When You're the Victim: Stories of Crime in Bangkok [S6.E40]

Greg and Ed discuss their personal experiences as victims of crime in Bangkok. Greg opens with a recap of his recent bike theft story which has been discussed in more detail on the bonus show. Although the bike has yet to be retrieved, the Thai police were surprisingly responsive and professional. Greg then relates a couple encounters with pickpockets and an odd experience with an angry street kid. All in all, not bad for twenty years in a giant, teeming metropolis.

Ed then talks about his experience living in a house on Sukhumvit Soi 1, very close to Bumgungrad Hospital which was undergoing expansion and thus necessitating a camp of laborers nearby. Unsurprisingly perhaps, Ed’s house was robbed three times, including once when his wife woke up and confronted a burglar. Other than that, Ed has managed to avoid any other encounters with crime in Bangkok, also not a bad record all things considered.

The guys then go over the most high risk behavior that foreigners in Thailand can engage in, including frequenting crowded areas where foreigners are known to go (such as Khao San Road or Chatuchak Market) and not securing your belongings. This makes you easy prey for pickpockets who target non-Thai looking people in such areas, as this poor sap found out the hard way. The second risky move is interacting extensively with street people at night, especially bargirls and ladyboys, who have a reputation for being light-fingered. And last is fairly obvious: being very drunk late at night and taking long cab rides or cavorting with bar girls. No one is ‘blaming the victim,’ but it is undoubtedly a fact that certain activities in Bangkok are riskier than others. You have been warned. 🙂

Luckily, as has been stated on the podcast many times, most crimes against foreigners in Thailand are non-violent, at least compared to most big cities back home. 

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