THE end of year is almost here, and this can only mean one thing— vacation! And after a stressful year, we could all do with one. But even on our holidays, as much as we would like to let our hair and guards down, it’s best to always keep an eye out for potential scams or strangers during one’s holiday.
Most recently, a Malaysian family’s vacation to Thailand was cut short after they almost became victims to an infamous kidnapping scheme.
Fang Mei Qi shared her experiences on her Facebook page where she and her family members hired a driver to bring them around the town in Thailand for the price of 1,500 Baht, which is approximately around RM196.
But along the way, she noticed that the driver was making and receiving far too many calls in 20 minutes.
Thankfully, her aunt possessed a limited knowledge in Thai language and they learnt that “he was telling the other party that he had seven people in the car. He also asked how long our stay was and where our hotel was.”
To add to the suspicion, the driver also told them the journey to their destination would take an hour. Mei Qi, however, knew that it needed only 30 minutes after checking her navigation app.
When Mei Qi and her family opted to cancel the trip and instructed the driver to send them back to the hotel, the driver insisted not to.
The driver eventually stopped by a gas station and Mei Qi and her family members paid the driver and quickly made their way to the cafe nearby the gas station.
The frightening bit was that the driver left the station without filling up any gas and Mei Qi suspected that the water bottles inside the driver’s car might have been drugged.
Mei Qi also revealed that some locals told her about the “connection” between some hotels and unlicensed cab drivers, who are tasked to drive unsuspecting tourists to the “death traps.”
She concluded the post by saying that people should be more careful and be more aware of these rental car trips as the worst case scenario might happen to you.
