Mark Potter is a serious threat to any first-time visitor or even expats living in Thailand long-term. He is a former paratrooper in the US military and, now retired, lives a somewhat degenerate existence in Bangkok, Thailand on an army pension.
A compulsive liar yet outwardly gregarious he radiates an air of trust and friendship to those he seeks to exploit and cheat. As a result he has very few close friends, only casual acquaintances from his army days, most of whom keep him at arms length.
Our first source was approached with a business proposition by Mark Potter to invest in his company 'BB Quality and Supply.' Mark Potter was a known bar-manager/owner in Hua Hin at the time and was known to the Investor for a year with no previous wrong-doing. Despite investigating and checking Potters background from others who knew him, nothing adverse to his character or conduct surfaced.
So, on December 2006 he invested 250,000 baht into the company. It did not take long for the first warning signs began to show. First of all the returns on the investment were barely covering operating costs of his share of the 'company' and despite a whole host of assurances by Potter he began to smell a rat, a big rat at that! As the months dragged on the income became dwarfed by running costs and the fact soon emerged that Mark Potter was incapable of even basic business-acumen. He certainly talked a good talk but seeing things through was a different matter. Low on funds the investor took the decision to return to his home country having 'moth-balled' his share of the company until his return to Thailand. Potter, feigning sympathy and regret gave a feeble lease payment of 40k baht to the investor, despite having previously sworn to reimburse him in full if he failed to show a profit.
So the investor jetted-off, disappointed but holding fast to Potters word that his investment was in good hands. How wrong he was, only two weeks into his return an email arrived from Potter. Incredulously he wanted the lease money returned to him forthwith due to supposed cash flow shortages in Thailand as the reason! (How a pension-drawing retiree in a very cheap-to-live country can claim this beggars belief) Barely having enough money himself to survive the investor regrettably informed Potter that it was not possible. Now, showing the same kind of traits that would make Stalin proud Potter suddenly accused the investor of the theft of a mobile phone. (A mobile phone had indeed gone missing from Potters household which the investor did use for work but for him to steal a cheap phone given that a quarter of a million share of the company was at stake was shear lunacy.) It soon dawned on him that the phone was just part of Potters plan. Using this as his 'excuse' Potter explained that all the investors assets were now his, although by this point he had bitterly realised that this was part of Potters plan all along.
Powerless to do anything from his home-country, he put Potters theft down to experience at first. Then seeing our name and shame section though, the investor contacted us and told his story to warn others of his misfortune. In matters such as this OTRT turns to The Watcher who, upon being told of Potters tricks, agreed to began his own investigation. The hunt was on!
The Mark Potter Con-Artist Technique
Potters technique is similar to those across the world, however if you introduce a foreign country and the expats who settle there the 'trust me, I'm a farang' pitch can work to their favour.
The Lure - Bringing in the prey, laying out the business plan. The Draw - Setting the trap, having the victim financially commit. Finally, The Kill - The killing, in this case, unlawfully seizing the investors assets. Now in a country such as Europe and the USA such practices are grossly illegal even in the absence of a binding contract. However in countries such as Thailand this is not the case. Legal disputes are costly and lengthy with no guarantees of success. Added to this that Potter (like many others) relies on the 'Wifes-Name' method of running a business it becomes a fight against the thai wife rather than the instigator and party-at-fault.
Mark Potter Further Analysis
The Watcher uncovered independent sources who support the investors claims, the first of these was a former-soldier (Mr DL) who served with Mark Potter in the US Army. He confirmed that Mark Potter is a very proficient con-artist and cheat. The second was an expat in Hua Hin who did have reservations against Mark Potter (the investor did mention that this Hua Hin Expat was despised by Mark Potter adding credence to the source). The third source was a website which published a letter from disgruntled customers. Upon contacting the website the webmaster informed us that they had received several death threats from an angry Mark Potter. He claims to have an army colonel who is in his pocket and can have people killed on his say-so. This seems to be a gross exaggeration, army colonels who are friends with farang are known to exist in Thailand. But offering their services as master of assassins to farang low-lives is a wild claim to say the least.
Interestingly BB Qualities website (www.bbquality.com) is not responding to any enquiries made on this. A link to this page will be emailed to his personal mail-box instead. Potters temperament is difficult to ascertain. From a casual observation it seems friendly and warm-hearted. According to the investor who worked close to him Potter has a tendency to suffer from fits of depression and explodes with rage if contradicted or critiqued. Also apparent was his trait of extreme paranoia, that someone or something was out to 'get him'. One can assume that with all the scams and cheating done by the man this is the product of a guilty man. A sinister observation from the investor was that the personal effects of a British man were lying about the house including a UK Driving license. Pressed for a name the investor could not recall exactly but said that the first name was definitely 'Andrew' and the surname was possibly 'Brownhill'. This may of been a previous victim of Potter. At the time Potter explained half-heartedly that the license was collateral from when the man had rented a car, Potters visa card was used with the man giving Potter cash. Why anyone would rent a car in this way is open to question. It seems very likely that Potter belongs to a nasty set of expats who prefer to prey on young folk with plenty of money.
Mark Potter - The Final Word
If you see this man, avoid him altogether, he is untrustworthy, a confidence trickster and someone who Thailand would be better off without.
His last known whereabouts are: Ramintra District, Bangkok.
He frequents certain beer bars and go-go bars in Bangkok. They are: Soi Cowboy; Suzy Wong and Long Gun.
Nana Plaza; Buffalo Bar
Occasionally the Patpong go-go bars.
