November 30, 2020 - Reading time: 6 minutes

How much does a Thai girlfriend cost? The answer to this question will depend on the type of lady that you are involved with. Financial support for a Thai girlfriend could range anywhere between 10,000 – 50,000 THB per month, and some men send considerably more money to their partners per month.

The amount of money that it costs to help your girlfriend will depend entirely on her circumstances and lifestyle. Many Thai women are university educated and have decent careers to support themselves and their families… If you are reading this article then we assume your girlfriend does not fit into this category.

If you are sending money to a Thai lady that is working in a beer bar, a go-go, club, or a similar adult entertainment venue, then she is probably continuing to sleep with customers whether or not you are sending her money. We have seen cases which fall into this category hundreds of times and the results are (almost) always the same. Beware of this and don’t fall victim to the Thai girlfriend scam.

If your Thai girlfriend is accustomed to a high standard of living, then renting a decent property could cost over 10,000 – 50,000 THB per month by itself, in which case the total amount of money she asks from you will obviously be far higher.

When it comes to supporting a Thai girlfriend that is working a menial job, it’s worth nothing that a small amount of money can go a long way in Thailand. Rather than subsidise your girlfriend’s minimum wage salary, why not help her to attend university so that she is able to secure a more profitable career in the future? Compared with the costs involved for schooling in Western countries, foreigners often find that Thailand offers excellent bang for your buck. If your Thai girlfriend owns a small piece of land for example, then you might be able to construct a modest home for 1,000,000 THB or less. The costs involved for a Thai lady to open a small business, or buy farm livestock for example, are probably far less than in Western countries; many foreigners help to make their girlfriends become more self sufficient through carefully investing money into a business or education.

If you are making the commitment of sending your Thai girlfriend money every month then it’s important to make sure she is honest with you, that she is truly working where she claims to be, and that no other men are involved with her. Many foreigners unfortunately fall victim to the Thai girlfriend scam, which usually involves a lady recruiting multiple foreign boyfriends.

While most Thai women are honest people, when you are meeting ladies in places such as Pattaya, you are effectively dealing with a subset of the population who make a living through the tourism industry and forming relationships with foreign men. If you were putting money into a business, it would be wise to perform checks beforehand in order to make sure that you are making a sound investment. Whether investing money into a business or a person (in this case a Thai girlfriend), we feel it always makes sense to perform your own checks beforehand in order to avoid being ripped off.

Does your Thai girlfriend have children?

Many of the ladies that find themselves working in areas of the country such as Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket, or Chiang Mai, have travelled to these places because they have a family to support, and often their family will include children from a previous relationship. Thai culture with regards to child support, and taking care of children after you are left a relationship, is often seen much differently than in Western countries. While some Thai men will send money to their ex-partner as child support, it is not uncommon for them to refuse and let the lady fend for herself. Supporting 3 people (2 parents and 1 child) on a minimum wage income would be very difficult or impossible.

Many women can find themselves resorting to work in beer bars or other establishments in order to support themselves. Without an education to apply for a well-paid job, or the capital necessary to start a business, they can find themselves in a financial rut that is often compounded by the burden of debt.

Is your Thai girlfriend in debt?

Personal debt is a big issue for many people living in Thailand, especially in the fallout of Covid-19. Statistically, if you have met a lady in Thailand then it is highly likely she has some form of debt, or is responsible for debt on behalf of her family. Discovering that your Thai girlfriend is in debt can be more difficult than you might think due to the Thai concept of saving face. A Thai lady is not likely to provide you with information that will put you off being in a relationship with her. Often foreigners only discover a lady’s true financial state after knowing her for several years.

Are you her only boyfriend?

Sending money to support a Thai girlfriend is all well and good, as long as you are not falling victim to the Thai girlfriend scam, and understand how the money is being spent. If you are falling victim to the Thai girlfriend scam, then you are effectively dealing with a professional fraudster, and catching a professional fraudster is usually very difficult or impossible, unless you seek professional help. Romance scammers make their living by telling lies and know exactly how to manipulate their foreign boyfriends into doing as they wish.

