News Forum - 2 Russian men report money missing from safe in Pattaya hotel

[Thaiger]

Two Russian men filed complaints with the police after nearly 140,000 baht disappeared from safety boxes in a hotel in Pattaya. Investigating officers reported there is no traces of the thief because the hotel’s CCTV cameras were all broken. The two Russian men, Natalina Chernova and Oleg Gipke, filed a complaint at Mueng Pattaya Police Station on Saturday, January 7 and Sunday, January 8. They said they kept their money in the hotel’s safety boxes near Khao Phra Tamnak. The pair went out to enjoy Pattaya’s attractions but returned to discover that some of their money was stolen. Chernova reported […]

The story 2 Russian men report money missing from safe in Pattaya hotel as seen on Thaiger News.

Read the full story

[Ramanathan.P]

Looks like there are some nice budgeted thieves who only take what they want and not like some greedy politicians who take everything they come across....

[TedG]

Why would anyone have so much cash on hand?   

[Ramanathan.P]

1 hour ago, TedG said:

Why would anyone have so much cash on hand?   

Pocket money from Putin...cannot be kept in the bank. Only safer to keep as hard cash.

[Soidog]

2 hours ago, Thaiger said:

The pair went out to enjoy Pattaya’s attractions

. What a great way to describe things. 
 

Major problem for these two I fear. Would have been helpful to know the hotel. 
 

Makes me smile when they say only the maids could gain access to rooms. I recall being on the ground floor of a nice hotel in Phuket a few years ago and I had a problem with my key card. After a couple of attempts from the maintenance guy to resolve it, he asked if it was ok for him to go in my room. Confused, as we were locked out, I said yes of course. He then wondered off around the corner and 30 seconds later he opens the room door from inside. When I asked how, he showed me how easy it was to open the patio doors from the outside.
 

Always wise to take extra precautions when abroad. If you do have a patio or balcony window, see if there’s a way to jam it from opening from the outside. A coat hanger or umbrella can sometimes be used to block the lower runner. If you are in a group, split your money so that no one person loses all their cash if a safe is broken in to, better still, don’t carry so much cash with you. If you are even more cautious a hidden camera in the room is also worth thinking about. (No cheeky comments about sex tapes please ), that way, you may have some proof and come back in the hotel? 

[Marc26]

3 hours ago, TedG said:

Why would anyone have so much cash on hand?   

It is only around $2k usd each

 

Not a lot to bring on holiday with you

[Soidog]

7 minutes ago, Marc26 said:

It is only around $2k usd each

Not a lot to bring on holiday with you

I think it’s the question of that amount of “Cash”, not that amount of “Money”. $2,000 isn’t a lot, but it is a lot of cash. Especially in these modern times with credit cards and cash cards etc. 

[Marc26]

17 minutes ago, Soidog said:

I think it’s the question of that amount of “Cash”, not that amount of “Money”. $2,000 isn’t a lot, but it is a lot of cash. Especially in these modern times with credit cards and cash cards etc. 

Before WISE card, I started to take around $1500-2k usd with me because I found I spent a lot less money when I was changing money every few days

I was more cognizant of what I was spending than going to the ATM and taking the max out(to avoid too many fees) and carrying around the local currency

 

And the risk of lost wasn't that much greater because I was taking around $700-800usd at a time from ATM

[1l1]

53 minutes ago, Marc26 said:

It is only around $2k usd each

Read the article.

Quote

Chernova reported that he had about US$19,000 (638,000 baht) in cash and kept it in his hotel room safety box but only US$4,000 (134,000 baht) disappeared. Gipke said he kept US$5,000 cash (180,000 baht) in the safety box but only US$1,000 (34,000 baht) was gone.

They got $24k in cash. 

I see two reasons: 1) real estate investment or 2) обнал (since usd/euro are limited to withdraw in Russia)

[Soidog]

5 minutes ago, 1l1 said:

Read the article.

They got $24k in cash. 

I see two reasons: 1) real estate investment or 2) обнал (since usd/euro are limited to withdraw in Russia)

Buying drugs or Surface to Air missiles with that sort of cash

[Ramanathan.P]

With the modern days technology, it is easy to manage $$$. No need to carry huge cash in big piggy pockets like golden days. Just deposit into your home bank account and can withdraw in any PTT  whenever you need the cash. Of course it depends on the current exchange rate. But that is puny when compared to the loss that one might encounters with carrying hard cash. 

