Thailand Investigations Blog
Do You Want to Know the Truth?

One of the most important things you can do when entering into a business or personal relationship with someone whose background you’re not too sure of is to have his or her background checked. At the very least, you can avoid being surprised by whatever skeletons he or she has hidden in the closet. Sometimes these things don’t matter too much, sometimes they do. Either way, you’re always better off knowing rather than constantly being in the dark until the last minute – and if it does turn out that these ‘surprises’ are important, then the time you know is probably when it’s too late to do anything about it.

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Arthur had been dating Monica (not their real names) for over a year. Before that, they were acquaintances that met through common business contacts here in Thailand. Monica was a local, who, according to common friends, had stakes in many small businesses here. She owned a respectable condo unit in a respectable part of town, and was, by all accounts, clean as a whistle. Arthur, on the other hand, was a successful expat who visited Thailand frequently as part of his business interests and was initially attracted to Monica because of her natural charm and intelligence. Arthur was no stranger to being in a relationship with a Thai – he had been involved with Thai women, both ended in disaster, for reasons we’ve already discussed in previous posts. But Monica was different.

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Their relationship was going pretty good, and Arthur did not see any of the bad signs he saw in his previous relationships.

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When Monica asked him if he wanted to invest in a business she was setting up, his normal response was to say yes and dive headlong into it. But fortunately a number of his friends were also asked, all of whom insisted on a basic background check to see if Monica was really worth trusting their money to. So even while initially hesitant, Arthur consented to a background check on Monica, and contacted our agency. After all, his friends said, if she was clean, then he, and they wouldn’t have anything to be concerned about.

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Unfortunately for Arthur, it did not turn out to be all rainbows and sunshine. We found out that Monica had several cases pending in court for numerous business ‘irregularities’ with former business partners. They all cited that Monica was a long time acquaintance / friend of theirs and had stakes in several businesses in Thailand, so they thought their money was safe with her. A big mistake on their part, as it turned out.

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Arthur was shocked. There are no words to describe the agony on his face when the news was broken to him. He was presented with irrefutable evidence – public records and documents, and testimonies from her previous victims.

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If Arthur had insisted on not getting a background check, just imagine the greater pain he would have to go through. But because of the sound advice of his friends – whose money he would have also put on the line had he not listened to them – they would never know, and would literally be at a loss because of it.

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To put it simply, they were saved by a background check. So maybe you should consider having one done yourself, for a business venture, or even for a relationship. You never know what you might find out, and what kind of pain you would be saved from.

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