A good first step when entering into a serious relationship with a Thai lady would be to meet with her parents and learn more about their circumstances. Your girlfriend will be responsible for supporting her parents, and as her partner that responsibility also falls on yourself. Meeting with her parents also shows them that you are serious about the relationship.

Check your Thai girlfriend

We can help to check your Thai girlfriend and ensure that she is being honest with you. Our agents work across Thailand, please get in touch with us for a free, no obligation quote.

July 3, 2019 - Reading time: 5 minutes

Does your Thai girlfriend or wife have multiple different Facebook profiles? If so, read this article and take it seriously, as this may prove to be a cause of concern that your partner could potentially be involved with romance scams.

Why do Thai women have multiple Facebook pages?

Many women in Thailand are involved with so called "romance scams" where they have multiple different boyfriends from different countries sending them money at the same time. This is a goal for many ladies working as bar girls in Thailand however women with the ambition of having multiple foreign boyfriends can come from all different occupations and walks of life.

Some women work respectable jobs while fishing for relationships on dating websites and apps. Foreign men often trust women they have met on the internet who claim to be university students or work in respectable careers; these men are perfect prey for romance scammers.

In order for the romance scams to work, the perpetrators typically create and maintain multiple different Facebook profiles. This allows them to be "in a relationship" on Facebook with one man, and "in another relationship" with a different man using a different Facebook account. It also allows them to set different profile photos for each boyfriend, and choose which men are revealed to close family members. If a lady already has one (or more) boyfriends, then having multiple Facebook profiles will allow her to appear single to any potential new boyfriends.

Finding her hidden Facebook accounts

If you are trying to investigate your Thai girlfriend or wife, realize there are many tricks which can be used which make it virtually impossible for you to uncover multiple Facebook accounts belonging to the same lady. For example, these ladies will usually block their boyfriend's account using all of their other secret Facebook profiles, which means that even if her boyfriend spends hours searching for the other accounts, he will never find them because his account has already been blocked.

Ladies that have 2 different Facebook pages will typically have many other profiles that you don't know about. Using different names and profile photos, it is very difficult to find the other accounts in most cases. We have developed methods of searching for multiple accounts, and finding digital footprints belonging to the same individual. We have previously found secret Facebook accounts linked to the subjects of our investigations; however, during such a search we usually cannot guarantee 100% success in finding hidden accounts as there are many variables at play.

Having a stash of alternative accounts mean that women who meet other men can engage in additional relationships without their main boyfriend finding out. This is essentially their purpose for women who are involved in Thai romance scams.

The Thai girl romance scam

For a Western man, taking the steps to fill his Facebook page with photos of his Thai girlfriend and set his account to “in a relationship” with the lady, has a certain phycological effect. Effectively by doing this the man is showing his Thai girlfriend to all his close friends, family, colleagues, and anyone that decides to look at his Facebook profile. This can help to create a sense that the relationship is serious and long term, which might mean that he is more likely to send his Thai girlfriend cash or gifts. Romance scammers understand the value behind using social media platforms to their advantage.

The Thai girl romance scam has always involved the lady having multiple Facebook pages. Think about it… If two guys were both dating the same woman, then seeing a comment from the other man on her Facebook page is going to trigger alarm bells in most cases. Having multiple Facebook pages avoids this problem and allows all of the lady’s boyfriends to see a customised Facebook profile, which has photos of them with their ‘girlfriend’, and no-one else.

With 4 or 5 different boyfriends (or sometimes even more) sending money to one Thai lady, the lady is able to build a comfortable life for herself and her family. Sometimes this scam allows the lady to accumulate vast amounts of money, and we have seen examples where houses were built, or brand-new vehicles were purchased using money generated from this type of romance scam.

Protect yourself from the Thai girlfriend scam

If you suspect that your Thai girlfriend might be involved with infidelity or romance scams then we can help. We investigate Thai ladies on a regular basis to check that they are who they claim to be, check their workplace/school, and any other activities which might of a concern to their partners.

If you are interested in checking your Thai girlfriend, then we can help by running a background check, utilizing personal surveillance, or our decoy service in some cases. Please feel free to browse our website for more information about us and the different services which we offer. Or contact us if you are interested in starting an investigation. Please let us know your circumstances and we will provide you with a free quote if we are able to help.

