PHUKET, Thailand (AP) — When a German tourist refused to surrender his passport as collateral at a car rental stand along a popular beach in the Thai resort city of Phuket, the woman behind the counter pulled out a bag full of passport books to prove he could trust her.

But the tourist, Falko Tillwich, was insistent. “I said absolutely not … no way,” he recalled, and later handed over his driver’s license instead.