PATTAYA — A daily and monthly rental room operator in Pattaya complained through a reporter that he was deceived by a Korean man who stayed in his rental room for free. When he went to file a police report, he was turned away by the police, who refused to accept the complaint, stating that he was too generous.
On August 1, Mr. Arinthat, 49 years old, owner of a rental room in Soi Chaloem Phra Kiat 11, Pattaya 3 Road, Moo 9, Nong Prue Subdistrict, Bang Lamung District, Chonburi Province, said he wanted this story to serve as a cautionary tale for other rental room operators to be wary of this tourist. He presented CCTV footage showing the face of the Korean man as evidence.
He recounted that the Korean tourist came to rent his room on July 17, signing in as Hin Kyung Mo, 48 years old, paying rent until July 21. After July 21, he stopped paying, claiming that his wallet and passport were lost. He said he was waiting for friends to come in 3 days to help pay, but after 3 days passed, he claimed his friends didn’t come and he couldn’t contact them.
On July 31, the Korean man claimed he would go to the embassy for help with his passport and other documents. Mr. Arinthat called a taxi for him. When the taxi arrived, the Korean man said he needed to go to a convenience store for 5 minutes. The taxi waited for over 30 minutes, but the Korean man disappeared. This incident was recorded on the CCTV footage he presented.
“I feel hurt because on July 21, he said he had no money for food, so I lent him 1,000 baht. Then during the long holiday, he borrowed another 3,000 baht, saying he would contact the embassy but claimed it wasn’t successful. Yesterday, he said he ran out of money and needed to go to the embassy again, so I gave him another 2,000 baht before he disappeared.”
Arinthat said that he had helped other tourists before, and previously when those tourists managed to contact their families, they always paid him back in full.
“When I went to file a report at Pattaya City Police Station, the police officers refused to accept it, saying it didn’t constitute a legal offense and that I had allowed him to stay voluntarily. I want to warn other rental operators to be cautious of scammers. We try to be kind to tourists but end up being treated like this,” the rental room owner said.
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