Lucky Man

There's a common scam here in Bangkok that we call the "Lucky Man Scam." We experienced it a couple of times when we first moved here, but then it seemed to fade away. It has sprung up again over the last couple of months -- Patrick has been approached four times since December. Here's how it works:

A passerby -- in our experience, always a man of Indian or Pakistani appearance -- briefly makes eye contact with you on the street and smiles slightly. If you respond or hesitate at all, he says, very politely, "Excuse me? You are a lucky man." Well, who doesn't like to hear that? If you stop, he'll give you a winning smile and continue: "Yes, you are a lucky man! [Here he might point to your 'third eye' in your forehead.] Do you know why? I will tell you...."

And here the scam varies. The one time we heard the guy out a couple of years ago -- the only time we've been approached by the scammer while walking out together -- he "read" Patrick's fortune by making a few guesses and asking targeted questions to figure out some obvious facts, e.g., Patrick is working in Bangkok, Patrick is happily married, etc. Then he told us that his brother owned a jewelry store, and that on that particular weekend, the Thai government was exempting jewelry sales to foreigners from normal taxes, in celebration of the King's birthday. If we wanted -- and here a tuk-tuk drove up on cue -- he could take us there right now and talk to his brother and get us a very special price. After all, shouldn't Patrick buy something lovely for his beautiful wife? Because when you buy jewels, you are not losing your fortune ... you always have your fortune with you ... and so on.

One hears other stories about the Lucky Man scammers being able to hypnotize their marks with swift patter, then conning them out of cash. We're not really sure how that happens. Other people report being pickpocketed while politely hearing out the scammer and not noticing their missing belongings until the scammer and his pals are long gone.

So the Lucky Man scammers are out again, and we're looking for ways to have some fun and turn their game around on them. If you have any ideas, please send them in the Comments!

All this being said, Patrick is a lucky man. Last week we got official confirmation from Washington that we'll be returning to Bangkok for one more two-year tour after our next home leave (which will probably take place this fall). That means that, barring some unforeseen calamity, we'll be assigned here through 2012 -- and that's no scam. We're very happy to have gotten this news and are really looking forward to three more years here.