Beware of Pickpockets!

[Maple]

The following information was provided to me by a Farang friend in Pattaya:

 

"This describes an attempted pickpocketing on a Baht bus recently. At 9 p.m., under the overpass while headed toward Jomtien Beach, five Thai people got on the baht bus I was on: a "working-class" woman with 2 children, and two "middle-class" women.

 

The 8-year-old girl sat on my left. She wore a full skirt and spread her legs as far apart as possible, touching my left leg. The 10-year-old boy sat on my right, touching my right side with his right hand via his left arm pit. I gave stern looks to the mother at the girl's left, but she didn't put a stop to it.

 

I kept my left hand pressed on my wallet through my pants, left front. Seeing that, one "middle-class" woman, sitting across from me, asked me in English for the time, hoping that I would raise my left hand from the wallet bulge to look at my watch.

 

With the three simultaneous distractions, I had had enough. I stood up, said "No" loudly, and buzzed the bus to stop. All five, who had gotten on only 30 seconds earlier, left the Baht bus while I stayed on to my destination."

[Guest stef]

That's not good... We really have to be careful nowodays. Using the youngs kids to help out is something parents do a lot.

I did not pay much attention to the kids till one of them stole my cell phone not too long ago. It wasn't in Thailand but still, it is a fact that they are around and waiting for the good catch and they are willing to do many things to "catch" it

 

[Guest JoeM]

Might have been a setup for picking a pocket, but what if it wasn't? Did the folks get off because the strange falang was acting aggressive and intimidating? Sometimes hard to judge these situations, but intuition should always be listened to.

 

Guess I would have moved to the steps in the back and stood there the rest of the trip or just got off and grabbed another bus.

 

I more frequently encounter pick pocketing setups in Europe rather than Asia.

[Guest stef]

 

I more frequently encounter pick pocketing setups in Europe rather than Asia.

 

Exactly, I have only seen it happen in Europe.. My last experience was right in Paris