In 2012, on the first night of engineer Ng Chee Keong’s holiday in Bangkok, when he was walking back to his hotel, someone approached him with a bag of keropok.
Mr Ng, 35, kept saying no. But the man persisted, continuously pushing the bag of prawn crackers towards him.
Just as suddenly as he began, the man stopped, hopped onto a motorcycle driven by a friend nearby and left. It was then that Mr Ng realised his $1,088 iPhone 5, which he kept in his front pocket, was gone.
He says: “While pushing the bag onto me, the culprit picked my pocket. I didn’t feel it because of the pressure from the bag.”
He is among many Singaporeans who are victims of theft and pickpockets while travelling overseas. Although figures are not available, travel companies say such incidents are rampant. Common items stolen include mobile phones, passports, cameras, wallets and purses.
Here are some tips on how you can guard against pickpockets while in a foreign country.
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