[bushav8r]

1 hour ago, Ramanathan.P said:

With the modern days technology, it is easy to manage $$$. No need to carry huge cash in big piggy pockets like golden days. Just deposit into your home bank account and can withdraw in any PTT  whenever you need the cash. Of course it depends on the current exchange rate. But that is puny when compared to the loss that one might encounters with carrying hard cash. 

Unless you are Russian and have difficulty accessing your funds due to sanctions.

[Damie1967]

11 hours ago, Marc26 said:

It is only around $2k usd each

Not a lot to bring on holiday with you

 

Edited January 10, 2023 by Damie1967
WRong comment

[Vigo]

15 hours ago, TedG said:

Why would anyone have so much cash on hand?   

Trade in used Ukrainian appliances has been good?

[Vigo]

1 hour ago, bushav8r said:

Unless you are Russian and have difficulty accessing your funds due to sanctions.

The Russians have been managing quite nicely thanks to  Chinese, Middle Eastern and Indian financial services firms. INconvenient for some, but manageable for others. Thailand certainly has no problem welcoming possible war criminals.

[BJoe]

For you sarcastic a-holes mentioning nationality regarding these incidents,  this problem applies to all tourist, not just Russians.  Two thousand US is not much to carry for a 2-3 week holiday. You’re not allowed to open a Thai bank account, credit card issues because of sanctions is very real, and if you are not even able to trust your hotel safe, then what ?   A short term tourist predominantly depends on some sort of hotel security, and if not then the hotel is at fault. The hotel where this incident took place is responsible for room access, and the security of its safe contents.    

[bushav8r]

2 hours ago, BJoe said:

For you sarcastic a-holes mentioning nationality regarding these incidents,  this problem applies to all tourist, not just Russians.  Two thousand US is not much to carry for a 2-3 week holiday. You’re not allowed to open a Thai bank account, credit card issues because of sanctions is very real, and if you are not even able to trust your hotel safe, then what ?   A short term tourist predominantly depends on some sort of hotel security, and if not then the hotel is at fault. The hotel where this incident took place is responsible for room access, and the security of its safe contents.    

The article was about two Russian men with a lot of cash left unattended in their room.  Hotels are generally not responsible for the stupidity of their guests.  It doesn't matter where they come from.

[Soidog]

2 hours ago, BJoe said:

credit card issues because of sanctions is very real,

You start by insulting people and claiming that these problems affect everyone. Well I don’t have any issues with sanctions affecting my credit cards. But then again, I don’t come from a country who’s citizens have invaded Ukraine and murdering innocent men, women and Children. 
 

Secondly, who brings this amount of cash in to Thailand unless they are hiding something?  Please don’t make the mistake many posts have in thinking this was just $4,000. This was the amount stolen. Reading the article you will see it says:

Chernova reported that he had about US$19,000 (638,000 baht) in cash and kept it in his hotel room safety box

[bushav8r]

4 minutes ago, Soidog said:

 

Chernova reported that he had about US$19,000 (638,000 baht) in cash and kept it in his hotel room safety box

I wonder how much cash he had on his person and how much he has spent already.  If he failed to declare an amount greater than US$20,000 upon arrival in Thailand he would be guilty of a criminal offence.  Anyone travelling with that amount of cash is suspicious.

[HolyCowCm]

19 hours ago, TedG said:

Why would anyone have so much cash on hand?   

It’s not really that much if they figured to stay long time and they locked in a good exchange rate. 

[HolyCowCm]

4 minutes ago, bushav8r said:

I wonder how much cash he had on his person and how much he has spent already.  If he failed to declare an amount greater than US$20,000 upon arrival in Thailand he would be guilty of a criminal offence.  Anyone travelling with that amount of cash is suspicious.

There are 2 of them. And maybe they got sone via transfer after getting here. 

[bushav8r]

14 minutes ago, HolyCowCm said:

There are 2 of them. And maybe they got sone via transfer after getting here. 

"Chernova reported that he had about US$19,000 (638,000 baht) in cash and kept it in his hotel room safety box but only US$4,000 (134,000 baht) disappeared. Gipke said he kept US$5,000 cash (180,000 baht) in the safety box but only US$1,000 (34,000 baht) was gone."

They are very fortunate that they didn't lose all of their money.

[Pinetree]

Clearly they are of Military drafting age?  Odd that they can be on holiday while their countrymen get drafted to commit war crimes and genocide in Ukraine.  As I say, odd that. 

[Pinetree]

1 hour ago, HolyCowCm said:

if they figured to stay long time

To avoid military service? 

[HolyCowCm]

1 minute ago, Pinetree said:

To avoid military service? 

Absolutely even now more than ever that word is El-Putin plans on making a 500,000 strong troup surge.