Pattaya Police seem to be finally wising up to the tourist insurance fraud scam. Pattaya police have had to cope for a long time with muggings and robberies especially on Beach Road and especially allegedly committed by ladboys. There is no doubt that these crimes do happen but when tourists report ficticious criminal activities purely for the sake of getting a police report so that they can make a claim when they get home it causes a severe drain on police time and resources that could be better used investigating real crimes and bringing real criminals to book.
On Monday the 28th of October an Indian tourist Mr. Sushil Eumar aged 57 presented himself at Pattaya Police Station claiming to have been robbed of a 22kt gold necklace and pendant worth approximately a million Baht. The robbery, he said, took place as he took a stroll along beach road and was surrounded by a bunch of three lady boys who relieved him of his family jewels, the necklace and pendant of course.
Police showed him a book of mug shots of known he/she robbers but Mr. Eumar was not able to identify any of the thieves.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Chuangchote was not convinced by the tourist's story. After all a million Baht gold necklace is not an everyday item and being worn by a tourist especially an Indian tourist whilst strolling along Pattaya Beach Road promenade well is just a tad unlikely.
He was warned that if he was lying he could be charges with a crime himself and have could end up having an extra holiday free of charge at the Pattaya Police Hilton.
Mr. Eumar tried to save face and did not want to accept the policeman's kind offer of free accommodation so he changed his story and now thinks he must have dropped it somewhere. At the moment the police are not pressing any charges until their investigations are complete.
It seems as though Pattya police have taken my advice and are looking to the heavens for inspiration and taking a look over Pattaya Bay to see if there are any pigs making a fly by before accepting anymore dubious crime reports from down and out tourist scammers.