April 28, 2019 - Reading time: 12 minutes

The Thai girl pregnancy scam is one of the more sinister scams that can occur in Thailand. Put simply, it works by spinning a web of deceit and playing on your emotions. If you are spending time with women in Pattaya, Bangkok, Phuket, or any touristy areas of Thailand, then you may find yourself falling victim to the Thai girl pregnancy scam.

When reading this article, you will probably think to yourself “this could never happen to me”. Since we first published this article, we know that it has been read by unfortunate guys who did find themselves falling victim to this trick, and they also thought that it could never happen to them when reading the article.

How does the pregnancy scam work?

How does the pregnancy scam work? It is really quite simple. You’re spending some romantic time with a Thai bar girl, dancer, or even a ‘non-working’ girl that you met while in Thailand. Maybe the condom breaks or you didn’t use one. You head off back home and think nothing more of it until you get a message which reads "My period is late... I think I’m pregnant".

From here the story can take many different paths. If the man believes that he has made a Thai woman pregnant, he might fly back to Thailand to spend more time with her. He may start to reconsider his relationship with the woman and start to make long term plans to live with her in Thailand, or to get her (and the baby) a passport/visa for his home country. He may consider sending the lady money to start up some form of business, or prepare/furnish her home for a new-born baby.

Most guys will have no problem sending money for check-ups in a private clinic or hospital.

Whether or not he discovers that she is not truly pregnant before he makes long term commitments to the woman will depend. In some cases, if a guy makes big financial commitments to a Thai woman, and she is able to take a good amount of money from him, then that will leave her better off even if the relationship abruptly ends when he discovers that she is not actually pregnant.

Of course, many guys will not end a relationship when they discover that the lady was not truly pregnant. She may claim to have miscarried and present herself in floods of tears – most foreign guys will not walk away from a woman that appears highly upset, crying, and claiming to have lost his baby.

In other cases the lady might try to become pregnant while her boyfriend believes that she already is. If the lady cannot get pregnant, or doesn’t want to get pregnant, then she might use friends, or corrupt medical staff, to create the illusion that she is truly pregnant. Cases which run on for several months tend to include details which make it seem extremely convincing that a woman is pregnant while she is not. For example, a lady might visit the hospital many times and take photos of herself there, but she was in the hospital visiting friends or just passing by it. She might pay a clinician to speak with her boyfriend in English about the fake pregnancy, which is usually very convincing.

Fake pregnancy tests in Thailand

Fake pregnancy tests can be purchased all-over the world, and this is also true in Thailand. Fake pregnancy tests are cheap and readily available; sometimes tests with positive indications are sold online or behind the counter in stores. Other times women that are actually pregnant will make money by selling pregnancy tests which show a positive indication. A lady that is expecting a baby can help to provide any style of pregnancy test with the result "positive". She might provide multiple different positive pregnancy tests made by different manufacturers to make an even more convincing story.

Seeing a photo of a positive pregnancy test can help men to fall for the Thai girlfriend pregnancy scam hook line and sinker. We have even seen examples where Thai ladies have used photos of positive pregnancy tests that were found to have been downloaded from Google!

Why would a Thai girl lie about being pregnant?

Why would a Thai girl lie about being pregnant? Well, any man with a conscience is much less likely to walk away from a woman that could be carrying his child. The lady might demand money to pay for an abortion; but more often they will use the claim of being pregnant to lure the man back to Thailand, or to extract more money from him so that she can stop working around alcohol while pregnant. Perhaps the lady is deep in debt and feels that she can earn extra cash by convincing her boyfriend that she is pregnant. Maybe she does need money for medical treatment or to build a house… There could be thousands of different reasons that would drive a woman into making a false claim of pregnancy.

Whatever the motive behind this scam, the same principle applies each time. It is a form of emotional blackmail which gives the Thai woman a sense of security that the man will not walk away from her. And it usually causes her boyfriend to do things which he would not otherwise do if he did not believe that she was pregnant. How each man reacts to the belief that their Thai girlfriend is pregnant will of course vary in each case.

