Was my Thai dream date a con-girl?

Steve says:

Thanks for the insight Dave. Despite warnings from my friends, I'm going back to Thailand next week. It's a very fascinating country and you learn something new each day. Diffferentiating between those who legitimately want to be your friend and those who want to empty your wallet is half the fun!

Rover says:

WHy were you worried? Did she ask for money. Sheese she asked you out for the evening. If that happened in your home country you would be in heaven. A women asking you out. God the horror. Afraid of being mugged or raped? Get out more and live. Were you worried about maybe liking her to much? You may have seen some real Thai culture and people and a side of Thailand out side the norm..

Abrak says:

David I think you are wrong on this one.

Realistically we dont know much about this girl and to say her 'intentions were entirely criminal' is ridiculous. It is possible she is a con artist but there are plenty of other explanations.

First she could easily be exactly what she appears to be - a slightly lonely 28 year old woman who likes farang and is looking for a bit of companionship or more.

Second less likely but certainly more likely than her being a con artist - it is possible that she is a freelancer looking for a little extra cash.

Both cases - a knowledge of english and hanging around touristy places makes sense. Of course there is no way she wants to meet Steve's friends - for a start she will be as frightened of Steve as Steve is of her. Steve would rightly run a mile if she had invited him back to her place to meet her friends.

I understand that no truely respectable Thai girl would approach a farang in this matter but many almost respectable Thai girls do - it doesnt make them con artists.

Finally i fail to understand what con it is that she is about to pull and what possible danger Steve is going to be in by playing along for a while. Steve may have done the safest thing by walking away but he would have come to absolutely no harm had he given the benefit of the doubt and kept his options open until her intentions became clear - he might just have had a lot of fun.

Michael says:

I am definitely with Abrak.
There could be all numbers of reason why this particular thai woman would approach a farang like Abrak mentioned.
Fluent english is a dead giweaway??? Her command of english could be the due to overseas studies, her job etc. Why would that be a giweaway?
Besides things are changing fast in Thailand especially in Bkk, old steorotypes dont necessarily hold true anymore. Loads of girls are having premaritial sex, you see girls publicly walking around in malls wearing shorts which was unheard of only a decade ago.
The way I see it, the original poster missed out on an opportunity to interact with a local. If she had indeed been a con artist there was nothing stopping him from walking away anytime. If she were not, he would have had to face the danger of probably having a good time.
Having your guard up like this all the time will definitely prevent one from enjoying oneself in Thailand or anywhere for that matter.

Cheers
Michael

Cynic says:

Of course it's a big fucking "who knows?"

But honestly, when a Thai woman picks you up - well as David said it's out of character - it often happens, I know, but whether they are a con woman or not there's gonna be a hell of a lot of shit ticking inside them that you don't want to deal with.

Crash999 says:

It's not entirely out of character. I've found that with older, independent Thai women they're not as timid or as prone to follow strict rules of conduct as one might imagine.

One night at a nightspot frequented by foreigners a Thai woman in her early 30s struck up a conversation with me. We exachanged numbers and later went out- she turned out to be the owner of a small company that specialized in product launches. Sure enough, I was invited to a number of launches and met the local glitterati.

The only red flag in Steve's encounter is the woman immediately talking about business... why would someone segway into that topic? Even so, if I was Steve I would have ditched my pals to see what this woman had in store. =)

Cheers!

Dana says:

I gotta go with most of the posters on this one. Hell, you go to Thailand to have adventures. You can always cut and run. An opportunity might have been lost here. Look at this logically and see how unreasonable it is. What are you going to do in Thailand? Never go out with any women ever again because something unappealing might happen? Silly.

Simulacre says:

Is she a con-artist? Who knows and who cares. Go hang out with her and don't believe anything she says if it has anything to do with money. If she tries to take you into a dark alley or introduce you to her ogre of a friend then get the hell out of there. Otherwise see where it goes and have a good time with it.

Everyone has an ulterior motive. Hers could have been money or it could have been farang love. It could also have been a predilection for collecting the toenails of strangers. The trick is to figure out if her motives can be satisfied without causing you harm while providing entertainment, which should be your motive.