If you see 2 men on a motorbike, it is true that it might be a moto taxi taking a ride.

But it also might be a two-man robber squad, practising the Roman method. This is where the moto comes up from behind and pulls the bag from a walker. Or it could be when they spot a likely mark, especially a single very drunk man very late at night, they park somewhere and roll him.

The way I would spot the robber squad is by how they are dressed-- both wearing smart, newish, hip-hop outfits, and baseball caps with the visors turned sideways. They will look like a unit, thinking together.

The taxi motodop will be dressed differently than his customer and the pair will look different on the bike.

I am rolling this theory out to see if anyone agrees.

So far I have been very lucky in PP, walking about at all hours, no one bothering me. But Khmers keep warning me about holding my smartphone out in public.

I don't know about "hip hop" style. Ninety nine percent of Khmer guys from cyclo drivers on up to bong thoms wear long sleeve collared shirts with buttons. Usually those that steal ride in teams of two, but not every team of two is stealing. Every apple is a fruit, but not every fruit is an apple.

The robber teams usually look bugged out, heads rolling around looking for targets, they drive slow or erratic, make a lot of sudden u-turns, etc. Mostly young guys who look malnourished too, may or may not have orange hair. Sometimes it's even a girl on the back, seen that myself when a male/female team rode up on a tuk tuk and the babe grabbed the bag. Better practice still is to stay alert all the time. And walking around is a major pain here in any case, robbers or not. Thanks for Passapp I rarely walk at all unless I'm in Aeon.

Of course we all know where the biggest thieves of all are, don't we. Here's a hint: they ain't riding around on motorbikes.

They come in all shapes and sizes, but a general alarm bell will be that they're both wearing helmets, both with visors down.

They also just come out of nowhere and grab for shit when you're not ready for it, so instead of walking around trying to spot the theif in everyone, just be smarter about what you carry and where you carry it when out on the street. Eg. If you need to use your phone, don't stand on the kerb to do it.

robbers and thieves had the words "im a criminal" tattoo on their forehead, try looking out for it , somehow most of this OP's thread and comments had been overly naive, cant put my hands on it... hmmmm

Multipox wrote: ↑Tue Apr 24, 2018 9:57 pm The way I would spot the robber squad is by how they are dressed-- both wearing smart, newish, hip-hop outfits, and baseball caps with the visors turned sideways. They will look like a unit, thinking together.

Luckily there's no shortage of pictures of people arrested for theft. Maybe you can take another look. To me it looks like you're making things up. What do you think?

love that pink kid with pink bag, so tim gunn

Khmers are opportunist thieves, If they see the opportunity they will take it, rich or poor, even when they are minding their own business and not thinking about stealing, they will when the opportunity appears. Once a nurse took $70 out of my wallet. The previous day I was in the same clinic thinking what a nice girl she was, and how proud her parents must be of her. Lesson 1, never give people the opportunity.