Often ladies involved with this type of scam will have used it on many different men over a number of years. Over time they can hone their abilities and make their claims seem very believable. They learn exactly the things to say which makes their lies to seem convincing, and they learn the best methods to extract money from their boyfriends.

Ladies that are involved with this scam typically understand enough about Western men to know what drives them and how they think. Trying to outsmart a professional fraudster using the information contained in this article will be extremely difficult in most cases. This makes our work during Thai lady investigations all the more vital to the wellbeing of our clients.

Pregnancy in Thailand

Pregnancy is a big deal in Thailand. Unlike in Europe or North America there is very little government welfare available, if you can’t afford to feed and clothe your baby there are few safety nets. With this being the case, it would be unwise for a Thai woman to fall pregnant with a man she barely knows.

If your Thai girlfriend is from a poor family (typically from rural farming areas in Isan), then supporting a child without help from the father, or any other means of income, will prove very hard indeed. Many of the ladies working in bars and nightlife areas are in fact there to support their parents and any children from previous relationships. Surviving on Thai minimum wage, and supporting a family of people, can be very hard in many cases.

Because there is no real safety net in the form of government aid, getting pregnant and having enough money to raise a child is a big deal. The cost to buy things like baby formula and diapers in Thailand is comparable to the prices in Western countries, and raising a baby does take a lot of money.

Child support in Thailand

In Thailand, a man can only be held liable for child support if he was legally married to the baby’s mother at the time of birth. Otherwise, a court would need to rule that the man is indeed the father of the child. He could then be held liable for child support.

Child support is fairly uncommon in Thailand, and while many Thai people will have lavish wedding ceremonies, they do not always legally marry each other, which can hinder claims for child support. Thai women usually do not pursue child support against the father of their children after the relationship has ended… Of course, there are exceptions to this, but the attitude of many Thai women is not to seek out money from their partner after a relationship has ended.

This is one of the reasons which mean that Thai women usually will not get pregnant as thoughtlessly as some ladies in Western countries. Women from north America or Europe may be eligible to numerous government support programs, welfare programs, and child support payments, when they have new-born babies. In Thailand this is not usually the case.

Don’t be fooled

It can often prove very difficult to outsmart a woman that is practiced in romance fraud, as they’ve heard and seen it all before. Positive pregnancy tests can be ordered online or obtained from pregnant friends. There are even reports of some ladies allegedly taking drugs which bloat out their stomachs and help to make their foreign boyfriends believe that they’re really pregnant.

By the time the man has found out his lady was lying, he will have spent more time with her and formed an emotional attachment to her which will be hard to break. We have often seen women that claim to be pregnant conveniently miscarry shortly before they're due for an ultrasound examination. Others can be more creative and string out their claims even longer.

How the lady decides to play the scam, and how her boyfriend will react, can be very different depending on the individuals involved. However, the outcome is rarely positive.

If a Thai woman that you barely know is suddenly claiming to be pregnant with your child, then maybe take those claims with a pinch of salt. Is she being serious? Could she be exaggerating the truth? These are questions which you should ask yourself.

We can help

If you think that you might be falling victim to a romance scam then there are things which we can do to help you... While it is usually not possible for us to determine whether or not someone is in fact pregnant, we can find out if they’re lying to you about other things before you make emotional or financial commitments to them. We could place the lady under surveillance, for example, which could seek to find out if your girlfriend is cheating on you while you’re out of the country; or try to see if she is continuing to consume alcohol while claiming to be pregnant.

We also offer a romantic background check service which can help to check and verify certain factors relating to your girlfriend. 

Checking your Thai girlfriend in this way has the potential to help you avoid romance scams, and protect yourself from financial loss and heartbreak.

We are a leading detective agency working across Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket. Get in touch with us if you think that you could use our help. We offer free quotes for all work and are glad to offer help and support to our clients.

Please note that due to large volumes of traffic received through our website we are unable to offer free relationship advice. If you would like to receive advice from us on your situation without instructing us to perform any form of investigation then a consultation fee will apply.

Learn more about Pattaya private investigators.

