to use it with a combination lock, then you cannot lose the key.
Usually the guard/reception will ask to see her ID, some places even make them leave the ID at reception, to collect on their way out. This should make them think twice before robbing you. If you want to send a clear message, ask to see her ID card and take a photo of it with your mobile phone camera assuming its good enough, then put your phone in the room safe.
All valuables should always be locked up when you have an unknown girl in your room. So you need do do some preparation before you go out. Put all your valuables in the safe before you go out. If you access the safe while the girl is in the room, make sure she cannot see you entering the safe combination, or if a key safe, hide the key somewhere non-obvious. Laptops if they don’t fit in the safe, get a Kensington lock and fix them to a solid immovable object.
Trouble is, being drunk and with a stranger is not a good security situation, but that’s often how it pans out. If you take the necessary steps earlier in the evening to prepare while sober, you can substantially reduce your chances of being scammed later on.
July 18, 2008 at 10:45 pm |
[...] I was drinking beer steadily, and playing a dice game with one of the bartenders, steadily losing my money to her 40 baht at a time. Meanwhile, I was buying whiskeys for a service girl and trying to enjoy the sanuk atmosphere. I didn’t know it yet, but I was a few hours away from falling asleep in my room and having my money, digital camera and mobile phones stolen by a dishonest freelancer. [...]
March 29, 2009 at 11:42 am |
[...] I had my digital camera, two mobile phones, the cash from my wallet, and all my personal jewelry stolen by a freelancer I dragged home from Soi [...]