Gold epitomizes success for many Thais. Flashy gold adornments publicize their status, and prove an irresistible lure in the hands of cunning scam artists. “Lek,” a former gang leader who haunted crowded areas in Bangkok such as Lard Prao, Pratunam, Wongwian Yai and Bangloampoo, preying on gold-bedecked women, revealed the ease with which his gang profited from a daily gold-baiting scheme on radio station JSL’s weekly Jor Jai Sai Jor talk show. After eight years of successful swingling, Lek was arrested and spent six months in jail. Vowing never to return to his former line of work, Lek now lends money for a living. Here are excerpts taken from Jor Jai Sai Jor as hosts Dumrong Poottan and Sanya Kunakorn question Lek, a victim, and a police officer on their roles in the gold-baiting operation.

            Dumrong: We want to know the behind the scene details. How did your scam work? How many people were involved? How did the operation start?

            Lek: We worked as a team. There must be three women. The number of men, though, can be whatever, because men only work on the outside, watching out for the mah suek—the term we used for meddlers, who may stop to look and ask what’s going on. Our men would approach the meddlers, asking, “I need to go to Lard Prao. Which bus number should I take?” to divert their attention.

            Dumrong: What do the three women do?

            Lek: The first woman is tua thaam, the asker, the one who says she has just lost her gold accessories. The second woman is tua sam, the inquirer. The third is the one who has supposedly picked up the gold. We worked everywhere in Bangkok, rotating the scene every day, or else we might have run into our former victims. Markers, department stores, places people go to shop, wearing gold to show off. Our gang rented a place to live together, going out to work from 11 am to noon. For example, one morning we would go to Lard Prao, watching out for muu (pig)—the term we used for our victims.

            Sanya: How did you choose your victims?

            Lek: We always picked one wearing lots of gold accessories. We would follow her. When she went into a store, we would be right by her, observing the way she talks to the shop owner.

            [We would pick] soft-spoken ones. We also watched how she bargained. If she tried to bargain down in half, she was certainly a tight purse, an easy target. The stingy ones are the greedy ones.

            After choosing our victim, I’d scratch my head, a signal to start the operation.

            Woman one would approach the muu and ask her: “Did you happen to see a black purse anywhere?” Naturally, the victim would say no.

            The woman would then appear and inquire what happened. When she hears, she would say would say she saw the purse—a woman wearing a blue blouse and white pants had just picked it up. Woman one would then hurry away.

            Woman two then says to the muu, “Poor woman! She almost cried. If it were us, we’d certainly feel awful. Let’s help her find the one who took her purse.”

            Dumrong: What if the victim wouldn’t go along?

            Lek: Then our woman number three would walk right by. Woman two would cry out, “She’s the one, I remember her! Let’s ask her.”

            Woman three would feign shock: “I didn’t steal it, I just found it.” Woman two, citing sympathy, would urge both to join her to search for the owner.

            Woman one wouldn’t come by again, her part was over. The three would walk, but not find her.

            Woman two: “Let’s open the purse and look.” They would sneak a quick look, and see gold—our fake gold—and a few hundred baht, which we would put in to make it look realistic.

            “Okay, we couldn’t find the owner, let’s go to a restaurant.”

            Woman two would urge everyone to split the find: “We didn’t steal it. It’s our luck.”

            One would say, “Let’s go sell it to a gold shop.”

            The other would say. “We can’t. the owner might have already notified the police, and we’d be in trouble.”

            Woman three: “Okay, I’ll buy it myself.”

            Woman two would jeer, “You have the money?”

            Woman three: “Don’t underestimate me! I have money, I’ll go home to get it. Each of you will get B20,000 (US$800).

            Woman two: “Okay, you can go get the money, we’ll wait here with the gold.”

            Woman three would pretend to walk a short distance, then hurry back: “No, I won’t. If you two run away, I’ll get nothing. Let’s do it this way. What do you two have for me to hold as a guarantee?”

            Woman two would take off her gold accessories, and give it to woman three, who protests until she gets several pieces.

            Woman two would then cajole the muu to follow her lead (in giving the gold accessories to woman three).

            Having pocketed the gold, woman three would then start to walk away, leaving the fake gold with woman two and the muu.

            Then woman two would call after her, exclaiming, “Wait, and wait. I must go with you. You don’t know the owner’s face. Also I’ve described your clothes to her. If I go with you, I can tell you to duck if we run into the owner.”