February 20, 2019 - Reading time: 8 minutes

Are you involved with a Thai lady that doesn't ask you to send her money? Some men see this as a positive trait in their girlfriends, however, many Thai ladies understand that asking for money from their foreign boyfriend could be seen as a red flag and may choose to wait before asking for help with money. Whether or not your Thai girlfriend even need you to send her money will of course depend on her individual circumstances.

Does your Thai girlfriend need money from you?

Without a university degree, or the capital to start a business, it can be very difficult to earn more than the minimum wage in Thailand. If your Thai girlfriend has a good education then she might be able to enter a decent career and earn a good salary.

Does your Thai girlfriend need money from you? The answer to this question will depend on how much money she earns, her lifestyle, and how many dependants rely on her for support. If a Thai lady has a good education and career, then she might not ask for any support from you.

At the time of writing, the Thai minimum wage is around 330 THB per day. It can be a struggle to live on such a small amount of money, and especially without support from a spouse. Think about it... Could you live on just 10,000 THB per month (approx.) in a major city? For most of us it would be a real struggle to survive.

Thai women are usually expected to provide for their families, and especially so if they have children that are being raised by their parents. If the lady is earning minimum wage or not much more than minimum wage, it will be difficult to sustain a life for herself, as well as her parents and children.

Of course, many Thai ladies are university educated and able to earn excellent salaries. These ladies tend not to seek relationships with foreigners, though it can happen. Some of the Thai ladies most keen to find foreign boyfriends might not be doing so well financially and could benefit from extra support.

My Thai girlfriend doesn’t ask for money

Ladies in Thailand aren't stupid, and many of them know that asking their newly minted Western boyfriend for money will be seen as a red flag by them. If she is not asking you for money, you need to deeply examine her circumstances and question how she is able to support herself. After all, one of the major perks of being with a foreign guy is their ability to help out with money... This is, of course, why a lot of Thai ladies target Western men.

If your Thai girlfriend earns enough money to support herself and her family then there is no reason that she should ask you to help out. However, you will need to really examine your girlfriend’s finances to understand exactly how much money she takes home and how much it costs to support herself as well as any of her dependants.

If your Thai girlfriend lives in a city such as Pattaya, then there is the danger that she could be earning cash on the side through work in the sex industry. Many women that have regular jobs also “freelance” during the weekends and evenings in order to earn more money. This turns out to be true for many of the Thai women in Pattaya which we investigate for our clients… Without hiring a detective to check the movements of your girlfriend it can be extremely difficult, or impossible in most cases, to find out what she is truly doing when you are not around.

Supporting a Thai girlfriend long term

If your Thai girlfriend is able to get a good education and achieve a university degree for example then she will have the potential to earn more money than with a basic high school education. Many white-collar jobs in Thailand will require the candidate to have a university degree, or relevant training.

If your Thai partner does not have a career or an education which could lead them to a career, then you might choose to support them through education with the hopes that they can earn more money later on down the line.

A popular alternative amongst foreigners is to help their Thai girlfriends setup a business, with the hope that this could lead to them making more money. Whether or not this path is likely to be successful will depend on the type of business that you decide to pursue, and whether your partner is hard working and skilled enough to get a business of the ground. There are indeed many horror stories which you can find online, but there are also plenty examples of Thai ladies setting up successful businesses with their boyfriends or husband’s support and backing.

Thai girlfriend working in a bar

If your girlfriend works at a bar and you're not sending her money, then it's almost certain she is sleeping with other men to support herself. A bargirl's wage is designed to be propped up by accepting bar fines and regularly leaving the bar with customers. Most of the time when we are asked to check bar girls in this way for our clients, we discover that the lady is keen to leave the bar and earn money. During other investigations we will observe the lady and find out how many customers she is leaving the bar with during an average night or week. The results are often shocking.

Whether or not you are sending your girlfriend money; if she works at a beer bar in Thailand then she is most certainly still accepting ‘bar fines’, and still going with customers to their hotel rooms. Please, don’t delude yourself into believing that she is different. We have been conducting this type of investigation for many years and can say from experience that the vast majority of ladies who work in beer bars continue their activity despite having boyfriends.

This also applies to women working in go-gos, massage parlors, clubs. and other roles dealing with the public... However, if your girlfriend works a different job, don't think that you're safe.

