My boyfriend “Chalerm” met a thief yesterday. He had gone to a video rental shop to return some movies he had rented – nowadays he is into soppy Japanese dramas. When standing on the pavement speaking in his mobile phone, a Thai guy came by, snatched the phone from Chalerm’s hand and ran off with it. This happened at 11.30 pm.
Chalerm went to the police. They wanted the thief’s name and address. Chalerm didn’t know that, but witnesses to the crime said they knew the guy’s face and what soi he lived in. The police told Chalem to go and ask neighbours for the name.
Chalerm was weary of doing this as word of his snooping might get back to the thief. I agreed. Walking around in the soi asking questions is the job of the police. We don’t know what kind of person this thief is but presumably he is bad news. If the police won’t investigate it isn’t worth the risk for Chalerm to do it.
This marks our 3rd stolen mobile phone. The first was my own phone, which I had given to the grandparents in the village once Chalerm had moved to Bangkok. They had no landline and were hard to reach. Someone walked in and stole the phone from the house one day and Chalerm gave them his own as replacement, which again meant that I (after a suitable waiting period to mark my dissatisfaction that I had not been consulted about any of this) bought Chalerm a new one.
Next someone stole Chalerm’s phone from out of his bag at Freeman disco. I am not sure if the replacement was the same phone that was snatched yesterday or not, as Chalerm keeps changing the handset every six months by trading it in for a newer model. I make up for this consumerism by using my worn Nokia as long as it works. It is now five years old.
Chalerm is in Maboonkrong to buy yet another phone. I didn’t give him any money when he went to MBK this morning, he will pay for it out of his allowance. Luckily I haven’t spoiled him with 40 000 baht phones. He buys them 2nd hand for a couple of thousand baht.
Chalerm was told to go back to the police station Monday morning but I don’t see much point in doing that. I think he has seen too many Thai soap operas on television. In those programs the police will come in force at any hint of a crime and catch the bad guy. Reality is not like that.
Tags: crime, gay boy, gay Thailand, Thai boy
October 3rd, 2005 at 6:30 am
To ask the victim of a “grab and run” thief to identify the thief borders on the unbelievable. Presumably, the people we know are not likely to snatch our possessions and run away with them.
Hopefully, Chalerm was not too traumatized by all of this.
October 3rd, 2005 at 10:57 am
In Thailand the cops are not very interested in helping the public unless there is something in it for THEM.
I don’t think Chalerm was too traumatised by the incident, and he was sensible in not trying to run after the thief or do any snooping on his own. But it was a wake-up call for him. I have reminded him to be careful out on the streets here in Bangkok and now he can see my point.