My Thai boyfriend is burgled

[Montree]

The burgler was recently released after serving a lengthy sentence for drug related offences. He now faces multiple charges for new drug offences as well as the burgleries.

Nom doesn't seem very interested in what happens next so I don't know if I will find out more.

[Montree]

I went to the room of a Lao boy in Jomtien yesterday. About a year ago he had his ID Card, Passport and mobile stolen which caused him a lot of problems. As we left I realised there wasn't even a lock on the door. He seemed unconcered.

[Jun]

I went to the room of a Lao boy in Jomtien yesterday. About a year ago he had his ID Card, Passport and mobile stolen which caused him a lot of problems. As we left I realised there wasn't even a lock on the door. He seemed unconcered.

Generally, I see very little attention paid to security.
One boy has a tiny padlock on the outside of his door and no means of locking the door when inside.
He also leaves his phone hanging out of his back pocket.

Boys regularly leave phones and bags lying around in bars. Thefts are rare, but not unheard of. Last year, one Thai bar manager fired one of his staff and posted the CCTV picture of him stealing a phone on Facebook.

Years ago, I had one Cambodian lose his ID card on a Songthaew between Jomtien and Pattaya.

Another one had his passport stolen by a ladyboy on a Songthaew. That's the risk when you carry it in an open topped bag that prioritises style over substance. [My passport travels in a zipped pocket]

On the other hand, I recently had a lad stay in my room in Siem Reap. Locking the door wasn't good enough for him. He insisted on wedging a chair up against the door as well

[Montree]

Nom’s bad luck continues. When I gave him some money he was anxious not to keep it in his apartment following the burglary so he paid it into an automatic teller machine.

It spat out a receipt, which I’ve seen, which was in Thai and English. The English read:

TRANSACTION DECLINED
CONTACT BANK
PLEASE CONTACT KBNK
Unsuccessful transaction. Please contact branch attendant.

On checking his balance there was no sign of the money he had paid in. He called the bank and they said it will take at least two weeks for it to be sorted out and that he needed to keep the receipt to prove what had happened. That was ten days ago so he's still waiting anxiously.

[Jun]

That's odd. When I've used those machines at K-Bank, if it rejects a few notes, the door opens for me to retrieve them again.

Also, why the hell does it take the bank 2 weeks to sort this ? They regularly attend to those machines. I presume that involves some accounting to match notes in the machine with whatever their systems show.

[Gaybutton]

Also, why the hell does it take the bank 2 weeks to sort this ?

Worse than that, according to Montree's post the bank said it would take at least 2 weeks, which sounds to me that it will take even longer than that. If the machine took the money, but refused to put it into my account and didn't give it back, his account must have been flagged for some reason.

If my bank was treating me like that, especially both insinuating they suspect some sort of wrongdoing on my part and taking forever to resolve a problem that shouldn't take more than about 5 minutes to resolve, once I have my money back I'd be closing that account and opening an account at a different bank.

Sorry bank, but you don't get to keep my money based on some sort of suspicion rather than proof. I'd be moving my money to a different bank pronto.

[Montree]

This is all he's got. Nom's not very good at dealing with officials of any sort and he will have probably have been too weak in his complaint on the phone. When things like this happen he just doesn't ask the sort of question I wish he would.

[Montree]

Nom’s account still hasn’t been credited with the money he paid in. He’s now been told to go to a large Kasikorn branch in Bangkok and present his till receipt. Unfortunately his mother has had a fall so he’s in Ratchaburi at the moment and doesn’t know when he will be able to return to Bangkok.

He’s not well himself and the travelling between Ratchaburi and Bangkok is not easy for him along with all the worry. His mother’s family in Ratchaburi do nothing to help.

[Gaybutton]

Nom’s account still hasn’t been credited with the money he paid in.

If he ever gets any of the money back I will be surprised. It seems to me the bank is trying to stonewall him as much as possible. There is no logical reason why he should have to travel to Bangkok or anywhere else other than a local branch to get this resolved, but apparently the bank isn't going to let that happen. I believe even if he makes the trip to Bangkok the bank will still come up with reasons to delay or deny giving him his money back. On top of that his own non-aggressive, non confrontational attitude, as you describe, is not going to help, but work against him.

I hope it is not a major amount for him. Unfortunately I have a feeling he might just as well kiss it off and not even bother to try because I think that is going to be the outcome anyway, no matter what he does unless he hires an attorney, which I doubt he is going to do.

Believe me, this is one time I would truly like to be wrong.

[Jun]

Nom’s account still hasn’t been credited with the money he paid in. He’s now been told to go to a large Kasikorn branch in Bangkok and present his till receipt. Unfortunately his mother has had a fall so he’s in Ratchaburi at the moment and doesn’t know when he will be able to return to Bangkok.

As I see it, his local branch should take responsibility for resolving the problem. The only slightly credible reason for them to send him to another branch would be if they were sending him to the branch where the problem occurred.

Did his local branch explain why they were trying to dodge responsibility for the matter ?

I think he also needs to get a lot more assertive over this matter and not accept excuses.
What use is a bank if it cannot count and manage cash properly ? They have had more than enough time to tally up the numbers for that machine and check the CCTV.

Is there any authority in Thailand that oversees complaints about banks ?