Many women in Pattaya who work regular jobs often turn to freelancing in nightclubs to meet with customers in the evening or night time. Other ladies prefer to meet men using hookup apps or online dating, to earn more money and subsidize their incomes from regular jobs. Other women might already be receiving plenty of money from other boyfriends abroad.

Photo: If your girlfriend works at an a go-go bar or a beer bar then you aren't the only gentleman enjoying her company!

Sending money to a Thai bar girl is not a good idea as you may find yourself falling victim to the classic bar girl scam, where a lady has several men sending her cash on a regular basis… Each of the guys will believe that they are the only man in her life, but the reality is very different. You may read about this scam and think that it could never happen to you – this is exactly what everyone thinks when they are falling victim to a romance scam.

Ladies perpetrating romance scams might also convince their overseas boyfriend that they are a university student, while in reality they are working in a beer bar or getting wasted every night in a nightclub. Because fraudsters are excellent liars, most victims of the romance scam will never find out what is going on unless they decide to investigate the lady's activities.

Essentially it should be a cause for concern if your girlfriend doesn't ask for money, unless the lady is in a stable job where she is earning a decent wage (25,000+ THB per month). It would be wise to deeply examine the woman's income and cost of living before declaring this to be a positive trait, as she may be concealing other forms of income from you. You will need to check whether her story adds up (literally).

We can help to check your Thai girlfriend by running a background check or checking her claims through personal surveillance or our decoy service. Please contact us for a free quote.

Learn more about Pattaya private investigators on our homepage.

January 19, 2018 - Reading time: 6 minutes

“Can you bar fine my girlfriend?” – This is a question we regularly answer for our clients. Thousands of men visit Pattaya, or Bangkok every year and become involved in romances with ladies working in beer bars or a gogos. In the PI world we call this type of job a “sting operation” or a “honeypot trap”. It is a test of faithfulness that cannot be argued and leaves no doubt of the situation.

You might already have questions about the faithfulness of your girlfriend… Is she hiding her phone screen from you? Is she still talking to that guy on Facebook? Often times, if your girlfriend is working at a bar in Pattaya, the easiest way to figure out if she is loyal to you is a simple “bar fine test”. This is usually cheaper, faster and more effective than other routes of investigation.

If you looking to hire a private detective to attempt and bar fine your girlfriend, there are some things you should consider:

The first thing you should consider is the age of investigator you’re hiring. Popular bar girls can earn good money through customers buying drinks for them as well as tips. A lot of the time these girls aren’t desperate and can pick and choose who they spend the night with. The results of a bar fine test can vary hugely, for example if you were to hire a 60-year-old investigator, verses a 35-year-old smartly dressed foreigner.

At PattayaPI, we prefer to use younger men for these tests, and ensure that they are always smartly dressed and polite. If you hire a PI that wears a stained Chang beer tank top, your results may not be accurate. Saving face is a huge part of Thai culture and society. A bar girl that leaves the premises with a scruffy looking customer may lose face (damage her reputation) among her friends working in the bar.

Another important element to bar fine tests is evidence gathering. We have access to state of the art hidden camera equipment; however it can be extremely difficult to capture hidden camera video inside beer bars or gogos in Thailand. We have found in the past that the extremely loud disco music in most bars tends to drown out the conversation we’re trying to record. Capturing images with hidden cameras can also be challenging due to the dark lightening in a lot of establishments, combined with bright disco lighting… This can be a real problem as hidden cameras have very small lenses and the images can come out over exposed and be very disappointing.

We have developed unique techniques of proving to you that your girlfriend isn’t being faithful to you in the bar. Get in contact with us, explaining the details of your situation and we’ll be glad to explain what we think is the best evidence gathering technique for your scenario.

Lastly you should be prepared for the result, whichever way it goes. At PattayaPI, we will always offer you advice and support on your situation and suggest to you what we think is the best way forward. Of course, some of our clients don’t want advice from us and that’s fine too.

We are quite simply the best private investigators for determining the faithfulness of your girlfriend or wife, whether that means a bar fine test or a more elaborate investigation. We offer free quotes and all contact with us is private and confidential.