The Conundrum

We slept late, then sat in the breeze way and drank coffee and had yogurt and muesli (granola), a benefit of staying at a European owned guesthouse. In the early afternoon, we went off to McDonald's.

Sometimes we just need a burger and fries. Unfortunately, there is a higher soy content in the Thai McDonald's burgers; definitely more than in Malaysia. But we enjoyed them nonetheless.

After lunch we returned to our spots on the chaises, to read and relax, in the breezeway. Suddenly Kosta appeared. He advised that he had come looking for us, but Emma advised him that we were off on a tour with Ron. He seemed very agitated and advised us that the police had been to his guesthouse looking for the money he owed to the hospital. Of course he was insured, because he is European and not American, but his insurance had not yet paid and he had to pay a portion.

Kosta – I must ask you something and I understand if you tell me no, but do you think you could loan me 8,000 Bahts (about $260.00 USD) until my friends put the money into my account? I would give you my passport to hold until I pay you back.

G- Oh, Kosta, I don’t' know. You called your friends already and asked them to deposit the money into your bank account so you can make an ATM withdrawal?

Kosta – Yes. I don't know what takes so long, but the money is not in the account yet.

P- Can the hospital wait a few more days?

Kosta – I don't know. I told them I would pay them Monday thinking I could get the money, but I have not been able to get it yet and I am worried that the police will put me in jail. I never expected them to come to my guesthouse.

G- Kosta, please go stand outside the guesthouse while we talk.

Kosta – Ok. Thank you. (He paced outside on the street while we talked.)

G- Shit! I'd really like to help him.

P- I know baby, but we don't know him from Adam. We only met him and went to Doi Suthep with him.

G- I am always prone to want to help people, but I am nervous about this. What if he is just a great scam artist? He seems like a nice guy, but that would be what makes him good at scamming people. Ted Bundy seemed like the all American trustworthy guy too.

P- I agree. If he was someone we knew for longer, then I'd say yes, but I have to say no. Besides, he's not asking for 20, 50 or even 100 dollars, but $240! That is a lot of money for us to risk losing.

G- Damn! I hate telling him no if he's just a guy in need, but how can we know for sure and I don't want to get scammed. Arghhhhhhhhhhh! Some of the facts seem odd. Why can't his friends come up with the money? In Euros it's even less than $240 USD. Why doesn't he have a credit card to get a cash advance? There are things that make me skeptical.

P- Plus, we just have to be cautious. I know you want to help him. I want to help him too, but I think we'd be crazy to give that much money to someone we just met.

G- He did say he'd give us his passport, but we don't know what a real Belgium passport is supposed to look like. There are many fake passports. Maybe he'd give us a fake one. I'll totally feel like shit if we learn that he was telling us the truth and really someone in need and not a scam artist, but everyone who has ever been scammed has believed, and trusted, the person who scammed them.

P- I feel really bad about it too, but we have to say no.

G- I agree. (I signaled to Kosta for him to come back in.)

Kosta – What did you decide?

G- Kosta, we feel bad about this, but we have to tell you no. We do not really know you.

P – And as we told you, we are just naturally skeptical. We did not even want to leave our shoes at the temple entrance!

Kosta – I understand. It's ok.

G - We wish we could tell you yes, but we barely know you. You could be an excellent scam artist. We cannot risk it.

Kosta – I understand. I just thought I'd take the chance to ask you. No hard feelings. We're still friends.

G- Is there any other way that we can help you besides giving you money? If there is some other way for us to help you, please tell us and we will do it. But we cannot give you money. Call your friends and tell them to hurry up and put the money into your account.

Kosta – It's ok. Thank you for considering it. (He left.)

G- Dammit it to hell! I hate that we have to be so distrustful of people, but we'd be crazy to give money to someone we don't know. I don't think he's a con artist, but I doubt anyone feels that someone who cons them is a con artist

P- I feel bad too, but don't feel too bad. We cannot give him money. We don't know him. That is a lot of money for us to risk losing and that amount of money is at least a weeks worth of traveling.

G- He told us that he has a great network of friends at home and they are all upset over the way the bitch has treated him, so what would be taking so long for them to put the money into his account. I know that if we ran into this problem, we could call our friends and have the necessary money put into our account in a day.

P- How can he be traveling without even 1 credit card?

G- I don't know. I hope we did the right thing, but this will haunt me. I guess if we never see him again, we'll know we did the right thing, and if we do see him again, we'll just feel like shit.

P- I don't think we have a choice and I think he truly understands our predicament. We shall see.