i liked him, but i didn't trust him

Morning team!

I'm in Bangkok. I've been here most of the week - thinking about the rest of my trip and what I'm going to do next. To cut a long story short, I've decided not to go to Myanmar, and instead, at lunchtime, I'm flying to Manila in the Philippines. I'll be staying in the Philippines for about three weeks, and will take a further flight from Cebu City to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia on 23 November. I plan to use Kuala Lumpur as a backwards and forwards point for exploring Singapore and Malaysian Borneo until 14 December when my friend Raj arrives. The two of us will then tour Peninsula Malaysia together until 2 January.

Other than me sitting down and having a long hard think about things not much has happened this week, although I did have a very interesting experience on Wednesday which I would like to relate...

It was early morning and I was walking back to my hotel from an internet cafe, when a local guy called Chai engaged me in conversation. He asked me if I was from England, and said he had a sister who was coming to study in the UK, at Bristol University, in September. He wondered whether I would be willing to go back to his house for a late breakfast, and to meet her, so that I could provide information and tips on life in the UK. The idea of going to a real Thai home was too much and I said I would love to. We took a taxi (paid for by Chai) and headed out into the Bangkok suburbs.

When we got back to his house (a lovely suburban terraced home) his sister wasn't there. She was out with their mother but would be returning presently I was told. So we had breakfast (crab and fried fish prepared by another sister - it was fantastic) while we waited and Chai told me a bit about himself. He said he was a 'dealer' in the casino of a luxury cruise ship which toured from Hong Kong, mainly around South East Asia, but occasionally to more far flung locations. He said he'd been doing it for about a decade, and that he'd become very skilled with the cards, and could easily engineer the outcomes of games if he wished to. He also said that over time he had developed 'partnerships' with a number of his clients, and discretely let them win in exchange for a tip at the end of their game (ten per cent of the winnings).

His sister had still not returned by this stage, and he asked me, while we continued to wait, if I would like to see how it was all done. Just for fun. I said that would indeed be fun and I would love to. He went upstairs to set up his table, and beckoned me up a few minutes later. He proceeded to play a couple of mock games with me, at the beginning of each telling me what cards we would both have, and who would win. Low and behold it happened everytime. His skill was absolutely amazing; I had no idea what was happening or how he was doing it. He then went on to teach me his system of 'body language' signals for his partners, and we played a couple more games with the signals until I got the hang of them. I won everytime - just as he told me I would. He said it worked like a dream at the casino, not least because he worked in the private VIP room where there were no cameras, and also because he always insisted his partners win amounts that were not so high that they would arouse suspicion. Slow and steady was the essence, and it had worked for years.

'Great fun,' I thought. 'Now where's this sister?' Then something odd happened. The door bell rang downstairs and a moment later the sister who had made us breakfast came up.

'Ms Lee is here, and she wants to play a private game,' she said. Before anything could be said Chai hurriedly said, 'now we play a practice game with the signals to see if you can do it, we'll use my money.' Before I could say anything a woman, who looked like she was dressed straight out of a Paris fashion house, had been ushered up and was sat opposite me. I realised that things were not as they had seemed. Suddenly, I was now in a darkened room somewhere in Bangkok with a card shark and a seemingly wealthy habitual gambler.

'This is Mr Charlie from England,' Chai said, adding, 'Mr Charlie, please meet Ms Lee from Singapore.'

We exchanged pleasantries.

'First game two thousand US dollars?' Ms Lee said to Chai, laying two thousand dollars in cash on the table as she said so. It was at this point I almost vomited my crab breakfast onto the card table, and knew I was way out of my depth.

'You understand I am only playing a practice game don't you?' I said, addressing everyone in the room. 'I'm not going to play in a real game. Not for real money.'

'Yes. Yes,' Chai said calmly, and pointed at his sister: 'your girlfriend can play for you and you can just watch. Two thousand then Ms Lee?' He nodded and winked at me suggestively and - he thought - re-assuringly. I noted that in his statement he had been clear about who would be playing, but ambiguous about who would be responsible for the money if 'my girlfriend' lost. I said again, 'you do understand that I am not playing in this game, in any way...I'm just watching.' I made specific eye contact with the Karl Lagerfeld devotee sat opposite me.

They tried to plug on with beginning the game, but eventually, after I had said for about the fifth time that I was not actively playing, Chai frowned and said, 'OK Ms Lee. I think Mr Charlie is too tired to play for the moment. I will play with you separately.' He then showed me downstairs.

When we got downstairs a few words were exchanged: Chai told me to relax and said: what was my problem? I just kept saying I wasn't getting involved until he gave up, rather pissed off I must say.

'Shall I wait down here for your sister?' I said, keeping up the fiction.

'Er, perhaps she won't be back for a while,' he grumbled, 'I'll ask her to email you if she has any questions.'

'Ok, I'll get a taxi back into the city then. Thanks for the breakfast.' I made my way out to the street and jumped in the first cab that came along, and hot footed it back into the city.

So it had been a big con all along, and I was the intended victim. If I hadn't backed my way out who knows what might of happened to me? At best, I suspect, my bank account would have been completely cleaned out. At worst more sinister folk might have started appearing at the door as I fell further and further into debt. But thankfully, not all con artists are successful all of the time, so I'll conclude by saying: Chai, if you're out there, thanks for the free breakfast sucker!

Postscript: I bumped into Chai again this morning, and he was very coy about speaking to me. I asked him how the game went and he said, 'not good, the woman go crazy.'