This afternoon I went to Apple Massage, opposite the Bordeaux Restaurant behind Tucom. After I'd left and walked about 30 metres down the road, I realised I had left my watch behind. I went straight back and asked the guy who'd massaged me, Lim or Lin, to go upstairs and get it for me. He came down with a "Sorry, no hab." I spoke to the mama-san and we went upstairs to look for it but it was nowhere to be found. It had to be either in the shower or in the room - the only 2 places I went in to. After a cursory search - I looked, too - she said "Sorry. Can not find," and walked back downstairs. It appears that Lim must have seen it and stuck it in his manbag. It had to be there somewhere on the premises and would have been easy to find.
At first I thought I'd just put it down to experience but then thought, Fuck it! I've been robbed! Why should I just let them get away with it?
I went to Walking Street looking for the tourist police but they weren't there. The police box on the corner was also deserted. On the way back to my hotel I ran into a policeman and asked him where the tourist police were. I then trudged half an hour up the hill before I finally found them. But they were useless. The Thai guy said I'd have to get the police involved and it would be a criminal case. I didn't want any hassles - just wanted my watch back, no questions asked.
So I gave up on them and walked back to Apple. They were all sitting outside. They pretended not to recognise me. I asked the mama-san if they had found my watch and one of the massage boys said "Sorry, no speak English."
When I offered a reward of 10,000 baht, suddenly their memory came back. I told the mama-san I would come back tomorrow and would pay her the money if she had found my watch, but of course Lim would probably have pawned it by now. If he has, in fact, disposed of it I'm sure mama-san would be most upset at missing out on an easy 10,000 baht reward! That'll teach the little shit. :sign5:
The watch itself doesn't really matter - I'm willing to put it down to experience and move on. But I feel violated. I've never had anything stolen from me in my life. It was in some way my own fault. I should not have forgotten it. Lim grabbed it as soon as he realised I'd left without it. I normally wear a cheapie to Thailand but didn't realise I'd forgotten to change watches until I'd gotten onto the plane.
Oh well, no big deal. Life's too short to worry about such things. But it'll be interesting to see what happens when I go back tomorrow and wave my money in mama-san's face. . haha
But just a warning about Apple massage. AYOR.