            The two would then hurry away, leaving the gold with the muu, teeling her to wait there.

            Sanya: Have you ever used any kind of drugs on your victims?

            Lek: Not in my experience. If such a potion exists, we would have just camped out in front of the gold shop, and dabbed it on people who came out.

            Or on the shop owner herself. It would be a song, not having to waste our time persuading our victim.

            Dumrong: Why, then, does such a rumor always come out?

            Lek: I think because, after being cheated of her gold, the victim would be scared to tell her husband the truth.

            What if her husband was hot-tempered? She may get scolded, or even beaten.

            To notify the police or a neighbor is embarrassing, as they might scorn, “You deserved it for being too greedy.”

            To find a way out, the victim then says she was drugged into it.

            Police Lieutenant Colonel Wiwat Wattanawiboon, of the Investigation Subdivision on the Northern Bangkok Metropolitan Police, gives his view on the swindlers and the victims.

            Dumrong: Do you keep any files of people involved in gold-baiting scams?

            Wiwat: We keep records and photos of those already arrested for such scams. Currently we have about 30 individuals on file. Those who have been swindled can look at this file to assist in identification.

            Dumrong: Have you ever seen any cases involving drugged victims where they were dabbed with a potion which impairs their judgment?

            Wiwat: I’ve run into none. I’ve arrested and questioned many suspects, but all insisted they never used such potions. That of course excludes the victims themselves, who reported being drugged into unconsciousness.

            Usually when victims are asked whether they have been touched during the scam, they reply “yes”. They were touched and then they took off their jewelry to give to the gang members. That’s how the rumor spreads.

            I have also asked physicians about these alleged potions. They all said no such drug exists.

            Dumrong: Can you offer any advice to victims who have been swindled?

            Wiwat: I’d like them to spare the time to report to the police. The victims may get bored waiting, but please understand there is no intent to delay them. Its part of the legal procedure, we need to register each case in the daily logbook.

            A victim of the gold-baiting scam, who did not reveal her name, gives her view of the operation.

            Victim: It happened on the morning of May 19. I was waiting for a bus in front of a store in Bang Kapi.

            A man and a woman walking abruptly stopped in front of me. The man said, “Wait here, I’ll bring you the money.” He then walked away.

            The woman asked me which bus to take to Hua Lamphong. She then told me her mom had fallen ill, and was now at the hospital.

            “That’s why I had to let go of my Buddha amulet. I ran into that man at Hua Lamphong, he wanted my amulet, and asked me to come with him to get money,” she said.

            Another woman joined us and exclaimed at the amulet’s potential worth. A man emerged, and ht too gasped. “Oii! A King Rama V reign amulet! Let me have it for B40,000 ($1,600), I’ll give it to my boss. I work in a hotel around here and I’ll give you both B1,000 ($40) for your time. Come with me, just for two bus-stops.”

            They tugged my arm and I went along. We rode a bus for two stops. After getting off the bus, we walked a bit, then he told us to wait there while he left to get money.

            A man following us asked, “What’s happening?” When he saw the amulet, he exclaimed about its value, too. All to get me interested. He urged us not to wait for the second man.

            The woman, too, said she wanted the amulet, but only had B8,000 ($320) in cash with her. She said she had to fetch more money from her place in Bang Kapi market.

            We walked about one bus-stop past the Klong Chan flat. There, an old man sat, apparently waiting for us.

            Dumrong: Still more accomplices!

            Victim: All together, there were six of them—four men and two women.

            The old man scolded me: “You’ve run into great luck, why not take it? Money, you can find later.”

            I said, “No, I won’t. I’ll call my husband at home, he’s an amulet collector, he’ll come to look it over.”

            The old man cajoled me, saying, “You should take the amulet right away. Or else, the woman will come back for it.”

            He touched my hand, and said, “Give it to her, all your money and gold. You can later sell the amulet for B70, 000-B80,000 ($2,800-$3,200).”

            I didn’t understand how I took off my jewelry and gave it to the young woman. She stuffed the amulet, which hung on a necklace, into my hand, putting my money and necklace into her blouse, and hurried away.

            Then I took the bus to my office, feeling strangely sick to my stomach. Only when I got there I realized I had been swindled.

            I lost a necklace of two baht and three gild-edged amulets. Fortunately, my ring wouldn’t come off.

            When I showed the amulet to the husband, he exclaimed, “It’s phra kalamang [the mass-produced amulets sold cheaply on the roadsides].

            Translation by the Bangkok Post