Pickpocket peril and ladyboy larceny: Pattaya’s foreign tourist trap
A wave of thefts has left three foreign tourists reeling in Pattaya’s crime-laden streets, with light-fingered pickpockets and audacious robbers striking under the cover of night.
Three unfortunate tourists fell victim to the crafty crooks, transforming their vacations into tales of woe, in the seedy heat of Pattaya that showcased the city’s underbelly of crime.
At 1.49am, yesterday, February 27, a 68 year old Swiss national, Ulich, alongside his Thai girlfriend, reported the theft to baffled Pattaya police.
Fresh off the bus from Hua Hin, the couple was pickpocketed mid-ride on a songthaew, one of Pattaya’s beloved modes of local transport.
Their journey turned sour on Walking Street. As if on cue, two Thai men of dubious appearance, one thin, the other with a “larger-than-life” personality, boarded, pretending to be boxers.
One seized the moment and hugged Ulich before the pair vanished at Dolphin Roundabout. Back at their hotel, their mood matched their missing brown wallet, along with 5,000 baht in cash and vital documents. Suspecting the friendly duo, they lodged a complaint.
Not long after, at 2.10am, a French traveller, Jerome, experienced his own nightmare on South Pattaya Beach.
A transwoman’s offerings of companionship turned into a disappearing act worthy of Houdini. She vanished into thin air after Jerome’s brief bathroom break at his South Pattaya hotel, leaving behind a sock absent of its hefty contents: 53,000 baht in euros and 4,000 baht in Thai notes.
Jerome, realising he’d been stung by an impromptu hotel heist, wasted no time contacting Pattaya police.
As if the city hadn’t claimed enough victims, Mark from Australia was another victim of a cunning thief.
Parking his red Yamaha near a lively beer bar on Soi 7, Pattaya Beach Road, Mark made the cardinal error of leaving keys dangling in the ignition.
While he relaxed with drinks, CCTV captured someone making off with his prized wheels at 9.25pm, an ironic stone’s throw from the police station. His rueful return led straight to yet another police report.
Pattaya police is now knee-deep in investigations, hoping to bring these bandits to book and restore a sense of security in a city where the line between allure and alarm is as thin as a tourist’s wallet.
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